[APWW-Meet] IWTC Women's GlobalNet #335
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[APWW-Meet] IWTC Women's GlobalNet #335
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IWTC Women's GlobalNet #335
Activities and Initiatives of Women Worldwide
UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO TABLE NEW RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
June 18, 2008
Mavic Cabrera Balleza
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1. NEW UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
2. ARRIA FORMULA MEETING ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED
COUNTRIES=20
3. OPEN DEBATE/ MINISTERIAL MEETING ON THE NEW SECURITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
4. NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY RESPONSE TO THE
RESOLUTION
5. WOMEN'S NGOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD OFFER MIXED RESPONSES
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1. NEW UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE=20
A new UN Security Council resolution on sexual violence is currently
being discussed by NGOs, UN member states, and UN agencies. This new
resolution, which is expected to be debated and voted on by the Security
Council on June 19, 2008, would require the Council to analyze and
address the occurrence of sexual violence in all conflict-affected
situations on its agenda. The Security Council has been the subject of
criticism - especially from women's rights advocates - for failing to
respond to the issue of sexual violence in a consistent and systematic
manner. It was only recently that it issued strong statements on the
appalling levels of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and in Cote d'Ivoire.=20
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The Security Council is mandated by the UN Charter to address
situations that threaten international peace and security, including
violations of international law such as rape. Resolutions adopted by
the Security Council carry force of law. The Security Council is
composed of China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States
- the five permanent members; and Belgium, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica,
Croatia, Indonesia, Italy, Libya, Panama, South Africa and Vietnam - the
non-permanent members.
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2. ARRIA FORMULA MEETING ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED
COUNTRIES=20
In the lead-up to the Security Council discussion on the resolution on
sexual violence, the United Kingdom Mission to the UN hosted an Arria
Formula meeting to bring to the Council's attention the outcomes of the
recent Wilton Park conference (May 27 - 29, 2008) on the role of
military peacekeepers alongside other actors including NGOs, UN and
government agencies, in addressing the sexual violence in
conflict-affected countries. An Arria Formula meeting is an informal
event that allows for more interaction between the Security Council
members, civil society, UN agencies and other sectors on international
peace and security issues.=20
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While panellists speaking at the June 11 Arria came from a
cross-section of the peace and security community, they all emphasized
the need for more coherent, coordinated and robust approach to ending
sexual violence in conflict situations. They said that while
peacekeepers already address the threat and effects of sexual violence,
the response is often ad hoc. The NGOs at the meeting underscored the
need for more systematic quality and comprehensive data collection on
sexual violence, the need to ensure accountability, and the need to
ensure women's participation in discussions on sexual violence as well
as in designing and implementing actions to end it.=20
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3. OPEN DEBATE/ MINISTERIAL MEETING ON THE NEW SECURITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
On June 19, 2008, the US mission - which holds the presidency of the
Security Council this month - is hosting a Ministerial Meeting/open
debate on the relevance of sexual violence in conflict to its work. It
is hoped that the outcome of the debate will result in the adoption of
the resolution on sexual violence.=20
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A draft of this resolution on sexual violence is being circulated by
the US and following are some of the points it addresses:
The recognition that sexual violence, when used as a weapon of war, can
significantly exacerbate armed conflict and, therefore, effective steps
to prevent and respond to such violence would contribute to the
maintenance of international peace and security;=20
The demand that all parties to armed conflict should immediately cease
acts of sexual violence against civilians and take measures to protect
civilians including women and girls;=20
The recognition that sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime
against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide and the
need for the exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions
in conflict resolution processes and that ending impunity for such acts
is important;=20
The intention to consider targeted and graduated measures;=20
A request to the Secretary-General to develop and implement training
programs for police, security, peacekeeping, and humanitarian personnel
deployed by the United Nations to help them better prevent, recognize
and respond to sexual violence;=20
A request to the Secretary-General to develop mechanisms to increase
peacekeeping operations' ability to protect civilians including women
and girls from sexual violence, including in refugee and internally
