On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1325 on women, peace and security during its 4231st meeting.

The resolution deals with the special impact that war has on women and children and stresses the necessity to involve women in conflict prevention, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.

A week before adopting the resolution, the Security Council held an open session on the topic (24 October 2000). It was the first thematic session on this issue ever held by the Council.

An open session allows members of all governments to speak, not only the fifteen members of the Council. In this particular case, more than 40 speakers addressed the Council, among them Secretary-General Kofi Annan who said: "For generations, women have served as peace educators, both in their families and their societies. They have been instrumental in building bridges rather than walls." Annan urged the Council to do everything within its power to protect women and girls in conflict and to give them a role in peace building.1

Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women, added that peace processes suffer when women are not included: "[If] women are half of every community, are they therefore not half of every solution?"2

Shortly before the open session, on 23 October 2000 an Arria Formula meeting had been held on the same topic, giving members of the Security Council the chance to be advised by experts from non-governmental organizations.3

For the last two decades many women’s organizations lobbied for a Security Council Resolution that would include a gender perspective into conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peace building.

The resolution is seen by many as a historic document, “a watershed political framework that makes women – and a gender perspective – relevant to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps and peacekeeping operations and reconstructing war-torn societies.”4

This view on the resolution has led various human rights and women’s organizations as well as UN and governmental institutions to publish a large number of reports, articles, talks and other documents on the topic.5 Following the adoption of 1325, numerous groups all over the world have lobbied for its implementation.

The resolution includes a number of requests for action to the United Nations in general and the Security Council and its member states in particular, as well as to parties to armed conflict. These requests can be summarized as follows:

• The number of women working on all levels of decision-making in national, regional and international institutions as well as in the field must be increased.

A gender perspective must be included into conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post conflict reconstruction; peacekeeping personnel have to be trained accordingly. The Security Council is willing to consult local organizations whenever possible.

• All parties to armed conflict must respect existing international laws protecting women and girls - especially from gender based violence. Where violations have been committed, states have to end impunity.

• The civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements must be respected by all parties to armed conflict.

• The different needs of women must be considered when planning refugee camps, dealing with ex-combatants and taking measures like sanctions which affect the general population.

• The Secretary-General is asked to carry out a study on the matter and to report on its results as well as to include progress on gender mainstreaming in his reporting to the Security Council.

SCR 1325 and Pakistan

Pakistan has a clear commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment through amongst others the establishment of a Ministry for Women Development, a National Action Plan adopted in 200 and the ratification of CEDAW in 1996.

Following on this path the Government through the Ministry of Women Development is keen to support the development of an implementation plan on SCR 1325 and in general advance gender-sensitive approaches to peacekeeping.

Pakistan is a country with great promise and extreme fragility. Economic development and democratization have been hindered by internal and cross border conflicts that have resulted in the past in the highest number of refugees as well as internally displaced persons in the world, increased migration and with urge economic development challenges.

There is a situation of no-war-no-peace, and while there have been a number of bilateral and multilateral peace-building processes launched, women and women’s issues have not been incorporated into these discussions. Women and girls are among those most affected by the violence and economic instability associated with conflict and post-conflict situations. Yet, when it comes to negotiating peace and facilitating the reconstruction of societies after war, women are grossly underrepresented.

To ensure women’s inclusion in the peace-building process in Pakistan, as well as to facilitate the achievement of their economic and human security, the Ministry of Women Development and UNIFEM are in the process of developing a strategic framework interventions on women, peace and security.