United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Civil society experience and lesson learnt, 2009
Prepared by: Maria Theresa Maan-Besic, Programme Manager, Žene Zenama

"Participation of the Public in Human Security and the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is an ongoing project that has been implemented since 2005 with a long-term goal to sensibilize the BiH security sector (army and police), EUFOR and EUPM to issues of women’s human rights and a gender perspective. The intention was to establish cooperation between NGOs and the security sector (national and international) at all levels, from local to national, in order to incorporate gender equality policies into their internal structures.  

The starting point of the project was the 2007 Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (hereinafter, UNSCR 1325), which dealt with the survey of public opinion in four key areas of UNSCR 1325 and resulted in nine specific recommendations submitted to the government, whose obligation is to implement UNSCR 1325, and to representatives of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The full implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires the following:

·          Integration of a gender perspective into national policies thorough institutional legal mechanisms for the protection of human rights which are mandatory for Bosnia and Herzegovina and based on international documents and the General Framework Agreement for Peace, and

·          Responsible cooperation between government institutions, international missions and civil society aimed at the implementation of the policy of peace and security for women, and taking into account a gender perspective.

A pilot project conducted in 2009 was focused on the establishment of cooperation between women’s NGOs, police departments, Ministry of Defense, and ESDP missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the consistent implementation of the standards laid down by UN SCR 1325 concerning the promotion and protection of women’s human rights and gender equality. During the 18-month period, the following planned activities were conducted: two seminars for trainers, two forums, thirteen local workshops, and operational meetings between the implementing organization and partners involved in the project.

In the course of the implementation of the project, Žene Ženama organised regular consultative meetings with the donor (UNIFEM), partners who were directly involved in the project (EUFOR, EUPM, NGOs), and longstanding partners (HCA Banja Luka, Horizonti Tuzla, Žene BiH Mostar, and Budućnost Modriča).

Through training of personnel of local, national and international security forces and NGOs, the theoretical and practical knowledge on human rights, gender policies, and institutional and international mechanisms for the protection against various forms of discrimination and violation of women’s human rights was acquired.

The forums or public platforms that were organized in Sarajevo at the beginning and the end of the project activity, were venues for effective participation of all interested parties to discuss all challenges pertaining to (in)security in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their personal  engagement in the protection of human rights and understanding of certain concept, such as equality, gender/sex and implementation thereof in management structures of the security sector (army and police) through the consistent implementation of UNSCR 1325. The forums were also the events at which international actors from European countries and national and international actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina had the opportunity to exchange their experiences pertaining to the integration of gender policies into security policies.

Workshops were the result of the coordinated effort of all actors to bring together citizens, civil initiatives and security forces (national and international) to discuss the main causes of discrimination and violation of human rights in local communities.  

All activities within the project were an integral part of a huge information campaign aimed at raising awareness of the BiH public about the importance of participation of both women and men in the management structures of the security sector, and about the importance of UNSCR 1325 in the protection of women’s human rights. Also, all activities related to UNSCR 1325 that have been and are conducted by Žene Ženama are an integral part of the National Action Plan (NAP) developed at the initiative of the BiH Gender Equality Agency.    


The project titled Participation of the Public in Human Security is a logical continuation of the activities on the promotion and implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina that have been conducted by Žene Ženama since 2005. The 2007 Report on monitoring the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded that state institutions, international organizations and UN missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina had not paid enough attention to UNSCR 1325 and that there was the apparent lack of a gender perspective within their structures.


This project was implemented through extensive activities involving various participants. The project itself and its implementation were a challenge for the management team. The project intervention was very interesting for EUFOR, EUPM and international missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina as it offered them an opportunity to enhance their capacities for gender policies, on one hand, and to promote, in cooperation with civic initiatives, citizens and local security forces, their activities on ensuring peace and stability, on the other hand.


