S/2020/1054 SC

The Security Council, Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019) on Women, Peace and Security, and relevant statements of its Presidents, Bearing in mind the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security, Reaffirming in this regard the importance to achieve sustainable peace and security by dialogue, mediation, consultations and political negotiations to bridge differences and to end conflicts, Recognizing the importance of equal approach to the four pillars of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, mainly participation, prevention, protection and relief and recovery, Expressing grave concern about the disproportionate negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, notably the socio-economic impact, on women across the world, especially those in countries ravaged by armed conflicts, or in post-conflict situations, or affected by humanitarian crises, Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the commitments contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women and armed conflict, and reaffirming the obligations of State Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Optional Protocol thereto, and urging States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to them, Reiterating the emphasis placed on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reaffirming that women’s and girls’ empowerment and gender equality are critical to conflict prevention and broader efforts to maintain international peace and security, and further emphasizing that persisting barriers to the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) will only be dismantled through dedicated commitment to women’s participation and human rights, and through concerted leadership, consistent information and action, and support, to build women’s engagement in all levels of decision-making. Reaffirming the primary role of Member States to implement fully all Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, and the important complementary role of United Nations entities and regional organizations, further recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction as provided for by international law, and reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians, Recognizing the need to address the gaps and strengthen links between the United Nations peace and security in the field, human rights and development work as a means to address root causes of armed conflict and threats to the security of women and girls in the pursuit of international peace and security, Recognizing the need for more systematic attention to the implementation of women, peace and security commitments in its own work, particularly to ensure the enhancement of women’s engagement in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding, and noting in this regard the need for timely and systematic reporting on women, peace and security, Welcoming the efforts of Member States, and regional and subregional organizations, in implementing resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security at the regional, national and local levels, including the development of action plans and other complementary implementation planning frameworks, with sufficient resources, and encouraging Member States to continue to pursue such implementation, including through strengthened monitoring, evaluation and coordination, Recognizing that inequalities and discrimination against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, including, inter alia, in cultural, social and economic development opportunities constitute obstacles to women’s participation in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, mediation and peacebuilding, underlining the urgent need to advance gender equality and women’s social, political and economic empowerment, poverty eradication and social protection as well as girls’ access to education, Reaffirming the key role women can play in re-establishing the fabric of recovering society and stressing the need for their involvement in the development and implementation of post-conflict strategies in order to take into account their perspectives and needs, expressing concern that women’s capacity to engage in public decision making and economic recovery often does not receive adequate recognition or financing in post-conflict situations, and underlining that funding for women’s early recovery needs is vital to increase women’s empowerment, which can contribute to effective post-conflict peacebuilding, Recalling the important contribution of civil society, including women’s organizations and local community women leaders, to conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding, affirming the importance of their sustained engagement and meaningful participation in all peace processes and remaining deeply concerned about threats, attacks and restrictions on the work of civil society organizations that inhibit their ability to contribute to international peace and security, Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General S/2020/946 and its recommendations for the next decade on the 20th anniversary of Resolution 1325 and, recalling the report of the Secretary-General of 17 September 2015 (S/2015/716) which submitted the recommendations of the Global Study on the implementation of resolution 1325, 1. Commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) which provides a unique opportunity to take stock of the progress made to date as well as the opportunity to commit for far greater implementation of the women, peace and security agenda, while recognizing that 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing at which the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were adopted, and calls on all Member States to use these anniversaries to intensify national and regional efforts and international co-operation; 2. Notes with deep concern persisting barriers to the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and the frequent under-representation of women in many formal processes and bodies related to the maintenance of international peace and security, the relatively low number of women in senior positions in political, peace and security-related national, regional and international institutions, imbalanced geographical representation of women, the lack of adequate gender-sensitive humanitarian responses and support for women’s leadership roles in these settings, insufficient financing for Women, Peace and Security, and the resulting detrimental impact on the maintenance of international peace and security; 3. Emphasizing that advancing gender equality and women’s political, social, and economic empowerment is critical to the prevention of and response to sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, and that the safety and empowerment of women and girls is important for their meaningful participation in peace processes, preventing conflicts and rebuilding societies, and that therefore women’s protection and participation are inextricably linked and mutually-reinforcing as reflected by all previous resolutions on women, peace and security; 4. Urges Member States to fully implement the provisions of all previous Security Council Resolutions pertaining to the Women, Peace and Security agenda and to reinforce their efforts in this regard; 5. Further urges Member States to commit to implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda and its priorities by ensuring and promoting the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all stages of peace processes, including through mainstreaming a gender perspective, and remain committed to increasing the number of civilian and uniformed women in peacekeeping at all levels and in key positions; 6. Also urges Member States to ensure safe, enabling and gender-sensitive working environments for women in peacekeeping operations and to address threats and violence against them, and remain committed to strengthening their collective efforts to promote the full, equal and meaningful participation of uniformed and civilian women in peacekeeping operations at all levels and in all positions, including in senior leadership positions. and calls on all Member States, particularly Troop- and Police-Contributing Countries as well as countries hosting peacekeeping operations, to continue increasing the number and participation of uniformed women personnel in peacekeeping operations; 7. Urges Member States supporting peace processes to facilitate women’s full, equal and meaningful inclusion and participation in peace talks from the outset, both in negotiating parties’ delegations and in the mechanisms set up to implement and monitor agreements, encourages Member States to support efforts, including timely support to women to enhance their participation and capacity building in peace processes, in order to address the unequal representation and participation of women in the peace and security agenda; 8. Calls on Member States to promote all the rights of women, including civil, political and economic rights, urges them to increase their funding on women, peace and security including through more aid in conflict and post-conflict situations and security, as well as through support to civil society, and to support countries in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, including through access to education, training and capacity-building, in their implementation of women, peace and security resolutions, further calls for increased international development cooperation related to women’s empowerment and gender equality and invites aid providers to continue to track the gender focus of aid contributions and provide further information and assessment on this progress; 9. Takes note of the work of the Informal Experts Group on Women, Peace and Security as expressed in resolution 2242 (2015) to facilitate a more systematic approach to Women, Peace and Security within its own work and enable greater over sight and coordination of implementation efforts; and acknowledges UN Women’s important role in this regard; 10. Encourages regional and sub-regional organisations to continue promoting and implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda in their respective regions, and further encourages them to identify practical and measurable steps for implementing the agenda as well as enhance cooperation and sharing of best practices as it relates to implementation of the agenda; 11. Requests the Secretary-General to include in his next annual report on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and its subsequent resolutions further information on progress made since the adoption of the resolution 1325 and the remaining challenges in the Women, Peace and Security agenda, recommendations on how to address new and emerging challenges as well as promote full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peace processes and ensure that their specific needs are addressed in peace agreements; 12. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

UN Project. “S/2020/1054.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/S-2020-1054/. Accessed .

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