Around the world, women, men, boys and girls suffer multiple forms of vulnerability and violence that affect their security, development and well-being every day, particularly in situations of armed conflict.
Over the last few years, an increasing number of Resolutions, policies and programmes have been formulated to acknowledge and address these realities. In spite of this increased attention, gender considerations continue to be marginalized during conflict and post conflict situations. In particular, women are still largely excluded from conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts – despite the fact that negotiations are more likely to last 15 years when women are at the negotiation table; impunity still surrounds gender-based violence; children are still recruited by fighting forces; and civilians continue to be targeted, becoming victims of political violence.
Building on a variety of existing international legal and political commitments, the United Nations Security Council adopted the first resolution to specifically address women and peace and security issues.
UNSCR resolution 1325 obliges all UN Member States to promoe the participation of women at all levels in peace processes and in the prevention of conflict; to protect women from gender-based violence; and to take their specific needs into account as ex-combatants or refugees.
UN SC Resolution 1820: Adopted in 2008, to further emphasize the need for prosecution of gender-based crimes.
UN SC Resolution 1888: Adopted in 2009, this mandates peacekeeping missions to protect women and children from rampant sexual violence during armed conflict, and requests the UN Secretary-General to appoint a special representative to coordinate a range of mechanisms to fight against these crimes.
UN SC Resolution 1889: Also adopted in 2009, this reinforces the provisions of resolution 1325 and calls on the Secretary-General to develop a set of global indicators within six months to track implementation of resolution 1325.2