international
The Rector of the UNED, the Minister of Defence and the Chairperson of the Women for
Africa Foundation open the round table held in Madrid on 23 November.
Ricardo Pérez/MDE
“WE CAN’T LET
our guard down”
Scholars, activists, politicians and
military personnel discuss the future of
the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
THERE was absolutely no
doubt among participants:
the Women, Peace and
Security Agenda has changed
the perception of women, who are no
longer just victims, but also essential
agents of peace. This is undeniable;
however, it is also true that women
and girls continue to be sexually
abused in conflicts and that there are
very few processes in which women
peacebuilders have a real capacity for
action. Twenty years after its adoption,
Resolution 1325 and the entire legal
system that underpins it cannot
be allowed to languish. And it was
precisely for that reason, to exchange
ideas between representatives from the
academic, political, institutional and
military worlds and give new impetus
to Resolution 1325, that the General
Gutiérrez Mellado University Institute,
the Women for Africa Foundation and
the General Secretariat for Defence
Policy organized the round table
on The Future of the Women, Peace and
Security Agenda which was held on 23
November, 2020 in Madrid.
The meeting was jointly opened by
Defence Minister Margarita Robles;
the Chairperson of the Women for
Africa Foundation, María Teresa
Fernández de la Vega, and the
Rector of the National University of
Distance Education, Ricardo Mairal
Usón. Participants in the round table
included Lieutenant Colonel Mercedes
Alba Rodríguez, Head of the Division
for Equality and Personnel Social
Support of the Ministry of Defence;
Alicia Alted Vigil, Director of the
General Gutiérrez Mellado University
Institute; Alicia Cebada Romero,
Project Coordinator of the Women for
Africa Foundation and Professor at
the Carlos III University; Ana Helena
Chacón Echevarría, Ambassador of
Costa Rica to Spain and former Vice-
President of her country; Canadian
Lieutenant Colonel Llani Kennealy,
UN Liaison Officer at UN Women; and
Lieutenant Colonel Alvaro Martínez-
Villalobos Castillo, Vice-chairman
of NATO’s Committee on Gender
Perspectives (NCGP). The panel
was moderated by María Angustias
Caracuel, Technical Advisor to the
Office of the Defence Undersecretary
for Political Affairs (Ministry of
Defence), and closed by Clare
Hutchinson, Special Representative
of NATO’s Secretary General for
Women, Peace and Security, and
Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez
Núñez, Defence Undersecretary for
Political Affairs.
ACTORS INVOLVED
The Agenda is already very ambitious
and deals with very complex
challenges, to which COVID-19 must
now be added, but, as the Defence
Minister insisted, “in no way can we
let our guard down on the issue of
peace, freedom and security”. She
recalled that “there are people around
the world suffering terrible situations:
there are currently 25 declared wars,
and more than 70 million refugees
—in particular women and girls—
who are fleeing from war, violence,
hunger, persecution and sexual
assault. We cannot remain indifferent
to their plight. When people say that
we spend too much on defence, they
should understand that it is a matter of
solidarity, because the men and women
of our Military can always be found
where there is human suffering, in
places as complex and harsh as Mali,
Lebanon, Afghanistan or Iraq.
These are places where it is
imperative to implement the WPS
Agenda. “The only way to build
long-lasting peace”, said the Defence
Minister, “is when there is a direct
relation to the real problems of those
50 Revista Española de Defensa April 2021