We have gathered several of the articles from the our conference here in this section. You can also find several under Stories from the Ground.
The Right to Take Part in the Whole Peace Process
”Both now and before we had to stand your eternal war…We hear that you have done something stupid and ask: What about your peace agreement?… He answered calmly: Don’t bother…”
Lysistrate’s words in the play of the Greek playwright Aristophanes from 411 B.C. were quoted by Maj Britt Theorin, President of Operation 1325 during the opening of the Stockholm International Conference “10 years with 1325 – What now?” at the end of October 2010.
“These words could as well have been said today. Lasting peace can never be achieved if half of the population is denied to take part in solving conflicts, conciliate or negotiate peace,” said Maj Britt Theorin.
The conference gathered 175 people at the Swedish Circus Academy’s building Subtopia in Alby in the outskirts of Stockholm. The participants representing civil society organisations, governmental officials, policymakers, researchers and journalists from 20 countries.
Results Need to be Measurable
Only 24 states have so far adopted national action plans for the implementation of the resolution. Every national action plan needs to incorporate measurable goals, a time table when the goals should be reached and enough economic resources. The need for the sister resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1889 (2009) highlights the fact that the implementation is flawed.
Joakim Stymne, Deputy Minister for International Development Cooperation of the Swedish government was one of the very few men taking part in the conference. He talked about gender equality in the day-to-day work of embassies and ministries and in all peace support. The only seminar where men took part in the panel was “Engaging Men – Prerequisite for Success in Implementing 1325?” One answer to the question “How can we engage other men?” was heard from India: To give a special award to men who had made something special for equality. In Indian practice one prize winner had become gender conscious through his work.
“Let Men and Women Sit in Different Rooms”
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Gandhi’s words were quoted by Lena Ag, Secretary General of Kvinna till Kvinna.
“Our Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs often says that peace is his profession. He should talk to the real peacemakers, the women. And in Afghanistan where the dominating view is that men and women cannot be in the same room during a peace negotiation, then let them sit in different rooms. It is crucial to find new ways of making peace,” said Lena Ag.
The aim of the conference was to gather key challenges and essential solutions, for the participants to bring with them as tools for implementation, policy shaping and advocacy work. A special focus of the conference was “Stories from the Ground” – the experiences of local stake holders, concerning how the resolution has succeeded or failed in being implemented. The Open Space-method was used, which allowed the participants to actively create and manage their own agenda together in parallel working sessions around the theme of “Key Challenges and Essential Solutions of the Future of resolution 1325”.
Sent Recommendations to the UN
As a result of the discussions Operation 1325 forwarded a total of 23 recommendations suggesting what needs to be done by the UN, the international community, the member states, the civil society and women’s organizations.
“The idea is that we as women will interfere and demand our right to take part in the whole peace process,” Maj Britt Theorin summarised.
Holger Nilén
Sweden will Soon Appoint a Special Resolution 1325 Ambassador
The Swedish government is in the final stages of appointing a special ambassador for implementing resolution 1325.
“Through such an appointment, our international presence will be further enhanced. The ambassador will be a critical force in pushing the implementation of our national action plan,” said Joakim Stymne, Deputy Minister of International Development Cooperation.
Joakim Stymne came in place of Minister Gunilla Carlsson at the conference Resolution 1325, 10 years – What now? as Carlsson was to meet other Development Ministers of the other EU countries.
Sweden was one of the first countries to adopt a national action plan for implementing resolution 1325, Joakim Stymne underlined. In the revised plan for the period 2009-2012, he mentioned the objectives of increasing the proportion of women participating in international peace-support and security-building operations. Another mentioned objective was to promote the participation of women on equal terms with men in conflict prevention, crisis management, peace building, and other operations in post-conflict areas.
In a wider context the integration of resolution 1325 will be helped by a new governmental policy for Sweden’s international cooperation called “On Equal Footing”. It will identify a number of actions to promote women’s security and their political influence, according to Joakim Stymne.
The deputy minister said that policy documents often are regarded as “words on paper”. However, he wanted to stress that they are necessary as they “express priorities” and “guide the allocations of resources”.
Women’s Organisations Underrepresented
That progress in implementing resolution 1325 is too slow and women’s organisations are still underrepresented in international peace operations might be unnecessary to point out, Stymne said.
However, the attitude has changed toward these issues. He mentioned several examples of that progress in the case of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One is how programmes for ministerial visits include meeting with women’s organisations – without the ministry’s asking for it.
As an example of Sweden’s implementing the 10-year-old resolution Joakim Stymne chose to highlight a topical fact: How Sweden just recently has reached the target of having the number of women among police personnel deployed in peace-keeping missions as equal to the proportion of women in the national police force.
Joakim Stymne mentioned a list of recipes to succeed in making reality of resolution 1325. Among them were to work with lessons learned, improve methods, and strengthen leadership. But he also mentioned the importance of engaging me
“I hope the lack of gender balance will be less striking if we meet in another ten years time.”
Women Provide Expertise for Sound Decisions
At the end of his speech he stressed the role of civil society and women – in both peaceful and conflict-torn countries.
“Women’s groups conduct research on women’s roles in conflict. They alert us of tragedies and report to us on progress. And they provide expertise for sound decisions and policy making. Women constitute half of societies, and that half needs to be on board if we are to achieve a reconstruction of those societies, and a full and lasting peace.”
Helena Sundman
Note: Operation 1325 has not been able to find out more about the appointment of the above mentioned ambassador for 1325 within the Swedish government.
