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Fall 2009 Newsletter

Welcome to Global Action’s (GAPW) Fall 2009 Newsletter.

Over the past few months Global Action has continued its engagement with the important issues of Civilian Protection and rapid-response UN Peacekeeping. As explored below, Global Action in collaboration with the Institute of International Relations, University of Brasilia recently hosted a workshop on “Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection: Latin American Perspectives” in Brazil. The newsletter also provides details on Global Action’s involvement in the expanding “International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect”, our diverse engagement on Women, Peace and Security with the Security Council and other Member States, and our disarmament program with the DPI/NGO Mexico conference and First Committee monitoring among other activities.

Future newsletters will highlight forthcoming workshops on Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection in Central Africa with UN peacekeeping mission staff, regional government officials and key grassroots organizations. Global Action will also be undertaking upcoming joint collaborations in the area of Gender and Peacekeeping and planning advocacy to highlight 10^th anniversary progress and unfinished agendas of Security Council Resolution 1325. We will also report on a joint ‘Mayors for Peace’ event in Madison (WI) for which our intern Lori Sims has provided considerable work on outreach and communications. We will also report on an event that we will co-sponsor with Dr. Sharon Welch entitled, “How can Religious Congregations and Theological Schools Respond to the Challenges of Human Security?”

Finally in regards to office news; Kavitha Suthanthiraraj, International Coordinator for Global Action will be leaving her position at the end of Oct 2009. She will be taking some personal time off and then moving back to Australia. She will however, continue on a short term basis as a consultant on certain Global Action projects. Kavitha has made major contributions to our research on UNEPS and civilian protection, led successful workshop presentations on core GAPW issues for government, UN and NGO leaders, supervised interns of diverse backgrounds, and led the revision of our publications and other ‘branding’ tools. She also has led our program on Women, Peace and Security to new and unforeseen levels of engagement, leadership and service. Well done, Kav. Our collective spirit will follow your own as you pursue new adventures and embrace new challenges (click here for a note of appreciation to Kavitha).

We would also like to warmly welcome our fall interns; Cristina Ayo and Ruben Reike, who have already contributed much to our First Committee monitoring and other work.

Please email the Secretariat at coordinator@globalactionpw.org with any comments or questions. Thank you for your support to date.

-Global Action Team

Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection Workshop: Perspectives from Latin America
Women, Peace and Security - SC Open Debates and NEW Resolutions
For Peace and Development: Disarm NOW!
GAPW congratulates Alyn Ware on Right Livelihood Award
International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect
Articles and Reports of Interest

Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection Workshop: Perspectives from Latin America

Brasilia, Brazil | September 29, 2009

Thiago Rodrigues (FASM), Michael Harvey (Canadian Embassy), Gilberto Rodrigues (UNISANTOS), Antonio Jorge Rocha (Sec. of Strategic Affairs), Admiral Antonio Ruy Silva, Heather Sutton ( Instituto Sou Da Paz)

Global Action to Prevent War (GAPW) in collaboration with the Institute of International Relations, University of Brasilia hosted a workshop (September 29) on “Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection; Latin American Perspectives” in Brazilia (Brazil). The policy driven workshop brought together high level government representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and Secretariat for Strategic Affairs, as well as diverse non-government agencies, academics and embassy staff, to discuss issues relating to civilian protection, responsibility to protect, challenges to UN peacekeeping and regional security needs.

Alcides Costa Vaz (University of Brasilia) and Rober Zuber (Global Action)

Participants discussed Brazil’s rising influence at the UN, its upcoming responsibilities at the Security Council, the potential to take greater leadership on important civilian protection policies, and Brazil’s role in relation to UN peacekeeping operations and rapid-response peacekeeping tools.

Government and NGO speakers also assessed Brazil’s role in MINUSTAH (current UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti) as a case study in understanding Brazil’s regional security responsibilities and also explored the feasibility of new peacekeeping capacities such as a UN Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS). An outcome document of the workshop will be available shortly and posted at www.globalactionpw.org.

For a full workshop agenda please click here.

2. Women, Peace and Security - Security Council Open Debates (1325 and 1820) and NEW Resolutions

Security Council Open Debate: Women, Peace and Security

On October 5, 2009, the Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security. Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro outlined key recommendations from the SG report on Women, Peace and Security (S/2009/465) including: the importance of women at the peace table, appointing more women to leadership positions and the need for national action plans (in the past 9 years only 16 plans have been adopted). Migiro called upon the Council to show leadership in establishing a monitoring mechanism for 1325, and emphasized the vulnerability of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict environments and the importance of data collection.

