Women Leaders Commit To Full Implementation Of UNSCR 1325 at International Women’s Colloquium In Liberia

Hundreds of women from governments, multi-national organisations, civil society and traditional women groups from around the world converged on Monrovia, Liberia on March 7-8 to participate in the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security.

The colloquium was opened in a colourful ceremony by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, who co-convened the event that explored the aims of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Finnish President Halonen stressed the importance for all people to work together to build a world of respect and progress. She highlighted the importance of United Nations Resolution 1820 which she noted strongly advocates the protection of women and children. She expressed the hope that the colloquium would be an encouragement to all women groups. The Finnish leader further called for cooperation between the women of Israel and Palestine in peace building efforts, and added that the respect for human rights and the rule of law are the foundation for any democratic state.

Also addressing the opening session, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf said the presence of hundreds of women from around the world attending the conference serves as a challenge to Liberians to meet the process of change. The colloquium, she stressed, symbolises that ‘Liberia is on the move’.

The colloquium also witnessed remarks from women leaders from around the world that included Vice Prime Minister Teresa Fernandez de lea Vega of Spain; Governor-General Michaelle Jean of Canada; Prime Minister Luisa Diogo of Mozambique; Vice President Dr. Isatou Njie Saidy of Gambia and the Vice President of European Commission, Madam Margaret Wallstrom. Other women leaders delivered remarks via video links including President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Deputy Secretary General Aisha-Rose Migiro, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Tzipi Livni.

The two-day colloquium explored various issues ranging from women’s leadership, economic empowerment, climate change, migration, the millennium development goal and HIV and AIDS.

A World YWCA delegation attended the event and co-hosted the youth forum to engage young people in supporting and embracing women's empowerment, leadership development and contributions to international peace and security. World YWCA Board Member Arda Arghazarian from Palestine was unable to attend the event but provided a written message to the forum. "I sit here in East Jerusalem as I write this message and can only imagine how inspiring this Colloquium could be for young women. In the Middle East context, the more I think of the term ‘youth leadership’, the more I realise that we as youth question that role, as we have repeatedly watched our leaders let us down," she said.

"One could perhaps not be able to imagine how women in Gaza cope with no water, no electricity, no freedom of movement and no basic rights, with the possibility of war erupting at any given moment and with no media coverage; leaving its citizens with nothing but paranoia on their minds. One cannot measure pain. It may be the 21st century, but there is harshness and cruelty still. Women are constantly stigmatised, and to this day women are abused in all parts of the world. Difficulties that women are facing somewhere else may not include lack of water and electricity, but there are difficulties still. One could perhaps not see the pain some women are enduring, yet every now and then, we pass across a few who carry their pain with strength and go through life with no bitterness. These are where leadership traits start to appear and spark a light of hope. It is from insisting, that even when the world seems to have crushed itself into pieces, we have not yet given up on the world. We still aspire, get inspired and inspire, as we move on and move forward."

As the Colloquium came to a close, a powerful declaration was delivered that calls on action from not only global women leaders but also the global community to create a safer and fairer world for women. The declaration calls for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1820 that addresses sexual violence as a tactic of war along with a call for greater numbers of women in leadership.

Read the full Monrovia Declaration: A Call to Action from the participants of the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security.

We, who came together for the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, have joined together under the inspiring leadership of H.E. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, and H.E. Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland to celebrate and draw strength from women’s leadership at all levels.

We recall the spirit of Beijing and other African regional and global gatherings, and the reaffirmation of women’s rights exemplified in the Beijing Platform of Action, African regional instruments and CEDAW. We honor the great strides women have made since then to achieve leadership positions in international arenas and close to home. We note that women in the 21st century hold high-level positions and at the same time are doing extraordinary work at the community level. We came together as leaders celebrating our achievements, solidifying our commitment to work together for change, reassessing our efforts, and strategizing to achieve greater success.

