Women, Peace, and Protection “Myth”: Analyzing the United Nations Security Policies for Women in Conflict

Introduction

Describe the UN Security and Peace Resolution 1325 was adopted in 2000 by a unanimous Security Council and is a result of the lobbying work carried out by international women’s organizations over several years (Fröhlich, 2019). The basic framework of the resolution is based on women, peace, and security. It works to increase women’s influence and for women to participate actively in preventing conflicts and reconstructing societies affected by war and conflict. The resolution emphasizes that women are central actors in sustainable peace and security. In addition, the resolution draws attention to the vulnerability of women in conflicts (George & Shepherd, 2016). Resolution 1325 highlights that it is essential that women participate in achieving long-term peace. The UN, therefore, believes that it is of the utmost importance that all member states work in the spirit of the resolution (Tryggestad, 2009). Since adopting the resolution, 63 countries have adopted national action plans, including Sierra Leone and Rwanda, which were adopted in 2010 in Sierra Leone and 2009 in Rwanda (True, 2009). According to Operation1325 (2011), the number of UN resolutions regarding the role of women in peace and security issues has increased in recent years. However, the resolution has been re-debated, and some criticism has been directed at it. Researchers believe that one of the resolution’s problems is that the UN’s resolutions concerning women, peace, and security maintain the traditional gender structures (Martinelli, 2015). According to operation1325 (2011), the reason for this is that the spokespeople for the women’s security agenda have missed an important aspect, namely how the question of how power affects gender should be resolved. The focus has been on how war affects women, which means that this important aspect has been overlooked (Bell & O’Rourke, 2010). If equality integration is to work, a change is required regarding the prevailing power structure between the sexes. However, women’s representation in politics does not function as a guarantee that power structures change. The power structures may remain unchanged, resulting in continued conditions for violence and equality (Barrow, 2016). Aronsson (2021) has, in addition to this, criticized the implementation of the resolution. They believe that more should have happened during these years. One of the problems identified is that the national action plans are not fully implemented (Aronsson, 2021).