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Canada's Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security - 2010-2016

Table of contents

Purpose

This Action Plan is intended to guide the Government of Canada in the implementation of a group of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (SCRs) on Women, Peace and Security which recognize and address the experiences of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to improve Canada's capacity to safeguard and support affected populations during all phases of peace operations (peacekeeping, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peace enforcement, conflict prevention, mediation, and stabilization and reconstruction), and in fragile states and conflict-affected situations.

Canada regards full implementation of these resolutions as an important means of contributing to the full realization of human rights, peace and security by increasing, over the long term, the effectiveness of responses by the international community to conflict situations or cases of acute fragility, and thereby building peace that respects the fundamental equality of men and women.

The active and meaningful participation of women and girls at all stages of international interventions will result in improved program and project effectiveness and sustainability at the local, national and international levels. This includes ensuring a diverse range of women have an equal opportunity to engage directly in the development of proposed interventions and to assess the impact of proposed interventions on them. This approach is a fundamental part of effective and accountable peace operations and engagements in fragile states and as such is neither optional nor incremental, and must be built into all stages of the design and delivery of programs.

The multilateral context

UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security was the first such instrument to deal exclusively with women in situations of armed conflict. It affirms that women’s participation and the inclusion of concerns regarding the substantive equality of men and women at all stages of peace operations, are integral to the development of stable states built on a foundation of human rights and the rule of law. The Resolution calls for special consideration, during and after conflict, of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.

Resolution 1325 requests UN Member States, within the context of conflict, to address several key themes: prevention of conflict and of violence against women, protection of women’s and girls’ human rights; representation and participation of women and local women’s groups; training of deployed personnel (national and international) to encourage their use of an approach that considers, incorporates and adequately addresses the needs and capacities of women and girls in their field and headquarters responsibilities; and integration of an approach fully reflecting the equality of men and women in all aspects of peace and security activities. The UN Secretary-General subsequently requested Member States to develop their own national implementation plans for Resolution 1325 in order to support and strengthen UN policy and operational mechanisms.

Resolution 1820, adopted in 2008, explicitly identifies sexual violence as a tactic of war and as a threat to international peace and security, providing the Security Council with a clear mandate to intervene and impose sanctions where appropriate. This Resolution also condemns the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence, stating that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide. It identifies a need to exclude sexual violence from amnesty provisions in conflict resolution processes and calls upon UN Member States to prosecute persons responsible for sexual violence, and to ensure that all victims of sexual violence have equal protection under the law and access to justice. Furthermore, it encourages troop and police contributing countries to, among other things, deploy a higher percentage of women peacekeepers and police, as a strategy to prevent sexual violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Resolution 1888, adopted in 2009, provides for stronger tools in implementing 1820, including by specifically mandating peacekeeping missions to protect women and children from rampant sexual violence during armed conflict. It also asked the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative to coordinate a range of UN mechanisms to fight these crimes.

Finally, Resolution 1889, also adopted in 2009, reaffirms Resolution 1325, and calls for a set of global indicators for the implementation of Resolution 1325, as well as a report on gender and peace building. Resolution 1889 urges greater participation by women in peacemaking and post-conflict recovery, and makes recommendations for a UNSC mechanism for monitoring.

In 2010, in response to Resolution 1889, the Secretary-General proposed specific performance indicators to the Security Council, providing a new and essential dimension of accountability to the implementation of Resolution 1325. While these indicators are not all applicable to the national efforts of all Member States, they offer inspiration for the identification of specific and measurable ways in which Member States can monitor their own performance.

To date, some 18 countries, including states emerging from conflict, have established National Action Plans on the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions or have made substantial progress in the development of such Plans. Multilateral actors and institutions are also taking action on Women, Peace and Security issues. For example, a joint directive from the two Strategic Commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in September 2009 sets out clear parameters for implementation of SCR 1325 through training, staffing, standards of behaviour, reporting and a range of operationally-relevant issues under the aegis of Women, Peace and Security. The African Union, meanwhile, addresses such issues in its Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.