The project intervention was also supported by BiH Ministry of Defense and entity ministries of the interior. Their openness to all forms of cooperation with civic initiatives and international missions was once again confirmed by their active participation in this project. Our joint work will not end with this project. It will continue through various activities aimed at the incorporation of gender policies into military and police structures, and the implementation of BiH National Action Plan for UNSCR 1325.

Long-term objective: Strengthening of gender equality principles in peace and security policies through advocacy activities aimed at increasing gender sensitivity in state institutions in order to make them capable of responding to women’s security needs.

Objectives:

1.       Provide effective knowledge on human security from the viewpoint of gender equality through training of personnel of local, national and international security forces.

2.       Develop public debate on issues of human security in areas affected by conflict in order to find constructive and creative ideas about various methods for resolution of troubled relations within families and society.

3.       Ensure partnership between women, citizens and local police in prevention of conflicts and violation of human rights, and especially in cases of violence and discrimination.

Purpose of the report:

The comprehensive implementation of UN SCR 1325 and related international documents on human rights requires the integration of a gender perspective into all public policies, and the responsibility of the government, civil society and international agencies for its implementation. UNSCR 1325 was adopted in October 2000. It was the first document emphasizing the importance of a gender perspective and women participation in conflict resolution and peace-building. Civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina is generally familiar with UNSCR 1325 and its importance for women’s participation in every sphere of society. Women’s organizations have hugely contributed to raising public awareness of UNSCR 1325 through numerous promoting activities, formal and informal training events, consultations and cooperation with state institutions, information campaigns, and a wide dissemination of its translated versions in local languages. However, a lot of efforts are yet to be made to ensure its true implementation.  Some of suggestions for better implementation were stated in the Report on the monitoring of the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina include the following key aspects:

1. Inclusion of women in decision-making processes in all sectors of public life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the areas with apparent gender inequality.
2. Incorporation of a gender perspective in the security sector through gender training of police, judges, prosecutors, and health and social care officials.
3. Devoting continuous attention to the human rights of women and girls who are increasingly exposed to domestic violence and human trafficking.
4. International presentation of a gender perspective through UN agencies and offices which should make a significant contribution by incorporating the promotion of a gender perspective into their own activities and structures.
5. International organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina must implement the obligations under UNSCR 1325 by promoting gender awareness or by conducting gender awareness activities.

The project was a specific strategy pursued by Žene Ženama with the aim to involve NGOs, EUPM, EUFOR, and national security forces (army and police) in a joint action on the promotion of gender policies, peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activities were focused on two components: women’s human rights and integration of gender aspects into the structures of the security sector. That is a direct contribution to the UNIFEM’s project "Women Building Peace and Human Security in the Western Balkans", developed in close cooperation with partner organizations.   

Successful strategies
·        Include efforts on development of a comprehensive peace and security platform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ensure, through joint efforts, participation of all decision-makers.  

·         Include a gender perspective in public peace and security policies, encourage women to participate in all decision-making processes affecting themselves, including legislation, policies and programs in all areas and at all levels.

·         Assess implications of any planned activity for both women and men, and strongly advocate the networking of national, international and regional partners aimed at women’s empowerment in all areas. All interested parties should work together in a comprehensive and long peace process that will continually face challenges posed by violence and conflicts on the ground.  

·         Mobilization of "human energy" builds confidence, strengthens local social networks and creates "social capital" that can foster peace and development in the future.

·         Training, workshops and forums are events at which international and national actors and local NGOs share their experiences concerning women’s inequality at all levels.

·         The strategy of the project suggested the inclusion of women from NGOs, as an important dimension, in development, implementation, supervision and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and social spheres.

·         Partnerships between international agencies, NGOs, and government institutions, with the assistance from the Gender Equality Agency will ensure the implementation of international documents on the protection of human rights and the National Action Plan for the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

·         New approaches and strategies for work with international actors or partners on the integration of gender mainstreaming into public policies.

