UN working ‘relentlessly’ to advance women, peace and security agenda

Armed conflict has a disproportionate impact on women and girls – a key reason why women’s “full, equal and meaningful participation” in UN peacekeeping is such a priority, the Secretary-General said.

At a virtual roundtable discussion on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) in peacekeeping, António Guterres drew attention to “landmark” Security Council Resolution 1325, which he called “foundational” to international peace.

Noting that October marks the 20th anniversary of the “ground-breaking” resolution, he explained that “it underscored the link between gender inequality and fragility, and between women’s security and international security”.

“Since then, the United Nations has worked relentlessly to advance the women, peace and security agenda”, upheld the top UN Official.

Although women have driven public health messaging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Guterres pointed out that they are “under siege”, bearing the bulk of the care and economic burden in many societies, while also facing “an alarming surge of violence in the home”.

And in conflict situations, while women often broker peace in communities, they continue to be sidelined at national and international levels.

Through the course of 2018, women constituted only 13 percent of negotiators, three percent of those involved in mediation, and just four percent of signatories, the Secretary-General said, while “women continue to have to fight for their voices to be heard, despite the mountain of evidence on the correlation between women’s participation and the sustainability of peace”.

“Darfuri women have consistently advocated and worked for peace and security and in the on-going national political transition”, he highlighted, calling women signatories in recent Juba peace talks “a notable achievement”.

And for the first time in the history of CAR, he noted that women participated in the Khartoum peace talks, with one woman signing the peace agreement last year.

And for the first time in the history of CAR, he noted that women participated in the Khartoum peace talks, with one woman signing the peace agreement last year.

The UN official made a rallying call to governments, the UN system, regional and civil society organizations, among others, to “take bold actions” to fully implement the WPS agenda.

Original source: UN News