New and Noteworthy
Unanimous Security Council Call to End Sexual Violence
"Wartime sexual violence has been one of history's greatest silences. June 19th's unanimously-adopted Security Council Resolution 1820 ends - once and for all - the debate on whether systematic sexual violence belongs on the Council agenda. In the words of United States Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, who chaired the debate, "today we respond to that lingering question with a resounding yes". Click for the full statement from UNIFEM Executive Director, Inés Alberdi.
Related Resources:
- Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008)
- Overview Presentation of SCR 1820 (2008)
- Secretary-General's Statement on Women, Peace and Security, 19 June 2008
- UN Security Council Open Debate Sexual Violence in Conflict: Index of Statements - WILFP PeaceWomen Project
- Wilton Park Conference Report - Women Targeted or Affected by Armed Conflict: What Role for Military Peacekeepers?
- Wilton Park Conference Presentations
- Secretary-General's Message to Conference Participants
- Security Council Report – Update Report No. 3: Women, Peace and Security (includes update on the Security Council Arria meeting on the subject)
- High-level Consultation in Goma calls for Eradication of Sexual Violence and Ending Impunity in the Great Lakes Region - Conference Declaration (English and French)
- Congolese Women Appeal to the UN Security Council to Help End Sexual Violence
Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World - September 24-26, 2008
UNIFEM, in partnership with the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, the Global Justice Center, UN-INSTRAW, and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) will co-convene a working conference to "probe and address global acquiescence to impunity, gender violence and exclusion that continues to obstruct peacebuilding and deny human security." More information about this conference and registration forms can be found on the IPJ website.
Women Building Peace and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict-Affected Contexts
This desk study focuses on the following thematic areas of good practice as a basis for informing the work of the UNIFEM programme: “Supporting Women’s Engagement in Peace-Building and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict: Community- Led Approaches” and builds on country-level visits conducted in early 2007:
- Peace-building and conflict resolution initiatives
- Reconciliation mechanisms
- Increasing access to justice
- Access to support services
- Conflict monitoring systems
Each of these sections examines the barriers women face, and highlights examples of women’s successful engagement in peace-building that were selected on the basis of being simple yet innovative and explicitly community-based. In conclusion, the study makes some preliminary observations about the kinds of initiations that women have been engaged in at the community level, but notes that the long-term effectiveness of community-based approaches to bringing peace and security for women, men, girls and boys, cannot be isolated from national-level and international efforts to implement SCR 1325.
Full Desk Study: Women Building Peace and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Review of Community-Based Approaches (October 2007)
52nd Commission on the Status of Women
Implementing the Agreed Conclusions from the 48th session of the CSW: ‘Women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution in post-conflict peace-building” - Interactive Session, 29 February 2008
Peacebuilding Commission - Working Group on Lessons Learned:
Gender and Peacebuilding: Enhancing Women’s Participation
On 29 January 2008, 10am – 1pm, UNIFEM and the Peacebuilding Commission Working Group on Lessons Learned convened a panel discussion on enhancing women's participation in peacebuilding. This panel discussion was supported by an expert background paper. The panel concept note, background paper and meeting record can be accessed below.