Women, Peace and Security
AusAID’s implementation of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1325

© Commonwealth of Australia 2010
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Published by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), 
Canberra, October 2010.
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Edited by Byword Services

Australia is a proud and long-time supporter of 
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
Resolution 1325 addresses the impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to preventing conflict and promoting sustainable peace.
This publication sets out support provided through Australia’s international development assistance program to implement Resolution 1325.
This includes:
•	recognising and supporting the role women play in preventing conflict and building peace
•	supporting women’s participation in formal peace negotiations and as part of reconstruction efforts
•	ensuring that men’s and women’s needs are addressed in support provided during and after conflict
•	working to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict.

Contents
Introduction	1
Ensuring women are part of peace negotiations	5
Putting it into practice—in Asia and the Pacific	6
Supporting the role of women in peacebuilding	8
Putting it into practice—in Mindanao, the Philippines	8
Putting it into practice—in the Pacific	10
Preventing sexual violence in conflict	12
Putting it into practice—with the United Nations	12
Putting it into practice—in the Democratic Republic of Congo	14
Supporting female survivors of violence	15
Putting it into practice—in Northern Iraq	15
Supporting the role of women in reconstruction	17
Putting it into practice—in Afghanistan	18
Putting it into practice—in East Timor	18
Putting it into practice—in Nepal	20
Responding to women’s needs during conflict 
and humanitarian emergencies	22
Putting it into practice—in humanitarian emergencies	22
Improving the evidence base on women, peace 
and security	24
Putting it into practice—in Aceh, Indonesia	24
Putting it into practice—in Fiji, Sri Lanka and East Timor	25

Introduction
Since 1980, almost half of the world’s poorest countries have experienced armed conflict, with most now taking place within states rather than between them. Although the number of conflicts worldwide has fallen since the 1990’s, the proportion of civilian casualties has increased dramatically. The toll in terms of human suffering, economic loss and wasted development opportunities has been enormous.
Yet there is another side to conflict and post-conflict situations that is gaining increasing attention, and that is the experience of women.
Because of gender inequalities and the lack of structures and norms to protect women and girls, they are often more vulnerable to conflict than are men and boys. Women frequently bear the brunt of many of the harmful consequences of armed violence. 
But women are also far more than victims—they are often the key to preventing violence from emerging, to resolving ongoing conflict and to rebuilding societies once guns are silent. 
All of this means that a comprehensive approach to security needs to be gender sensitive—to recognise the needs, interests and contributions of both women and men. This is the underlying premise of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which was adopted by the Security Council in October 2000. 
Australia recognises the significance of women in preventing, managing and resolving conflict and is a strong supporter of Resolution 1325. 
Australia’s international development assistance program provides practical support to address issues affecting men and women during and after conflict. This includes support for women’s organisations, partner governments and international organisations to ensure that women participate in peace processes, that their need for protection is met and that gender perspectives are included in peacekeeping operations.
There is growing international recognition that a comprehensive approach to addressing security issues will recognise that violent conflict affects and engages men and women in different ways. It will also acknowledge the different roles, needs and priorities of both women and men and require the participation of women and the inclusion of their experience and perspectives in decision making.
This recognition of women’s critical roles in responding to conflict and in building peace has been formalised in four United Nations Security Council Resolutions in the past decade. As well as Resolution 1325 (2000) there is Resolution 1889 (2009) on women, peace and security and Resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) on ending sexual violence in conflict.

United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security
Resolution 1325 addresses the impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to preventing conflict and promoting sustainable peace.
Resolution 1889 calls for concrete action to accelerate the implementation of Resolution 1325, including a strategy to increase the number of women participating in peace talks. 
Resolution 1820 identifies sexual violence as a tactic of war that requires specialised military and police responses.
Resolution 1888 established a Special Representative of the 
Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict to provide high-level leadership on this issue.

