The Security Council on Tuesday met to debate the best way to improve security for women caught up in conflict.
Liberian Delegate Lewis Garseedah Brown II said Liberia’s experience of conflict had exposed a persistent gap between women’s contributions to peace and women’s participation in decision-making after violence ended. “How can women help bring a war to an end, yet still struggle for influence over the peace that follows?” Brown said.
Liberian women’s role in securing peace remained a source of national pride. However, Brown said Liberia’s responsibility to preserve that legacy and strengthen women’s participation remained unfinished.
Liberia proposed three tests for determining whether peace settlements adequately included women.
The first was whether women had meaningful influence over the content and implementation of a settlement.
The second was whether women were free to monitor the peace agreement and hold responsible parties accountable.
The third was whether political, institutional and financial support for women would continue after the immediate peace process ended. “Whether women have influence over the settlement; whether they are free to hold it accountable; and whether the support they receive will endure,” Brown said.
Brown also questioned whether peace negotiations gave greater political influence to armed actors because of the ability to restart violence while marginalising people working to prevent conflict. “We must ask whether our peace processes give greater political weight to those who can renew violence than to those working to prevent it,” Brown said.
Liberia’s position highlights the need for women’s participation to extend beyond advocacy and community mobilisation into formal negotiations, implementation and oversight.
The proposed tests would measure women’s actual influence rather than simply recording attendance at peace talks.
Brown said sustainable peace required women to have the power to shape settlements, scrutinise implementation and participate in the institutions established after conflict.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
