Kate Paarlberg-Kvam
Colombia’s 2016 Peace Accord is a groundbreaking example of how to include women and a gender focus in negotiations and peacebuilding. This achievement is the result of years of advocacy by Colombian women, with the support of the international community. To claim a role in the peace process, Colombian women effectively made use of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which mandates that UN member states increase women’s participation in peace and security efforts and take gender and gender-based violence into account when making decisions about armed conflict and its resolution. Colombian women’s strategic use of 1325 produced an accord that both reflects and extends beyond international dialogues on Women, Peace, and Security.
Resolution 1325 was adopted 18 years ago, the result of a concerted effort by women activists around the world. Several NGOs, including groups in New York, Dakar, and London, came together to advance the Beijing Platform for Action that emerged from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. They were supported in particular by member states in the Global South, and propelled by Namibia’s May 2000 Windhoek Declaration calling for attention to gender in the design of peace support operations. While 1325 and subsequent WPS (Women, Peace, and Security) resolutions have been criticized for their limitations, they nonetheless have served as a powerful tool. Read the rest of this entry »