Angela KingThe following excerpts were taken from a statement made by Ms. Angela E.V. King, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. It formed part of a Security Council discussion on Women, Peace and Security.
I AM honoured today to have the opportunity to speak in this historic occasion when for the first time the Council has decided to devote an entire open discussion to the topic "Women, peace and security."
It has only been fairly recently that the experience of women and girls in armed conflict has been discussed, and then discussion was usually concentrated on their role as victims. Today's debate will show that we have come a long way in a relatively short time.
The timing of this discussion is also significant. The Secretary-General has just returned from an area where he undoubtedly had an opportunity to see at first hand the devastating effects of conflict on women and men, and the role they should play to bring about peace and rebuild societies in that arena.
There are three broad areas to be considered in the context of today's discussion. How armed conflict affects women; how women actually respond to conflict, the peace process and post-conflict reconstruction; and how we can plan strategically for a future where women are equal partners with men in enhancing our effectiveness in peace operations.
Today, I would like to concentrate on the two latter points, drawing on my experience as Chief of Mission in South Africa.
What do women actually do in conflict situations and how do they respond?
The socio-economic fabric of a country has now to be the major focus of attention. Societal dynamics thus become a key guide to finding entry points into resolving disputes. Groups within each society and especially women's groups, non-governmental, religious or other groups have a major role to play, and whether these groups were formed before the conflict or organised during it, is unimportant. What is important, is that these groups must be part of all the stages of the peace negotiations, in planning for the future, in rebuilding and in crafting preventive strategies to avoid future conflict.
Often those of us who have seen the value of women's participation in peace operations at first hand are challenged by the sceptics to present empirical rather than anecdotal findings. In this connection, I am also pleased to report on the results of a joint three-year effort between the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, my office and the Division for the Advancement of Women and with the generous funding of several member states, 'Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Operations', which has just been finalised.
The study looks at five peace operations (Bosnia Herzegovina (UNMIBH), Cambodia (UNTAC), El Salvador (ONUSAL), Namibia (UNTAG) and South Africa (UNOMSA). It answers the sceptics by: giving objective and empirical findings on what women staff do in missions, whether and how they influence the outcomes and how their participation equally with men, can improve the efficiency of UN peacekeeping. The Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action were informed by the findings of this study.
Exactly what does this study tell us? It shows unequivocally that:
Where there is a critical mass of women in the mission (at least 30 per cent), local women are more easily mobilised to join peace committees. This occurred in South Africa and in Namibia where they actively promote voter education and the right of individual women to vote. In other words, women's participation in UN missions empowers local women and may inspire them to organise towards a democratic society in which they can exercise their rights equally with men;
Women's participation has the capacity to expand the debate a little further, so that it may encompass more diverse subjects, including those which may be more relevant to what is happening to women, children and communities;
Women are frequently less hierarchical in dealing with local communities and listen more, thereby having better insights into the root causes of conflict;
Local women are more likely to confide in women peacekeepers about matters such as rape and other sexual violence (Bosnia Herzegovina);
The presence of a critical mass of women appears to foster confidence and trust among the local population which is critical to successful operations (El Salvador, South Africa);
Women are active negotiators and able to see more clearly issues where women are affected differently to men;
Women's participation in all aspects of the mission helps to break down traditional views and stereotypes of women in local communities, especially when women peacekeepers serve in a broad spectrum of activities of the mission. This has a spin-off effect for the participation of local women in decision-making positions in the post-conflict phase;
Women political monitors or observers are just as willing and capable of serving in dangerous or isolated areas as men, and do so just as effectively;
Mixed teams of women and men (Namibia), a significant proportion of women team leaders (South Africa), a woman Special Representative or Head of Mission or where the SRSG makes a conscious effort to seek the best staff, male or female -- influences the outcome positively (Namibia had 40 per cent women, South Africa 50 per cent women team leaders).
What does this and other studies tell us about what local women do?
There is abundant evidence to show that even when having to flee to safety with their families or protecting them in refugee or displaced person's camps, women take on a number of peace-building activities.
Women are active at both the formal and informal levels. With few exceptions, women are not present in formal peace negotiations. However, women have been part of these negotiations in Burundi, Guatemala and South Africa for example. Somali women helped to bring the clan leaders back into the negotiations at one stage and were permitted to join the negotiations as observers.
File
