IRIAD Statement on the 20th Anniversary of the UNSCR 1325

On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325. UNSCR 1325 recognises the disproportionate impact of conflict on women, as well as the important role that women play in conflict prevention, negotiations and peacebuilding.

Today marks twenty years since UNSCR 1325 was passed. Key achievements in its implementation include:

Development of government-led National Action Plans (NAP) on women, peace and security in 86 countries.
Appointment of a Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict by the Secretary-General of the UN.
Commitment by the Secretary-General to ensure women are at all levels of senior leadership within the UN.[i]

The Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development (IRIAD) joins the UN and all other organisations to commemorate the 20^th Anniversary of the UNSCR 1325. IRIAD is committed to implementing UNSCR 1325 through its Women, Peace and Security (WPS) programme. Under this programme, we seek to identify and understand gender issues and barriers facing women in conflict-ridden areas and post-conflict situations. This is in recognition of the high level of insecurity in Nigeria, which has made incidents of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) even more common. According to UNHCR, there are over 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North East alone. There are also the ‘forgotten IDPs’, which refers to those who are not in the North East but have similarly been displaced due to insecurity.

IRIAD aims to localise UNSCR 1325 in four main ways:

research to identify and understand the issues faced by women in conflict-ridden areas and IDP camps;
setting up women community associations to address insecurity;
advocacy among key stakeholders to promote peace interventions and women’s rights issues in these areas; and
trainings to build the capacity and knowledge of women in these communities.

By combining our efforts with those of other organisations in the WPS sector, we hope to contribute to the global commitment to integrate women into peace and security mechanisms.