17/9/2004
Women Are Vital To Resolving Armed Conflicts And Rebuilding Peace

Women are often the first victims of any armed conflict, but they must also be recognized as central to any solution of that conflict, instead of being marginalized or ignored, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said as she opened a conference in New York devoted to gender justice in post-conflict countries.

Women in key legal and judicial positions from over twelve conflict-affected countries arrived in New York this week for an unprecedented conference on gender justice in post-conflict situations. The conference, organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), is a platform for women to discuss, as legal practitioners and from first-hand experience, why gender justice is so crucial to establishing the rule of law and consolidating peace in their countries.

Women ministers, lawyers, and judges from Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Liberia, Namibia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Haiti, Burundi and Rwanda share with members of the international community their perspectives on the best practices that have emerged in the area of gender justice, as well as the most pressing requirements and implementation action needed in their countries. A key goal of the conference is to use these perspectives as a basis for developing more effectively coordinated bilateral and multilateral partnerships on gender justice, so that women in conflict-affected areas can have better legal protection for their rights, are able to seek redress for violations of those rights, and have equal access to legal, judicial and constitutional processes.

The international response to conflict and post-conflict situations is often without adequate coordination and without sufficient consultation with national stakeholders, including women's constituencies, who are an important but often overlooked group of stakeholders. It is critical that the international community not only listen to national stakeholders, but respect and support national ownership of implementation strategies, in order to provide the most effective assistance and support to communities emerging from conflict.

Ms. Fréchette said governments and civil society organizations in States affected by conflict need to do much more than simply share information about the issue. Women must be consulted at every level of justice reform, and States and agencies including those within the UN must work together more closely to identify best practices and encourage their spread around the world.

The conference is highlighting gender justice as an issue deserving of urgent special attention, action and resources, because of the increasingly disproportionate impact of war on women and girls. In contemporary conflicts, civilian casualties have occurred on a much greater scale and attacks on women have reached a higher level of depravity. Women's vulnerabilities are dramatically heightened during war and their rights ignored or seriously violated, as they flee from their homes and struggle to keep their families together. With few exceptions, those who commit heinous crimes against women in war are not punished, nor are women granted redress. Worse yet, little is done to prevent new abuses.

"To restore legitimacy, public trust and establish long term stability and security in the aftermath of war, the obstacles preventing women from enjoying protection of their rights, and seeking access to justice for gross violations committed against them need to be removed," says Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM. Discriminatory laws and practices, such as those preventing women from inheriting property, must be addressed at the highest institutional levels, consistent with international human rights standards. National legal systems must penalize and remedy all forms of violence against women, training law-enforcement agencies to investigate and respond appropriately to crimes against women and providing adequate support services, legal aid and legal education to victims seeking help. In post-conflict transition phases, women must be strongly encouraged to participate, and provided the resources to do so, in the development of legal, judicial and constitutional structures to promote gender equality and justice.

The Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette also called on delegates to speak out about what they identify as necessary to improving justice for women. She cited improving legal training, providing lawyers specializing in sexual violence cases and strengthening victim support programmers as some examples.

In recent years, there has been an increased focus by the United Nations and its partners on transitional justice and the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict societies. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a recent report to the Security Council, described the rule of law as a concept at the very heart of the UN's mission, critical to restoring public trust in national institutions of governance and providing the means to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation in war-torn nations. "Our experience in the past decade has shown that the consolidation of peace in the immediate post-conflict period, as well as the maintenance of peace in the long term, cannot be achieved unless the population is confident that redress for grievances can be obtained through legitimate structures for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the fair administration of justice," he said, calling in this context for particular attention to protecting the rights of groups most affected by conflict and a breakdown in the rule of law, such as women and children.

Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, a landmark resolution adopted in 2000, demands world action to redress the severe inequities, injustices and violations encountered by women and girls in conflict-affected areas. It also emphasises the important role of women in every stage of peace processes ó peace-making, peacekeeping and peace-building ó and urges the inclusion of gender perspectives in all post-conflict legal, judicial and constitutional processes. In response to resolution 1325, UNIFEM commissioned two Independent Experts to conduct an assessment of the impact of armed conflict on women, and women's role in peace-building [Women, War, Peace http://www.unifem.org/index.php?f_page_pid=149 ]. Based on their visits to 14 conflict zones, the Experts issued their findings and recommendations, including on justice, to move implementation of resolution 1325 forward.

Discussions at the conference focus around these findings and recommendations on justice, to determine concrete ways to align local and international efforts in a more coordinated approach to accelerate implementation of resolution 1325. UNIFEM and ILAC will jointly transmit the conference conclusions and recommendations to the United Nations Secretary-General and Security Council for consideration during the Council's open debate on the fourth anniversary of resolution 1325 in October 2004.