displaced persons camps, as well as in all UN-assisted disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration processes and in security sector reform
efforts;=20
The call to all parties including concerned Member States, UN entities
and financial institutions, to support the development and strengthening
of the capacities of national institutions, in particular of judicial
health systems, and of local civil society networks in order to provide
sustainable for assistance to victims of sexual violence; and=20
A request to the Secretary-General to submit a report to the council by
31 June 2009 on the implementation of this resolution, including an
action plan for a mechanism to collect information on sexual violence in
situations of armed conflict.=20
A number of high level government ministers are expected to be at this
meeting. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to chair the
debate. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Deputy Secretary-General
Asha-Rose Migiro, Liberia Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele and
Major General Patrick Cammaert (former Force Commander of the UN Mission
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)) are expected to brief
the Council.=20
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4. NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY RESPONSE TO THE
RESOLUTION=20
The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), a coalition
of NGOs and women's groups advocating for the full implementation of
Resolution 1325, sent a letter to Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the
Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations, stressing the
importance of highlighting women's capacity as active agents of change
in any new Security Council resolution on sexual and gender-based
violence. The NGOWG also expressed that it is crucial to ensure that
sexual violence not be seen as an isolated issue but as integral to the
issue of women's full and equal participation at all levels of
decision-making on peace and security issues. The NGOWG added that any
resolution adopted to better protect and promote women's human rights in
conflict-affected situations, should at a minimum:
Recognize that sexual and gender-based violence in conflict-affected
situations is relevant to the maintenance of international peace and
security and therefore the Security Council should ensure systematic
monitoring and analysis of such violence and, where appropriate, take
timely action;=20
Require that the Secretary-General systematically include comprehensive
information on acts of sexual and gender-based violence against women
and girls in all of his reports on conflict-affected situations and to
report to the Security Council on ways to improve the level and quality
of such reporting;=20
Require the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on ways
to improve the UN's response, in particular at the highest levels,
including at the Security Council, to stop gender-based violence in
conflict-affected situations. Such a report should draw on the full
capacity and expertise of all experts including the UN Action against
Sexual Violence in Conflict and relevant non-governmental organizations
and women's groups at the local and global level. An independent expert
could be appointed to lead this study; and=20
Require that women's groups at the local level actively participate in
the design and implementation of strategies and programmes to meet their
security needs and concerns.
Additionally, members the NGO Working Group sent a letter to all
permanent members of UN Member States and the General Assembly
highlighting the above points and demanding an end to impunity for
perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence. Click here
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=3D0013hEMXIOmvCG_xcIC_xZ8hJXA0NgzEVTLTE3HNusXQDN=
o
u5Ctlql_009pOdnqf1Mbi6zGShBjTOP9gT06EXe4P4U3cSzJXy8iA5bGYs-pM7MCgCRwRORG
RDZ4rMga-9GbNyyrVy9jIVEefoDaLEYI7A=3D=3D> to access the NGO Working =
Group
letter=20
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5. WOMEN'S NGOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD OFFER MIXED RESPONSES
Meanwhile, other NGOs assert that the new resolution should have clear
benchmarks, commitments, directives, programming and resources that
build on progress that has been made, particularly through the UN
Security Council Resolution 1325, on Women, Peace and Security. Sanam
Anderlini, one of the original members of the NGOWG, believes that the
new resolution proposed by the US government does not strengthen 1325.
Anderlini is concerned that political posturing and talk about bringing
depth to SCR 1325, would actually serve to only re-open negotiations on
a resolution that has already been negotiated by member states including
some who sit on the Council today. "1325 did not come easily, there was
and still is much resistance to it. But it exists. It is international
law, and those who claim to support it, should focus on implementation,
not on new words and more rhetoric," she added.=20
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Overall, some NGOs are concerned that the new resolution on sexual
violence does not sufficiently strengthen Resolution 1325 provisions and
that it does not offer clear measures to end impunity for sexual
violence. IWTC has received a number of comments and statements about
the new resolution from women's organizations around the world. Click
here
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=3D0013hEMXIOmvCFbdypMFUtrKP4amNHrCILaefQxpzpy4tf=
6
t7L9g8IHiWtBqVnfMF1Qx1r7PSW9vgagGzYE0RiyJcYIxf386rfQQXhsqP7BtJTyEhwm6WEX
DNo_rzY3exMZH11QEAhG6do=3D> to read more =20
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