Women, Peace, and Security - Policy Responses

"To respond effectively to the complex and multifaceted threats and challenges to human security in the Pacific requires the participation, recognition and valuing of the experiences and role of women."

This 58-page document presents a policy initiative designed to speak to policymakers and peacebuilders who want to ensure a more gender-inclusive approach to peace and security in the Pacific region. femLINKPACIFIC's regional media network hopes to create visibility of women, peace, and security realities in the face of what its members see as the problematic exclusion of many many women, both in the Pacific Island region and around the world, from the very structures that make the decisions to sustain peace or engage in conflict.

The regional women's media network on the United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (adopted October 31 2000) is coordinated by femLINKPACIFIC (based in Suva, Fiji) and includes Ma'afafine Ma'a Fafine mo e Famili (Tonga), Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency of Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), and Vois Blong Mere Solomon (Honiara). This group works to educate a new generation of policy-makers through media and policy initiatives including dialogues and "Peace Talks" with governments, and through a mentoring programme that brings in young women. This document contains policy recommendations gleaned from a broad consultation process that included engagement with Pacific women, Pacific governments and militaries, the UN, and international experts.

The beginning portions of the document explore the context in which Resolution 1325 was advanced, and what contribution Pacific organisations such as the Women Peace and Human Security (WPHS) Consultation (working in partnership with femLINKPACIFIC) made to the discussion. The WPHS Consultation worked to advance the localisation of Resolution 1325 in the Pacific Island Region, articulating a women's regional platform and developing a strategy for analysing a range of human security issues through a gendered lens, including leadership and governance, human rights, access to justice, land resources, access to basic necessities, and HIV/AIDS. Such efforts laid the groundwork for later work, such as the women media network's efforts to address the need for education and awareness raising on Resolution 1325 for both civil society organisations (CSOs) and key policy-makers. These efforts also involve demonstrating the links between Resolution 1325 and gender-sensitive peace and security indicators.

femLINKPACIFIC next explores its conception of security thinking, which has evolved to include security through sustainable human development. The premise is that CSOs like femLINKPACIFIC have a crucial role in highlighting security's 7 main areas, which include: economic security, health security, food security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. Civil society has a localised perspective because it is "close to the ground". Also, CSOs can contribute through its understanding that "security can be created and reduced depending on the kind of information that is communicated which can build knowledge and wisdom." Furthermore, civil society recognises the linkages between security issues and human rights: "our concepts of security are when we are free to make decisions and to have our rights; when we are free to say things about our land; when we are free to access the things that we rightfully own, and when we are able to take part in decision-making on using resources - then we have security."

Subsequent chapters outline specific recommendations in each of several particular areas related to women, peace, and security; this is part of femLINKPACIFIC's mission to "breathe life into the ideas and ideals set in resolution 1325". Here is a selection of communication-related themes highlighted here:

• In the area of transcending violence and transforming conflict, femLINKPACIFIC urges governments (amongst other things) to ensure resources and availability of safe women's spaces to organise dialogues and peace and trust-building activities as a precursor to ensuring that women have equal participation in all processes and programmes that relate to their personal security.
• In the area of women's budgets for conflict prevention and economic security, governments have a role to play in encouraging equal participation in the economy and public life by increasing funding for public education, by removing fees and other barriers to education, and by eliminating gender bias in curricula.
• In the area of democratising security decision-making, femLINKPACIFIC urges government to collaborate with civil society in collecting names and profiles for a national list of women's experts for nomination to high-level posts, and in reviewing the criteria for qualification so as to ensure that they do not continue to exclude women based on stereotypes and standards that are unrelated to real capacity to perform. Capacity-building is another theme emphasised here in supporting a new generation of women's leaders in the peace and security sector; for instance, "churches and faith-based leaders should explicitly support 1325 and include more women in decision-making positions, including through the development of curricula at theological colleges."
• In the area of disarmament and reintegration, "[w]omen should be involved in the development of legislation on gun licensing, the marking and tracing of weapons and the destruction of home-made weapons and ammunition, including through their leadership in traditional ceremonies." Further, femLINKPACIFIC urges that a Pacific-wide disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) study should be conducted by locals, building on the knowledge of community-based organisations. Amongst the other suggestions here are that consumer councils work with women for the delegitimisation of military-style toys that glamorise militarisation.
• In the area of security through women's eyes, "Pacific women want their leaders to utilise quiet diplomacy, mediation, sanctions and other measures as conflict-prevention measures rather than deploy force after the outbreak of conflict. By consulting routinely with women technical experts, the security sector can enhance its expertise and change its policies and regulations to provide security for all....Women's civil society representatives with relevant expertise must also be involved in helping to redefine and ensure implementation of the new human security agenda, including through representation on national security councils and other local or district/provincial level committees and delegations addressing security issues."
• In the area of women communicating a culture of peace, "women are increasingly learning to use new and traditional media forms to tell their own story, to document human rights violations and to report on peace-building." One recommendation is to ensure a quota of content and gender mainstreaming of content (including through broadcast of local content by community media practitioners) - in part through collaboration with women's media networks to enhance peace programming and implementation of gender equality commitments including UNSC Resolution 1325. Training of editors and journalists should also be provided, femLINKPACIFIC urges, to eliminate gender bias in reporting and investigative journalism in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to promote gender equality and peace journalism.
• In the area of transitional governance, "[g]ender justice and equality principles should be enshrined in constitutional and legal reforms, the establishment of multi-party systems and elections, and women should be equally represented in these institutions as lawyers, judges, police, as well as political candidates....Women's participation must be deliberately sought, perhaps through a quota system, targeted consultations, the establishment of and/or strengthening women's ministries or departments, the appointment of women judges, police and law reform authorities."

In conclusion, "[w]hen women feel secure, peace is possible. When women feel secure enough to resist war and organise for peace – expressed through theatre, public demonstrations and civil disobedience - peace is on its way."

Amongst the annexes are translations of UNSC Resolution 1325 in Fijian, Hindustani, Rotuman, Bislama, PNG Pidgin, Solomon Islands Pidgin, and Tongan.