DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION of National Action Plans ...

etween and among parties in a conflict. They play diverse roles – as healers andreconcilers, evacuation centre managers and relief operation coordinators. However,women often play these roles informally through unofficial channels.••When women are actively involved, peace agreements are more credible and covera broader range of issues. Their participation widens negotiations beyond topicsof military action, power, and wealth sharing, while promoting a non-competitivenegotiating style and building bridges among negotiating parties. Women negotiatorshelp establish positive relationships and steer talks away from zero-sum games overpolitical domination.••Research suggests that the presence of women civilian, police, and to a lesser degree,military peacekeepers does positively impact on the PSO and relations with localpopulations. In the few United Nations PSOs where women constituted significantproportions (30-50 percent) of the professional posts, there have been increasedincorporation of gender perspectives into various aspects of the operation, and thishas produced positive perceptions from the local population which have impactedon the success of the operation. For example, local women, have been found to bemore comfortable approaching women peacekeepers, especially about issues of sexualassault, domestic violence, or in requesting assistance.••Women’s participation at the peace table is vital from a rights based perspective, becausewomen have the right to be involved in decisions which affect them and also becausebetter solutions will result based on the knowledge and skills and attitude womencan bring to the negotiating table (UNIFEM, 2005). Such roles, if recognized, sustained,strengthened and expanded can make a significant impact in the building of a culture ofpeace in larger areas of human interaction beyond the local community.••This suffering in war, the under-valued and under-utilized conflict prevention and peacebuilding work of women and the leadership they show in rebuilding war-torn societiesand their continued exclusion from positions of decision-making in the sphere of peaceand security resulted in many calls for women’s full and equal participation and gendermainstreaming in all peace and security initiatives with the resultant document UNSCR1325.••As a result, on October 31, 2000, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 wasunanimously adopted.••Since then four other complementary resolutions have been adopted – UNSCR 1820,1888, 1889 and 1960. These five resolutions are often referred to as the Women andPeace and Security Framework. They provide the basis for advocacy, education, reformand capacity building on gender equality and women’s rights as they relate to peaceoperations.••More than a decade after the adoption of UNSCR 1325, women’s participation in formalpeace negotiations still remains minimal; women’s specific needs in refugee campsand in disarmament and reintegration efforts are still largely un-met; sexual and otherforms of VAWG is still prevalent during and after armed conflict situations and the overallprogress on implementing UNSCR 1325 globally has remained slow and inconsistent.4