Discussions on a possible peacekeeping operation will continue to be at the center of the Council’s dealing with the situation in Mali, likely guided by the Council’s receipt of the recent report on the situation. The Council should ensure that the resolution creating a new UN operation includes support for women’s full participation in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, and the cessation of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence. Specifically, the mandate for the new mission should include:

• Strong support for women’s participation and women’s rights in all mediation and conflict resolution efforts, as recently emphasized in SCR 2056 (OP 26), and in all political processes;
• A strong human rights monitoring and reporting mandate, which includes gender expertise, and a human rights component with sufficient resources and support to be able to conduct its work in the whole territory and without interference;
• A protection of civilians’ mandate, noting particular threats to women, under Chapter VII;
• Gender-responsive security sector and judicial reform directives to the mission, that ensures that training and legislation are inclusive of women and responsive to women’s rights;
• Gender-specific benchmarks including key measures of women’s security and participation;
• As the Council called for in SCR 1889 (OP 9), “ensure that efforts for long term relief and reconstruction to ensure that women’s empowerment is taken into account during post-conflict needs assessments and planning, and factored into subsequent funding disbursements and programme activities;” and
• Emphasis that the UN ensures it is able to screen from its forces any troops, including any now serving in AFISMA, who might be reasonably suspected of having committed crimes under international law or other human rights abuses in their own countries. In addition, the new UN operation should be ready to implement strictly the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy in relation to any support it provides in the future to non-UN security forces.

In the interim, the Council should call for the expedited deployment of UN civilian personnel for UNOM, particularly human rights monitors and gender experts. An urgent upscale is still needed in specialized gender-based violence service delivery with humanitarian organizations leading the GBV response, and continuous support from the GBV Sub-Cluster leadership.

Discussions on a possible peacekeeping operation will continue to be at the center of the Council’s dealing with the situation in Mali, likely guided by the Council’s receipt of the recent report on the situation. The Council should ensure that the resolution creating a new UN operation includes support for women’s full participation in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, and the cessation of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence. Specifically, the mandate for the new mission should include:

• Strong support for women’s participation and women’s rights in all mediation and conflict resolution efforts, as recently emphasized in SCR 2056 (OP 26), and in all political processes;
• A strong human rights monitoring and reporting mandate, which includes gender expertise, and a human rights component with sufficient resources and support to be able to conduct its work in the whole territory and without interference;
• A protection of civilians’ mandate, noting particular threats to women, under Chapter VII;
• Gender-responsive security sector and judicial reform directives to the mission, that ensures that training and legislation are inclusive of women and responsive to women’s rights;
• Gender-specific benchmarks including key measures of women’s security and participation;
• As the Council called for in SCR 1889 (OP 9), “ensure that efforts for long term relief and reconstruction to ensure that women’s empowerment is taken into account during post-conflict needs assessments and planning, and factored into subsequent funding disbursements and programme activities;” and
• Emphasis that the UN ensures it is able to screen from its forces any troops, including any now serving in AFISMA, who might be reasonably suspected of having committed crimes under international law or other human rights abuses in their own countries. In addition, the new UN operation should be ready to implement strictly the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy in relation to any support it provides in the future to non-UN security forces.

In the interim, the Council should call for the expedited deployment of UN civilian personnel for UNOM, particularly human rights monitors and gender experts. An urgent upscale is still needed in specialized gender-based violence service delivery with humanitarian organizations leading the GBV response, and continuous support from the GBV Sub-Cluster leadership.