Meer ondersteuning voor rol van vrouwen in het buitenlands-en veiligheidsbeleid (en)

EU Member States should bolster the foreign and security policy role of women in conflict situations with more money and human resources, says a resolution, passed by a show of hands on Thursday, about the 10th Anniversary of the UN Resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 31 October 2000 on women and peace and security reaffirmed the role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and post-conflict reconstruction. It also called for special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict.

However, only a minority of EU Member States drafted national action plans to implement Resolution 1325, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Bolstering women's role

Parliament's resolution urges EU foreign and security policy High Representative Catherine Ashton to strengthen the EU Task Force on women, peace and security by "reinforcing and promoting gender mainstreaming practice and making substantial and highly visible commitments with regard to staffing, financial resources and the organisational hierarchy".

Within each geographical department of the European External Action Service and each EU delegation, at least one full-time post should be dedicated to women, peace and security, it says, adding that all common security and defence policy missions should have at least one gender advisor and an action plan for implementing Resolution 1325.

Stepping up female participation

MEPs urge Member States to step up women's participation, inter alia as mediators and negotiators, in every area of operations, including reconciliation work, peace negotiation, peace-building, peace enforcement, peace-keeping and conflict prevention. They also call for more women to be deployed in police, military and justice and rule-of-law missions and peace-keeping operations, and for more female police officers and soldiers to take part in CSDP missions.

Financial resources

Parliament calls on the EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to give priority to support work by women's organisations in conflict-affected areas. The Instrument for Stability (IfS) should be used to allocate short-term and long-term funding to support women's participation in peace, security and reconciliation-related processes, it adds.

The resolution was drafted jointly by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, ECR and Greens/EFA groups, and passed on  Thursday 25 November, the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.