This October marks 18 years since the passing of the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 which reminded the world of the particular toll that conflict takes on women and girls, and of the vital role that they often play in building lasting peace. ( http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/#resolution) Indeed, a 2017 study examining 182 signed peace accords over two decades showed that the accords were 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years when women were involved. Resolution 1325 enshrined in international law the right of women to fully participate in peace negotiations in their countries. https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IPI-E-pub-Reimagining-Peacemaking-rev.pdf)
Despite this success, women continued to be omitted from peace talks. Between 1992 and 2011, women comprised only nine percent of negotiators, four percent of witnesses and signatories to accords, and two percent of peace mediators. Given the fact that women are more than 50 percent of the world’s population, and have a successful track record in negotiating peace, those percentages are inexcusably low.
Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini was among the civil society drafters of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. For over two decades, she has been a leading international advocate, researcher, trainer, and writer on conflict prevention and peace building from a gender perspective. She was the first Senior Expert on Gender and Inclusion on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team, deploying to conflicts zones and supporting women in very difficult contexts to find the courage to step up to the negotiation table in peace processes facilitated by the UN.
Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini
Co-Founder and Executive Director, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Carina Van Vliet
former Political Affairs Officer, United Nations
