On 31 October 2002, the United Nations Security Council adopted unanimously Resolution 1325 urging "Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional, and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts."
Resolution 1325 on "Women, Peace and Security" was the first time that the U.N. Security Council acknowledged that women play a key role in promoting sustainable peace and had stressed that the participation of women in peace processes from the prevention of conflict to negotiations to postconflict reconstruction and reconciliation is essential. This U.N. Security Council resolution indicates the link between the security of States - the chief mandate of the Security Council - and "human security" - that is, the security of people.
There has been a growing awareness that women are not just victims of violent armed conflicts - collateral damage - but are chosen targets. Recent conflicts have served to bring rape and other forms of sexual violence to the forefront of international attention.
However, women should not be seen only as victims of war. They are often significantly involved in taking initiatives to promote peace.
Work for such a resolution of the U.N. Security Council had begun at least five years earlier at the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women and especially at the nongovernmental forum which had been held just outside Beijing where peacebuilding had been an important theme. After Beijing, active preperation shifted to Geneva where there were dynamic represntatives of women's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who had been to the Beijing meetings. They were in close contact with New York - based NGOs who contacted governmental missions to the U.N.
Since 2002, there have been no radical changes in U.N. or governmental practices as a result of Resolution 1325. However, the goal has been articulated and accepted. Thus, our task today, as the representatives of NGOs, is to work so that the 1325 guidelines and norms are put into practice. At this time of strong dangers, we must work so that the talents and energy of both women and men are best used for the resolution of conflicts.
René Wadlow, Association of World Citizens
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