‘Resolution 1325 holds a promise to women across the globe that their rights will be protected and that barriers to their equal participation and full involvement in the maintenance and promotion of sustainable peace 
will be removed. We must uphold this promise.’
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan 
on Women, Peace and Security
Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was the first resolution passed by the Security Council that links women’s experiences of conflict to the international peace and security agenda. It focuses attention on the impact of conflict on women and on women’s contributions to preventing conflict and promoting sustainable peace.
The 10th anniversary commemoration provides an opportunity to promote the importance of continuing to implement Resolution 1325—a political framework that emphasises the role of women and the need to integrate a gender perspective in all aspects of conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction.
Resolution 1325 calls for action around four themes: 
•	the full participation of women in peace processes (including conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction)
•	the incorporation of gender perspectives in peacekeeping operations and training
•	the protection of women and girls (including the prevention of gender-based violence)
•	the integration of gender perspectives in United Nations (UN) reporting and actions.
The 10th anniversary of Resolution 1325 also provides an opportunity to promote the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 on ending sexual violence.
According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands of women were raped during the Rwanda genocide, as many as 64 000 internally displaced women experienced sexual violence by armed combatants during the conflict in Sierra Leone, and between 20 000 and 50 000 women were raped in the Bosnia and Herzegovina war. But sexual violence in conflict is often not limited to rape; it includes acts such as slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy and enforced sterilisation. 
Resolution 1820 profoundly changed the legal and political landscape for addressing sexual violence during conflict. It identifies sexual violence as a tactic of war that requires specialised military and police responses.
Australia, through its international development assistance, places a priority on implementing these important Security Council Resolutions. Australia supports a range of development programs that recognise the role women play in preventing conflict and building peace. Australia is also focused on promoting effective ways to prevent sexual violence and help women and families go about their daily activities safely in conflict-affected environments.

Ensuring women are part of peace negotiations
 ‘… the reality for many women, both in the Pacific Island 
region and around the world, is that they are excluded from the 
very structures that make the decisions to sustain peace or 
engage in conflict.’
Helen Hakena, 
Leithana Women’s Development Agency, Bougainville 
Peace negotiations bring key stakeholders together to negotiate an agreement for peace and an end to conflict. The negotiations can also include independent parties such as neighbouring countries, UN agencies, and internationally recognised mediators.
These negotiations are crucial to determining the basis of peace; they can address issues such as the formation of a new government, the processes for elections, and actions for dealing with war crimes.
Despite repeated calls and commitments from governments to improve the representation of women in formal peace processes, their participation as mediators, advisers or members of conflict parties remains extremely low. 
Fewer than 8 per cent of peace process participants and fewer than 3 per cent 
of signatories to recent peace agreements are women.
Even when women are included, they are rarely present from the start of negotiations. The result can be that many defining decisions are made long before women get to the table. 
By increasing the representation of women in peace negotiations, it is more likely that issues affecting men and women will be considered and that peace can be more sustainable.
Putting it into practice—in Asia and the Pacific
Australia is supporting the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue’s project ‘Women at the Asian Peace Table: Enhancing Women’s Participation in Peace Processes’. The project aims to increase women’s involvement in formal conflict resolution and mediation processes.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is an independent mediation organisation dedicated to improving the global response to armed conflict. Since 2005 it has been exploring ways to integrate gender perspectives in peacemaking and increase women’s representation in peace processes, particularly by enhancing the role of women at senior levels. 
The aim of ‘Women at the Asian Peace Table’ is to give women who are mediators, negotiators and advisers in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region the opportunity to identify and implement strategies for improving women’s participation in peace processes. 
The roundtables bring together women who are mediators, advisors to peace processes, members of negotiating teams, government representatives and key stakeholders to exchange ideas, experiences and strategies for negotiating peace. The roundtables have been held in Indonesia, Africa and Nepal since mid-2009.
The roundtable meetings are addressing critical questions, such as:
•	what difference does it make to peace negotiations and outcomes when women are powerbrokers and are sitting at the peace table, representing the constituency of women as well as various political interests
•	what happens when women do not represent women’s interests in 
peace negotiations
•	what challenges do women face when at the negotiating table
•	what strategies can mediators use to ensure that more women are at 
the negotiating table.
The project is also documenting good practice related to women and peacemaking in the Asia-Pacific region. It will provide key information and recommendations for the peacemaking community on how to incorporate the perspectives of both women and men in peace agreements and outcomes.

