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

Haiti

Escalating criminal violence in Haiti has exacerbated an already extreme humanitarian crisis, disrupting the food supply, access to water, shelter, and basic healthcare, including sexual and reproductive care and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) response services. An estimated 580,000 people are displaced, and 4.97 million people are acutely food insecure and close to famine-like conditions. 5.5 million Haitians — nearly half the population — require humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian response, especially by local women-led and women’s rights organizations (WLOs/WROs) is hindered by a severe lack of funding.

Violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Haiti continue with impunity. Criminal violence has reached a record high, enabled by the widespread availability of firearms. Violence perpetrated against civilians is highly gendered: while men comprise the majority of individuals targeted for killing, diverse women and girls comprise the majority of individuals targeted for sexual violence, as a means through which criminal groups “spread fear, subjugate and punish the population.” LGBTQI people are further targeted due to their gender identity. Women and girls also face heightened risks of sexual exploitation and violence in sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and the UN warns of increasing risk and prevalence of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and sexual slavery.

In renewing the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), Council members should:

• Urgently ensure the necessary resources for the establishment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, authorized pursuant to Resolution 2699 (2023). Take all measures to prevent the unlawful use of force, harm to local populations due to negligence, and other abuses by establishing clear, mandatory, and enforceable parameters that detail the operational and oversight measures to protect individuals against sexual exploitation and abuse. Ensure accessible and effective remedies for victims, and promote full adherence to the UN human rights due diligence policy.
• Support the efforts of the new transitional government to restore basic security, create an environment for democratic elections, and assist Haiti in rebuilding its justice system and prioritizing accountability for serious human rights abuses including SGBV.
• Express unambiguous support for women’s human rights; the critical role of women civil society; and demand that all peace, security, political, and humanitarian processes are Haitian-led and Haitian-owned, and ensure the full, equal, safe, and meaningful participation and leadership of diverse women.
• Request that BINUH monitor and report on violations of women’s human rights, including the situation for women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and women’s civil society, who must be able to operate freely and without fear of threat or reprisal, as well as its engagement with women’s civil society.
• Call for the immediate, safe, and non-discriminatory delivery of humanitarian aid to Haitians in need, ensuring that intersectional gender analysis, sex-, age- and disability disaggregated data (SADD) and GBV risk mitigation assessment inform all humanitarian action.
• Condemn the forcible return of refugees and asylum seekers to Haiti, which violates the non-refoulement principle of international law.

Syria

Over 13 years into the conflict in Syria, the population faces multiple crises, including escalating violence, regional conflicts, growing food insecurity exacerbated by funding shortfalls, economic decline and rising inflation, and the continued recovery from the 2023 earthquake. All have acute gendered impacts, including increased protection risks of SGBV, increasing rates of early and forced marriage, and child labor. Both the Syrian government and non-state actors continue to perpetrate enforced disappearances, torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT), and women activists and WHRDs continue to face harassment and violence. Residents in northeastern Syria also face complex challenges: ISIL cells remain active in remote areas; Turkish military operations have destroyed critical infrastructure and disrupted access to water and electricity; and GBV, including sexual assault, so-called honor crimes, and harassment, has risen.

All parties must work to secure long-term, sustainable and safe humanitarian access in order to provide principled, reliable, and lifesaving assistance to the 16.7 million people currently in need. Humanitarian principles must be central to any agreements regarding cross-border assistance in order to ensure aid reaches those who need it, wherever they are situated, without interference. International donors should also increase their investment in gender-transformative early recovery and livelihood restoration programs to ensure all Syrians can live in dignity.

Council members must call for rights-based, survivor-centered humanitarian action that is age and gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and provides immediate and non-discriminatory aid and quality healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health services and GBV prevention, mitigation, and response services; access to quality mental health and psychosocial support; and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, that ensure women’s full participation and leadership in the management of related infrastructure. Council actions should be grounded in a gender, age, and disability-sensitive conflict analysis regarding the situation of displaced women and girls. Donors must increase direct and sustainable funding to local WLOs/WROs.

