United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Hansard, 18 July 2003)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)

The UK was a driving force behind the adoption of Resolution 1325 in October 2000 and maintains an active and positive approach towards its implementation both in London and through the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York. The UK used its presidency of the UN Security Council in July 2002 to host an open debate on UNSCR 1325, led by the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations, with the participation of the UN Special Adviser on Gender, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the UN Department for Political Affairs.

The UK is committed to ensuring the participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution, including peace negotiations, as well as to raising awareness of the positive role that women can play in peace building and reconciliation.

The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) continues to work and fund projects with the UN's Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) and others on gender training for peace keepers.

The UK helped UNIFEM to put together a programme of work on women, peace building and gender justice and has pledged £3m towards that work. This ambitious programme, now in its second year, 187WA aims to increase women's participation in peace negotiations and post-conflict justice mechanisms. With our support, UNIFEM has published an independent assessment of how women are affected by armed conflict.

In Iraq the UK is committed to including women in all phases and at all levels in the reconstruction. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister's special representative and his team in Baghdad are working closely with Ambassador Bremer and officials in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to increase the representation of women in all strands of the rapidly evolving political and reconstruction process, such as the governing and economic councils. In addition we have seconded a gender expert from the government's Women and Equality Unit to the CPA's gender equality team and an FCO official in the CPA's governance team, who have been engaged in the involvement of women in the political process. The CPA has also facilitated an Iraqi-led women's conference consisting of five workshops, the recommendations from which will feed into the political process.

We will continue to seek opportunities to further the implementation of Resolution 1325 in areas of conflict.