BY
H.E. MRS. FRANCESS PIAGIE ALGHALI
DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
I thank Ms. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN-Women and Ms. Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations for their comprehensive and insightful briefings. I also thank Ms. Kholood Khair, Founding Director, Confluence Advisory for the information provided.
Members of Council,
The importance of women`s full equal, meaningful and safe participation as active agents in peace and security processes remains a priority for Sierra Leone. The landmark adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in the year 2000 led to the global community’s manifest recognition of the differential burden that women and girls bear during conflict situations as well as the vital role that women play in conflict prevention, mitigation and resolution.
The Women, Peace and Security (“WPS”) agenda is thus the vital tool to recognize and uphold women`s right to full participation, protection, and benefit from the prevention of violence, and gender-sensitive relief and recovery.
Sierra Leone convened this meeting because we are concerned about the seeming lack of trust in the engagements between UN missions and host countries, and the impact that this will surely have on the rights of women and girls. We think this sense of alarm has clearly been expressed in the statements of the briefers today.
The WPS agenda, a cornerstone of our collective commitment to gender equality and conflict prevention, must not be compromised in the face of operational adjustments. On the contrary, it must be fortified and integrated into every phase of peacekeeping, peace support operations, political missions including in withdrawals and drawdown.
There exist examples of situation where there are adverse consequences for women and girls when there is absence of robust WPS frameworks during transitions. Women and girls are often disproportionately affected by renewed violence, limited access to justice, and exclusion from peacebuilding processes. Such setbacks undermine the hard-won gains made through years of conflict resolution, peace support and peacekeeping efforts.
In Sudan, [and as we have heard from our briefers], the current catastrophic conflict is imposing even more devastating impact on women and girls. The gains that were being made towards democracy and stability, have been reversed. With the closure of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), for instance, we in Sierra Leone can relate to the severe risk of reversal in sustaining the WPS commitments in such situations.
It is in this context that we share our story, as we urge for orderly and responsible withdrawals or drawdowns of peace support or peacekeeping operations. Sierra Leone experienced a decade of civil conflict from 1991-2000. In the immediate aftermath of the civil conflict the Peacekeeping Mission, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), had a gradual drawdown. From its peak of 17,500 troops, the Mission’s strength went down to 13,000 by June 2003 and subsequently to about 5,000 troops by late 2004. Undoubtedly, the drawdown was predicated on Sierra Leone’s ability to assume security responsibilities in areas being vacated by UNAMSIL.
The transition from UNAMSIL to the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) was well planned and carried out without major obstacles. The Government of Sierra Leone and all concerned national stakeholders including Women and Youth Groups and international partners were consulted on the establishment of the Office. An effective public information campaign conducted by UNAMSIL, and later UNIOSIL, prepared the population for the departure of UNAMSIL and for the role that the United Nations would play. As a result, UNIOSIL was fully accepted by all stakeholders concerned.
The transition from the UNIOSIL to the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) proceeded as planned, with extensive consultations among United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, culminating in the adoption of a Joint Vision of the United Nations Family for Sierra Leone. In pursuance of this vision, UNIPSIL organized, in collaboration with the relevant government agencies, a national consultative forum on the integration of human rights into the curriculum of secondary schools in Sierra Leone. Additionally, UNIPSIL in collaboration with the then Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs developed a plan relating to the gender justice acts and increased sensitization on women’s rights throughout the country.
It is interesting to note that this has been followed through with the establishment of institutions like the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police, the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, and the continued efforts to strengthen the legal framework to protect and empower women and girls.
These efforts include the passing of the Domestic Violence Act to combat domestic violence, the Devolution of Estates Act to ensure equity and equality in our inheritance rules, the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act to provide the necessary legal protection, the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, and the recently enacted Child Marriage Act which prohibits child marriage in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has also undertaken reform of non-gender specific laws to ensure the provision and protection of political and socio-economic rights and empowerment of women, which have enhanced the implementation of the WPS agenda.
In view of the foregoing, it is imperative that UN Missions withdrawal, or drawdowns are orderly and responsible. Where they become necessary, withdrawals or drawdowns must not result in a regression of the significant gains that have been made in gender equality and the protection of women’s rights. Accordingly, we will make the following observations:
Firstly, we must ensure that women are at the forefront of peacebuilding efforts. Their inclusion in peace processes is not merely a matter of equity; it is a necessity for sustainable peace. Evidence shows that peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in their negotiation and implementation. Therefore, as peacekeeping missions transition, we must support women’s groups and networks to take active roles in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
Secondly, the protection of women and girls from violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, must remain a priority. Peacekeeping missions often serve as critical mechanisms for protecting vulnerable populations. As these missions draw down, we must ensure that national and local authorities are equipped and committed to upholding these protections. This requires continuous capacity building, resource allocation, and a zero-tolerance policy towards perpetrators of such violence.
Thirdly, we must sustain the momentum of gender-responsive reforms in the security sector. This includes ensuring that police and military forces are trained on gender sensitivity and are held accountable for their actions. We must also advocate for the increased recruitment and retention of women in these sectors, ensuring that they play a significant role in decision-making processes.
We know that all contexts are different, but we also know this: with less UN presence in conflict settings, there is less security for women and girls, and less attention on the violations of the rights of women and girls, and a drastic drop in the investment for programmes to advance gender equality.
While this Security Council has clearly called for gender-responsive UN transitions, full of gender expertise and gender analysis and well thought-out planning, in practice this is still not the case, and much less so when the UN may have to leave in haste without accomplishing its mandate or an orderly and responsible transition plan. This is worrisome, which is one of the reasons we convened this meeting to serve as a reminder to the international community of the power of international cooperation, in particular on the WPS agenda.
Members of Council,
The WPS Agenda remains a viable global agenda. We recognize the significant progress that has been attained through concerted efforts of the UN and its specialized agencies, regional organizations as well as national governments and civil society organizations.
Notwithstanding the progress made, women and girls still encounter a myriad of targeted violations in conflict situations. In the face of accelerated drawdown of UN peace operations, we believe that sustaining the implementation of the four pillars of the WPS agenda will be challenging.
We hope that briefings like today will assist this Council to do more gender-sensitive conflict analysis so that we can best understand the progress that has been made, but also the challenges that remain in the implementation of WPS in the face of accelerated drawdowns of UN peace operations.
The global community needs to adopt a robust set of solution toolkit to addressing these phenomena for the attainment of our shared goal of maintaining international peace and security.
I thank you.
