Attachments
I. Introduction
1. The present report is prepared pursuant to the presidential statement dated 26 October 2010 (S/PRST/2010/22), in which the Security Council requested annual reports on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). The report follows up on the Secretary-General’s directives to the United Nations and the five goals for the decade (2020 to 2030) laid out in the reports of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security from 2019 and 2020, paying special attention to the goal of turning the unconditional defence of women’s rights into one of the most visible markers of the work of the United Nations on peace and security, and in particular the protection of women human rights defenders.
2. Despite normative agreement since the year 2000 and evidence that gender equality offers a path to sustainable peace and conflict prevention, we are moving in the opposite direction. Today, the world is experiencing a reversal of generational gains in women’s rights while violent conflicts, military expenditures, military coups, displacements and hunger continue to increase.
3. Recent challenges to democratic and inclusive politics show once again that misogyny and authoritarianism are often mutually reinforcing and antithetical to stable and prosperous societies. In several countries, violent extremist groups and military actors have taken power by force, revoking previous commitments on gender equality and persecuting women for speaking up or simply for going about their daily lives. The present report focuses on women and girls in all their diversity and shows that the combination of misogyny and authoritarianism also lead to increased violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
4. One of the most extreme expressions of this oppression is in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have appointed a Cabinet comprised exclusively of men, have closed girls’ secondary schools, banned women from showing their faces in public and restricted women’s right to leave their own homes, among many other restrictions decreed in the past year. A majority of girls have been away from classrooms for more than 400 days and were turned away from their schools on what they thought would be their first day back. Nearly 20 million Afghan women and girls are being denied their basic human rights, and 51 per cent of women’s organizations operating in Afghanistan have had to close.1
5. Afghanistan is not the only place where there has been regression on women’s human rights, dashed hopes, delayed reforms, unmet quotas and continued repression and violence against women and girls. In most conflict-affected countries, men hold power, women are structurally or directly excluded, and women’s rights and freedoms are deliberately targeted.
6. In many countries, in particular conflict-affected countries, women are at the forefront of protests against authoritarian leaders and are firm in their refusal to accept political settlements that do not guarantee their rights. In some countries, women are notching victories, including more equal laws and advances in women’s representation in decision-making. Women expect concrete actions towards their inclusion, and reject tokenistic meetings with women’s groups or the insertion of language in deals without their direct participation.
7. The women and peace and security agenda is not just an answer to historic wrongs and marginalization, but an opportunity to do things differently. Opening the door to inclusion and participation would result in giant steps forward in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
8. This report is informed by data and analysis provided by entities of the United Nations system, including peace operations and country teams, inputs from Member States, regional organizations and civil society, and analysis of other globally recognized data sources. It presents an assessment of the current challenges and examples of pathways for change.