Trick or treat? The UN and implementation of security council resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security

Global Governance

Volumn 15, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 539-557

  Tryggestad, Torunn L ^a  

^a PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OSLO PRIO   (Norway)

Author keywords

Agenda setting; Nongovernmental organizations; Norm development; Resolution 1325; Women's rights

Indexed keywords

EID: 72449132958     PISSN: 10752846     EISSN: 19426720     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/19426720-01504011     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. UN Security Council, Res.S/RES/1325/2000, 31 October 2000.
2. Article 24, UN Charter.
3. See Thomas G. Weiss, Tatiana Carayannis, and Richard Jolly, "The 'Third' United Nations," Global Governance 15, no. 1 (2009): 127.
4. For an introduction to Inis L. Claude Jr.'s distinction of the "first and the second UN".
5. see Inis L. Claude Jr., Swords into Plowshares: The Problems and Prospects of International Organization (New York: Random House, 1956); Inis L. Claude Jr., "Peace and Security: Prospective Roles for the Two United Nations," Global Governance 2, no. 3 (1996): 289-298.
6. The term UN women's machinery refers to UN entities with a particular concern or responsibility for women's issues, including the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). The main consultative bodies in relation to Resolution 1325 are the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Women, Peace and Security.
7. See, for instance, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Women Building Peace: What They Do, Why It Matters (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2007).
8. Cynthia Cockburn, From Where We Stand: War, Women's Activism and Feminist Analysis (London: Zed Books, 2007).
9. Elisabeth Porter, Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective (London: Routledge, 2007).
10. and Sheila Meintjes, Anu Pillay, and Meredeth Turshen, "There Is No Aftermath for Women," in Sheila Meintjes, Meredeth Turshen, and Anu Pillay, eds., The Aftermath: Women in Post Conflict Transformation (London: Zed Books, 2001), pp. 3-17.
11. See, for instance, Angela Raven Roberts, "Gender Mainstreaming in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Talking the Talk, Tripping Over the Walk," in Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts, and Jane Parpart, eds., Gender, Conflict and Peacekeeping (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), pp. 43-63.
12. Richard Jolly, Louis Emmerij, and Thomas G. Weiss, The Power of UN Ideas: Lessons from the First 60 Years, United Nations Intellectual History Project series (New York: UN, 2005), available at www.unhistory.org.
13. See Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, "International Norm Dynamics and Political Change," International Organisation 52, no. 4 (1998): 887-917.
14. and Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).
15. 2005World Summit Outcome, Doc. A/60/1, Chap. III, Peace and Collective Security, par. 116.
16. See concurrent resolutions of the UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1645 (20 December 2005), and the UN General Assembly, Res. A/RES/60/180 (30 December 2005).
17. UN Security Council, Res. S/RES/1820 (19 June 2008). Resolution 1820 is listed under the heading "Women, Peace and Security" on the Security Council Web page, available at www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc-resolutions08.htm.
18. Mats Berdal, "Ten Years of International Peacekeeping," International Peacekeeping 10, no. 4 (2003): 5-11.
19. David M. Malone and Karin Wermester, "Boom and Bust? The Changing Nature of UN Peacekeeping," in Adekeye Adebajo and Chandra Lekha Sriram, eds., Managing Armed Conflicts in the 21st Century, Cass Series on Peacekeeping (London: Frank Cass, 2001), pp. 23-36.
20. The UN operations in Somalia (1992-1993; 1993-1995), the Balkans (1992-1995), and Rwanda (1993-1996) stand out as particularly negative experiences.
21. For an early discussion, see Jarat Chopra and Thomas G. Weiss, "Sovereignty Is No Longer Sacrosanct: Codifying Humanitarian Intervention," Ethics and International Affairs 6, no. 1 (1992): 95-118.
22. See, for instance, The Responsibility to Protect, Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (Ottawa, ON: International Development Research Centre, 2001).
23. Helga Hernes, "De nye krigene i et kjønnsperspektiv" (The new wars in a gender perspective), Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift 24, no. 1 (2007): 24-33.
24. Inger Skjelsbæk, "Sexual Violence in Times of War: Mapping Out a Complex Relationship," European Journal of International Relations 7, no. 2 (2001): 211-237. (Pubitemid 33403131)
25. "Thematic resolutions" are different from the "conflict-specific resolutions" normally adopted by the Security Council. As indicated by the term thematic, the former set of resolutions focus on a specific topic or concern that is a cross-cutting trait of most modern-day conflicts. The first thematic resolution to be adopted by the Council was on the protection of children in armed conflict (Res. S/RES/1261/1999).
26. David M. Malone, "Introduction," in David M. Malone, ed., The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2004), pp. 1-15.
27. Peter Wallensteen and Patrik Johansson, "Security Council Decisions in Perspective," in David M. Malone, ed., The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2004), pp. 17-33. For a useful overview of thematic resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council.
28. see Cora True-Frost, "The Security Council and Norm Consumption," New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 40, no. 1 (2007): 115-218.