Challenges

There is an apparent lack of academic literature dealing with the results achieved in the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2005, there have been many reports stating what can be achieved by the implementation of UN SCR 1325, but very little has been said about what was really done. That is why not much is known about the impact of the implementation of UN SCR 1325 on women’s real-life situations. There is also a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of peacekeeping missions and UNSCR 1325 on improving the gender equality at different national, regional and international levels.

UN SCR 1325 envisages responsibilities for governments of UN member countries and for the UN system itself. The first challenge lies in the difficulty of incorporating UN SCR 1325 standards into that system and applying them from the top down. This particularly refers to peacekeeping missions, but also to UN humanitarian relief agencies. Notwithstanding the steps taken by the UN system to ensure that this transfer really happens, the efficient implementation depends on the understanding of gender and security within the UN. As this does not exist in reality, despite efforts to make it happen, disagreements about the importance of UNSCR 1325 still exist.  

In general, a challenge lies in the lack of the full engagement in the implementation of UN SCR 1325 at the state level, in important government agencies, departments, and a certain number of ministries. The responsibility for the implementation is the biggest problem. The awareness of its importance is still on the civil society agenda that involves the women’s movement. However, we believe that once a national action plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 is developed, more government agencies, departments and ministries will assume responsibility to establish a platform that will ensure a gender balance and will appoint persons responsible for gender issues, especially in the areas of security, justice, education, and human rights. Some processes that have already been initiated through the implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) gained the strength by the establishment of the working group for drafting a national action plan which will accelerate the implementation of UNSCR 1325 at state level, both horizontally and vertically.

Conclusion and lessons learned
Once Žene Ženama have compiled Report on Monitoring Implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, various actors at international, regional, state and local level have initiated actions and a more advanced approach to this issue. During this period, we conducted various actions through education, forums and information campaigns, which involved different levels of responsibility of international, national and local actors in the security sector. The interest shown by EUFOR and EUPM in this project was of great importance for the promotion of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By participating directly in the implementation of the project, they reaffirmed their commitment to promoting gender mainstreaming policies within military and police missions. Such a stance could be a huge encouragement to national security forces to develop programs which will involve a greater number of women in peacekeeping missions and in top leadership positions. UNSCR 1325 covers a wide area of gender integration into public peace policies, security and protection of human rights, and especially the area of the gender-based violence.   

Civil society is committed to the full implementation of UNSCR 1325 through development of strategies and action plans aimed at establishing a supervisory apparatus and responsible mechanisms, at national and international level, which will ensure full and equal participation of women in all social and political processes.

Based on information from civil society organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we can assert that progress has been made in the implementation of UNSCR 1325, with remarkable moves in gender sensibilization by those responsible to respond in the event of violence against women and girls (police, media, civil society), as well as in reform processes in the security sector pertaining to the punishment of violence perpetrators and greater participation of women in peacekeeping, humanitarian and reconstruction processes.

Also, there has been an apparent increase in the number of BiH female soldiers and police officers participating in peacekeeping missions. Top officials in national police and military forces have become increasingly interested in appointing persons who will integrate gender perspectives into their internal management and decision-making structures. The project itself and the concept of gender perspectives presented therein has contributed to the credibility of international security missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in local communities, where they strengthen social relations and contribute to the develop democracy through daily implementation of their peacekeeping mandates,.

Women’s NGOs have reaffirmed their role as an irreplaceable and reliable partner in building a sustainable peace through advocacy activities, mediation between authorities and citizens, for peace, justice, reconciliation, disarmament, and demobilization. A great problem lies in the lack of security, peace-building and governance processes within state institutions.

Women often organize peace promotion events for wider groups of people, but their access to formal peace-building processes is still limited. This refers to peace agreements and implementation thereof, constitution drafting, security sector, democratic governance, and judicial reforms. Never the les, enhanced cooperation and networking between international actors, organizations, and national structures has been encouraged.  

