New appointments and measures advance women’s participation in Secretary-General’s Peace Operations Panel

UN Women welcomes the announcement by the Secretary-General today of the appointment of three additional women to the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, as well as a range of further measures that will ensure that women, peace and security commitments are better reflected in all areas of this important Review.

Today’s announcement expands the original 14 member Panel to 17 members, and increases the total number of women to six.

The Panel will now include Dr. Rima Salah, former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), and former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF; Dr. Marie-Louise Baricako, a lecturer, human rights activist and former Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarite (FAS); as well as Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and former Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. These three additional panelists will together bring broad regional and relevant subject matter experience, and will complement the work of the other Panel members.

These measures build on the appointment of Ms. Bela Kapur as Chief of the Secretariat for the Panel and already strong cooperation between UN Women and the members of the Panel, in particular Chairperson José Ramos-Horta, as well as agreements for regular meetings between the Secretariats of the global study and Panel. Recommendations and inputs from the global study on Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) will be prepared and shared for consideration by the Peace Operations Review.

Ms. Coomaraswamy is currently serving as the author of the global study on implementation of resolution 1325, which will inform the High-level Review on women, peace and security to be undertaken by the Security Council on the anniversary of the resolution next year. UN Women, as the Secretariat of the global study on behalf of the UN system, is confident that Ms. Coomaraswamy’s participation on the Panel will also ensure that these two important reviews — of Security Council resolution 1325 and of Peace Operations — will inform and reinforce each other. Linkages between the global study and Panel will also be strengthened by the shared participation of Mr. Youssef Mahmoud, already appointed to the Panel, who is equally a member of the High-level Advisory Group of the global study on Security Council resolution 1325.

Today’s announcement also included a number of measures to ensure that gender equality and women, peace and security elements are highlighted throughout the work of this important Review. Ms. Ameerah Haq, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Field Support and member of the Panel, will serve as Vice-Chair of the Panel following her retirement from the Organization at the end of January 2015. The terms of reference for the panel have been revised to include specific mention of the prioritization of gender across all areas of the Panel’s deliberations, as well as specific mention of the global study on resolution 1325. The Panel will also include consultations with women’s organizations and women affected by conflict, including one specifically held to consult on women, peace and security.

The Panel, the first of its kind to look at both peacekeeping operations and special political missions, is tasked with a comprehensive assessment of the state of UN peace operations today. The Review will look in particular at the changing nature of global threats to peace and security and growing demands on UN peacekeepers, as well as evolving mandates.

UN Women, as the lead entity on women, peace and security, as well as the Secretariat for the global study on resolution 1325, offers its full support to the work of the Panel on Peace Operations. It is confident that the Review outcomes will provide a strong basis to strengthen the UN’s efforts in securing peace and security for all affected populations.