United Nations Peacekeeping

Issues

• Military
• Police
• Rule of law
  • Justice
  • Corrections
• Civil affairs
• Electoral assistance
• Security sector reform
• Mine action
• Gender and peacekeeping
  • Where we work
  • Women, peace and security
  • Women in peacekeeping
• Field support
• Conduct and discipline
• Protection of civilians
• Environment and sustainability
  • Conflict and resources
  • Our approach
  • Sharing best practice
• Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
• Children in conflict
• Human rights

Women, peace and security

We are mandated to address gender through specific Security Council Resolutions on Women Peace and Security.

UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran

A UN Police Officer with UNAMID interacts with women at a water point in Abu Shouk Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in North Darfur.

At the international level, the UN Security Council has adopted five resolutions on Women Peace and Security:

• Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
• Security Council resolution 1820 (2008)
• Security Council resolution 1888 (2009)
• Security Council resolution 1889 (2009)
• Security Council resolution 1960 (2010)

Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

A background to Women, Peace and Security mandates

The blueprint for gender and peacekeeping work for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is rooted in Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)  which was the first Resolution to address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women.

Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)  stresses the importance of women’s equal and full participation as active agents in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building and peacekeeping. It calls on member states to ensure women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspective in all areas of peace building. As a follow up to 1325, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1889 which calls for further strengthening of women's participation in peace processes and the development of indicators to measure progress on Resolution 1325.

Recognising the impact that sexual violence in conflict has on the maintenance of peace and security, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1820  which explicitly links sexual violence as a tactic of war with women peace and security issues. Security Council Resolution1820 reinforces Resolution 1325 and highlights that sexual violence in conflict constitutes a war crime and demands parties to armed conflict to immediately take appropriate measures to protect civilians from sexual violence, including training troops and enforcing disciplinary measures.

Resolution 1888 , as a follow up to Resolution 1820, mandates that peacekeeping missions protect women and children from sexual violence during armed conflict, and requests that the Secretary-General appoint a special representative on sexual violence during armed conflict (Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict). Most recently Resolution 1960 was adopted which builds on and deepens the women, peace and security agenda on sexual violence.

DPKO is an active member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, an inter-agency coordination network that streamlines and amplifies the UN's efforts to combat conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). In partnership with UN Women and UN Action, DPKO also conducts scenario-based trainings on CRSV for military peacekeepers before they are deployed. The trainings are based on the Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice on Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.