A Spanish lieutenant of lSAF —the mission NATO deployed in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014— distributes information brochures to some women.
to something that was invisible in order
to condemn the suffering of women and
girls in conflict (the majority of refugees
are mothers with their children), the
use of rape as a weapon of war and
the accepted and ignored violence
against women. And, at the same time,
it confirmed the power of women as
peacemakers and their essential and
effective vital approach to achieving,
building and maintaining stability: it is
women who best understand that the
only way to build a society allowing their
children to live a better life is to provide
them not only with food and land, but also
with security, education, respect and
equality.
Without doubt, progress has been
very difficult and slow, but unstoppable.
In that briefing, the Secretary-General
submitted a report to the Security Council
assessing these twenty years of work
and reaffirming that, when women are
present at the negotiating table, peace
agreements are more likely to last 15
years or more. “The correlation between
gender inequality and the propensity of a
given society to civil or interstate conflicts
has been well established”, claims the
text presented by Antonio Guterres. Also,
“institutions, organizations, companies,
and governments work better when they
include half of society, rather than ignoring
it”. However, the fact is that “women
lead only seven percent of countries,
and decisions about peace agreements
are still overwhelmingly made by men”.
By July 2020, 85 countries (44 percent
of UN members) had incorporated the
The Secretary-
General has
presented a “Call to
Action” with new
measures
50 Revista Española de Defensa December 2020
Luis Rico/Army
“WOMEN are
essential to
peace and
p r o g r e s s
for all. This
has been a
proven and undeniable reality over the
past two decades. But there is still much
to be done: I urge all those involved in
global security to become more involved
in building a feminine approach to
peace. I think it is one of the best ways to
achieve a better world”. United Nations
Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres,
used the event on 29 October, at which
the Security Council celebrated the 20th
anniversary of the adoption of Resolution
1325, to launch another appeal and
exploit the full potential of this historic
resolution. Adopted unanimously,
Resolution 1325 not only established a
solid legal basis (ten other subsequent
resolutions complement it), but also
boosted it with a specific action plan:
the Women, Peace and Security (WPS)
Agenda. In other words, it gave visibility