Cumulatively, these resolutions form a framework that recognizes as international peace and security issues the interrelation of women’s equality, human rights, and women’s participation, and the specific roles and responsibilities of women and men as shaped by their communities. Further, this group of resolutions represents a strong foundation upon which UN member states can plan, implement and evaluate how their activities respond to the Resolutions.

Canada’s approach

In keeping with its core values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, Canada is committed to the effective implementation of the UNSC Women, Peace and Security Resolutions. In line with this commitment, Canada further reaffirms the importance of implementing the international agendas and Resolutions on the protection of civilians and on children and armed conflict (including those measures intended to make perpetrators of grave violations against children in conflict situations more accountable). Canada’s efforts to implement the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions are also linked to the overall promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights and equality within the framework of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and Canada’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other international human rights instruments.

Canada regards the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions as identifying major and enduring issues in the conduct of international peace and security. Both the letter and the spirit of these Resolutions are fully consistent with Canada’s approach to promoting equality between men and women and ensuring that the differential impact of conflict on women and girls is recognized and addressed within peace and security policies and programming. Systematic integration of the concerns and experiences of women and men, boys and girls is seen as essential to ensuring equality. In the realm of peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations, the purpose of this approach is to make missions more effective and to reinforce the Government’s consistent emphasis on accountability.

Canada’s approach to the empowerment of women and girls and equality recognizes the patterns of disadvantage that many women and girls face and requires that they be taken into account. This approach also examines the impact of laws, policies and programs within their surrounding social context to examine how they can provide equal benefit and promote the active and meaningful participation of everyone. The intent is to conduct analyses and set in motion policies at the national and international level that address disparity between women and men.

Canada’s approach is oriented to empowering women and girls by creating and reinforcing systems and structures that enable equality between men and women, and among women and girls of different status in their communities. In peace operations or fragile states this could mean, for example, the deliberate engagement of women, including indigenous women, in bodies that are able to make binding decisions, or indeed the devolution of decision making authority to existing venues, statutory and non-statutory, where women historically have enjoyed greater influence. As noted in the Implementation Framework below, it is crucial to recognize both the needs and capacities of women and girls affected by conflict, drawing upon their knowledge and skills to craft and implement effective policies and projects.

Canada’s approach will be pursued on a variety of fronts including, as appropriate, through advancing international norms and standards, conducting sustained advocacy on a bilateral and multilateral basis; seeking mechanisms for accountability and implementation; engaging Canadian, international and local civil society organizations; and building knowledge and skills for practitioners. These approaches are intended to be mutually reinforcing and will take place at both the policy and operational levels, nationally and internationally.

Canada’s action plan

Implementation framework

Canada’s Action Plan provides a framework for a cohesive whole-of-government approach that will support Canadian and UN efforts to implement the UNSC Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), the Department of National Defence (DND), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Public Safety Canada, Status of Women Canada and Justice Canada, as well as members of Canadian civil society, have all contributed to the development of the Action Plan. Canada also works with Member States of the UN, regional and other international organizations, and civil society organizations and networks to advance the integration of the specific concerns of women and girls and the substantive equality of men and women throughout its foreign policy and diplomacy, development, humanitarian assistance, defence and security activities.

Canada’s Action Plan is organized into thematic areas that reflect the content of the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security and the structure of the Report of the Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security (S/2010/173) which presents a set of indicators to the Security Council:

Throughout the thematic areas, the Action Plan includes key strategies for the implementation of the UNSC Women, Peace and Security Resolutions:

Objectives

In regard to peace operations and engagement in fragile states and conflict-affected situations as intended by the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security, the Government of Canada commits to:

In order to achieve these commitments, Canada will take clear, deliberate and sustained action in each of the four thematic areas of the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security, including through the development and adoption of best practices and the application of lessons learned arising progressively from implementation of the Action Plan. To support compliance with and implementation of the goals set out in this document, a series of indicators are used in this Action Plan. They are inspired by the indicators presented by the UN Secretary General in a report to the Security Council (S/2010/173) in April 2010 and follow the same principle of being SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. While some actions such as multilateral advocacy do not lend themselves to ready indicators above the output level, it is important to identify all areas of intended action.

