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Leadership key to boosting women’s peacebuilding role
Civil society organizations have called for Indonesia to show its leadership in linking women to the peace and security agenda, as women continue to be underrepresented in peacebuilding
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span>Civil society organizations have called for Indonesia to show its leadership in linking women to the peace and security agenda, as women continue to be underrepresented in peacebuilding.
Asian Muslim Action Network country director Dwi Rubiyanti Kholifah said even though Indonesia had a 2014 national action plan on women’s protection and empowerment in conflict-prone areas, more work was needed to translate it into concrete efforts at the local level.
Issued in 2014 after seven years of deliberation, the action plan was mandated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which was adopted in 2000 and focuses on the impacts of conflict on women and their participation in preventing conflict and building peace.
The action plan has three pillars — prevention, conflict handling, and participation and empowerment — which according to Rubiyanti, have served as guidelines for government bodies, particularly the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry.
But without concrete implementation and seriousness in advancing women’s role in peacebuilding, such an action plan was mere words on paper.
“Government leadership is key. Civil society has no authoritative power; we can only try to push the issue,” she said in a discussion held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Monday.
According to UN data in 2018, women only accounted for 2 percent of mediators, 8 percent of negotiators and 5 percent of witnesses and signatories in major peace processes between 1990 and 2017.
In an effort to increase women’s peacemaking skills, the Foreign Ministry held in April a training event that involved 60 female diplomats from all ASEAN countries, as well as Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. It was aimed at enhancing women’s diplomatic capacity to promote peace, tolerance and prosperity in the region.
Rubiyanti said Indonesia needed more female representation in various posts related to peace and security, including in the military, police and ministries or agencies dealing with human rights, politics and law.
She added that the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry was key for Indonesia to show strong leadership in the women and peace agenda, especially under the current minister Yohana Yembise, who represents the first female Papuan minister.
“Frankly, I think the minister could do more because she is from conflict-prone Papua, but somehow, since it is competing with other agenda items the ministry is handling, it is stuck and sidelined,” Rubiyanti said, adding that without an assertive leader, people would not consider the issue important.
Canadian Ambassador to ASEAN Diedrah Kelly said having a comprehensive strategy on women, peace and security was important in helping create a better response to gender-based violence and gender exploitation in conflict areas. She also said there was a solid link between women, peace and security in the sustainable development agenda.
“It is very important to involve women in peace processes. This is proven by how economically empowered women have a positive impact on the entire community and affect the whole decision making process,” Kelly said.
