UN / WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY

STORY: UN / WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY
TRT: 02:31
SOURCE: UNIFEED / UNFICYP / UNAMID / MINUSCA / MINUSMA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 05 OCTOBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY / 04 SEPTEMBER 2020, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC / 10, 14 SEPTEMBER 2020, BAMAKO, MALI / JUNE 2017, 19 FEBRUARY 2020, CYPRUS / RECENT, DARFUR

SHOTLIST:

RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

05 OCTOBER 2020, NEW YORK CITY

2. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was a ground-breaking step for women’s leadership and participation. Spearheaded by feminist movements and women leaders, Resolution 1325 recognized the vital role of women in resolving conflicts and in brokering peace across the world.”

UNFICYP - JUNE 2017, CYPRUS

3. Various shots, pro-reunification activists forming human chain

UNFICYP - 19 FEBRUARY 2020, CYPRUS

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Magda Zenon, Hands Across the Divide, Cyprus:
“Women as a resource for peacebuilders is so tragically untapped. Because we wouldn’t be here, or at least we wouldn’t have reached as far in the instability that we got around us, if we had actually taken a time to stop and listen to the women.”

MINUSMA - 10 SEPTEMBER 2020, BAMAKO, MALI

5. Various shots, at the Bamako International Conference Center

MINUSMA - 14 SEPTEMBER 2020, BAMAKO, MALI

6. SOUNDBITE (French) Mama Koite Doumbia, Member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, Mali:
“Through Security Council Resolution 1325, we are involved in managing, protecting, and strengthening peace.”
7. Various shots, Koite Doumbia in her office
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Mama Koite Doumbia, Member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, Mali:
“Women must be able to play their role and must be seen as citizens and actors of development.”

MINUSCA - 04 SEPTEMBER 2020, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

9. Various shots, Lina Ekomo speaking to women on a bullhorn
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Lina Ekomo, African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Central African Republic:
“A woman had the courage to join the signatories of the peace agreement. This is a first in the country.”
11. Various shots, Ekomo, at a table, talking to other women
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Lina Ekomo, African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Central African Republic:
“The more women are involved, the greater and more visible the impact will be on the communities.”
13. Various shots, Ekomo, at a table, talking to other women

UNAMID - RECENT, DARFUR

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Nawal Hassan Osman, Gender Advisor of the Darfur States, Sudan:
“Peace is very important, because as women, particularly in conflict-affected areas, they suffer a lot. And especially in Darfur from a lot of human rights atrocities.”

MINUSCA - 04 SEPTEMBER 2020, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

9. Various shots, women at work

STORYLINE:

Marking 20 years since the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, Secretary-General António Guterres said its adoption “was a ground-breaking step for women’s leadership and participation.”

In a recorded message to commemorate the adoption, Guterres said, “spearheaded by feminist movements and women leaders, Resolution 1325 recognized the vital role of women in resolving conflicts and in brokering peace across the world.”

The Secretary-General today (8 Oct) presided over a virtual meeting with four women leaders from the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Darfur and Mali (four locations which host peacekeeping missions) to discuss women’s leadership in advancing the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

At the end of today’s meeting, Guterres launched a call to action, calling on Governments, the United Nations system, regional civil society organizations, academia, and the wider international community to take bold actions to translate commitments into reality.

In a pre-recorded interview, Magda Zenon, founding member of Hands Across the Divide in Cyprus, said, “women as a resource for peacebuilders is so tragically untapped. Because we wouldn’t be here, or at least we wouldn’t have reached as far in the instability that we got around us, if we had actually taken a time to stop and listen to the women.”

Malian Member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, Mama Koite Doumbia, said, “through Security Council Resolution 1325, we are involved in managing, protecting, and strengthening peace.”

She said, “women must be able to play their role and must be seen as citizens and actors of development.”

Lina Ekomo, from the Central African Republic has helped broker access to women to a peace process initially closed to them. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she mobilized support to the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire and is currently working to strengthen women’s voter participation in the December 2020 elections.

She said, “a woman had the courage to join the signatories of the peace agreement. This is a first in the country.”

Ekomo said, “the more women are involved, the greater and more visible the impact will be on the communities.”

For her part, Nawal Osman from Darfur, Sudan, said “peace is very important, because as women, particularly in conflict-affected areas, they suffer a lot. And especially in Darfur from a lot of human rights atrocities.”

Osman helped to ensure that the needs and aspirations of Darfuri women was represented at the Juba peace talks and also advises the five Darfur states on gender including during the current transition process.

The Department of Peace Operations says it remains committed to the implementation of women, peace and security mandates, in particular the full and meaningful participation of women in decision-making and has adjusted priorities to respond to the immediate COVID-19 crisis through a range of political, prevention and mitigation measures.

Peacekeeping operations continue to significantly leverage their current partnerships with national authorities and women’s organizations, leaders and networks. This includes advancing the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire and finding creative ways to accelerate women’s meaningful participation in political processes, such as through elections, by supporting formal mechanisms to implement peace agreements and forming local governance and protection structures in different contexts.