Actions and indicators

Prevention

  1. Ensure that all organizations receiving Government of Canada funds for humanitarian assistance have organizational codes of conduct relating to sexual exploitation and abuse consistent with the core principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Plan of Action on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises.
    • Indicator 1-1: Number and percentage of organizations receiving Government of Canada funding for humanitarian assistance that have organizational codes of conduct relating to sexual exploitation and abuse consistent with the core principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Plan of Action on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises.
  2. Systematically include modules on women, peace and security, including codes of conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and international law applicable to the human rights and protection of women and girls in all Canadian training for military, police and civilian personnel being deployed operationally, in a manner which addresses any differential impact of armed conflict on women and girls.
    • Indicator 2-1: Percentage of Government of Canada departmental pre-deployment or general training courses, including courses taken while deployed on mission, for peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations that examine the differential impact of armed conflict on women and girls and address key issues such as codes of conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and international law applicable to the protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights.
    • Indicator 2-2: Number and percentage of Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations who receive pre-deployment training or training while deployed on mission that examines the differential impact of armed conflict on women and girls and addresses key issues such as codes of conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and international law applicable to the protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights.
    • Indicator 2-3: Extent to which the content of mandatory training courses for deployed personnel or for policy and program staff associated with peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations reflect the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security.
  3. Deliver programming under Government of Canada international programs in the justice and security sector that reflects an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
    • Indicator 3-1: Extent to which programming delivered under the Military Training and Cooperation Programme (MTCP), Anti-Crime Capacity-Building Program (ACCBP), Counter-Terrorism Capacity-Building Program (CTCBP) and the Global Peace and Security Fund (GPSF) and similar Government of Canada international programs in the justice and security sector operationalizes an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
  4. Continue to engage in policy dialogue with multilateral partners—including through the UN and its various bodies, funds and programs; the World Bank and other international financial institutions; the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; NATO; the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; the International Organization for Migration; the Organization of American States; the Commonwealth; and La Francophonie—to encourage the strengthening of their capacities to plan for, implement and report on issues of Women, Peace and Security in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
  5. Continue to work with partners, including in Canada’s role as Chair of the Working Group of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (“C-34”), the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security, and the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict, as well as through relationships with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the African Union, the League of Arab States and others, to fully implement zero-tolerance policies on sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations and to promote the implementation of international human rights, crime prevention and criminal justice standards relevant to protecting the rights of women and girls.
  6. Advocate for improved accountability mechanisms on the part of the UN and reporting by Member States on progress made to implement Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (SCRs 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889).
  7. Advocate for Women, Peace and Security issues to be included in the mandates of all UN missions for peace operations, and throughout the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, while encouraging the creation and work of appropriately resourced and influential specialist teams on Women, Peace and Security issues within new peacekeeping operations.
  8. Promote evidence-based research and analysis, and engage in policy dialogue and development on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including discussions with Canadian, international and local civil society organizations.
  9. Advocate internationally for the strengthening of crime prevention, in particular with regard to women and girls, in a manner consistent with international standards and norms on crime prevention, including the UN Guidelines on Crime Prevention and the prevention components of existing conventions and other relevant standards and norms.

