5 Assignment 08

The Resolution 1325 was implemented and unanimously passed on October 31, 2000 This took place in Namibia, the Security Council let more then forty speakers talk about women, peace and security. The Resolution 1325 has been used, quoted by constituency of women and peace groups all over the world. The UN system made three aspects for the Resolution 1325. First the ideas and language dating back to other documents, treaties passed through the UN since 1945. The second part was international, popular with historic information and analysis. The third the unity of the Namibian presidency of the Security council, DAW, UNIFEM and NGO all played an important role in helping identify and the experiences from women.

The Women and Armed Conflict Caucus made several recommendations to the Security Council, the requirements for the protection of women and girls in armed conflict, increase women participation of all ages in conflict prevention, appoint someone on gender issues to the Security Council,employ a wider range of non violent conflict prevention, UN will provide on going training in gender and cultural sensitivity, implementing procedures for drawing on the experiences of women.
As of October 31, 2000 the Resolution 1325 was in placed and it’s tasks implemented to ensure that women’s groups receive concrete, practical financial and technical support. Since its passing the UN states it has peacekeeping in several countries of the Middle East and Africa. At times the information has been limited to the Security Council. But the change has come for women to be included in decision making, peace talking and security . After the US went to war with Afghanistan, the meeting with NGO was important because of the limited role women had in this country. The Security Council reenforce the importance of the strong support for women’s role in decision making with conflict and prevention. The Security wanted the number of women to increase and wanted women nominated and fill in as special representatives. The UN mission was to have women and girls in matter of pease and security.

The Resolution 1325 must continue to be used into action. The Un must ensure that women in all levels of pease and security be present. This change is moving forward slowly. Back in 2000, women where able to squeeze into the Security Council and debate for the very first time. Moving forward the Resolution 1325 must continue to make change and stay permanently open for women and girls human rights. Many women continue to fight for the protection of theirs lives.

The Resolution Thirteen Twenty Five that was passed by the Security Council on October Thirty First Two Thousand. The Security Council’s responsibility was to provide security and peace. This Resolution’s main focus was to have women be included in times on conflict. The Resolution embodied they idea that women should be able to participate in times of war and/or conflict as peace keepers. Women were not being utilized to their full potential during times of conflict and war. Most women became victims of rape and suffered immensely during times of war and conflict to other sexual abuses. Women’s ideas were unappreciated and devalued during times of war and/or conflict, they were also underutilized during prewar and post war and/or conflicts.  Resolution Thirteen Twenty Five helped unite women in all areas of the world because it provided them with the tools they needed to become active and valued individuals in times of war and conflict. They could now be part of the United Nations negotiations for peace and security efforts for their countries. By including women in these negotiations the hope is to provide peace and protection for them during times of war and conflict. Once the Resolution women’s groups were able to receive reliable support both financially and technically. In other words it forced the Security Counsel in Afghanistan “to put their money, where their mouth is” for lack of a better term. They had step up and provide support not just take about providing support. With the Resolution Thirteen Twenty Five other countries like Africa also began to slowly integrate women into negotiations and peace making decisions. After two thousand one backed NGO women’s groups by re enforcing the idea of empowering women by having countries nominate them for leadership positions. They wanted to increase women’s role in matters of protection, peace and security. With the creation and implementation of Resolution Thirteen Twenty Five Non Governmental Organization Women’s groups have been working together to provide protection and security for girls and women during times war and/or conflict. For example they are creating peace operations for gender justice and refugee children and women. With the technical support these NGO women groups are now receiving they are able to navigate and work on the PeaceWomen.org website that was launched on October thirty first two thousand and one. This site further helps to unite women around the world in working together on matters of peace

The lack of protection for women and children in times of war and post war is an issue that seems to be overlooked quite often. Revolution 1325 addresses countries finding resources and strategies in protecting the women and children who are abused, raped, murdered and discriminated against. “In the past, the Security Council had condemned atrocities against women and stressed women’s plight and suffering in armed conflict, as well as urging all parties to take special measures to protect women and girls from rape and other forms of gender-based violence”. Even though the Resolution 1325 has interesting methods in providing justice and protection for women and children- who are mostly discriminated against- I don’t know how successful it can be, I’ve never heard of Resolution 1325, it seemed from my understanding of the article “Nongovernmental Organizations’ Role in the Buildup and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325”, it had to be tweaked many times and as we know today people in total are being discriminated against all over the world. For something to work society must be aware that they have excess to it, they must be informed that it exist and know how to exercise the tools that the government is providing them. Resolution 1325 needs to publicized on a national platform, in my opinion, governments should advocate for the people they are providing help for, and do all they can to educate and inform them.

