Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: June 2016

Afghanistan

In its consideration of the report on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Council members must call on Afghanistan to ensure that women’s full participation and protection is prioritized in the country’s period of transition. As peace talks resume with armed insurgent groups such as Hizb-i-Islami and the international community looks to demonstrate its continued commitment to Afghanistan during the Warsaw NATO Summit and Brussels Donor Conference on Afghanistan, it is a critical time for women’s voices to be included in peace and security decision-making. Afghan women leaders who are playing a fundamental role in supporting the country’s transitional period face increasing insecurity across the country. As the Taliban, Islamic State, and other armed groups attempt to destabilize areas around the country; women are often primary targets. They face ongoing intimidation, threats and targeted violence, exampled by the Taliban’s public execution of a woman in May. Women human rights defenders continue to risk their lives without adequate security and protection. In their discussion, Council members should inquire as to efforts by UNAMA, in accordance with relevant provisions in SCR 2274, and Afghanistan to:

• Ensure women’s security and ability to move freely throughout the country by countering the Taliban and other armed groups, in full respect for human rights and international humanitarian law;
• Ensure women’s involvement in all efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan, including in peace jirgas and any negotiations with all armed insurgent groups, to ensure reconciliation does not undermine women’s progress;
• Ensure adequate preparation for October’s parliamentary elections, including ensuring temporary female security personnel are contracted to staff polling stations and female candidates are afforded same levels of protection as their male counterparts; and
• Ensure full implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP) as a critical step in elevating women as full and equal partners in creating a stable future for the country.

In its consideration of the report on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Council members must call on Afghanistan to ensure that women’s full participation and protection is prioritized in the country’s period of transition. As peace talks resume with armed insurgent groups such as Hizb-i-Islami and the international community looks to demonstrate its continued commitment to Afghanistan during the Warsaw NATO Summit and Brussels Donor Conference on Afghanistan, it is a critical time for women’s voices to be included in peace and security decision-making. Afghan women leaders who are playing a fundamental role in supporting the country’s transitional period face increasing insecurity across the country. As the Taliban, Islamic State, and other armed groups attempt to destabilize areas around the country; women are often primary targets. They face ongoing intimidation, threats and targeted violence, exampled by the Taliban’s public execution of a woman in May. Women human rights defenders continue to risk their lives without adequate security and protection. In their discussion, Council members should inquire as to efforts by UNAMA, in accordance with relevant provisions in SCR 2274, and Afghanistan to:

• Ensure women’s security and ability to move freely throughout the country by countering the Taliban and other armed groups, in full respect for human rights and international humanitarian law;
• Ensure women’s involvement in all efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan, including in peace jirgas and any negotiations with all armed insurgent groups, to ensure reconciliation does not undermine women’s progress;
• Ensure adequate preparation for October’s parliamentary elections, including ensuring temporary female security personnel are contracted to staff polling stations and female candidates are afforded same levels of protection as their male counterparts; and
• Ensure full implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP) as a critical step in elevating women as full and equal partners in creating a stable future for the country.

Sudan

The Security Council is expected to renew the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) mandate. The Council should expand the current provisions in the mandate related to women, peace and security (SCR 2228 (2015), OPs 19, 24) by strengthening language concerning women and civil society’s participation in the ongoing political dialogue, transitional justice mechanisms and all security-related matters, including ceasefire monitoring and DDR programming. The patterns of ethnically motivated sexual violence (S/2016/361), including SGBV in and around IDP camps (S/2015/1027), and the prioritization of civilian protection, necessitates the continued deployment and engagement of qualified WPAs, in order to ensure there is capacity for monitoring SGBV and support for the development and implementation of a structured framework on conflict-related sexual violence (SCR 2228 (2015), OP 24), even in the context of a phased drawdown. There should be language in UNAMID’s mandate which explicitly links protection efforts with activities supporting women’s participation, including consultations with female IDPs and women’s organizations regarding the design and implementation of active patrolling and community policing safety for women engaging in livelihood activities, and justice reform and accountability.

Libya

With the deteriorating security situation and the threat posed by armed groups and illicit arms proliferation, active female public figures, including human rights defenders, civil society leaders, activists, journalists and politicians, continue to be targets of in assassinations, abductions, and crimes of sexual violence. The Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The Council should call for gender to be considered a cross-cutting issue across the work of the mission (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 4) and reverse the removal of all gender-specific provisions which occurred in response to the crisis which resulted in the mission’s withdrawal to Tunisia. The Could should, further, include provisions which:

• Promote the full and effective participation of women in all peace, security and political processes including through the establishment of a consultative mechanism with civil society groups in all activities relating to the democratic transition, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, in line with SCR 1325 (2000) and all subsequent women, peace and security (WPS) resolutions;
• Recognize women’s unique protection needs, including with regards to cases of trafficking, torture, and detainment, as well as considerations relevant to women’s role in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR) processes;
• Call for an end to impunity for violence against women, investigate and monitor human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and deploy women’s protection advisers, gender advisers and other gender expertise in the mission;
• Support women’s leadership and participation in all combating, reducing and preventing violent extremism; and
• Request the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the gender dynamics of the situation in Libya, including in the political, security and humanitarian sectors, and provide sex and age disaggregated data whenever possible.

With the deteriorating security situation and the threat posed by armed groups and illicit arms proliferation, active female public figures, including human rights defenders, civil society leaders, activists, journalists and politicians, continue to be targets of in assassinations, abductions, and crimes of sexual violence. The Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The Council should call for gender to be considered a cross-cutting issue across the work of the mission (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 4) and reverse the removal of all gender-specific provisions which occurred in response to the crisis which resulted in the mission’s withdrawal to Tunisia. The Could should, further, include provisions which:

• Promote the full and effective participation of women in all peace, security and political processes including through the establishment of a consultative mechanism with civil society groups in all activities relating to the democratic transition, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, in line with SCR 1325 (2000) and all subsequent women, peace and security (WPS) resolutions;
• Recognize women’s unique protection needs, including with regards to cases of trafficking, torture, and detainment, as well as considerations relevant to women’s role in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR) processes;
• Call for an end to impunity for violence against women, investigate and monitor human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and deploy women’s protection advisers, gender advisers and other gender expertise in the mission;
• Support women’s leadership and participation in all combating, reducing and preventing violent extremism; and
• Request the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the gender dynamics of the situation in Libya, including in the political, security and humanitarian sectors, and provide sex and age disaggregated data whenever possible.

Mali

In its renewal of the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the Council should continue to consider gender as a cross-cutting issue, as articulated in SCR 2227 (2015) (OP 23) and call for dedicated gender capacity and analysis (SCR 1960 (2010), OP 13), which are necessary for the successful implementation of MINUSMA’s mandate. Further, the Council should ensure that the mission retains all relevant provisions in the existing mandate related to women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution efforts; as well as protection for women’s rights and efforts to combat human rights violations. MINUSMA should also promote women’s full and effective participation in all peace processes at both the local and state level, including through the consultation of women’s civil society groups. Finally, efforts to track and measure progress in Mali should include gender-specific benchmarks and analysis (SCR 1889 (2009), OP 9), the Council should call for women’s empowerment to be factored into decisions regarding post-conflict peacebuilding activities, including all efforts to counter violent extremism.