Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: January 2017

Central African Republic

In its consideration of the report on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) the Security Council should:

• Consider gender as a cross-cutting issue across all of MINUSCA’s work (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 45) and ensure the report highlights efforts to ensure women’s protection and support women’s participation (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 33 (a)(ii) and (b)(ii) and OP 34 (a)(i), (a)(ii)). This should include emphasis on ensuring a more gender-responsive MINUSCA Police Force, with a higher percentage of female personnel (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 34(b)(iv)).
• Highlight MINUSCA efforts to consider and integrate the concerns of women, when developing and implementing its protection strategy through increased community engagement; recruiting additional Community Liaison Assistants (CLAs), with a particular emphasis on recruiting women and ensuring CLAs have a strong voice within the mission; and enhancing mechanisms to safely and confidentially report protection concerns and receive a timely response with effective accountability mechanisms.
• Ensure that MINUSCA has the capacity to support women’s participation in reconciliation efforts. There should be a specific call for the mission to regularly engage with civil society organizations, including women’s organizations, and women cabinet members to ensure inclusion at all levels of political and security processes.
• Emphasize the importance of upholding the code of conduct on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), reflecting the recommendations of the independent review of CAR as well as SCR 2272 (2016). Before deployment and training, peacekeepers must be vetted in accordance with the UN’s zero tolerance policy, and perpetrators of SEA must be brought to justice.

In its consideration of the report on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) the Security Council should:

• Consider gender as a cross-cutting issue across all of MINUSCA’s work (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 45) and ensure the report highlights efforts to ensure women’s protection and support women’s participation (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 33 (a)(ii) and (b)(ii) and OP 34 (a)(i), (a)(ii)). This should include emphasis on ensuring a more gender-responsive MINUSCA Police Force, with a higher percentage of female personnel (SCR 2301 (2016), OP 34(b)(iv)).
• Highlight MINUSCA efforts to consider and integrate the concerns of women, when developing and implementing its protection strategy through increased community engagement; recruiting additional Community Liaison Assistants (CLAs), with a particular emphasis on recruiting women and ensuring CLAs have a strong voice within the mission; and enhancing mechanisms to safely and confidentially report protection concerns and receive a timely response with effective accountability mechanisms.
• Ensure that MINUSCA has the capacity to support women’s participation in reconciliation efforts. There should be a specific call for the mission to regularly engage with civil society organizations, including women’s organizations, and women cabinet members to ensure inclusion at all levels of political and security processes.
• Emphasize the importance of upholding the code of conduct on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), reflecting the recommendations of the independent review of CAR as well as SCR 2272 (2016). Before deployment and training, peacekeepers must be vetted in accordance with the UN’s zero tolerance policy, and perpetrators of SEA must be brought to justice.

Colombia

As the Council discusses the situation in Colombia, the Council must ensure that the UN Mission in Colombia fulfills its coordination functions within the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM) with a gender perspective. Women’s rights must be a crosscutting issue in the implementation of the operation of the mission as well as in the tripartite MVM. Throughout the work of the mission including in the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire, in the context of demobilization and with final peace agreement, there should also be ongoing and consistent consultation with national and local based women’s civil society organizations, including Afro-Colombian, indigenous and rural women’s organizations. The mandate should emphasize the importance of women’s empowerment and agency, as recent reporting has only made reference to SGBV and the previous mandate (SCR 2261 (2016)) did not include any element of the women, peace and security agenda. There should be an effort to support and strengthen all previous efforts by all parties to foster an inclusive peace process, and the mission should continue to work closely with gender experts to prevent sexual and gender-based violence during operations. The Council should consider the following:

