10th Anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

On 31 October 2000, United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.  It is the first resolution that required parties in an armed conflict to respect women's rights and to support their participation in conflict resolution and post-war peace building. The resolution is legally binding. Resolution 1325 was initiated by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (at that time Minister of Women's Affairs in Namibia), when that country took its turn chairing the Security Council.  Yet on the 10th anniversary of 1325, women’s role in conflict resolution and post-war peace building remains shockingly low.

For a distressed country like Zimbabwe, discussions around UNSCR 1325 and women’s involvement in the transitional process have offered a framework though which they can actively engage on issues that matter most to them – issues to do with national peace and security, as well as justice and healing.

The report of the European Parliamentary hearing "Zimbabwe: Women's voices", which took place on 6 October 2010 at the European Parliament in Brussels, was presented by EEPA in the framework of the 10th anniversary of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 yesterday in New York. The 1325 resolution deserves to be embedded in Zimbabwe's implementation of the Global Political Agreement signed in September 2008, an agreement which was a cornerstone in Zimbabwe’s transitional process.

Click here to read the article by Kanya D'Almeida.

Click here to download the report,"Zimbabwe: Women's voices".