It was important to me that a resolution on women, peace, and security (WPS) be adopted at the UN Security Council (UNSC) because the UNSC was the most powerful body in the international system responsible for peace and security. I believed that if a resolution was adopted, especially unanimously, then world governments would be mandated to implement its principles. This would then increase the protection of women and girls in armed conflict and amplify responses to their needs in peace processes.
Having worked firsthand on regional and international African women’s issues in armed conflict from 1991 to 2000, I especially wanted to tell the stories of women and girls impacted by armed conflict in Sierra Leone and West Africa, whose suffering was often misunderstood, minimized, or dismissed. I became convinced that, combined with the collaboration, mobilization, and resources amongst women in the 1990s, a new opportunity existed for the UNSC to break the glass ceiling on this issue for women and girls.
It is important to note that WPS initiators were building on the achievements of women’s movements at the international women’s conferences of 1975, 1985, and 1995. Though challenging, we wanted to take those achievements to the next level, and that was what provided us the motivation and inspiration to pursue a resolution at the UNSC.
We also would not have been successful if we did not work with women across the board–from the grassroots to the elite women–to legitimize and capture the whole essence of the call to action at the UNSC. Therefore, those linkages should not be weakened or broken. The voices of those who are on the frontlines of armed conflict and at the bottom of the ladder provide a deeper understanding of what needs to be done.
Given this, my recommendations and observations for the next generation of WPS strategists include:
- Recognize that change is never immediate: it is achieved in the long-term. Therefore, documenting your gains and remaining steadfast in your work is key to achieving meaningful change and transformation.
- Ground your initiatives to the specificities of women’s experiences in the current (and anticipated) contexts of political crisis, armed conflict, and war. Still, identifying operative experiences which are global and can resonate with a diversity of women can take WPS to the next level.
- Leverage social media tools and the internet to connect, research, and gain important knowledge that can convince leaders at every level to take action on this issue.
Ultimately, my vision for the future of the WPS agenda is expansion: to go beyond what the “framers” initially envisioned when UNSCR 1325 was first passed, to innovate the different ways that WPS work is done, and to open it up to issues that only strengthen its efficacy, not derogate from its foundations. 25 years ago, we did not get everything we wanted for UNSCR 1325 because we simply could not. But now, I believe there is room for the WPS agenda to consider legal, political, and development dimensions, which could be used to prevent conflict and secure sustainable peace.
About the Author:
Isha Dyfan is a Sierra Leonean lawyer and one of the activists who successfully advocated for the adoption of UNSCR 1325 at the UNSC in 2000. She has served at the UN in various distinguished positions throughout the years, including as the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia (appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2020), the Chief of the Human Rights Section in the UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID), and as the Senior Human Rights Officer responsible for the coordination of women’s human rights and gender at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Prior to joining the UN, Dyfan worked for multiple international women’s NGOs in New York, and upon retirement from the UN, Dyfan served as the Director of International Advocacy at Amnesty International. Her career expertise and authorship spans across thematic issues of women, peace, and security; human rights and humanitarian law; and good governance.
WIIS team members Karin Johnston and Mahathi Ayyagari interviewed Dyfan at her request. These remarks have been edited for clarity.
Image Courtesy of Hiiraan Online.