29. China and Russia are generally the two most reluctant members of the Security Council when it comes to discussing and adopting resolutions on thematic issues. For more on this, see, for instance, Security Council Update Report No. 3, "Women, Peace, and Security" (11 June 2008).
30. See, for example, Bruce Cronin and Ian Hurd, eds., The UN Security Council and the Politics of International Authority (London: Routledge, 2008).
31. José E. Alwarez, "Legal Perspectives," in Thomas G. Weiss and Sam Daws, eds., The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 58-81.
32. Stefan Talmon, "The Security Council as World Legislature," American Journal of International Law 99, no. 1 (2005): 175-193.
33. Christine Chinkin, "Normative Development in the International Legal System," in Dinah Shelton, ed., Commitment and Compliance: The Role of Non-binding Norms in the International Legal System (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 21-42.
34. and Sydney D. Bailey and Sam Daws, The Procedure of the UN Security Council, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).
35. Article 25 of the UN Charter states that "the Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present charter".
36. An unanimous vote in the Security Council means that all fifteen members of the Council vote in favor of the resolution in question, including the five permanent members: China, France, the UK, Russia, and the United States. The ten nonpermanent members of the Council at the time of the adoption of Resolution 1325 were Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Ukraine; Membership of the Security Council, available at www.un.org/sc/list-eng5.asp (accessed 3 September 2009).
37. This view was repeatedly conveyed to me during interviews and conversations with UN diplomats in November 2006, June 2007, and November 2008.
38. Cora True-Frost, "The UN Security Council Marks Seventh Anniversary of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security with Open Debate," ASIL Insight 11, no. 29 (2007), available at www.asil.org/insights/2007/12/ insights071217.html (accessed 29 May 2008).
39. Anderlini, Women Building Peace, p. 197.
40. Devaki Jain, Women, Development and the UN, United Nations Intellectual History Project series (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005).
41. Dorota Gierycz, "Women, Peace and the United Nations: Beyond Beijing," in Inger Skjelsbæk and Dan Smith, eds., Gender, Peace and Conflict (Oslo: International Peace Research Institute, 2001), pp. 14-31.
42. Preamble and Article 1 of the UN Charter.
43. Charlotte Bunch, "Women and Gender," in Thomas Weiss and Sam Daws, eds., The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 496-510. For more on the role of women's NGOs and activists.
44. see also Cockburn, From Where We Stand.
45. Porter, Peacebuilding.
46. and Jutta M. Joachim, Agenda Setting, the UN and NGOs: Gender Violence and Reproductive Rights (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2007).
47. Torild Skard, "Getting Our History Right: How Were Equal Rights of Women and Men Included in the Charter of the United Nations?" Forum for Development Studies 35, no. 1 (2008): 37-60.
48. The CSW was first established as a subcommission of the Human Rights Commission, but was made an independent entity after pressure from, among others, the NGOs. Eleanor Roosevelt was among the women who initially opposed the idea of a separate commission. For more on the disagreements among women activists during the early years of the UN, see Skard, "Getting Our History Right".
49. Jain, Women, Development and the UN.
50. Today, 186 countries-over 90 percent of the UN member states-are parties to the convention; available at http://treaties.un.org/pages/viewdetails.aspa? src=TREATY&mtdsg-no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en.
51. The UN women's conferences were held in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995).
52. Bunch, "Women and Gender," p. 504.
53. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, Doc. A/CONF. 157/23 (12 July 1993).
54. See An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/47/277-S/24111 (17 June 1992), available at www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html
55. "Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations" (Brahimi Report), UN Doc. A/55/305-S/2000/809 (21 August 2000), available at www.un.org/peace/reports/peace-operations.
56. See "Gender and the Agenda for Peace," report from expert group meeting, 5-9 December 1994, DAW, UN Doc. GAP/1994/1. Two more expert meetings were organized: in the Philippines in 1995 (with UNESCO) and in Santo Domingo in 1996 (with INSTRAW and PRIO).
57. Both the conference and the report were entitled "Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peacekeeping Operations." The final report is available at www.peacekeepingbestpractices.unlb.org/PBPS/Library/ Gender%20Mainstreaming%202000.pdf.
58. See Judith Hicks Stiehm, "Women, Peacekeeping and Peacemaking: Gender Balance and Mainstreaming," in Louise Olsson and Torunn L. Tryggestad, eds., Women and International Peacekeeping, Cass Series on Peacekeeping (London: Frank Cass, 2001), pp. 39-48.
59. See, for instance, Louise Olsson, "Gender Mainstreaming in Practice: The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group in Namibia," in Louise Olsson and Torunn L. Tryggestad, eds., Women and International Peacekeeping, Cass Series on Peacekeeping (London: Frank Cass, 2001), pp. 97-110.
60. The importance of personal relations between individuals such as the late Angela King (OSAGI), Leonard Kapungu (DPKO Lessons Learned Unit), and then Namibian minister of foreign affairs Theo-Ben Gurirab should probably not be underestimated either.