• The importance of ensuring that justice institutions are accessible and accountable to all survivors of violence in both rural and urban areas, including in the 20 Transitional Local Zones for Normalization (TLZN) and the 8 Transitional Local Points for Normalization (TLPN).
• In consultation with women, indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups at national, regional, and local levels, the mission should establish readily accessible protection and reporting mechanisms to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the implementation of the ceasefire and final peace agreement, as well as opportunities to report instances of noncompliance, particularly in the context of demobilization.
• In its support for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, attention must be paid to tailoring assistance to the particular needs of female ex-combatants, as well as women and girls from communities where former fighters resettle.
• In reconciliation and peacebuilding efforts, the needs and rights of women and girls must be at the forefront of the design and implementation of early-warning and ceasefire monitoring mechanisms (SCR 2261 (2016), OP 3).
• The MVM should also monitor, investigate and report on the human rights situation, and consistently consult with women’s civil society organizations in the assessment of incidents and issuing of recommendations to avoid recurrence of incidents.
• The mission should provide technical assistance to the government for the effective implementation and maintenance of protection measures, particularly the National Commission on Security Guarantees for women human rights defenders, and expand emergency relocation funds to include family members and dependents of those at risk of violence.
• Ensure the full and meaningful participation of women’s civil society organizations, including Afro-Colombian, indigenous and rural women’s organizations in the forthcoming peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

As the Council discusses the situation in Colombia, the Council must ensure that the UN Mission in Colombia fulfills its coordination functions within the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM) with a gender perspective. Women’s rights must be a crosscutting issue in the implementation of the operation of the mission as well as in the tripartite MVM. Throughout the work of the mission including in the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire, in the context of demobilization and with final peace agreement, there should also be ongoing and consistent consultation with national and local based women’s civil society organizations, including Afro-Colombian, indigenous and rural women’s organizations. The mandate should emphasize the importance of women’s empowerment and agency, as recent reporting has only made reference to SGBV and the previous mandate (SCR 2261 (2016)) did not include any element of the women, peace and security agenda. There should be an effort to support and strengthen all previous efforts by all parties to foster an inclusive peace process, and the mission should continue to work closely with gender experts to prevent sexual and gender-based violence during operations. The Council should consider the following:

• The importance of ensuring that justice institutions are accessible and accountable to all survivors of violence in both rural and urban areas, including in the 20 Transitional Local Zones for Normalization (TLZN) and the 8 Transitional Local Points for Normalization (TLPN).
• In consultation with women, indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups at national, regional, and local levels, the mission should establish readily accessible protection and reporting mechanisms to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the implementation of the ceasefire and final peace agreement, as well as opportunities to report instances of noncompliance, particularly in the context of demobilization.
• In its support for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, attention must be paid to tailoring assistance to the particular needs of female ex-combatants, as well as women and girls from communities where former fighters resettle.
• In reconciliation and peacebuilding efforts, the needs and rights of women and girls must be at the forefront of the design and implementation of early-warning and ceasefire monitoring mechanisms (SCR 2261 (2016), OP 3).
• The MVM should also monitor, investigate and report on the human rights situation, and consistently consult with women’s civil society organizations in the assessment of incidents and issuing of recommendations to avoid recurrence of incidents.
• The mission should provide technical assistance to the government for the effective implementation and maintenance of protection measures, particularly the National Commission on Security Guarantees for women human rights defenders, and expand emergency relocation funds to include family members and dependents of those at risk of violence.
• Ensure the full and meaningful participation of women’s civil society organizations, including Afro-Colombian, indigenous and rural women’s organizations in the forthcoming peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

Iraq

The conflict between the ISIL/Da’esh and Government forces, with assistance from allied militias, continues to dominate discussions on the human rights situation in Iraq. In its consideration of a report on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Security Council must urge accountability for serious human rights violations by all sides, including SGBV, sexual slavery, abduction and human trafficking by ISIL and reports of beatings and unlawful detention by Government forces and allied militias during military offensives. The Council should thus ensure that UNAMI is regularly engaging with women’s organizations and taking concrete steps to support women’s participation in all peace and security processes. The Council should consider the following recommendations:

