Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: October 2024

Libya

Women continue to be marginalized from political processes in Libya; for example, no women are included in the 6+6 Committee responsible for drafting electoral laws, and women comprise only 16.5% of parliamentarians. As Libya prepares to hold municipal elections, only 30% of registered voters are women. 

Civic space continues to be restricted by repressive laws and decrees, and through intimidation and reprisals. Politically active women in Libya, including women human rights defenders (WHRDs), journalists, peacebuilders, political candidates and activists, are frequently targeted due to their work, through both online harassment, hate campaigns and threats of violence, and through arrests and abductions, arbitrary detention and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, perpetrated with impunity by both state and non-state actors. These actions both prevent women’s groups from carrying out their work, including in humanitarian contexts, and deny women’s fundamental rights to full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in public and political life.

The Security Council should:

• Renew in full UNSMIL’s mandate as contained in Resolution 2702 (2023), and request that UNSMIL prioritize all activities related to the protection and promotion of women’s rights.
• Request that UNSMIL monitor and report on reprisals against WHRDs and politically active women, and provide necessary support to those at risk.
• Demand women’s meaningful and safe participation in formal, substantive and specific roles at every level of the peace process and in provincial councils, including through calling for adoption of a quota for women of at least 30%. 
• Call for the urgent appointment of a new Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Libya in order to facilitate Libya’s democratic transition by ensuring a political process inclusive of diverse women, and which will guarantee free and fair elections. 
• Call on UNSMIL and the government of Libya to integrate a gender perspective into security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) efforts, and throughout the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

Myanmar

Now over three years since the military coup, the crisis in Myanmar continues to escalate. One in three people requires humanitarian assistance, including as a result of displacement and escalating protection concerns, food insecurity and malnutrition, and inadequate access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health services and support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Over 3 million people have been internally displaced, over half of whom are women and girls. However, fluid conflict lines, violence and administrative restrictions imposed by the military junta continue to hinder humanitarian access. Women, girls and LGBTIQ individuals, particularly those from ethnic and religious minorities, face heightened risk of GBV and other gender-related harms, perpetrated largely by the junta but also by resistance forces. Protestors, activists, journalists, politicians and human rights defenders face violations such as arbitrary arrest and detention; torture, rape and sexual violence, including in detention; and executions and extrajudicial killing. In February 2024 the junta began enforcing its mandatory conscription law, prompting many women to take extreme measures to avoid forcible recruitment into an organization responsible for widespread atrocities including SGBV; women are now increasingly left to manage household and caregiving duties, thus reinforcing traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Escalating conflict in Rakhine State has also caused great civilian suffering and renewed the risk of genocide and other atrocities against the Rohingya. 

The Security Council must:

• Demand adherence to international law and the full implementation of Resolution 2669 (2022), including an immediate end to all forms of violence and the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners.
• Impose an embargo and targeted sanctions to stop the sale and transfer of arms, munitions, surveillance and dual use technology, other military equipment and aviation fuel that facilitate violations of international law.
• Hold an open, emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar, including in Rakhine State; consider inviting the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to brief the Security Council; and add the situation in Myanmar to the Council’s regular reporting cycle.
• Condemn and refrain from supporting military efforts to legitimize control through elections or any efforts to collect biometric and other personal data from civilians, such as a census.
• Demand Myanmar’s compliance with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice, including Myanmar’s responsibility to “take all measures” to prevent acts that may constitute genocide against the Rohingya, including sexual and gender-based crimes. 
• Expand the scope of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s current investigation by referring the situation in Myanmar to the ICC for investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed within the territory of Myanmar, including potential crimes committed since the February 2021 coup.
• Demand the removal of all barriers that interfere with unfettered, safe and sustained humanitarian access to all parts of Myanmar, and demand all actors protect medical and humanitarian personnel and address bureaucratic, administrative, and other obstacles. Aid must be accessible, non-discriminatory and delivered in accordance with humanitarian principles, including by trusted local women-led organizations already working in target areas without reliance on the military junta.
• Actively engage with diverse civil society, including women, youth, LGBTIQ people and all ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya, and explicitly communicate this as a priority to all relevant stakeholders including the National Unity Government, ASEAN and its Member States, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar.
• Demand the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse women in all political or peace processes.

Women Peace and Security

In the forthcoming discussion on women, peace and security, Security Council members must:

• Defend the centrality of gender equality and the full scope of human rights of diverse women and girls in peace and security across the entirety of the Council’s work, without exception.
• Demand that the UN require women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in all peace processes it supports, with the target of 50%; commit to including explicit language demanding women’s participation in all outcome documents, mandates of peace operations and any public statements.
• Swiftly and publicly condemn any attacks against WHRDs, peacebuilders, civil society and all women active in public life. Consistently implement a zero-tolerance approach to any form of attack, intimidation, retaliation or reprisal against diverse women for their political participation, human rights and humanitarian work, peacebuilding activities or cooperation with the Security Council. Ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society in which women and LGBTIQ human rights defenders, peacebuilders and civil society leaders are protected, supported and their legitimacy is recognized, and eliminate any restrictions or barriers to their work.
• Implement a comprehensive, human rights-based, and survivor-centered approach to GBV prevention and response. Ensure access to quality, accessible and non-discriminatory health care and comprehensive support, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, psychosocial support, legal services, access to justice, reparations and livelihood support. Reparations regimes should provide guarantees of non-repetition by addressing underlying forms of gender discrimination and facilitating women’s participation in peace processes and post-conflict society building.
• Ensure justice and accountability for violations of international law, including gender-based crimes, and actively support the gender-progressive, survivor-centric and intersectional development of international law addressing atrocity crimes, including the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
• Call for senior UN leaders and relevant UN entities to ensure that every country-specific and regional briefing and report of the Secretary-General includes robust gender-sensitive conflict analysis, is informed by regular and meaningful consultation with women’s civil society, and explicitly describes their efforts to support the direct participation of diverse women in peace processes.