Participation and representation

  1. Encourage the active and meaningful participation of women in decision making and in deployments for peace operations, including by identifying and addressing barriers to full participation.
    • Indicator 10-1: Number of Canadian strategic-level national and international security policy directives or guiding documents that address the participation of women in decision making.
    • Indicator 10-2: Number of Canadian strategic-level national and international security policy directives or guiding documents that address the deployment of women to peace operations.
    • Indicator 10-3: Number and percentage of female Canadian Forces personnel, police officers and civilian Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations.
    • Indicator 10-4: Number and percentage of voluntary selection processes for Government of Canada personnel to deploy on peace operations that offer specific measures which work to identify and address barriers to women's participation.
    • Indicator 10-5: Number and proportion of women in executive-level roles in Government of Canada departments and agencies involved in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
  2. Identify Canadian specialists and trainers from various backgrounds with expertise in women, peace and security issues, and assist where practicable their professional development, placement on international deployment rosters or nomination for relevant multilateral assignments. These specialists can also be a source of policy and program advice for Government of Canada departments and agencies.
  3. Integrate the participation and representation of women and girls in Government of Canada international security policy frameworks and projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
    • Indicator 12-1: Number and percentage of departmental international security policy frameworks that integrate the participation and representation of women and girls.
    • Indicator 12-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate the participation and involvement of women and girls or work with key stakeholders, including men and boys, to promote increased participation and representation of women and girls.
  4. Encourage troop- and police-contributing countries to foster the participation of women in peace operations and in training relevant to peace operations.
    • Indicator 13-1: Number of Canadian interventions in the United Nations Security Council, General Assembly, Special Committee on Peacekeeping or other relevant international fora that explicitly encourage troop- and police-contributing countries to address the participation of women in peace operations and in training for peace operations.
  5. Actively encourage UN and other multilateral efforts to involve women, including Indigenous women, in peace agreements and mediation processes, and ensure that such agreements take into account the differential experiences of women and girls, women’s and girls’ human rights and the rights of the child.
  6. Support UN human resources reform processes, particularly with regard to recruitment, to increase the number of women in decision-making positions relating to peace and security and, where appropriate, identify strong Canadian candidates for such positions.

Protection

  1. Direct Canadian diplomatic missions and deployed Canadian Forces or Canadian police personnel to include information on observed or credibly reported serious violations of women’s and girls’ human rights in their periodic reporting to competent mission authorities on peace operations, and to address reports of alleged sexual exploitation or abuse by Government of Canada personnel with the utmost seriousness.
    • Indicator 16-1: Extent to which Canadian diplomatic offices and deployed Canadian Forces or police personnel include information on observed or credibly reported serious violations of women’s and girls’ human rights in their periodic reporting to competent mission authorities on peace operations.
    • Indicator 16-2: Number of reported cases of sexual exploitation or abuse in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations, allegedly perpetrated by Canadian military personnel, police or civilian Government officials, and the percentage that are:
      • referred to a competent Canadian authority
      • addressed in a timely, appropriate and transparent manner.
  2. Develop training modules for Government of Canada personnel being deployed to peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations, which identify and address in a meaningful way the differential impact of conflict on women and girls. This training will be specific to protection in the region of assignment or mission area, will be offered either pre-deployment or in the field, will draw on experiences/lessons learned from previous engagements, and will address protection issues including sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls, and trafficking in persons.
    • Indicator 17-1: Percentage of relevant region- or mission-specific pre-deployment or field training modules for Government of Canada personnel on protection issues that address in a meaningful way the differential impact of the conflict on women and girls.
    • Indicator 17-2: Number and percentage of Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations who receive region- or mission-specific pre-deployment or field training on protection issues that addresses the differential impact of the conflict on women and girls in a meaningful way.
    • Indicator 17-3: Extent to which DND/Canadian Forces strategic direction or equivalent policy guidance for deployed Canadian police address in a meaningful way the importance of protecting women’s and girls' human rights on international operational deployments.
  3. Integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights, in a manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls, in Government of Canada international security policy frameworks and projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
    • Indicator 18-1: Number of departmental international security policy frameworks that integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights in a manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
    • Indicator 18-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects that integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights in a manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
  4. Direct Government of Canada departments and agencies that deploy personnel on peace operations to provide deploying personnel with clear context-specific instructions on measures to protect and promote women’s and girls’ human rights, including measures to prevent sexual violence, and to respond appropriately if sexual violence occurs.
    • Indicator 19-1: Extent to which Government of Canada departmental guidance documents for specific peace operations explicitly address the protection and promotion of women's and girls' human rights, including measures to prevent sexual violence.
  5. In Government of Canada-funded projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations, integrate support for women’s and girls’ human rights including protection from violence, including sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls, and trafficking in persons.
    • Indicator 20-1: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate support for women’s and girls’ human rights including protection from violence, sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls and trafficking in persons.

