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Advancing the Women, Peace, Security Agenda at UN
Twenty-four years ago, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, a landmark resolution aimed at increasing the full and equal participation of women in peacemaking, conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts. However, despite many global and regional commitments and initiatives, the number of women included in formal peacemaking processes remains low, said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“Before its adoption, women comprised somewhere between one and two percent of all peacekeepers. That number has increased almost tenfold. But really it ought to be a hundredfold. Between 1990 and 2000, only 12 percent of peace agreements referenced women; now, that number is 33 percent. But it should be 100 percent.”
A report by the UN Secretary-General made clear that progress has been rolled back and inequalities remain entrenched, including in the UN system.
“We have the responsibility to root out injustice and inequity within the UN system,” urged Ambassador Thomas Greenfield. The first key to doing that is investment.
“Simply put, we need to provide the resources needed to mitigate the crises of today and address the day after. ... The United States continues to answer this call: whether committing resources to government-led [Women, Peace, and Security] Centers, or investing in Rapid Response Funds to support women’s participation in politics and public life. All of this is in addition to the nearly $40 million dollars we have given to the UN’s Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund.”
In order to move along the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, each UN member state needs to advocate for it at home as well as within the multilateral system, urged Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield:
“That was the impetus behind the United States’ 2017 [Women, Peace, and Security] Act, a legal framework to guide our thinking at home and abroad. Since its passage, we have launched partnerships with UN Women to help Ukraine implement its WPS National Action Plan and Ethiopia create a more gender-inclusive Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.”
Most importantly, stressed Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, “We must commit to protecting and promoting the fundamental freedoms of women and girls[.]” The United States urges accountability for those who violate women’s human rights no matter where they occur.
If the international community fully implements the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, “we can chart the course towards a more secure and peaceful future, for women and girls, and for all of us.”