Chapter 4: Women’s participation
168.That women’s participation in society, the economy and politics should be full and equal ms self-evident.242 Gender equality is, and should be, an end in itself. We agree with Baroness Anelay of St Johns who said: “[W]omen should have equal rights, because they are an equal part of humanity”.243
169.Highly unequal participation is symptomatic of the inequalities that fuel violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual violence in conflict. The exclusion of women from decision and policy making has profound consequences for societies. The absence of women from peace processes means those processes are less likely to endure, imperilling post-conflict societies and jeopardising international peace and security.244 Lady Anelay told us that “if women are not part of peace negotiations and delivering the peace afterwards, it will not be sustainable”.245
170.It was noted that there were considerable challenges to women’s full and equal participation in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding. Many witnesses spoke about inequality and the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination such as “age, background … poverty [and] lack of education”246 that women often face.247 Indigenous women, widows, children and members of religious minorities were identified as being particularly vulnerable to discrimination.248
171.Inequality and discrimination impedes participation and exposes women to further harms. Madame Zainab Hawa Bangura said: “What I have n—whether it is in Colombia, the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] or Somalia—is that the lower the status of a woman, the less education and the less economic opportunity she has, the greater the chances are for her to be sexually abused.”249
172.The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1979. Articles 6 and 7 require state parties to take appropriate measures with respect to equal participation in national and international bodies. The UK became a party to CEDAW in 1986. In its submission the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) set out the steps the Government had taken “to ensure full compliance” with CEDAW.250 However, Widows for Peace through Democracy said that the Government’s actions were insufficient: “[T]he UK has not, in 40 years … nominated a UK woman to sit on the Committee, and we no longer have, as required by our obligations under the Beijing PFA [Platform for Action], an institutional mechanism for UK Women”.251
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda
173.Women’s participation forms one of the four pillars of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, the others being, ‘protection’, ‘prevention’ and ‘relief and recovery’. The WPS Agenda was launched in 2000 with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325. Together with subsequent resolutions, UNSCR 1325 stresses the importance of women’s equal and full participation as active agents in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peacebuilding and peacekeeping.252
174.Although there has been some progress since its adoption, UNSCR 1325 is far from being implemented. In its submission, the FCO set out the impediments to the implementation of the WPS Agenda as “a lack of political will, resource constraints and enduring social attitudes to the role of women which impede their economic, political and social participation”.253
175.There has also been criticism, as highlighted by Dr Jill Steans, that the later UNSCRs on WPS had “narrowed the scope” of the WPS Agenda.254 This had “reduced the transformative potential of the WPS agenda in empowering women as agents of change in the fight against gender-based and sexual violence”, instead focusing on the security and justice elements of the agenda, thereby enforcing the perception of women as victims.255
176.Fifteen years after its adoption, the UN Secretary-General convened a High-Level Review of UNSCR 1325 in October 2015 to assess progress and identify the gaps in implementation. The Review was marked by a Global Study on the implementation of UNSCR 1325,256 a UN General Assembly debate and the Security Council agreeing the eighth WPS Resolution, UNSCR 2242.257
177.A number of witnesses called on the Government to use the UK’s position as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council to ensure WPS was mainstreamed across Security Council decision making and that the recommendations of the High-Level Review of UNSCR 1325 were implemented and reported on ( Chapter 2, paragraph 62).