Supporting the role of women in peacebuilding
‘Public participation in peacemaking is critical but especially more so in situations of protracted social conflict like in the Philippines, because it is the relationship of the minority with the government that is central to the armed conflict. 
However, the people in the majority are involved too in that they are party to the divisions that characterize such societies.’
Irene M Santiago, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the 
Mindanao Commission on Women
Women often play an active role in negotiating and building peace in their communities. They can be the source of innovative ideas and solutions for peace, and can play a critical role in building community support for peace.
For example, women played a key role in ending the conflict in Bougainville in Papua New Guinea by directly negotiating with members of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In Solomon Islands, the group Women for Peace worked to bring together the key groups in the ethnic tensions and to build a culture of peace.
For women to be able to play an active role in maintaining and promoting peace, they need to be safe and have the resources to do this work. Their peacebuilding work and advice need to be valued and supported by decision makers and governments.
Putting it into practice—in Mindanao, the Philippines
Australia is supporting a range of initiatives to promote peace and improve livelihoods in Mindanao in the Philippines. Culturally diverse Mindanao communities have been damaged by decades of complex armed conflict between community groups. Australian support for peace initiatives in Mindanao are bringing together Muslim, Christian and indigenous young people so that they can discuss how to implement peace projects in their communities.
Under the initiative ‘Another Mindanao is Possible’, Australia is providing support to the Mindanao Commission on Women to help them to influence public policy and public opinion about peace and development from a women’s perspective.  The work of the Commission is contributing to a future for Mindanao that is free of poverty and violence, where women are acknowledged as peacebuilders and peacemakers, and where women and men participate and benefit from peace and development.
The Commission provides Mindanao women with opportunities to participate in political decision making through lobbying, advocacy and community activities at the local level.
By supporting women’s participation in the formal peace-negotiating process, the Commission provides opportunities for women to play a major role in preventing conflict and promoting peace. This improves the responsiveness of peace negotiations and poverty reduction programs to the needs of Mindanao women and girls.

Putting it into practice—in the Pacific
In the Pacific, Australia is supporting the work of femLINKPacific to increase women’s participation in peacebuilding.
‘This work is grounded in our desire for peace and  security for women, not only in their homes and  communities, but also ensuring they are visible and  heard in dialogue and peace processes.’
Sharon Bhagwan Rolls,  Executive Director, femLINKPacific
FemLINKPACIFIC is a feminist community organisation based in Fiji. They work to empower women, people with a disability and under-served communities in Fiji and across the Pacific. Their focus is on making sure that the voices of these groups are heard.  
FemLINKPACIFIC leads a community and media policy network on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in Fiji, Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Through the production of a range of media initiatives, the network advocates on women’s rights, peace and security with decision makers at the local, regional and national levels. Its aim is to ensure that men’s and women’s needs are taken into account when responding to conflict and building peace, and that women’s representation and participation in peace processes are enhanced and more visible.
FemLINKPACIFIC provides media training to rural and regional correspondents to increase media coverage and community awareness of women’s roles, perspectives and priorities in peace and security issues.
‘Peace Talks’ training by femLINKPACIFIC brings women together to discuss peace and security issues, and to ensure that they have the skills to engage with governments. In 2010 the training will focus on better equipping women in communities to engage in national debates and discussions of peace and security. The training will also invigorate women’s networks in civil society. The project has developed a ‘Peace Talks’ training manual for national and regional use.