• Apply a gender lens to humanitarian planning and assistance efforts throughout the country as relates to women, men, girls and boys, including the humanitarian response to the ongoing Mosul offensive.
• Urge the Government of Iraq to clarify the shelter policy and allow Iraqi NGOs to operate shelters and provide much needed services to survivors of SGBV as well as fully fund and implement in consultation with women’s organizations Iraq’s National Action Plan (NAP) on SCR 1325 (2000).
• Urge the Government of Iraq to legally allow displaced women and girls to obtain Civil Status Identification documents without requiring verification of their identity by a male relative.
• Call on the Committee for Women, Family, and Child of the Iraqi government to incorporate the civil society proposed amendments to the draft Family Protection Law, and compel the Council of Representatives to adopt the bill.
• Urge the Government of Iraq to ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court and recognize that the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes committed against women and girls have been strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court, ad hoc, and mixed tribunals (SCR 2242 (2015), OP 14).
• Urge the Government of Iraq to ensure that investigations and prosecutions of all human rights abuses, including those perpetrated by national and their allied forces in military efforts to combat ISIL / Da’esh, are conducted in accordance with international standards.
• Expand the scope of current documentation efforts to include other gender-based crimes including crimes against women as human rights defenders, LGBT persons and others who defy their gender ascribed roles.

The conflict between the ISIL/Da’esh and Government forces, with assistance from allied militias, continues to dominate discussions on the human rights situation in Iraq. In its consideration of a report on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Security Council must urge accountability for serious human rights violations by all sides, including SGBV, sexual slavery, abduction and human trafficking by ISIL and reports of beatings and unlawful detention by Government forces and allied militias during military offensives. The Council should thus ensure that UNAMI is regularly engaging with women’s organizations and taking concrete steps to support women’s participation in all peace and security processes. The Council should consider the following recommendations:

• Apply a gender lens to humanitarian planning and assistance efforts throughout the country as relates to women, men, girls and boys, including the humanitarian response to the ongoing Mosul offensive.
• Urge the Government of Iraq to clarify the shelter policy and allow Iraqi NGOs to operate shelters and provide much needed services to survivors of SGBV as well as fully fund and implement in consultation with women’s organizations Iraq’s National Action Plan (NAP) on SCR 1325 (2000).
• Urge the Government of Iraq to legally allow displaced women and girls to obtain Civil Status Identification documents without requiring verification of their identity by a male relative.
• Call on the Committee for Women, Family, and Child of the Iraqi government to incorporate the civil society proposed amendments to the draft Family Protection Law, and compel the Council of Representatives to adopt the bill.
• Urge the Government of Iraq to ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court and recognize that the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes committed against women and girls have been strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court, ad hoc, and mixed tribunals (SCR 2242 (2015), OP 14).
• Urge the Government of Iraq to ensure that investigations and prosecutions of all human rights abuses, including those perpetrated by national and their allied forces in military efforts to combat ISIL / Da’esh, are conducted in accordance with international standards.
• Expand the scope of current documentation efforts to include other gender-based crimes including crimes against women as human rights defenders, LGBT persons and others who defy their gender ascribed roles.

Somalia

As the Council continues to consider the situation in Somalia and discusses the latest Secretary General’s reports on the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Council should promote women’s full participation in all efforts to maintain peace and security in Somalia, as well as inquire into efforts by the Federal Government of Somalia and Interim Regional Administrations, with assistance from UNSOM and AMISOM, to continue to promote increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in Somali institutions. The Council should also ensure there is progress made in implementing UNSOM’s mandate (SCR 2158 (2014), OP 1 (d)(i), (d)(iii) and (d)(iv) and OP 1 (e)(iii)) to help prevent, monitor, investigate and report on abuses and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including through the full deployment of Gender Advisers. The report should also include efforts by AMISOM and troop contributing countries, as specified in SCR 2275 (2016). Further, the Council should also request information on Somali authorities and AMISOM efforts to ensure women, girls, boys and other non-combatant males are protected and provide safe passage to civilians, during military offensives to recapture towns under Al-Shabaab control. As a recent Secretary-General report has evidenced ISIL / Da’esh increasing influence in Somalia (S/2016/830), the Council should request information and analysis on the differential impact on the human rights of women and girls of terrorism and violent extremism in Somalia, as well as efforts by the missions to ensure the participation and leadership of women and women’s organizations in developing strategies to counter terrorism and violent extremism (SCR 2242 (2015), PP 14, OP 13).