by Jasmin Nario-Galace, IANSA Women’s Network
UN Security Council
Resolution 1325 calls for increased women’s participation in
decision-making processes that relate to peace. The negotiation of an Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT) is one such process as its goal, in the perspective of many,
is to save lives.
Of 102 delegations that submitted
names of participants, 13 had women on top of the list. That is 13% of the
total. This indicates that leadership in this particular process is very much
in the hands of men. 91 States did not indicate names of participants.
Mongolia and Saint Lucia have sent
an all-woman delegation. Bahamas, Romania, St. Vincent, Samoa, and Slovenia had
67% women in their delegation. More than half of the delegates of Finland, New
Zealand, Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago are women. Meanwhile, half of the
participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Lebanon, Liberia, Norway, Palau,
Republic of Moldova, Sri Lanka, and Suriname are women.
Twenty-seven States did not have
women in their delegations based on the list circulated by the UN. These were:
Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Benin, Cambodia, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire,
Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ghana, Grenada, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Libya, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Panama, Poland,
Portugal, Qatar, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Venezuela.
Campaigners from various
organizations such as the IANSA Women’s Network are lobbying for the inclusion
of gender language in the treaty text. They are hoping that States will include
a criterion in the ATT that States shall not transfer arms where there is a
substantial risk that the arms under consideration are likely to be used to
perpetrate or facilitate acts of gender-based violence, including rape and
other forms of sexual violence.
At the time of this writing, twenty-seven States have openly supported
the inclusion of gender language in the treaty. These are Iceland, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Gabon, Ghana, Republic of Korea, Ireland, UK, Australia, Finland,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Kenya, Switzerland, Norway, Austria,
Turkey, Belgium, Sweden, Botswana, Denmark, New Zealand, Samoa, Liberia, Zambia, and
Malawi. Many of them have suggested that gender language be included in the
criteria. The Holy See and ten organizations of the United Nations also
emphasized the impact of irresponsible transfers on women.
The UN General Assembly has expressed its concerns about the
pervasiveness of violence against women noting that such violence seriously
impairs women’s ability to exercise their fundamental human rights. The ATT is
an opportunity for Member States to build on their commitments to such rights.
Will the delegates of the diplomatic negotiations on the ATT choose to
stand between the perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence and the
women victims?
That remains to be seen.
