Why Do I Need – Indeed, We All Need – UNSC Resolution 1325?
If the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 were a face cream or the next iPhone to roll out of Apple, a well-oiled publicity apparatus would already had let us know – hammering us with TV ads, billboards and pop-ups on social media – that we simply must have it, and not a moment sooner.
A famous beauty directs a knowing look right at us as she expounds on how, since she’s started using 1325 on a daily basis, she is feeling more present, more heard and more impactful. She would then offer us to be a part of the consumer experience, because “you too deserve 1325,” or, “with 1325 you are simply more,” or something to that effect.
But 1325 is not a brand. Far from it. It is a resolution made by the United Nations Security Council on women in violent conflict zones on October 31, 2000. It leaned on four core principles: active participation on the part of women in resolving violent conflicts, protecting women from violence that bleeds over from prolonged conflict, preventing escalation, and gender mainstreaming.
Have I lost you yet? Stick with me a while longer.
Yes, 1325 is not a brand. It is an administrative bunching of numbers that means little to most. And “gender mainstreaming” may sounds as exciting as having a whole grain rice cracker with marmite on it for dinner, at a time when many of us crave something warm, soft, and more importantly, comforting, to eat.
And without dismissing the importance of face cream, I need 1325 a lot more.
I need 1325 because it recognizes my knowledge and my experience.
I need 1325 because it acknowledges my experiences as a woman, and the way in which this unhinged reality influences myself, my family and my community.
I need 1325 because it decrees that peace and security are a woman’s business, and that women can contribute to achieving them.
I need 1325 so that no more committees, councils or cabinets be formed without the participation of half of the population.
I need 1325 because I’ve grown weary of hearing “this is an emergency, we’ll take care of women later.”
I need 1325 because I’m sick of lines like “Women? Why does it have to be women? I think the most qualified people should lead/decide/distribute our resources.” And the qualified, the wise, the experienced and the connected are, shockingly, almost always men.
I need 1325 so that slogans such as “This Country Needs A Mommy” or “We Need A Lead(h)er” would receive their full meaning.
The year is 2020, and Resolution 1325 just celebrated her twentieth birthday. No longer a child or a girl, but still very young, with big aspirations to make the world a better place for women and girls, and also men, boys and children.
The year is 2020 and we, here in Israel and all over the world, need 1325. This world needs all the virtues and qualities one usually attributes to women in order to sing their praises, so long as they are expressed within the household, or in private.
I need 1325. I need a stock market of worthy leadership qualities where prosperity will come to these qualities:
Politics of care and empathy
The ability to articulate an inspiring vision
A sense of purpose and responsibility
The ability to listen and analyze complex situations of uncertainty, instability and ambiguity
Compassion and determination
The ability to take counsel, to learn and make decision based on a collaborative process
These are hard times, truly. It seems as though reality is waterboarding us, and we find ourselves in a daily struggle to catch our breath.
And that is why we need 1325. Now, more than ever.
Watch our short documentary, “Peacemakers”, on women, peace and security: https://youtu.be/QCWw9fzmAnU
Hamutal Gouri 