Women’s Participation Not Enough, Says Study

A year-long study in six countries including Sri Lanka revealed that the goal of a UN resolution adopted 10 years ago to put women in decision-making positions at every level of peacemaking and peace building is not being met, reports said.

“Member states are not fulfilling their obligations. This is a resolution that is both realistic and innovative, covering half the population of the world. It is important, and it is being ignored,” executive director John Tirman of the MIT Center for International Studies, which helped organize the study, said in a statement.

The study was released on Monday, the eve of a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council to review progress towards implementing the resolution on women, peace and security. U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Austria’s Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger were among those expected to speak at yesterday’s open meeting.

The U.N. resolution was the first to recognize “the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building” and “the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.”

It also called for the prosecution of crimes against women, increased protection of women and girls during war, especially against rape and sexual violence, and the appointment of more women to U.N. peacekeeping operations and field missions.

The 50-page study focused on six countries or regions still in conflict or emerging from it – Indonesia’s province of Aceh, Colombia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Liberia, Sri Lanka and Uganda. The researchers said it was based on extensive interviews, government documents, press accounts and the experience of the study team.

In Sri Lanka and Uganda, the study said, women were included in delegations to peace talks and achieved some gains but these were negated by the failure of the talks.

Source: The Daily Mirror – 27.10.2010