Preventing sexual violence in conflict
Sexual and gender-based violence is a violation of women’s human rights and is often an invisible, yet critical, impediment to effective peacebuilding. 
Women are frequently victims of atrocities and injustices during conflict. International evidence shows that violence against women escalates during such times and remains at high levels after the conflict has ended. 
Women who have to leave their homes to escape conflict are often at greater risk of sexual violence, which is now recognised globally as a tactic of war and considered a war crime. Yet, to date, there are no national military guidelines on how to counter such violence.
Putting it into practice—with the United Nations
To address this gap in guidance, Australia has provided support to key UN agencies to develop an inventory of best practice in preventing sexual violence during conflict. The inventory will help to establish a more systematic approach to preventing such violence.
The inventory, ‘Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence—An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice’, provides practical examples of peacekeeping tactics that have been used and have helped to reduce sexual violence and improve the safety of women during conflict. 
For example, in Kenya, thorny bushes were planted around camp perimeters to deter night attackers and sexual predators. This protected the camp without having to resort to barbed wire. In Darfur, the African Union civilian police and military observers started to patrol the bush areas where many women and girls were raped when they were collecting firewood, enabling women to do this work safely.
The inventory was funded by AusAID and is the result of a collaboration between the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) as part of the interagency network, UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. 
As a next stage, UN agencies will use the inventory to help to train peacekeepers.
Putting it into practice—in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been one of the deadliest in the last half century with more than 5 million deaths associated with the conflict, around 450 000 Congolese refugees in neighbouring countries and almost 2 million internally displaced people.  
Australia is providing support to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to implement a strategy to combat sexual violence in internally displaced communities in North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The strategy aims to create a common framework and actions for all those involved in combating sexual violence in the country in line with the United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security. 
Under the strategy, UNHCR is working as the lead protection agency with others to strengthen the response to sexual violence through better coordination and provision of technical and policy advice, and to ensure that the prevention of sexual violence is built into broader agendas and programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Supporting female survivors of violence
Women who have been subjected to violence have an immediate need for support. This can include access to a safe place to stay, to medical services and to counselling. They also have a longer term need for economic and social support to ensure that they can remain active members of their communities.
Women’s needs and the difficulty they have in accessing support are significantly greater during and after conflict. 
Organisations that provide support to women who have been subjected to violence need more resources, the capacity to improve the quality of support provided, and better coordination and collaboration among service providers.
Putting it into practice—in Northern Iraq
Australia is providing support to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Northern Iraq to enhance the protection of women and girls by improving the way violence against women is addressed and responded to in the community.
The International Rescue Committee works in over 40 countries and responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. It offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.
The IRC’s work aims to ensure female survivors of violence have access to quality care and treatment, enhance their protection and empowerment, and support local mechanisms to address violence against women and girls. This work involves encouraging local communities to discuss and re-evaluate their traditional attitudes. It also involves improving the response of local law enforcement agencies and organisations that provide services to women survivors of violence.

Supporting the role of women in reconstruction
After armed conflict has ended, communities need to rebuild and government structures need to be established. 
The agreements reached on constitutions, the shape of government and processes for elections have a lasting impact on communities. These agreements can significantly affect women’s empowerment and their participation in government and decision making.
By ensuring that both men and women are included in rebuilding communities and important decision making processes, peace is more likely to be lasting.
Putting it into practice—in Afghanistan
Afghan women are caught in a complex web of war and cultural taboo that prevent them from fully participating in elections as both candidates and voters. All attempts to support free and fair elections in Afghanistan must include women if Afghanistan is to be successfully rebuilt.
With Australia’s support, the Asia Foundation and the Asian Network for Free Elections conducted observation missions to improve the processes for elections in Afghanistan in 2009. The teams included equal numbers of men and women and the majority were Muslim. The female observers were able to gain valuable information about Afghan women’s participation in democratic elections. 
The election observers highlighted basic weaknesses in the electoral process and possible reforms for future elections. For example, they identified that more female staff for women’s polling stations and more women police personnel to attend to women’s issues would help to increase Afghan women’s participation in future elections.
Lessons from the 2009 elections were used in the support for the September 2010 elections for the lower house of the Afghanistan parliament. Approximately 2500 candidates contested 249 seats, around 400 of them women, which is 25 per cent more women than in the 2005 elections.
Putting it into practice—in East Timor
In East Timor, Australia is supporting UNIFEM’s Integrated Programme for Women in Politics and Decision Making. The program is working with civil society organisations in partnership with East Timor’s Ministry of State Administration, National Parliament and the Office of the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality.
This program aims to promote women as effective contributors and participants in decision making in government institutions. It has done this by, for example, establishing a Gender Resource Centre. By building networks with government, civil society and academia this centre has improved parliamentarians’ awareness of gender-related issues, provided knowledge on how to integrate gender perspectives in all decision making, agendas and programs, and served as a knowledge hub on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the parliament. The centre, with UNIFEM and the United Nations Development Programme, organised training and discussions on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) for all members of East Timor’s National Parliament on how to review and analyse the National Budget and provided advice on how the budget could be improved to be more gender sensitive.
The program also included a project to enhance the role of women in the Suco (village) Councils. This included training women for leadership roles and supporting their participation in the electoral process, particularly as candidates. The project improved efforts to build a more gender-responsive local development agenda and improved the knowledge of the women elected as Suco representatives to participate fully in local government.
Putting it into practice—in Nepal
Nepal’s government, constitutional bodies and political parties have faced many challenges since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in 1990 and as a result of the civil conflict that ended in 2006. 
In response, Australia, together with the United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland, is supporting the Rights, Democracy and Inclusion Fund, which was launched in 2006. This fund promotes political inclusion, raises awareness of contemporary political issues, encourages civil society to protect and promote the rights of all and assists political parties to reform their internal processes.
One objective of the fund is to increase the participation of women, youth and excluded groups in the democratic process and to ensure their needs are included in the new constitution. For example, the fund is supporting the National Indigenous Women Forum. The Forum will help to improve the knowledge of its political party representatives on political processes, to improve the way political parties engage with indigenous women’s groups, and broaden networks with political parties, government authorities and civil society organisations to ensure the political inclusion of indigenous women.

