Women, Peace and Security – have your say

Public submissions are being sought on New Zealand’s National Action Plan for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Women, Peace and Security.

The draft plan, developed by the Government with the support of Police and other agencies, is open for public consultation – click here to read it.

The primary resolution, 1325, was adopted by the Security Council in 2000. There have been a number of developments since then at UN, regional and national levels.

The plan describes New Zealand’s implementation of the suite of resolutions, with a focus on a limited number of practical steps that might contribute to real change.

It concentrates on promoting efforts to empower women and prevent violence against women in conflict-affected countries where New Zealand has an existing development programme or other form of direct leverage.

This includes programmes supporting women’s leadership and participation in peacemaking and conflict prevention, and relates to international deployability of senior staff within New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Defence Force.

Senior Sergeant Claire Bibby, who represented Police on the inter-agency group writing the draft plan, will be a panel speaker at the public consultation launch in Wellington on 5 May, hosted by Women In International Security (NZ) and the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University.

Claire, who was deployed to the Solomon Islands in 2012 and Vanuatu in 2013, says Resolution 1325 brings women into the heart of the peacekeeping process.

“It recognises that most people affected by armed conflict are civilians, particularly women and children,” she says. “It stresses the importance of men and women working together to increase women’s decision-making role in preventing, managing and resolving conflict.”

Written comments on the plan can be sent to WomenPeaceSecurity@mfat.govt.nz by Wednesday 20 May. It is recommended that people seeking to make written submissions first attend the launch – click here for details of the event.

Other links

·    UN Peacekeeping: Women, Peace and Security - http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/wps.shtml

·    New Zealand UN Security Council website - http://www.nzunsc.govt.nz/