Women, Peace and Security: UNIFEM Supporting Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325

Author/Editor(s): Klara Banaszak, Felicity Hill, Aina Iiyambo, Maha Muna

What impact does war have on women?  In conflicts throughout the world, violence against women continues to be used as a weapon of war. Women know what it means to be displaced from their families or forced into slavery. They also know the negative effect that war has on health and education and they carry the ever-increasing burden of caring and providing for their families, the injured and the wounded, while being forced to adopt survival strategies in the face of war. Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was created to address this crisis — from conflict prevention to peace negotiations to post-conflict reconstruction.

Women in conflict areas around the world have joined together to demand that the international community put an end to violence, address the impact of war on women and their communities and protect the future of their societies, as well as women's role in shaping that future. "Women, Peace and Security: UNIFEM Supporting Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325" brings together those experiences, knowledge and reflection following four years of research and collaboration both in the field and at UNIFEM's headquarters.

There are four sections that address a particular issue specific to Peace and Security: Information, Early Warning and Conflict Prevention; Humanitarian Protection and Assistance; Peace-Building; and Gender Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation. Case studies from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States are featured.

"Women, Peace and Security" brings together UNIFEM's advocacy and action with the strength of women to redefine international frameworks and policies that will ensure that there is global commitment and realization of resolution 1325.