In October 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security- a turning point in understanding and recognizing the role of women and girls in addressing the issues of peace and security. Resolution 1325 makes the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment an international peace and security concern relevant to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and peacekeeping operations, and reconstructing war-ravaged societies. In the years since, SCR 1325 has been strengthened by the adoption of six additional Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security (WPS). This body of all seven resolutions represents a coherent international legislative framework that reinforces existing global commitments, treaties, and conventions on women’s rights including the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW (1979)) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
While all major stakeholders need to take responsibility for the full implementation of SCR 1325 and the subsequent WPS resolutions, Member States in particular must integrate these resolutions into regional and national policies and programmes to ensure that implementation is systematic, sustainable, and results-driven. To date, however, the actual steps taken by Member States to implement this agenda both at the regional and national levels are often still ad hoc, hesitant, sporadic, underfunded, and do not bring meaningful change in the lives of women and girls affected by conflict.
The purpose of this course is to raise awareness about the importance of UN SCRs on women, peace, and security; to build capacities about the possible ways of their implementation; and to promote their sustainable implementation at the regional and national level. While informative for any student interested in the topic, the course was especially designed for people who work in the area of peace and security at the national or regional levels in Latin America and the Caribbean, and who require a practical tool to support and facilitate the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda. The course is based on background information, analysis, and a wide range of studies. The first three lessons focus more broadly on the UN’s role in promoting a peace and security agenda, including from a gender perspective and the role of SCR 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions. Within this context, Lessons Four and Five highlight the challenges and priorities specific to the Latin American and Caribbean region. Five lessons.
Number of pages: 220 [English]
Publisher: Peace Operations Training Institute [06-05-14]