178.UN Member States are encouraged to develop National Action Plans (NAPs) to support the implementation of UNSCR 1325.258 To date, approximately 43 countries have published NAPs. The UK’s current NAP spans the period 2014–17. The NAP Implementation Plan details the work to involve women in peacebuilding efforts in the UK’s six priority countries of Afghanistan, Burma, the DRC, Libya, Somalia and Syria.259 The UK has supported Afghanistan in the development of its NAP and accompanying implementation plan. Due to the political situation, it was not possible to work with the government of Libya on its NAP, but the Department for International Development (DfID) said it was supporting “projects to promote women’s rights and their participation in the Libyan constitution drafting process and the national dialogue and reconstruction process”.260 As part of the Government’s commitments on WPS announced by Baroness Verma on 13 October 2015, the UK pledged to continue “technical and other support to help other governments develop, implement and measure the impact of their own Action Plans on 1325. We will help Iraq and Afghanistan implement their Action Plans”.261
Peace processes
179.Many witnesses commented on the Government’s engagement with the participation agenda. Ms Madeleine Rees said: “The UK has been quite a champion”.262 By contrast, Dr Jacqueline Troy Lavers said that in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya—countries where the UK had recently militarily intervened—women’s participation had been significantly lower than the 30% recommended by the Beijing PFA263 in order to achieve significant participation.264 A number of witnesses expressed disappointment at the absence of women from the talks on Syria that were held in Vienna in November 2015.265 In February 2016, after we had concluded taking evidence, a Syrian Women’s Advisory Board was established to advise the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Mr Staffan de Mistura.266 In the same month the UK Government co-hosted a conference on the Syria crisis (the ‘Syrian Donors Conference’).267
180.Witnesses put forward a range of measures to increase women’s participation in peace processes. Ms Rees called on the Government to use its position in the UN Security Council to ensure that the UN Department of Political Affairs adhered to the resolutions and obligations in regards to equality, and included women in peace processes, rather than reverting to “the men with the guns”.268
181.The Government could facilitate women’s participation through increased funding, capacity building and the provision of security for women’s organisations.269 Ms Pramila Patten, a member of CEDAW, highlighted the differences in provision for women members of civil society and armed factions in the conflict:
“[I]t has been the NGOs [non-governmental organisations] who have been responsible for bringing the women … to the processes, which means there is very little security provision. They always have to beg, steal and borrow money in order to get here, whereas the negotiators and the parties are put in secure locations, they are flown, they are looked after and they are given status. It is unrealistic to expect women to have to expose themselves to that degree in a way that the factions do not have to. We need to elevate their status so they are taken seriously”.270
182.Extending technical assistance “on conflict resolution processes to countries emerging from conflicts” was also cited as a means to promote women’s participation. Ms Patten said: “We know that the immediate aftermath of conflict can provide a strategic opportunity for state parties to adopt legislative and policy measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of their country.”271
183.The UK and other states were urged to include women in negotiation activities as delegates, including at senior levels.272 The practice of using observer status rather than including women as active participants was criticised: “Women should not be on the side lines observing; they should be an integral part of negotiation and decision-making on the future of their country.”273
184.One of the commitments on WPS announced by Lady Verma at the High-Level Review of UNSCR 1325 focused on women’s participation in peace processes:
“[I]n arranging all future UK-hosted peace-building events, we will identify women involved in the conflict and shine a torch on them to make sure their voices are heard. We will promote the active participation of women in such discussions through political and/or financial support. We will also provide support, including lobbying at the highest levels, to ensure women’s voices are represented in wider peace processes, negotiations, and state-building—and we will provide support at local levels to build the capacity of women to participate effectively.”274
185.A number of submissions suggested that the Government should make the UK’s engagement with peace processes and reconstruction efforts contingent on women’s participation in them.275
186.We heard from Ms Lindy Cameron, Director of Middle East, Humanitarian and Conflict at DfID, that the Government aimed to “shine a torch on peace processes to ensure that we are always thinking about how to involve women in peace processes and how to improve their involvement”.276 The lack of women’s representation would not prevent negotiations commencing: “I would not want to stop or slow down a process, but that has to be something that we understand as necessary for the success of a long-term process. Peace will not be reinforced unless women are at the table and helping to reinforce the deal.”277
187.Lady Anelay said that the Government favoured supporting women to enable them to participate in political processes, rather than boycotting peace processes due to an absence of women. In Syria and Iraq the Government was working to strengthen women’s and human rights organisations and would, where possible, replicate the work undertaken in Afghanistan “where we [the UK] have encouraged women to gain a political voice”.278 Lady Anelay went on to say that if the UK absented itself this would be detrimental to the peace process, although she stressed that she did not want to encourage anybody to think that it is right to go ahead in peace processes without a female voice, “because if they do, they risk instability—I do not want to risk being absent from the table, because then we cannot tell those uncomfortable truths that sometimes those whom we work with need to hear”.279
188.The Government should promote the WPS Agenda—and the terms of the UNSCRs that comprise that Agenda—in all international fora relevant to peace, security and development.
189.The failure so far to include women in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and reconstruction processes is a serious weakness and must end. It is crucial that UN moderators in peace negotiations are mindful of the UNSCRs on women’s participation. If women are not involved directly in peace negotiations and in delivering the peace afterwards, such efforts will be far less likely to succeed. While we welcome the establishment of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board, its advisory role is only a very small step. The Government should increase its efforts in regard to facilitating women’s participation in peacebuilding. The Government should encourage mediators at peace negotiations to ensure gender diversity in their teams. We urge the Government to support the newly established Syrian Women’s Advisory Board and push for its inclusion as an integral part of the ongoing peace negotiations.