61. Cockburn, From Where We Stand, p. 141.
62. Statement to the press by Security Council president, Ambassador Chowdhury, press release SC/6816, 8 March 2000.
63. See, for instance, Teresa Whitfield, "Groups of Friends," in David M. Malone, ed., The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2004), pp. 311-324.
64. Nell Stewart, first secretary, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, personal communication with the author, 13 June 2008. The current members of the group are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guinea, Jamaica, Japan (observer), the Republic of Korea (ROK), Liechtenstein, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, the UK, and the United States.
65. Cockburn, From Where We Stand, p. 140.
66. The founding members of the NGO working group were Amnesty International, International Alert, the Hague Appeal for Peace, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, the International Peace Research Association, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Later, the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice also became involved. An updated list of current members is available at www.womenpeacesecurity.org.
67. The term Arria formula refers to informal meetings outside Security Council chambers, where members of the Security Council are able to listen to the views of outsiders (usually NGOs) on a particular topic or conflict. The meeting format is named after Diego Arria, the Venezuelan ambassador to the UN who initiated the first meeting in 1993. See James A. Paul, "Working with Nongovernmental Organisations," in David M. Malone, ed., The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2004), pp. 373-387.
68. The strategy of bringing in women from the field to testify before members of the Security Council resembles the strategy chosen by the women's lobby at the 1993 UN Conference on Human Rights.
69. The mission of the NGO working group is "to collaborate with the United Nations, its member states and civil society towards full implementation of SCR 1325, including ensuring the equal and full participation of women in issues relating to peace and security. Using SCR 1325 as our guiding instrument, the NGO Working Group promotes a gender perspective and respect for human rights in all peace and security, conflict prevention and management and peacebuilding initiatives of the United Nations," available at www.womenpeacesecurity.org/about (accessed January 2008).
70. Gina Torry, former coordinator of the NGO working group, interviewed by the author, Oslo, Norway, November 21, 2008.
71. As of May 2009, the following sixteen member states have adopted national action plans: Austria, Belgium, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Liberia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, and the UK. In addition, regional organizations such as the African Union, the European Union, NATO, and the OSCE have adopted resolutions and strategies for the inclusion of the provisions of Resolution 1325 in their respective work for peace and security.
72. Interviewed by the author, New York, June 4, 2007.
73. See Wallensteen and Johansson, "Security Council Decisions in Perspective".
74. See, for instance, Porter, Peacebuilding.
75. and Raven-Roberts, "Gender Mainstreaming in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations".
76. Available at www.un.org/Dept/dpko/dpko/factsfigs.shtml.
77. For more on this, see Manuel Fröhlich, "The Ironies of UN Secretariat Reform," Global Governance 13, no. 2 (2007): 151-160.
78. and Camille Pampell Conaway and Jolynn Shoemaker, Women in United Nations Peace Operations: Increasing the Leadership Opportunities,Women in International Security (WIIS) (Washington, DC: Georgetown University, July 2008); available at http://wiis.georgetown.edu/PeaceOpsFinal.pdf.
79. This view was expressed and supported by a number of gender advisers and diplomats (with women, peace, and security in their portfolios) in interviews and conversations during field trips to New York in November 2006, June 2007, and November 2008.
80. See True-Frost, "The UN Security Council Marks Seventh Anniversary;" and Women, Peace and Security, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. S/2008/622 (25 September 2008).
81. The provisions of Resolution 1325 have also been well integrated into the country-specific work of the Peacebuilding Commission, particularly in the strategic peacebuilding frameworks for Burundi and Sierra Leone.
82. See "Report of the Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security," UN Doc. S/2007/567 (12 September 2007).
83. and Women, Peace and Security, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. S/2008/622 (25 September 2008).
84. The first resolution on Children in Armed Conflict was adopted in 1999. Since then, the Security Council has adopted annual resolutions-each more specific and concrete in its provisions-on this issue. The resolution adopted in July 2005 (Resolution 1612) was groundbreaking in authorizing the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism. In addition, a working group has been established, which benefits from the support of a task force made up of UN entities such as UNICEF, UNDP, and DPKO. The secretary-general also provides regular progress reports on the implementation of these resolutions; Security Council Cross-Cutting Report No. 1, "Children and Armed Conflict" (15 April 2009).
85. See "Report of the Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security," 2008.
86. In 2008, the position was upgraded to the category of senior gender advisers toward the significance of the issue area.