Jordan Times
Thursday, November 30, 2006
UN urged to
institutionalise Resolution 1325
By Rana Husseini
CAIRO — Women activists have urged the United Nations secretary general and the
Security Council to institutionalise UN Resolution 1325 on women, peace and
security.
“This is an Arab women’s call for peace. We urge you to give our demands your
utmost care and attention,” the activists said in a letter, which was drafted
during a three-day regional conference in Cairo last week
Senator Inam Mufti, who chaired some of the sessions, praised the move saying it
would reflect positively on women in Jordan and elsewhere in the region.
“Here we are talking about ensuring peace and protection for women in general,
which means peace and security for the entire society and not peace between
countries only,” Mufti said.
The November 20-22 conference, entitled “Institutionalising United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325: National Action Plans, Peace Networks and
Engaging Youth in a Culture of Peace,” called for ensuring protection for women
in conflict areas.
“We urge you to take into consideration the issue of gender and to increase
women’s representation in conflict zones by 25 per cent to help in peace
initiative efforts because there is an alarming increase in numbers of violence
against women in conflict and occupied areas,” the participants said.
The participants pointed to the dangers of double- standards that are creating
frustration in the area, which calls for the importance of “spreading the
culture of peace, values of forgiveness and accepting the other in all
societies,” they said.
Based on previous success stories of Arab women in areas that were affected by
conflict and war, the participants said there is an urgent need to make use of
Arab women in peace efforts and initiatives.
They also stressed the importance of focusing on youth participation in
peacemaking and on member countries implementing national plans to apply
Resolution 1325.
The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on October 31, 2000 —
the first ever resolution passed by the council that specifically addresses the
impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to conflict resolution and
sustainable peace.
“Women in this part of the world want to make their voices heard worldwide and
to make it known to all that they are peace builders,” Egyptian first lady
Suzanne Mubarak told the gathering at the conclusion of the conference.
“The UN and the world need to know that our voices should be heard and that we
have demands of enjoying peace and stability that need to be taken into
consideration,” she added.
In her closing remarks, United Nations Development Fund for Women Regional
Programme Director Haifa Abu Ghazaleh said the conference was taking place at a
crucial moment in history.
“We have many challenges ahead of us and this letter and the resolution are just
the first step towards ensuring a better future of peace for generations to
come,” she told participants.
The call was the result of an initiative by the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s
International Peace Movement, which was established in 2003 with the goal of
empowering women to participate in peace initiatives, enhance human security and
support their initiatives internationally.