Security Council Adopts Resolution 1889

During the 5 October 2009 “Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security,” which marked the 9th anniversary of SC Resolution 1325, the Security Council, under the presidency of Vietnam, adopted another resolution on the theme of women, peace and security – Resolution 1889 – which follows closely on the heels of the 30 September 2009 adoption of SCR 1888.

SCR 1889 focuses on women’s participation and urges Member States, UN bodies, donors and civil society to ensure that women’s protection and empowerment is taken into account during post-conflict needs assessment and planning, and factored into subsequent funding and programming.

The resolution also calls on all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and integration programmes, in particular, to take into account the needs of women and girls associated with armed groups, as well as the needs of their children. Through the text, the Council also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report within 12 months focused on women in post-conflict situations, and to ensure cooperation between the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Representative on sexual violence in armed conflict, whose appointment had been requested by SCR 1888.

“A cessation of conflict should not result in the marginalization of women and girls, nor their relegation to stereotypical roles,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said as she opened the discussion on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Women are likely to put gender issues on the agenda, set different priorities and possibly bridge the political divide more effectively. Experience also suggests that women’s contributions in post–conflict situations can make a critical difference to community survival and reconstruction,” Ms. Migiro said, speaking on behalf of Mr. Ban. Attention must also be given to safeguarding the newly acquired roles that women were playing during and after conflict, including those at decision-making levels.

Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, introduced the latest report of the Secretary-General on the issue (S/2009/465), affirming that women and girls continued to be victims of gender-based violence in situations where open hostilities had subsided and thus were outside of the radar screen of the international community. She said it was critical for the Council to continue to play a strong advocacy role to root out sexual violence in conflict and to be relentless in its insistence on women as peacekeepers, peacebuilders and decision-makers.

Inés Alberdi, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), stressed that failing to address women’s needs in transitional governance, livelihood support, public service and judicial systems could slow recovery and undermine peace. Furthermore, women were a powerful positive force for long-term peacebuilding.

Aha Hagi Elmi Amin, representing the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, said SCR 1888 and SCR 1889 laid out important steps on international obligations to ensuring women’s rights in conflict. However, without accountability for those resolutions, persistent impediments to their implementation would remain. Therefore, strong, high-level leadership, a coherent approach towards implementation and a concrete monitoring mechanism to address gaps were needed.

Following the presentations, speakers agreed that efforts for the protection and engagement of women in conflict and post-conflict situations must be scaled up, with many expressing regret that progress in the area had been slow despite the seriousness of the problem. Other speakers emphasized that women’s empowerment must be built into the broader development efforts of post-conflict countries. Speaking in his national capacity, Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem of Viet Nam, which holds the Council presidency for the month of October, said that from his country’s post-conflict experience, State and society needed to pay full attention to both civilian women and those having served in armed forces or having been involved in military activities, making sure that a complete range of services was available for them.

The text of SCR 1889 is available online.

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