The Resolution 1325 was born to be a voice for women, a platform for them to speak upon and find justice for all the people who have there lives robbed by the cruelties of war. Community leaders need to continue to come together, join forces and be the advocate and implement changes in their countries. In the article they spoke about campaigning for the Resolutions 1325, this issue should draw more attention especially during these political times, having a leader who clearly thinks women are subordinate to men. Resolution 1325 can be implemented even if it isn’t in a time of war, women’s rights should always be held high and not focused in on when there is a crisis. The NGO working group did great things to help and support the voices of women, finding different methods to implement something so precious that is overlooked is innovative. Also having women on board in the decision making and implementation of the Resolution 1325 is what will make a difference in the success of this movement.

Resolution 1325 in essence provided a seat at the table for women and women’s rights issues on the global level. It brought women, from their issues to their skills and work for human rights into direct conversation with the UN Security Council. What’s so interesting about the Resolution is that it added women to the conversation in terms of both what women needed, and protections for women and girls but also what women were doing to help other women, and all other people as far as human rights, including what women who were providing aid needed to be protected and succeed. The key is involving women into the decision making on what women need. The Resolution was born out of many things, but particularly built momentum coming out of the Women and Armed Conflict Caucus, so it was never just about the more subtle issues in women’s rights but always centered in violent wartime violations of women and human rights.

I think the work that was put in by the NGO Working Group not only to introduce the ideas that became Resolution 1325, and to have it passed, but to implement it, to ensure that there was ongoing work to implement the Resolution’s tenants is so impressive and it speaks to the possible issues. One major one being something we’ve discussed in class, and that’s the idea that the UN is all talk. It’s fine to pass a resolution and it’s another to put effort as well as money into making that resolution a reality. A great answer to some of those issues was the creation by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom of the Peace Women Project, to create a resource to encourage cohesion and the spread of information through various women’s groups and efforts, as groups fought for different rights. It’s a reminder of Grewal and her ideas about the issues of a united women’s movement because of our separate experiences and needs.

I do think the passing of the Resolution and the continued work of implementation is important. Even just certain aspects of it, like sensitivity training for aid workers can make a world of difference in the lives of women and girls in war-torn areas. To me, having women involved in peace efforts and in the aid and treatment of women is such basic logic, but that might be part of my acceptance of human rights rhetoric. It just seems logical though. I think excluding women from leadership in those areas, and even from helping as far as aid in general is only further damaging to populations that are already undergoing trauma.

The resolution 1325 was about women having peace and a voice during the times of war.  resolution 1325 was the first resolution to address how the war have impacted the lives of these women.  The resolution wanted women to be safe and not to have to deal with the complications that were brought towards them.  1325 stresses on the importance of women having full participation as active agents in the prevention and resolution of conflicts , peace- building and peace keeping .  They wanted women to be involved and have a voice in the security council.  During this resolution movement , the women and armed conflict caucus made recommendations to the security council members that had a list of delegations in regards to women and their safety.

When the resolution 1325 was now existing , it was time now to put the plan into action.  Different cooperation’s such as the NGOs, UN entities and member states shown that they are willing to ensure that women are a part of peace and security.   The goal were for women to get what they needed and that was financial and technical support.  People felt as if the UN system and the security counsel needed to move from words and start acting on what they said they were going to do.  The NGO ( working group on women, peace, and security) had much involvement with bringing awareness the damage that was being done to the females. They printed and distributed twenty thousand copies of the resolution, they even organized a panel for international women’s day.

With awareness being made about the women’s suffering , the security council learned that a women’s peace are not there , that right to have some kind of peace as a human being were just not available to these women.  Resources  were now being made for people to witness what was being done to these women .  Books , articles and analyses on womens peace theory plus the NGO, government were all putting different supplies out there for the building of  women.   Even the news were getting involved , they were providing the latest updates on women and peace. ” through consultations , group meetings and a generous grant from ford foundation, the peace women team brings together information from women and womens organizations working for peace around the world into a repository web site where communication is nurtured and accurate information is exchanged and made accessible.”  With all of this being done the change for women struggles should be heard and society will hopefuly make a change.

In the article “Nongovernmental Organizations’ Role in the Buildup and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 by Felicity Hill, Mikele Aboitiz and Sara Poehlman-Doumbouya, the authors explained how the Resolution 1325 was passed on October 31, 2000. First the Security Council passed the Resolution 1325 on 2000 and it addressing women’s issues, the atrocities they faced in war time, and the inability to recognize them as agents of peace. Countless meetings had occurred between women’s organizations, NGOs, the United Nations Development Fund for Women for the successful introduction of the Resolution. Soon the NGo working group gathered a lot of support when arranging in discussions with important delegates from Bangladesh, Canada, China, Macedonia, Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (1257). Even Ambassador Chowdhury offered his support for the fundamental role of women in peace efforts. The same year various entities. created the NGO Working Group on Women and International Peace and Security which strongly supported the participation of women in peace contracts and they worked together with UNIFEM too to talk address the action of women.