We stand in solidarity with our sisters in Darfur, Zimbabwe, and conflict areas around the world. We commit our energies to accelerating the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

We recognize that we are living through multiple global crises that are threatening our security at all levels which are having a devastating impact on the lives of girls and women all over the world. What is now required is a paradigm shift in our approach to global security and development that puts women at the center of social, economic and political policies.

It has been shown in East Asia and Latin America, that women are particularly vulnerable to reductions in exports, foreign direct investment and remittances. As countries put in place their economic stimulus packages for development, we urge them to target women’s economic empowerment. But while women are vulnerable, they should not be viewed only as victims but as agents of change and worth investing in as a smart way to help rebuild economies.

The aspirations we hold as women and men coming together in Monrovia are not satisfied by the policies and practices we see all around us. We therefore shaped the Colloquium around thematic priorities that, if acted upon, would make a fundamental and sustained improvement in the lives of women and girls and their communities. Having convened this historic event, we now make a collective call for profound changes in the priorities that shape policies and resource allocations from the global to the local level, and demand accountability from the institutions and individuals who must effect these changes.

We call for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 for the protection, participation and promotion of women’s rights in peace processes, and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1820 that addresses sexual violence as a tactic of war. We call for greater accountability to accelerate implementation by all stakeholders - UN Member States, the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary General. We call on them to present their plans of action and accomplishments at the 2010 Ministerial Review Conference of UNSCR 1325. The call to accountability and end to impunity on crimes against women should be in the declaration. We further encourage countries to collaborate creatively and support each other on the development and implementation of National Action Plans on SCR 1325.

We commit to honor women’s leadership at all levels of community and public life and to enable through our actions and decisions women leaders, in particular young women, to take up roles of leadership and responsibility. We call for greater numbers of women in leadership.

We’ve seen that if we have more women, we see better decision-making by states and communities. It has been demonstrated that the discourse changes with their involvement, and we want to see these changes on a sustained basis. Liberia and Finland, both co-conveners of the Colloquium, are examples of this. We also call for male leaders to respect and promote women’s rights and leadership development.

We call for greater efforts to enable and empower women to participate fully and on fair terms in the economic life of their communities, removing barriers and increasing their capacity in trade and business activity from the local to the global level. Women and men deserve the right to decent work opportunities in the formal and informal economy. Women’s rights must be respected in the workplace and within value chains no matter how dispersed. In the current economic and food crisis, we need to make sure responses to this situation, such as stimulus packages and trade finance support, are specifically apportioned for women.

We commit to ensure that women will be present and their voices heard in all debates concerning climate change with a particular commitment to women’s participation in the global climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009.

We call for far greater urgency in addressing the mitigation and adaptation aspects of climate change – otherwise we risk undermining all our efforts to date on eradicating poverty and suffering. An acknowledgement of women’s roles as powerful agents of change, and their greater vulnerability to climate change impacts in many societies, must be demonstrated through women’s greater role in climate change negotiations and incorporation of gender considerations in the new agreement as well as in international, national, and local strategies and programmes implementing this agreement.

To better protect women and girls in displacement settings, to uphold the dignity of migrants and to enhance the social and economic integration of migrant women and men alike, we call for a gender-based approach to migration management, promoting policies and programmes integrating the needs of migrant women and supporting migrant women in diaspora communities to engage in development efforts through their availability, skills, knowledge, expertise and financial resources.

The leadership of young people, and especially young women, is critical to advancing development, peace and security. The participation of young people is a prerequisite to the development of communities and nations. Young people are the inheritors of decisions made today which affect the future. We commit to the inclusion of young women and young men in decision-making processes and leadership and in all processes that work towards the achievement of the MDGs. We therefore call for:

•Urgent investment to support young women and young men in the achievement of the MDGs including women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

•The creation of safe and supportive spaces which enable the leadership development of young women.

We further commit to unite and mobilize our collective leadership to end violence against women and especially young women. We call for safe and supportive environments for women and girls who have experienced violence and abuse. We commit to work collaboratively with women’s organizations and networks. If these calls are met with action, not empty promises, the future will be brighter for every girl, every woman, every grandmother, and for the men who share their aspirations and their life journeys.