Russia Loses UN Vote Regarding Women’s Rights in Conflict Zones
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is regarded as a vital piece of legislation encouraging gender inclusion in peacemaking and security. (Flickr)
Russia’s resolution regarding women’s rights in conflict zones did not pass in the UN as 10 countries abstained from the vote. Russia drafted a resolution to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on October 30. Resolution 1325 was the first formal document from the UN Security Council preventing violations of women’s rights by parties in conflict, urging for greater protections for women and children against gender-based violence, and recognizing the participation of women in issues of peace and security.
The Women, Peace and Security Programme (PeaceWomen), an international organization promoting women’s participation in global efforts for peace, called Resolution 1325 “a historic watershed political framework that shows how women and a gender perspective are relevant to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps and peacekeeping operations and reconstructing war-torn societies for sustainable peace.”
However, Russia’s draft resolution was criticized as damaging toward the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS). Members of CARE International, a major international humanitarian agency developing humanitarian aid projects, commended the UN Security Council for not allowing the resolution to pass, saying that the “proposed text would have eroded some of the key elements of the WPS agenda, including women’s human rights, prevention of conflict related sexual violence, support for women’s civil society, and women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in decisions that impact them.”
The British acting UN ambassador Jonathan Allen specifically criticized the draft as lacking “sufficient language on implementation.”
The draft resolution was supported by Russia, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and South Africa. 10 countries abstained from voting: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tunisia. Needing nine supporting votes to pass, Russia’s draft resolution had far fewer votes than required to be adopted.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia defended the draft, denying that it watered down Resolution 1325.
China’s ambassadors supported Russia and accused the countries who abstained to vote of “clinging only to existing language and refusing improvement. ”
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, indicated that women are still largely excluded from peace negotiation and global discussions. Even after Resolution 1325 was passed in October 2000, only 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators, and 6 percent of peace agreement signatories in peace negotiations from 1992 to 2019 were women.