New Report: Assessing UK Government Action on Women, Peace and Security in 2019
Source: Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) UK
In this shadow report, GAPS assesses the 2019 Annual Report to Parliament by the UK Government and focuses on how the UK Government has used, and could have used, the second year of implementation for this National Action Plan (NAP) to lay a strong foundation for the remaining years of the NAP.
In this important anniversary year of UNSCR 1325, we hope that Governments and donors globally, including the UK, will commit to implementing the agenda in full to ensure that the rights, needs and experiences of women and girls are met – and that women and girls can participate in the decisions that affect their lives. In this report, we call for the UK Government to scale up its Women, Peace and Security efforts, including on: funding for Women, Peace and Security, in particular for women’s rights organisations, women human rights defenders and peace-building work; address the root causes of gender inequality, violence and conflict; meet its arms control commitments; implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda domestically; and eliminating gender-based violence and violence against women and girls.
This report builds on and complements the GAPS’s Shadow Report for 2018.
Read the report here.
2020 Civil Society Roadmap on Women, Peace and Security
Source: NGO Working Group on WPS
The NGO Working Group on WPS just launched the 2020 Civil Society Roadmap on Women, Peace and Security. It outlines key priorities and recommendations to the UN, Security Council and Member States in 2020 and beyond.
Read the roadmap here.
Nigeria: Women in Conflict
Source: Nextier SPD (Abuja) / allAfrica
Abuja — Nigeria’s commitment to offering amnesty to low-risk repentant ex-Boko Haram fighters is no longer news. About 893 ex-insurgents have been rehabilitated since 2016. The Federal government, through the Defense Headquarters, inaugurated the Operation Safe Corridor (OSC) as part of the state responses to the insurgency. However, the programme appears male-focused and the processes for females with links to Boko Haram are not clear. Violent conflict affects women differently; as victims, accessories or perpetrators. Since 2009, hundreds of women and girls have been abducted, sexually abused and forced into marriages to jihadist fighters. The trauma of losing spouses and children to the conflict further leaves unforgettable memories for some of these women. The travails of women in the Boko Haram conflict both as victims and as perpetrators are uniquely different and must be addressed with women-tailored solutions.
Read the full article here.
‘Silent Pandemic’: How Women in the Middle East and North Africa are Threatened Online
Source: Middle East Eye / Yasmina Allouche
Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are facing increased harassment and abuse online as they continue to fight sexual harassment in the streets and domestic violence heightened by the stress of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full article here.
Women and Girls Deserve More Protection in Emergencies, UN Rights Council Hears
Source: UN News
The collective impact of climate change, COVID-19 and conflict mean that well over 200 million people will likely need humanitarian assistance by 2022, the UN’s deputy rights chief said on Monday. Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN Human Rights Council that the situation is especially worrying for women and girls. They face additional hardships from the pandemic – including sexual abuse – Ms. Al-Nashif warned, particularly those displaced by war.
Read the full article here.