Relief and recovery

  1. Support projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls in relief and recovery efforts including but not limited to: humanitarian assistance; support to refugees, internally displaced persons, and returnees; disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR); justice and security system reform (JSSR); stabilization, reconstruction, early recovery and peace and security; economic empowerment; and health and education programming.
    • Indicator 21-1: Number and percentage of departmental planning frameworks for fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls.
    • Indicator 21-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls in relief and recovery efforts.
  2. Engage UN Member States and agencies in improving the comprehensiveness of their approach to the substantive equality of men and women and to the human rights of women and girls, with respect to the UN’s support to or participation in justice and security system reform.
  3. Continue to intervene actively with the International Criminal Court and other international courts and tribunals to promote the implementation of the relevant objectives of the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security in their activities, including in mechanisms such as truth and reconciliation commissions.
  4. Advocate, as appropriate, for the mandates of new international accountability and judiciary mechanisms such as international courts, special tribunals and other transitional justice mechanisms, to integrate the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security, and women’s and girls’ human rights.
  5. Advocate for UN agencies’ consideration of the differential impact that violent conflict and natural disasters on women and girls, and their human rights, in all aspects of ongoing efforts to strengthen international humanitarian response capacity, including anti-human trafficking efforts.
  6. Continue to employ a variety of remedies to promote accountability and justice in situations where a perpetrator of a war crime or a crime against humanity (including genocide) is in Canada or wants to come to Canada, including extradition, prosecution in Canada under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, surrender to an international court or tribunal, revocation of citizenship obtained by fraud, denial of visas, and where applicable under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, denial of access to the refugee determination system, and removal from Canada.
  7. Continue efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute cases involving Canadian citizens or permanent residents in the sexual exploitation or abuse of children which occur in fragile states and conflict-affected situations, including child sex tourism and trafficking in persons.
  8. Advocate internationally for equal access by female ex-combatants, and by women and girls associated with armed forces or groups, to appropriate benefits and resources from disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs.

Implementation and monitoring

Canada’s Action Plan covers the period up toMarch 31, 2016 with a mid-term review. The Action Plan is intended to be dynamic in nature and respond to changing needs and lessons from ongoing activities in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations, recognizing that sustainable change is a long-term endeavour.

DFATD’s Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) will coordinate the government-wide response to the implementation of the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security. Departments and agencies will implement the Action Plan as part of their accountability to Canadians for human and financial resources allocated by Government for realization of their mandates. Internal processes within departments and agencies will specify activities and accountabilities in support of the national plan, while capturing lessons learned and reinforcing best practices.

The actions and indicators included in this document will be used by the relevant organizations (CIDA, DFATD, DND, Public Safety and the RCMP) to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative information as to their progress and performance in implementing this plan. The collection of information will be carried out by departments and agencies set out in the indicator matrix (Annex A). DFATD will use the collected data to compile an annual report of Canada’s progress in implementing the UNSC Women, Peace and Security Resolutions, which will be made publicly available.

DFATD will convene regular meetings of an interdepartmental working group and inform senior management on progress. Canada welcomes, in particular, the contribution of Canadian civil society to the development, implementation and monitoring of the Action Plan and looks forward to continuing and active discussion on the issues of Women, Peace and Security.

Annex A: Indicators

Prevention

Participation and representation

Protection

Relief and recovery

For more information

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