The Council should call for a ceasefire, end to violence, and a political solution grounded in accountability, justice, including reparations, human rights, gender equality and respect for international law. Council members should call on the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to ensure compliance with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Member States should fully resource the mechanism on missing persons to implement its mandate in a gender-sensitive and survivor-centered manner. Finally, women’s full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation and leadership should be ensured at every stage of the political process. The Office of the Special Envoy (OSE) should prioritize the meaningful participation, dialogue and inclusion of women activists, peacebuilders and WHRDs in its work, and provide updates on concrete steps to consult with and implement recommendations by diverse Syrian women civil society.

Ukraine

In recent months, the Russian Federation’s intensified attacks in the Kharkiv region have destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure, hindered the humanitarian response, and created a new wave of displacement. Women are at the forefront of the emergency response to the situation, including as humanitarian workers and elected officials, and they are active in peacebuilding, mediation, and human rights monitoring. GBV, including sexual violence, domestic violence, and trafficking, is on the rise, and women are impacted by lack of access to services and livelihoods, increased caregiving obligations, and lack of access to adequate shelter.

In its discussions on Ukraine, the Security Council should:

• Demand an immediate cessation of hostilities; end to civilian harm caused by the use of banned weapons such as cluster munitions and explosive weapons in populated areas; end to systematic attacks on critical infrastructure sites; respect for international humanitarian and human rights law; compliance with the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ; and that all investigations of violations since 2014, including alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, fully address the gendered and intersectional elements of these crimes.
• Urgently prioritize diplomatic efforts to negotiate peace, and support measures to promote the inclusive and meaningful participation and leadership of women from diverse communities at all levels of peace and political processes and humanitarian response, and consult with diverse local women leaders, women’s rights and peacebuilding groups, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI people, stateless people, non-Ukrainians, and members of the Roma community and other minority groups.
• Promote the protection of humanitarian and medical workers on both sides of the conflict in line with IHL, and ensure their unhindered access including in areas under Russian military control.
• Ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society, journalists, peacebuilders and all HRDs, including diverse women and LGBTQI people, in both Ukraine and Russia, and condemn any form of reprisal or persecution of civil society actors for their work.
• Ensure that all aspects of GBV protection, prevention and response are inclusive, non-discriminatory, and transparent, and that intersectional data and analysis inform all facets of the humanitarian response to ensure that individuals fleeing violence do not face additional gender-specific risks such as sexual exploitation, abuse and trafficking. Fully fund diverse local WLOs/WROs.
• Promote and protect the rights of all individuals fleeing violence, including the right to conscientious objection; ensure equal application of temporary protection for all people wishing to cross a border; provision of opportunities for livelihoods for displaced people that include social support, such as child care; access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare; and mental health and psychosocial support.

Yemen

Nearly 10 years into the conflict, the situation in Yemen remains one of serious concern, exacerbated by regional conflicts; climate change and lack of access to water; increasing cases of cholera and measles; poverty and economic crisis; and the suspension of the General Food Assistance program in November 2023. An estimated 18.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 49% of whom are women and girls, while the Humanitarian Response Plan is currently only 21% funded. Of the nearly 4.5 million people who have been displaced, an estimated 80% are women and children. Households are resorting to extreme coping mechanisms, including child, early and forced marriage: over 30% of girls are married before age 18. The mahram (male guardian) requirement impedes the ability of women, including aid workers, to work, travel, and access healthcare, including reproductive healthcare. WLOs and civil society organizations, particularly journalists and WHRDs, face restrictions, threats, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, hate speech, and targeted killings. Since June 7, UN and international NGO aid worker staff have been arbitrarily detained, compromising the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance. LGBTQI people have also been targeted by all parties to the conflict.

In renewing the mandate of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), the Security Council should articulate its support for an inclusive political process with the full, equal, safe, and meaningful participation of diverse women, including in truce and ceasefire negotiations, and in the humanitarian response, and donors should increase funding for local WLOs/WROs. Further, Council members should take steps to implement the Yemen Declaration for Justice and Reconciliation, and demand that all UN-supported peace committees include women, including but not limited to the Prisoners’ Exchange, the Taiz Committee, and the Security and Military Committees. Council members should demand all parties to the conflict and their allies respect international law, and emphasize that women’s human rights must be non-negotiable in any peace and political process. Council members should prioritize diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region and reiterate their full support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen to secure a sustainable settlement to the conflict. Finally, Council members should continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN and international NGO aid worker staff arbitrarily detained in Yemen.