Resolutions & Instruments

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on women, peace and security. Each resolution is crucial in addressing women’s role in peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Taken together, these resolutions represent a critical framework for improving the situation of women in conflict-affected countries.

• Resolution 1325 (2000) was the first UN Security Council resolution (SCR) to link women to the peace and security agenda. It recognizes that women are disproportionately affected by conflict and calls for their active participation at all levels of decision-making in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peace processes, post-conflict peacebuilding and governance. SCR 1325 further calls for the effective protection of women from sexual and gender-based violence in conflict settings, for the mainstreaming of gender perspectives in all aspects of peace operations, and for the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality.
• Resolution 1820 (2008) was the first SCR to recognize conflict-related sexual violence as a matter of international peace and security. It calls for armed actors to end the practice of using sexual violence against civilians to achieve political or military ends, and for all parties to conflict to counter impunity for sexual violence and provide effective protection for civilians. It also calls on the United Nations and peace operations to develop mechanisms to prevent and respond to sexual violence, including through the training of personnel, the deployment of more women to peace operations, the enforcement of zero-tolerance policies and strengthening the capacities of national institutions.
• Resolution 1888 (2009) strengthens the implementation of SCR 1820 through assigning leadership and establishing effective support mechanisms. It calls for the appointment of a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to coordinate UN efforts to address conflict-related sexual violence, as well as for the rapid deployment of teams of experts and advisors to situations of concern. SCR 1888 also calls for the inclusion of the issue of sexual violence in peace negotiations, the development of approaches to address the effects of sexual violence, and improved monitoring and reporting on conflict trends and perpetrators.
• Resolution 1889 (2009) addresses obstacles to women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding, as prescribed in SCR 1325. It calls for the UN Secretary-General to submit to the Security Council a set of indicators for use at the global level to track implementation of SCR 1325. It also calls for the strengthening of national and international responses to the needs of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings.
• Resolution 1960 (2010) provides an accountability system for implementation of SCRs 1820 and 1888. It mandates the Secretary-General to list in the annexes to annual reports those parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of sexual violence in situations on the Council’s agenda. Relevant sanctions committees will be briefed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and may take action against listed parties. SCR 1960 also calls for the establishment of monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements specific to conflict-related sexual violence.

Other Resolutions & Instruments

The agenda set forth in the four resolutions on women, peace and security overlaps in certain ways with a number of other thematic UN Security Council resolutions. In addition, several other international policy and legal instruments have contributed to its development or served to complement it. Read more