190.The Government should ring-fence some of the funding it committed at the Syrian Donors Conference in February 2016, to support women’s participation and gender equality. The proportion ring-fenced should be in line with the UN target of 15% of funds spent on peacebuilding being dedicated to projects that address women’s needs and gender equality.
191.The Government should, when appropriate, put forward a candidate for election to the CEDAW Committee.
192.The Government should k to ensure that when it is a participant in talks on conflict resolution, prevention and peacebuilding that women are included on the same terms as men, and are not marginalised. The Government should look to support this inclusion, for example through increased funding, capacity building and the provision of security for women’s organisations. A separate, appropriate representative on children’s rights, such as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, should also be present at such talks.
242 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Articles 21 and 22: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf [accessed 14 March 2016]
247 for example written evidence from Track Impunity Always (TRIAL) (SVC0002), Gender Action and Development Network (SVC0034) and Human Rights Watch (SVC0049)
248 Written evidence from Widows for Peace through Democracy (SVC0003), Open Doors UK & Ireland (SVC0020) and ABColombia (SVC0033)
250 Written evidence from the FCO (SVC0011): “The CEDAW Committee last examined the UK on its compliance in July 2013 … Since then, Ministers for Women and Equalities have written to relevant Ministerial colleagues to allocate clear departmental responsibilities for the delivery of their recommendations … The Government Equalities Office (GEO) established an official level cross-government group to ensure full compliance with CEDAW … GEO also works to ensure compliance with CEDAW recommendations by the devolved administrations and with those Overseas Territories that have expressed an interest in having CEDAW extended to them … The UK has also, for the first time, commissioned a comprehensive evaluation of the NAP. The results of this evaluation will be available later this year and will be used to inform our future work on WPS.”
252 UN Security Council, Resolution 1325 (31 October 2000): http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/WPS%20SRES1325%20.pdf [accessed 14 March 2016]
254 In particular UNSCRs 1820 and 1888 have been criticised as denoting women as victims.
256 UN Women, Preventing Conflict, Transforming Justice and Securing the Peace: A Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (14 October 2015): http://wps.unwomen.org/~/media/files/un%20women/wps/highlights/unw-global-study-1325–2015.pdf [accessed 14 March 2016]
257 UN Security Council, Resolution 2242 (13 October 2015): http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_res_2242.pdf [accessed 14 March 2016]
258 UN Security Council, Statement by the President of the Security Council (28 October 2004): http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/PRST/2004/40 [accessed 14 March 2016]
261 Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence, ‘The UK firmly believes that the 15th anniversary must represent the start of a new era on Women, Peace and Security’, 13 October 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-uk-firmly-believes-that-the-15th-anniversary-must-represent-the-start-of-a-new-era-on-women-peace-and-security [accessed 14 March 2016]
263 UN Women, ‘Fourth World Conference on Women’: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/ [accessed 14 March 2016]
265 Talks on a process to end the conflict in Syria took place in Vienna, Austria in November 2015. Seventeen countries (‘the International Syrian Support Group’) and three international organisations participated in the talks. The Syrian government and opposition did not attend. Indirect negotiations between the Syrian government and some Syrian opposition groups opened in Geneva on 1 February 2016 and were suspended two days later. ‘UN mediator suspends intra-Syrian talks for three weeks’, UN (3 February 2016): http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53159#.VrszF8pWKDY [accessed 14 March 2016]
266 UN Women, ‘Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the establishment of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board to contribute to the peace talks’, 3 February 2016: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/2/ed-statement-on-syrian-womens-advisory-board [accessed 14 March 2016]
267 Supporting Syria and the Region, London 2016: https://www.supportingsyria2016.com/ [accessed 14 March 2016]
272 Ibid.
273 Ibid.
274 Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence, ‘The UK firmly believes that the 15th anniversary must represent the start of a new era on Women, Peace and Security’, 13 October 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-uk-firmly-believes-that-the-15th-anniversary-must-represent-the-start-of-a-new-era-on-women-peace-and-security [accessed 14 March 2016]
275 Written evidence from Dr Jacqueline Troy Lavers (SVC0013), International alert (SVC0017) and Global Justice Center (SVC0044)
277 Ibid.
279 Ibid.