The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (of which Global Action is a key member) was invited to deliver a statement at these proceedings. The statement was delivered by Asha Hagi Elmi Amin, the Chairperson of Save Somali Women and Children and a founding member of the “Sixth Clan.” The NGOWG raised concerns and presented recommendations to the Council regarding women’s participation in all aspects of conflict transformation. Click here to download the statement.

Member States voiced their continued support and unanimously passed resolution 1889 (S/RES/1889) on Women, Peace and Security. The UK stated that while “renewed energy” had resulted in the adoption of Resolution 1888 and 1889 there was still a lack of implementation on SCR 1325. Other Member States also emphasized the need to end impunity, support gender architecture reform, encourage development of assessment indicators, ensure strong leadership and support national action plans.

Security Council Open Debate: Implementation of Resolution 1820

“Parties to armed conflict continue to use sexual violence with efficient brutality. Like a grenade or a gun, sexual violence is part of their arsenal.”
Ban Ki-Moon, August 2009

Internally displaced persons in West Darfur, Sudan

Resolution 1888 (S/RES/1888), passed on September 30th, provides concrete building blocks for the implementation of SCR 1820 (S/RES/1820), a resolution linking sexual violence and sustainable peace and security. The adoption of SCR 1888 signals the commitment to address sexual violence as a peace and security issue. During the vote of resolution 1888, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn’t just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings, it endangers families and communities, erodes social and political stability, and undermines economic progress. We need to understand that it holds all of us back.”

Click here to download Security Council Resolution 1888 analysis by Cristina Ayo.

Click here to download a copy of the NGO Working group letter regarding the 1820 Open Debate.

Sexual Violence in Guinea

The last month saw dramatic levels of violence in Guinea, a large part of this violence has been specifically aimed at women, particularly sexual violence. Reports tell of women being raped in public, being gang-raped, and being sexually assaulted with guns and knives, by members of the Guinean armed forces. In reference to the passing of SCR 1888 the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security sent an Open Letter to Security Council Members (GAPW signatory to the letter) urging them “to ensure that the survivors of these acts of sexual violence receive true justice, and do all in your power to ensure that the situation is speedily resolved in line with the Security Council’s statement to the press of 30 September 2009″. Global Action welcomes the Secretary General’s decision to establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate these incidents with a view to determining the accountability of those involved.

Click here for the NGOWG Open Letter to Security Council re. Sexual Violence and Guinea, October 13, 2009.

Click here for Network of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians of Guinea and Network of Mano River Women for Peace declaration against the violence.

3. For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!

The 62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference | Mexico City | September 9-11, 2009

Global Action joined with more than 300 other NGOs, many from Latin America, at the annual DPI/NGO conference hosted by the Mexican government and organized by teams located both at the UN in New York and in Mexico City. The event was designed to inspire and refresh the perspective of NGOs and other stakeholders regarding our responsibility to work for disarmament and peace as major contributions to the promotion of social and economic development worldwide.

One of the highlights in Mexico City was a special event with the Mayors of Mexico City and Hiroshima organized in part by our partner Jackie Cabasso of Western States Legal Foundation.

Click here to download the rest of this report.

An NGO declaration arising from the conference, ‘Disarming for Peace and Development,’ authored in part by our partner John Burroughs, can be found here.

4. GAPW congratulates Alyn Ware on Right Livelihood Award

Alyn Ware

Global Action wishes to warmly congratulate Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator for the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, who will receive the 2009 Right Livelihood Award in recognition of “his effective and creative advocacy and initiatives over two decades to further peace education and to rid the world of nuclear weapons”. Alyn is a most worthy recipient and his award brings honor and opportunity that can energize a broad range of disarmament experts and activists worldwide.

5. International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect

In July 2009, Global Action became a member of the “International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect”. The Coalition seeks to bring together NGOs from all regions of the world to strengthen normative consensus for RtoP, further the understanding of the norm, push for strengthened capacities to prevent and halt genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and mobilize NGOs to push for action to save lives in RtoP country-specific situations.

Global Action has expanded its R2P program this past year to include regional workshops in Indonesia, Brazil and Central Africa (in 2010), this complements our targeted advocacy in the area of peacekeeping reform and women, peace and security. Global Action will pursue the outreach and advocacy goals of the coalition over the coming years and look to our partners for greater engagement on this important norm.

For more information on the coalition visit www.responsibilitytoprotect.org.

Click here for the coalition report on the General Assembly debate on the Responsibility to Protect, which took place from 21-28 July 2009.