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In October 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, a landmark step in both raising awareness and addressing the significant impact of armed conflict on women and girls, and in acknowledging the vital role of women in conflict resolution and peace-building. After 55 years of the United Nations (UN) working to end the scourge of war, the Security Council recognized women's perspectives on war and peace passing the first formal resolution on gender. This watershed international policy framework makes gender (and accordingly, the involvement of women) relevant to peace negotiations, the appointment of UN special representatives and envoys, the training programs of UN personnel, the protection of civilians during and after periods of conflict, the planning of refugee camps and peacekeeping operations, the reconstruction of war-torn societies, and ultimately, the incorporation of gender equality to every single Council action. In short, the UN Security Council officially recognized the need to promote active and visible gender mainstreaming1 in all its policies and programs related to conflict and its resolution.
Resolution 1325 was not the first time the UN acknowledged gender issues. What makes this resolution unique is not only that it addresses women, war, and security, or that is scope is expansive and its implications radical. What makes 1325 unique is that "it is both the product of and the armature for a massive mobilization of women's political energies" (Cohn 2004: 2). The successful passage of this resolution and, more importantly, its present and future policy implications are a result of more than half a century of diverse efforts by national women's movements, transnational activists, and governmental and non-governmental groups. The success (or at least progress) of these efforts is a product of the intense interactions among the numerous actors & from individuals to government agencies to international nongovernmental and governmental groups (INGOs and IGOS, respectively) to grassroots groups & that broadly constitute women's activism in areas of peace and security.2 Resolution 1325 is not only a symbolic threshold for the movement, but it also raises important questions about the nature of social movements and the complex processes of mobilization that are occurring in today's society. As Sara Poehlman-Doumbouya and Felicity Hill (2001) argue, "This resolution provides an important tool in shifting the UN system from words to actions" (1). In this sense, the resolution not only has significance for social and political change nationally and internationally, but for the future of transnational movement research as well.
References: Cohn, Carol. 2004. "Feminist Peacemaking: In Resolution 1325 the UN requires the inclusion of women in all peace planning and negotiation," The Women's Review of Books. February: (http://www.wellesley.edu/WomensReview/archive/2004/02/highlt.html, accessed 18 April 2004). Poehlman-Doumbouya, Sara and Felicity Hill. 2001. "Women and Peace in the United Nations," New Routes: A Journal of Peace Research and Action. 6(3): ("http://www.life-peace.org/default2.asp?xid=359).
Using the following websites, begin to research the transnational movement that is the driving force behind Resolution 1325 and gender mainstreaming strategies more broadly. Look at which groups and issues that fall under this UN mandate. Write a 1-page summary of the 1325 movement, its goals and strategies, and its impact on gender mainstreaming practices.
UN Women Watchwww.un.org/womenwatch/
Peacewomen.orghttp://www.peacewomen.org/The PeaceWomen Project monitors and works toward rapid and full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