A very small number of women participate in peace negotiations and political processes, especially in countries affected by conflict and war, and their experiences are not taken into account.  

Peace agreements barely take a gender and human rights perspective into account. Women’s voices and concerns are often excluded from decisions that have an impact on economic and political structures in the post-war reconstruction, legislation, land and property rights, access to education, social and health care, disarmament and reintegration, and issues related to the status of displaced persons within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Despite all ongoing activities, the implementation of UN SCR 1325 and the gender perspectives promoted therein, women are still excluded from negotiations, agreement-making, temporary and interim governments, humanitarian aid planning and implementing, post-war reconstruction planning, and policy-making. On the whole, peace processes remain an exclusively male endeavor in which they seize power and set the post-conflict agenda. In order that principles of democracy and good governance take root in a post-conflict country, it is of vital importance that both men and women have equal opportunities to participate in ongoing processes.

Efficient and appropriate interventions to support women and girls affected by war and violent conflict are hampered by a general lack of reliable information and analysis of the situation of women and girls in many post-conflict countries, although some progress has been made to overcome this shortcoming. Concerted efforts at international and national level are needed to stimulate research and acquire knowledge that will be used in intervention plans for efficient peace and security building policies based on women’s experiences.

Women’s advocacy groups and national women’s mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina have actively participated in the implementation of UN SCR 1325. They have been active in advocating for greater participation of women in decision-making, and especially in encouraging women to participate in development of programs and policies.   

Supported by international agencies, women’s groups have conducted continuous training of women aimed at integration of human rights and gender equality into everyday life, both public and private.

Even though many institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have actively supported UNSCR 1325, BiH Gender Equality Agency and Parliamentary Commission for Gender Equality in the first place, the practical implementation of its standards will for a long time remain a huge challenge for political and institutional priorities. Bosnia and Herzegovina still lacks the political will to effectively implement UNSCR 1325. However, quite encouraging is that there are mechanisms to tackle main causes of discrimination and violation of women’s human rights. Those mechanisms are international documents (such as CEDAW, European Convention of Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, etc., which constitute the basis of the institutional and legal framework of the country), and legislation, in particular the Law on Gender Equality which requires women’s participation in sustainable recovery and reconstruction at all levels.  

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there have been very modest, individual attempts to assess the impact of war and post-war reconstruction on women and women rights. UNSC Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1889 have particularly encouraged women’s groups to devote much more attention to the impact of the war and post-war situation on women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both the international and domestic public has again shown the interest in war rape. The non-existence of common standards for the supervision of the implementation of the above mentioned resolutions is a big problem as such standards could help the institutions and organizations of civil society to establish a systematic monitoring of the progress achieved in this domain. The reports on the implementation of these resolutions, which were compiled by women’s organizations, could not show a real progress or serious shortcomings. As the elements of these resolutions are mutually interrelated and all of them are dealing with the protection of women and children in armed conflicts, it may be useful to monitor the progress in the implementation thereof altogether.   

By monitoring the implementation of the UN SCR 1325 standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have realized that a continuous advocacy, financial assistance, technical, legal and political expertise, as well as the understanding of gender equality in international, national and local structures is necessary. In recent years, the international attention and funds for women’s human rights and gender issues have not been in the focus of interest.  

The tenth anniversary of the adoption of UN SCR 1325 is a right time to return the issues of women’s rights and gender issues into the political agenda of debates on peace and security in the UN Security Council and the European Parliament in order to ensure a political support, financial assistance and cooperation that would lead to the full and equal participation of women in all peace and security processes.

The consistent implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina should mean not only a continuous support in the building the state capacity but also a continuous supervision of state mechanisms for gender equality and women’s empowerment. These obligations were defined in the National Action Plan.

"Participation of the Public in Human Security – UN SCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is one of many projects conducted by Žene Ženama for and with women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

See more information: www.zenezenaman.org