NEW YORK, JUNE 5 – At yesterday OSCE Forum for Security chaired by Tajikistan on resolution 1325 and how to meet its 20th anniversary next year by closing implementation gaps, Italy highlighted the launch and support of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network.
Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000. The resolution acknowledged the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction.
The resolution was the first formal and legal document from the Security Council that required parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women’s rights, to support women’s participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, and to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict. It was also the first United Nations Security Council resolution to specifically mention the unique impact of conflict on women. The resolution has since become an organizing framework for the women, peace, and security agenda, which focuses on advancing the components of Resolution 1325.
Acknowledging the need to foster women’s participation in a key region for global peace and stability, Italy decided to establish a Mediterranean Women Mediators Network as part of its agenda as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2017. The initiative, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in collaboration with Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Women in International Security Italy (WIIS), combines Italy’s role in the Mediterranean area, its commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts and to the promotion of gender equality policies. The establishment of the MWNM is also included in Italy’s III National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security for the 2016-2019 period.
Eighteeen months after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation established the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, (MWMN), the project’s first local group was created today in Cyprus. The public launching event of the Antenna was held at the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia’s demilitarised area, set up by the United Nations. (@OnuItalia)