In the months of July, August, the NGO Working Group advanced significantly with its purpose by holding meetings with members of the Security Council and finally by September and October  all the members provided documents for the open session as well as women experts were invited to give speeches and shared their concerns to the open session just to mention a few of them Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika from the Organization of African Unity African’s women’s committee on Peace and Democracy, Luz Mendez from the National Union of Guatemalan Women and more participants representing other worldly organizations. Consequently, women’s roles was taken into account with the help of more than 40 speeches.

In a way the introduction of the Resolution started to make some changes such as the inclusion of women in the discussions about the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Also the Security Council made effort to nominate more women candidates as representatives to the Secretary-General or peace missions. The work of the Security Council improved thanks to the testimonies of diverse women who shared their painful experiences during war time from twelve conflict zones. This helped the ongoing work of women for justice and peace. Finally, these organizations still have a long to go working for women and justice, mainly including them at every level, only in this way the Resolution 1325 will be put into action appropriately, working accordingly with the support of international entities. This was an small step that took a long time to be put in affect.

Before I go into what this resolution is and what its all about, I think it is very important to remember the back story and history of this resolution. The reading tells us of all the things that different women from all different groups and to first be contacted and reached out to, to form a solid and united front. Many different women from all different countries all shared one thing in common and that was and still is the need for protection, to be valued enough to be included in making decisions for the women in their specific country and abroad as well as the reconstruction of their specific country. These women once they had come together then had to sit down and create a something that they all agreed upon, changed that they wanted to see happen, a list of demands almost that they felt the deserved at the very minimum. They then came up with resolution 1325 which they then had to basically plead to the Attorney General to not only hear but implement. Like most things the enthusiasm is high when constructing something that you firmly believe in and want to see happen but when you do the hard work and nothing is changing all of that energy goes down… if you let it. They knew that they couldn’t let this resolution fall and be forgotten because if giving the chance to be implemented it could really change the world. They held a hearing in which women from 140 countries gave an account out loud and after they their voices were heard the momentum picked right back up and was again being recognized.

Specifically the resolution is basically a plea to the Attorney General asking for women to be considered and for their opinions to have full validly when making decisions on conflict locally and internationally. This would have to be the work of the attorney general to secure that woman would be included and opinion valued in conflict resolution and prevention. They want to be given special representatives offices by the attorney general. They want to make sure that he includes appropriate, field operations include a gender component. The resolution is more or less about the importance of inclusion of women. Being excluded form political power will only hinder women and make, making changes impossible. Women have the full capacity to operate in government especially on issues that effect women the most. The resolution was the first step  to rebuilding the thoughts society has about women but now the hardest task yet is to actually make those in power to actually implement the change we need to see.

In the essay “Nongovernmental organizations role in the Buildup and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325”, Hill, Aboitiz and Poehlman-Doumbouy raise many topics on the issue of women and children post-conflict situations. In their essay they document the account of numerous meetings held globally that touch on these issues. The Security Council discussed the development, equality, peace and the need for women’s involvement in post- conflict situations. The Women and Armed Conflict Caucus made several recommendations to the the Security Council: to create a report of requirements on the protection of women and girls in conflict and increase the participation of women in all peace keeping efforts, have an an advisor for gender issues on the Security Council and ensure that they include conflicts on all security, peace and gender issues, employ a broader range of nonviolent conflict intervention and prevention with equal parts of men and women, encourage on site trainings on human rights especially in regards to women, and lastly, establish procedures for drawing on the experiences, resources and expertise of people in civil society on the matters of peacekeeping, conflict and security, specifically women’s organizations. It was agreed upon to pursue only two of these recommendations. After that, there were much more enthusiastic efforts to have women’s issues take front and center in the next batch of meetings. The public gallery of the Security Council chamber was filled with women and they were happy to finally have a say on their perspectives of war and peace in that chamber, something that has happened in over forty speeches there. Several member organization have don’t their part in the implementation of Resolution 1325: Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice held hearings in regards to the Japanese military sexual slaver and other various crimes against “comfort women” during World War 2. These crimes include war over women’s bodies and using women’s bodies as war weapons. The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security did a lot of work to put the Resolution 1325 out into the world. Meetings and training sessions were held to teach people how to implement the resolution. The Resolution went on international alert where over 100,000 signatures were collected from over 140 countries that derived from women, their organizations and civil society groups working on peace including to end the impunity for crimes against women. The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Protection, and Participation Project carried out an assessment in regard to the protection responsibilities of women refugees and other gender equality issues.

