What is Next for the WPS Agenda?
As the Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), my journey with the formulation and implementation of UNSCR 1325 taught me some of my most critical and hardest lessons during my entire career at the UN. I learned that although the UN was founded on principles of peace and human rights, principles are not enough in a world where the politics of hatred, division, violence, and exclusion permeate many of our societies. Working on many situations of conflict, I learned that we must be attentive to the reality that many powerful actors hold values that go against those enshrined in the UN Charter, and that often these actors mobilise popular fear to fuel the politics of division and hatred. I realised that principles and norms of the UN must continuously be renewed and reaffirmed, especially when they are shaken in the face of violence that dehumanises the other, shatters the moral compass of entire societies, and unleashes a downward spiral of revenge. I learned that particularly when lives are at stake, political leadership is critical, and that those who want to create change within a system as complex as the United Nations must engage leadership at multiple levels, linking realities on the ground to high levels of decision-making.
In such a complex ecosystem, looking forward, those of us who have committed our lives to multilateralism and women’s transformational leadership need to reflect and rethink strategies to guide the future implementation of UNSCR 1325 to ensure sustainable peace, especially at this time when the rules of war are being constantly broken. Some of my initial thoughts contributing to future strategies are:
- Build enough support from strategic people and Member states;
- Generate widespread engagement and involvement of critical women and community leaders from conflict-affected countries that share the same aspirations and values;
- Increase momentum from civil society and networks through active collaboration and long-term trusted partnerships;
- Erode the resistance from the bureaucracy by engaging and convincing strategic high-level leaders in the system, and by being resilient in the face of opposition;
- Develop an instinct for new possibilities and windows of opportunity to involve women to change the way peace is negotiated and sustained;
- Invest in the infrastructure of peace in the rebuilding and reconstruction process: education, healthcare, livelihoods, equal citizenship and rights, accountability and justice;
- Keep the cohesion of the constituency by acknowledging the contribution of all by preventing fragmentation of competing interests and even stepping aside when others need great recognition.
Finally, through my work on UNSCR 1325, I also learned that space for change must be created, and leaders of change must be legitimized. But for change to last, it cannot simply be imposed from the top-down; rather, it must be championed by leaders who come from within communities themselves, deployed as a force to mobilise participation in transition and recovery for all members of society. I learned that while there is an important role for a strengthened multilateral system, the international community cannot be expected to fix all problems, especially at a time when the system itself has been severely weakened and is plagued by global geopolitical rivalry. Thus, we cannot depend on the UN and Member states alone; we must identify, recognise, legitimise and invest in leadership and agency for change at all levels, based on shared global values and shared responsibility. The United Nations remains an indispensable global institution in ensuring peace, security, and equality, but without vision, courage, and people willing to take the risk to make those norms a reality, it will not be fit for purpose to serve its constituency. Indeed, it is “We the Peoples” who will make the UN fit for the 21st century.
About the Author
Dr. Noeleen Heyzer is the former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), a position she held from 2007 to 2014 as the highest-ranking Singaporean national in the UN system. She was also the first woman from the Global South to lead the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and was its longest serving Executive Director for 13 years. At UNIFEM, Dr. Heyzer played a key role in UNSCR 1325’s adoption, established the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, and was instrumental in restructuring UNIFEM into UN Women, increasing its resources and impact and ensuring that women’s issues remained a priority within the UN. Dr. Heyzer has also served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Timor-Leste, as well as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar, and was the first woman to lead the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Throughout her career, Dr. Heyzer has been a strong advocate for women’s empowerment, sustainable development, and international peace, and her life’s work is shared in her memoir, Beyond Storms and Stars (Penguin 2021).