The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a trio of recipients: Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman; Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee. The three women were cited ‘for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.’ These laureates follow only a dozen other women to have won the prize over its 110-year history. Before them Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
Does this mean we are marching forward and recognizing the need for gender mainstreaming and institutionalization of women as leaders at peace building table and ultimately peace building enterprise? Have we realised that sustainable peace can not be obtained unless women, who apparently are the worst hit during conflicts, obtain the same opportunities as men in the development at all levels of society? The sad statistics here are that, of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women. For these women, poverty doesn’t just mean scarcity and want. It means rights denied, opportunities curtailed and voices silenced. Consider the following UN figures:
• Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours. According to the United Nations the overwhelming majority of the labor that sustains life is done by women and universally this work is accorded low status and no pay.
• Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income. Where women work for money, they may be limited to a set of jobs deemed suitable for women – invariably low-pay, low-status positions.
• Women own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. Where laws or customs prevent women from owning land or other productive assets, from getting loans or credit, or from having the right to inheritance or to own their home, they have no assets to leverage for economic stability and cannot invest in their own or their children’s futures.
• Women make up two-thirds of the estimated 876 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write; and girls make up 60 percent of the 77 million children not attending primary school. Women do not have the discretionary income to invest in their own or their children’s education, where girls’ education is considered frivolous, and where girls are relied on to contribute labor to the household, they miss this unparalleled opportunity to develop their minds and spirits.
The Security Council passed its resolution 1325 on women and peace and security on 31st October 2000, almost 11 years to this day. The resolution reaffirmed the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Resolution 1325 urged all countries to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts. It also called on all parties to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict. The resolution provided a number of important operational mandates, with implications for Member States and the entities of the United Nations system. However, 11 years later the scenario is at best dismal. United Nation could not disguise its wretched failure to act on its own resolution to clear space for women at all peace tables, both real and metaphorical. The unforgivable fact is that during the decade under review, women’s participation in formal peace processes actually declined and their participation in conflict resolution and peace-building is less evident today than it was before the Resolution 1325 passed.
Why are women still not participating equally with men in public dialogue and decision-making and influencing the decisions at peace building tables? Why are they not getting the opportunity for empowerment into poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, and environment and sustainable development? These are some of the questions we need to look into and ponder upon. We must start where the women’s movement has always started; Women’s rights are human rights and to recognize that we need leaders who are steeped in notions of gender equality, human rights and social justice. When we have women and men like that, our world will be rejuvenated, rearranged and transformed.
( Dr. Rubina Lone is Assistant Professor at SKIMS Medical College and can be reached at rubynask@gmail.com)
Does this mean we are marching forward and recognizing the need for gender mainstreaming and institutionalization of women as leaders at peace building table and ultimately peace building enterprise? Have we realised that sustainable peace can not be obtained unless women, who apparently are the worst hit during conflicts, obtain the same opportunities as men in the development at all levels of society? The sad statistics here are that, of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women. For these women, poverty doesn’t just mean scarcity and want. It means rights denied, opportunities curtailed and voices silenced. Consider the following UN figures:
• Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours. According to the United Nations the overwhelming majority of the labor that sustains life is done by women and universally this work is accorded low status and no pay.
• Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income. Where women work for money, they may be limited to a set of jobs deemed suitable for women – invariably low-pay, low-status positions.
• Women own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. Where laws or customs prevent women from owning land or other productive assets, from getting loans or credit, or from having the right to inheritance or to own their home, they have no assets to leverage for economic stability and cannot invest in their own or their children’s futures.
• Women make up two-thirds of the estimated 876 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write; and girls make up 60 percent of the 77 million children not attending primary school. Women do not have the discretionary income to invest in their own or their children’s education, where girls’ education is considered frivolous, and where girls are relied on to contribute labor to the household, they miss this unparalleled opportunity to develop their minds and spirits.
The Security Council passed its resolution 1325 on women and peace and security on 31st October 2000, almost 11 years to this day. The resolution reaffirmed the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Resolution 1325 urged all countries to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts. It also called on all parties to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict. The resolution provided a number of important operational mandates, with implications for Member States and the entities of the United Nations system. However, 11 years later the scenario is at best dismal. United Nation could not disguise its wretched failure to act on its own resolution to clear space for women at all peace tables, both real and metaphorical. The unforgivable fact is that during the decade under review, women’s participation in formal peace processes actually declined and their participation in conflict resolution and peace-building is less evident today than it was before the Resolution 1325 passed.
Why are women still not participating equally with men in public dialogue and decision-making and influencing the decisions at peace building tables? Why are they not getting the opportunity for empowerment into poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, and environment and sustainable development? These are some of the questions we need to look into and ponder upon. We must start where the women’s movement has always started; Women’s rights are human rights and to recognize that we need leaders who are steeped in notions of gender equality, human rights and social justice. When we have women and men like that, our world will be rejuvenated, rearranged and transformed.
( Dr. Rubina Lone is Assistant Professor at SKIMS Medical College and can be reached at rubynask@gmail.com)
