Speech
Ending History’s Greatest Silence
By Inés Alberdi, Executive Director, UNIFEM
Date: 8 July 2009
Occasion: Council of Women World Leaders, UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict Programme, 8 July 2009, The Aspen Institute, Washington, D.C.
I would like to thank the organizers of this event for the opportunity to facilitate discussion on a subject called “history’s greatest silence” — sexual violence in conflict. This is also an important forum for sharing ideas on collaboration with the UN Action network, of which UNIFEM is a founding member. UN Action was created in 2007 to unite 12 UN entities behind a single goal: to end sexual violence during and after war.
Most of us experience war indirectly — through often shocking images and statistics. Yet it is the everyday stories that speak most powerfully about the reality of war for women who live it. Stories like that of Furah — pictured on the Stop Rape poster — who walks 16 kilometers a day across rebel-held territory carrying her 18-month-old daughter to sell wood in eastern Congo — “the rape capital of the world.” She illustrates how sexual violence targets women, not just for their vulnerability, but for their strength as they continue to support their children and families, even in the midst of war.
Women in crisis situations are often all that holds families and communities together. When women are attacked, the structures that ensure human security fracture, leaving space for those who would destroy the peace process. In this way, sexual violence can spark the flames of conflict that the UN Security Council and peacekeeping missions seek to extinguish.
Matters of war and peace are measured in terms of bombs and bullets, rather than whether women can get to market without being robbed or raped. But recent Security Council action has begun to change how the public and international community think about rape in conflict, recognizing it as a critical security challenge. This gives us a clear platform for action, one we can use to empower war-affected women to become agents of change.
In this regard, Security Council resolution 1820 builds upon its predecessor, resolution 1325, to emphasize that there can be no security without women’s security. There can be no peace unless women and girls have peace of mind when working in the fields or going to school. These resolutions require that peace agreements take women’s needs and interests into account from day one. It is at the moment of negotiating a peace deal, signing a ceasefire, sending peacekeepers on patrol, or training troops that these resolutions begin to live and have impact.
The importance of resolutions also lies in what they recognize and legitimize. In the case of 1325, that war affects men and women differently, and that women have an important role in peace building. In the case of 1820, that sexual violence is a crime of concern to the international community and a security issue that demands a security response. But the real challenge is translating this into progress at the level of a displacement camp in Darfur, the hinterlands of Nepal or the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan. The first-ever Secretary-General’s report on sexual violence, mandated by resolution1820, sets out a plan for implementing the resolution and improving data-collection. The Council is also considering expanding its “naming and shaming” list on children and armed conflict to include those accused of “rape and other grave sexual abuse.” It should be urged to do so, and to ensure the information is acted on by Sanctions Committees.
UNIFEM has been working in conflict areas since early 1990, during which time we’ve learned a lot about what works. We’ve consistently sounded the alarm about how the stigma and terror caused by rape impedes women’s political, economic and social participation. We issued first-hand testimonies of the impact of war on women in the 2002 report, Women, War and Peace. We have implemented several small programmes in concert with women’s organizations, parliamentarians and governments to address four key issues:
First, combating impunity. Changing a culture of impunity requires reforming national laws to recognize sexual violence as a crime, and ensuring that transitional justice processes exclude amnesty for acts of sexual violence amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
Both the United States and the European Union are involved in post-conflict restructuring and training of armed and security forces. Currently, mass rape is more likely to lead war-lords to the corridors of power, than to the cells of a prison. Commanders know that high-profile actions against civilians earn them attention as a force to be reckoned with. But if rape can be commanded or condoned, it can be condemned. It must carry consequences: recognition of those who prevent and punish sexual violence; prosecution for those who fail to do so.
Second, ending the silence. Leaders and individuals — including all of us here — are encouraged to take on a greater global advocacy role and collaborate with UN Action. One of the key goals of the UN Secretary-General’s campaign, “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women" is that “the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence as a tactic of war is condemned and systematically addressed.” Resolution 1820 urges parties to armed conflict to “debunk the myths” surrounding sexual violence, including the myth that it is an inevitable byproduct of war.
One way is to mobilize new media, as EU Vice President Wallström has done through her blog, which highlights the anniversary of 1820. When she takes note..so do others. The upcoming 10th anniversary of resolution 1325 provides another occasion to call for stronger and more meaningful commitments to integrate gender into all aspects of peace and security work.
Third, ensuring women’s full and equal participation in peace processes. We must ensure that women benefit from peace processes as much as men do. Governments and international organizations involved in brokering peace must appoint women as high level envoys, mediators and facilitators. Mediators must ensure that parties to peace talks address sexual violence early and fully. How peacekeepers treat women can shape national and local perspectives--sending a message that women are essential to the consolidation of peace.
Finally, funding services for survivors: this includes judicial, health-care, physical, psychological and social services, and livelihood support. A holistic response to sexual violence is particularly important as it affects every aspect of a victim’s life. In addition, civilian protection mandates given to peacekeepers must be matched by adequate resources. More immediately, a forensic lab to handle soft-tissue evidence is vital to successful rape prosecution, yet not one exists in either DRC or Liberia, where rape is the most frequently reported crime.
We all have a role to play. The UN recognized that when agencies came together to create UN Action. To date, it has taken the following initial steps.
Most importantly, at country-level, it has provided strategic support in Darfur, DRC, Liberia and Kenya. In Liberia, which has made a high level commitment to address the issue of impunity, UN Action supports a Gender-based Violence Programme to strengthen government efforts and coordinated programming. In DRC, it supported development of a Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Sexual Violence, endorsed by the Government on 1st April. This holds great potential for addressing the devastating scale of sexual violence in DRC, and sets an important precedent for the UN system. In Sudan, it is supporting UNFPA to coordinate the response to sexual violence, which dominates the conflict in Darfur. And in the wake of contested elections in Kenya, it helped to develop a strategy to combat politically-motivated rape.
In terms of advocacy, UNIFEM and DPKO, under UN Action auspices, brought together peacekeepers, commanders, policy-makers and Security Council members, to generate solutions to the increasing use of sexual violence in conflict. This provided the analytical background and impetus for the unanimous adoption of resolution 1820 last June. It also led to the field-testing of an inventory of promising protection practice by military and police peacekeepers. Through a range of advocacy material, including stoprapenow.org, UN Action shines a spotlight on the impact of rape as a tactic of war and is working to raise public awareness.
Finally, UN Action is building a knowledge-hub on sexual violence, which includes information on good practices and guidance for envoys, mediators and peacekeepers on implementing Resolutions 1325 and 1820.
These are promising first steps, but enormous challenges remain. Just recently, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC —acknowledged that sexual violence is “dramatically on the increase”. All of us need to meet these challenges in our different capacities. Today’s discussion with two key policy-makers can help us to do this.
Thank you.