Hill Et Al: Resolution 1325 and its effects on the inclusion and the protection of women.
The 23 October 2000, Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. A landmark decision, Resolution 1325 confronted crimes against humanities. Many nongovernmental agencies relentlessly fought to shield women, children, and civilians from horrendous war crimes. Two things were happening, Firstly, major resolutions about humanitarian issues were to protect humans. Secondly women were inclusive in debates, decisions and society polities. Many nongovernmental agencies relentlessly organized lectures at the United Nations, Columbia University and they gave out pamphlets to educate the world. Internationally and nationally people views were transformed Nongovernmental agencies facilitated evidence about horrendous crimes as far as illustrated testimonies. Also, ministries about the sexual crimes in wartime societies illustrated. Clearly women were embraced to describe the atrocities. A women’s detailed description was necessary because they received the greatest sexual abuse. Continuously women advocated and they were incorporated into policy making. As Hill Et Al stated, Resolution 1325 shaped renewed lens thereby women were not undervalued, women were not underutilized and women were eventually placed in leadership roles. Nongovernmental agencies made an impact whereas they created social programs to safeguard victims from war torn societies. I do not deny Resolution 1325 was a necessary document: however, I believe a strategy to implement the policies was complicated. I believe it would have been extraordinarily difficult to prevent women, children and civilians within the chaos of war from being attacked. National and international government promised protection. But establishing safety in the middle of a war tends to be questionable. My point is the United Nations imposed a policy enforceable by law. Of course, any crimes against humanity I truly believe must not be tolerated. The fact that individuals are held accountable for war crimes after the fact is not enough. National and international policies must move further. Many third world countries punish women, children and civilians although they are sexually assaulted victims. Most third world countries have rigid cultural rules. Individuals are alienated who have been sexually assaulted. For example, any women sexually assaulted cannot find a husband. She is considered soiled. They have robbed some women, some children and some civilians of any happiness in life. We must move further to protection individuals from crimes against humanity. Women inclusive within the decision process was a major move forward. Consequently, national and international laws must drastically forge policies to implement more action. I question this written policy for many reasons. Women fought 144 years to be recognized as citizens. I believe a written document is not enough.

Resolution 1325 has been a God-send for women and children in third world civilizations in the midst of wars. Before 2000, women and children were told to be considered “bystanders” to war efforts according to the UN, who condemned abuse or attacks and attempted to give the proper protection in these times; however, they were not given the correct representation or people to enforce these assumptions. In Resolution 1325, women are integrated in the peace-making and rebuilding processes, given membership and leadership roles within the groups that develop these choices (Aboitiz, Hill and Poehlman-Doumbouya, 2003, 1255-1256). Now, women are able to pioneer new beginnings for their devastated nations and form a new foundation for their fellow citizens.
In the Resolution, the code specifically outlines for women to take more proactive roles within resolutions and to be given the opportunities to lead these movements. However, this is not always the reality that occurs. For example, women have been invited to help resolve issues in Afghanistan, but it has not been accepted yet by other leaders (Aboitiz, Hill and Poehlman-Doumbouya, 2003, 1260). Not only does the Resolution have to be passed throughout many of these nations, but the culture needs to shift as well. In many of the war-torn areas of the world, women are regarded as second class citizens or even properties. To equip women with these possibilities of pioneering a new culture, the UN must realize they also have to battle old beliefs.
Despite this negative factor, women have been able to influence others with their opinions and strength. Since the Resolution, a council has formed for an annual meeting, discussing the current issue at hand. In 2001, women congregated in this meeting to discuss the epidemic of using women’s bodies during war conflicts, which dates itself to World War II; in many of these cases, women are used as sex slaves or even human shields against the opposition (Aboitiz, Hill and Poehlman-Doumbouya, 2003, 1262.) The testimonies were well received, as many of the accounts were auto-biological in nature and offers a new perspective in light of war. The councils have had an overall positive effect, giving many women a voice they have never been able to obtain.
Implementing women into roles to develop and execute peace keeping missions has been one of the best resolutions the UN has made. Not only are women able to finally have a voice, but they are using authority and power they have never carried before. Thanks to this resolution, several areas now have female-ran groups who restock supplies and resources for their area; others work side by side with males, who are trying to assist in the same efforts. Women are given a podium thanks to the United Nations, becoming proud citizens of the nation they hail from and are rescuing in the same process.