|
Response to the Secretary General’s
Report In Larger Freedom
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
30 April 2005
The Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF), a ninety-year-old NGO with ECOSOC consultative status,
welcomes the opportunity to comment on the recommendations made by UN
Secretary-General (SG), Mr. Kofi Annan, in his report to the General Assembly,
In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights
for all (A/59/2005).
WILPF has supported the United Nations since it’s
inception. We continue to support the basic principles enshrined in the
UN Charter and seek greater effectiveness of the UN, and the full and
rapid implementation of all of its multilateral agreements and treaties.
The SG’s recommendations are far-reaching and deserve serious consideration
by all UN Member States as well as by, and with, civil society as a whole.
We therefore believe that time must be allocated to study the proposed
recommendations, and in particular those that will affect the structure
of the UN and consequently its Charter, which remains the fundamental
document that binds us.
We welcome the recognition in In Larger Freedom
of the need for significant governmental commitment to “a new security
consensus based on the recognition that threats are interlinked, that
development, security and human rights are mutually interdependent.”
Since its foundation in 1915, WILPF has used a similar comprehensive approach
in its work toward the peaceful settlement of conflict, the eradication
of the causes of armed conflict, and for the building of the foundations
on which a permanent peace can be constructed. This includes respect for
all human rights for all - gender equality, equality among and within
nations, the right to development - all in greater freedom. We urge Member
States to use a comprehensive human security approach as they formulate
their priorities, including the conceptualization of the Peacebuilding
Commission, Human Rights Council, the definition of terrorism and the
use of force and reform of the principal organs of the UN.
Human Security and Gender Equality
Integral to a human security approach is the use of a gender perspective
when considering issues of development, security and human rights. WILPF
urges Member States to formulate all their priorities in light of the
governmental commitments to the achievement of gender equality and women’s
empowerment in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Civil Society Participation in the September
Summit
We are also exceptionally concerned about the lack of civil society input
at the national and international level into the outcomes of this report.
. At the World Leaders’ Summit in September 2005 there needs to
be a segment for civil society participation and involvement, as well
as mechanisms to feed into any outcome document. Achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), and the goals and principles of the UN more
generally, is not possible without the full engagement of civil society.
Peacebuilding Commission
A Peacebuilding Commission would best serve the cause of peace if it had
a focus on prevention of conflict and serve as an early warning of emerging
conflicts. There will only be success in this if broad consultation and
cooperation with civil society, in particular women peacemakers, is built
into the mandate of such a Commission. Furthermore, gender must be mainstreamed
through the peace and security work of the Commission, as required in
ECOSOC Resolution 1997/2 and 2004/4, and called for in UN SCR 1325 on
women, peace and security. WILPF envisions the Commission as a forum for
the consideration of conflicts that are not on the Security Council’s
agenda. The Commission could also provide a venue for long-term peace
strategies to be built through hearings with all actors involved in the
provocation and maintenance of conflicts, including state actors, International
Financial Institutions, the private sector, arms suppliers and manufacturers,
and those who are involved in the extraction and selling of local natural
resources.. Lastly, any Peacebuilding Commission that is created must
be resourced, and not impinge, or detract resources from the entities
within the Secretariat already devoted to peace support operations.
Human Rights Council
WILPF is of the opinion that the erosion of credibility of the Commission
on Human Rights lies in the absence of political will of the Member States
to integrate a human rights framework into national level legislation
and law, not in the structure and architecture of the institution. Further,
we are concerned that due to current political realities, the proposed
Human Rights Council would focus on civil and political rights while potentially
ignoring economic, social and cultural rights. Finally, WILPF supports
the recommendation to provide the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights the necessary resources in order to perform its mandate to
the fullest, and suggests that instead of creating a new mechanism, Member
States instead work to fully implement the goals and objectives of the
Economic and Social Council, which includes encouraging universal respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Nuclear Disarmament
Since it’s inception, WILPF has called on governments to totally
and universally disarm. While we welcome the recent convention on nuclear
terrorism, we also recognize that this does not deal with the growing
reliance on nuclear weapons in national security strategies. The growing
threat of vertical and horizontal nuclear proliferation clearly falls
under the Secretary-Generals proposed definition of terrorism, because
nuclear weapons by their very nature are designed to “intimidate
a population or to compel a Government… to do or to abstain from
doing any act”. WILPF continues to urge member states to come to
an early conclusion on a verifiable fissile materials cut-off treaty.
WILPF also urges Member States to strive for universality and fully implement
their commitments under the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. WILPF also
supports the provisional entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty, and urges Member States to ratify this treaty as soon as possible.
Development
WILPF fully supports Member States reaching their target of 0.7 per cent
for official development assistance, and urges them to shift their national
budgeting priorities away from military expenditures towards development
assistance. Beyond development assistance, WILPF urges full debt cancellation,
and in particular, for HIPC countries. With regard to trade, WILPF, for
90 years, has expressed concern about systems of economic exploitation
In recent years WILPF has opposed any extension of negotiations leading
to further trade liberalization; we have called for an international trading
system that will enable all to live in dignity with access to essential
resources. We believe that UNCTAD is the body that should be authorized
to construct such an international trading system. WILPF is also concerned
about the open invitation to corporations to become more involved in development,
and recommends that this only move forward if there are transparency and
accountability measures fully in place. Lastly, WILPF does not support
the Global Compact with corporations.
UN Reform
WILPF is concerned that some of the specific reform proposals run contrary
to the democratization of the UN. While we support the expansion of the
Security Council we urge Member States not to create new divisions by
creating new categories of membership. WILPF does not support the veto
power of the five recognized nuclear weapons states, and urges the General
Assembly to investigate how this veto power prevents substantive action
on the part of the Security Council. WILPF also encourages the Security
Council to be more transparent and to increase the number of Arria Formula
meetings with civil society, and find creative ways to work in collaboration
with both state and non-state actors in preventing conflict.
We are concerned that some of the structural reforms
and recommendations advanced in the annex of In Larger Freedom
might lead to more military interventions and detract attention from attempts
to eliminate the root causes of armed conflict. All commitments made on
UN reform at the World Leaders’ Summit in September 2005 and in
the coming years must be based on existing commitments and international
law.
WILPF will continue to support the United Nations
and the full implementation of its Charter. We look forward to opportunities
for further dialogue on these wide-reaching proposals.
|