Responding to women’s needs during conflict and humanitarian emergencies
War and other humanitarian emergencies have enormous impacts on women, yet their needs are not always central in the responses to those emergencies.
Women and men experience armed conflict and other humanitarian disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, differently. Women rarely have the same resources, political rights, authority or control over their environment and needs that men do, and this is exacerbated in armed conflict and humanitarian disasters. It is an unfortunate fact that women are often victims of extraordinary atrocities and injustices during conflict.
When women’s needs in fragile and conflict-affected communities are considered they are better able to contribute to the safety and wellbeing of their communities.
Putting it into practice—in humanitarian emergencies
Australia is supporting the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap). GenCap builds the skills and capabilities of people and organisations that respond to humanitarian emergencies to ensure that gender perspectives and issues, including gender-based violence, are considered in their responses. This can mean making sure that health teams can support the needs of pregnant women, that temporary shelter has adequate lighting and security, and that female-headed households are able to access food assistance.
Agencies that respond to humanitarian emergencies typified by those in Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Somalia warrant targeted support to build their capacity to meet the physical and psychosocial needs of women, children and other vulnerable people.
GenCap is a collaboration between the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (the primary mechanism for interagency coordination of humanitarian assistance) and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Australia is a GenCap funding partner. 
GenCap aims to ensure that humanitarian action takes into consideration the different needs and capacities of women, girls, boys and men equally. It addresses this by deploying gender advisers in the initial stages of sudden emergencies as well as in protracted or recurring humanitarian situations to work alongside UN agencies, non-government organisations and governments. These advisers provide information and analysis about the needs of men and women in the particular situation, advice on how to ensure that programs reflect these needs and training to organisations working on the emergency response. 

Improving the evidence base on women, peace and security
Robust evidence is vital in improving international responses to the experiences of women and men during and after conflict. 
By gathering evidence on experiences of women and men and what action helped them, and through documenting good practice, governments, international organisations and peacekeeping forces can better ensure that they are able to address key issues.
Such evidence is also important in drawing the attention of decision makers to the significant contribution that women and women’s organisations make to building peace.
Australia is working with civil society organisations and research institutions to gather more evidence on how Australia can more effectively support women’s participation in peace processes and address violence against women during conflict.
Putting it into practice—in Aceh, Indonesia
Violence against women can increase after conflict. When combatants return to their homes, men and women can struggle to readjust to peacetime roles, and other problems such as trauma and unemployment may put pressure on relationships.
In Aceh, AusAID is supporting research on the role of men and boys in preventing gender-based violence after conflict. Men and women are being interviewed to gain a better understanding of how norms, attitudes and behaviours contribute to gender-based violence. The findings will inform policy and programs to prevent violence. 
The research is being undertaken by the initiative ‘Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-based Violence’, together with local partners and civil society groups in Aceh, including the Aceh Men’s Forum.
The initiative is a UN interagency undertaking, which offers a coordinated approach to preventing gender-based violence in the Asia-Pacific region by involving boys and men more in finding the solution.
Putting it into practice—in Fiji, Sri Lanka and East Timor
In Fiji, Sri Lanka and East Timor, AusAID has supported research to assess the impacts of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the challenges to implementing it. The research identified the differences the resolution has made in these countries, the obstacles to women participating in peace processes, women’s security needs and what has worked best in different areas.
The research was conducted by academics from the University of South Australia and Flinders University. This research has provided policy advice on how to improve the implementation of Resolution 1325 to deliver better results for women in each of these countries. This will also add to the international evidence base on ways in which the international community can better respond to the different roles, needs and priorities of men and women when responding to conflict and building peace.