PRESS CONFERENCE ON SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE ON WOMEN AND PEACE, SECURITY

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE ON SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE ON WOMEN AND PEACE, SECURITY

Women everywhere were celebrating the fact that the Security Council was, for the first time today, listening to women's voices, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference. Ms. Heyzer was joined by Assistant Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Gender Issues, Angela King, and leaders of several women's organizations, as they described their participation in today’s Security Council's deliberations on women and peace, and security.

"Rape and sexual violence continue to be used as weapons of war," said Ms. Heyzer. Protecting women from such violence was a priority, but equally important was the emphasis on the role of women as leaders in peace-building processes. They were the ones, after all, holding the social fabric together in times of crisis. "We are shocked that, at the peace table, we find warlords, but not women," she said.

Ms. King said that in her statement to the Security Council she had stressed not only the sufferings of women, but also what they have been doing to contribute to peace processes, including preventive action, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction. She said she discussed how women's participation in peace operations can engender democratization among local women, through their cooperation with international efforts.

Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, President of the Federation of African Women's Peace Network and a member of the Zambian Parliament, said that she had described to the Council women's peace initiatives in Africa from post-colonial times to the present. In Mozambique and Mali, women were able to get opposing factions to put down their arms and negotiate. In South Africa, Somalia, and the Sudan, women mediated, crossed borders, and organized training. "Wherever there are conflicts", she said, “women naturally arise to try to resolve those conflicts”. She looked forward to a systematic participation of women at the community, national and international levels of peace-building.

Faiza Jama Mohamed, Director of the Africa Office of Equality Now, said she informed the Security Council of women's initiatives to restore peace and security in Somalia. They had established police units, pressured elders to use their influence to halt conflicts, and organized many civil society peace-building efforts. Among the recommendations she passed on from Somali women to the Security Council was the need to assure accountability of peacekeepers, who in Somalia, as elsewhere, had themselves committed violence against women and used them as prostitutes. There were, she said, no women peacekeepers in Somalia and no women at the peace tables. "Women in war", she said, "were the first and worst affected and the last consulted".

Luz Mendez, General Coordinator of the National Union of Guatemalan Women, said she told the Security Council about the participation of Guatemalan women in that country's peace process. Women and civil society were able to express their perspective, not only on women's issues, but also on how to rebuild a just

UNIFEM Press Conference - 2 - 24 October 2000

Guatemalan society. Unfortunately many of the resulting provisions of the peace accords had not been implemented. Based on her experience, she stressed the need for women's participation in the post-conflict stage, in order to follow up on the accomplishments of all commitments.

Among the other issues the raised by the panellists in the Council were: a call for women's leadership in all stages of the peace process, from early warning to the building of an equitable post-conflict society; a call for updating the peacekeeper's Code of Conduct, discipline for breaches of that code, and inclusion of gender experts in all phases of peace operations; and a recommendation for an assessment of the impact of armed conflict on women, and that women's groups be fully integrated into peace negotiations and international efforts.

A correspondent asked if the questions of the thousands of babies conceived and abandoned by peacekeepers came up. The panellists replied that peacekeepers had been disciplined for rape, but that such issues of child support would be part of forthcoming discussions.

How was the Security Council convinced to host the debate on women's issues? a correspondent asked. Ms. King replied that there was a mandate coming out of the Beijing platform for gender mainstreaming in all parts of the United Nations, and the President of the Security Council stated in March that women had a role to play, not just as victims of armed conflict, but as positive actors. Ms. Heyzer added that there had been a dialogue building on many fronts in recent years, with the active participation of UNIFEM and women's groups.

Finally, a correspondent asked if there were worries about the Security Council's ability to implement the expected resolution on the issue. Ms. King replied that the draft resolution under consideration was striking for its practical and realizable nature. Training, the creation of gender units, the inclusion of the gender perspective in missions and accountability were all very achievable. Every initiative had to start small, she said. Today was definitely a positive start. What came through at the Council was a very serious commitment to getting the action going.

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