United Nations Security Council Resolution 2242 – Women and peace and security

Resolution 2242 (2015)

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), and 2122 (2013) and all relevant statements of its President,

Bearing in mind the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,

Affirming the primary role of Member States to implement fully the relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, and the important complementary role of United Nations entities and regional organizations,

Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and their twentieth anniversary, welcoming the Global Leaders Meeting on Gender Equality and Empowerment held on 27 September 2015 and commending the concrete national commitments made by national leaders in connection to this meeting,

Reaffirming the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol thereto and urging States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to it, further noting General Recommendation 30 of the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on Women and Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Situations,

Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General of 17 September 2015 (S/2015/716) submitting the results of the Global Study on the implementation of resolution 1325, recognizing with appreciation all the work undertaken for the Global Study and encouraging close examination of its recommendations,

Noting the substantial link between women’s meaningful involvement in efforts to prevent, resolve and rebuild from conflict and those efforts’ effectiveness and long-term sustainability, as well as the need for greater resourcing, accountability, political will and attitudinal change,

Taking note of the Report of the Secretary-General on the Future of United Nations peace operations: implementation of the recommendations of the High -level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (S/2015/682), and the Report of the Advisory Group of Experts for the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture (S/2015/490), and welcoming the recommendations contained therein relating to Women, Peace and Security, and further urging all actors to consider their implementation,

Reaffirming the obligations of States and all parties to armed conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable, and the need to end all violations of international humanitarian law and all violations and abuses of human rights,

Reaffirming that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a method or tactic of war or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate and prolong situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace and security,

Welcoming the emphasis placed on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the recent adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reaffirming that women’s and girls’ empowerment and gender equality are critical to conflict prevention and broader efforts to maintain international peace and security, noting in this regard the emphasis of the Report of the Independent High-level Panel on Peace Operations (S/2015/446), the Report of the Advisory Group of Experts for the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture (S/2015/490), and the Global Study on the need, inter alia, to invest more in conflict prevention and women’s empowerment, and further emphasizing that persisting barriers to the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) will only be dismantled through dedicated commitment to women’s participation and human rights, and through concerted leadership, consistent information and action, and support, to build women’s engagement in all levels of decision-making,

Reiterating the important engagement by men and boys as partners in promoting women’s participation in the prevention and resolution of armed conflict, peacebuilding and post-conflict situations,

Noting the changing global context of peace and security, in particular relating to rising violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, the increased numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, the impac ts of climate change and the global nature of health pandemics, and in this regard reiterating its intention to increase attention to women, peace and security as a cross-cutting subject in all relevant thematic areas of work on its agenda, including threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,

Recognizing the differential impact on the human rights of women and girls of terrorism and violent extremism, including in the context of their health, education, and participation in public life, and that they are often directly targeted by terrorist groups, and expressing deep concern that acts of sexual and gender-based violence are known to be part of the strategic objectives and ideology of certain terrorist groups, used as a tactic of terrorism, and an instrument to increase their power through supporting financing, recruitment, and the destruction of communities, as described in the Secretary-General’s Report on Sexual Violence in Conflict of 23 March 2015 (S/2015/203), and further noting the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s good practices on Women and Countering Violent Extremism,

Recognizing the significance of the fifteen-year anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000), the progress made as well as the opportunity and need for far greater implementation of the women, peace and security agenda, remaining deeply concerned by the frequent under-representation of women in many formal processes and bodies related to the maintenance of international peace and security, the relatively low number of women in senior positions in political, peace and security -related national, regional and international institutions, the lack of adequate gender-sensitive humanitarian responses and support for women’s leadership roles in these settings, insufficient financing for women, peace and security, and the resulting detrimental impact on the maintenance of international peace and security,

Recognizing the important contribution of civil society, including women’s organizations, during the last fifteen years in the implementation of resolution 1325,

Recognizing the new Global Acceleration Instrument on women’s engagement in peace and security and humanitarian affairs, in addition to existing complementary mechanisms, as one avenue to attract resources, coordinate responses and accelerate implementation,

Adopted by the Security Council at its 7533rd meeting, on 13 October 2015.