UNSP Celebrates Internat'l Women's Day

The rampant sexual exploitation of women caught in the crosshairs of conflict. The rapid strides that the United Nations has taken over the last few years in the area of empowering women. The challenges of being in leading positions at a male-dominated international organization.

These and many other themes were raised at “Women, Peace, Security, and Development,” a March 6 panel discussion organized by the United Nations Studies Program (UNSP) to celebrate International Women’s Day .

Moderated by SIPA professor and UNSP director Elisabeth Lindenmayer, the panel of high-powered women included Leila Zerrougui, under secretary-general and special representative for children and armed conflicts, Judy Cheng-Hopkins MIA ’78, assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support, and Lakshmi Puri, assistant secretary-general and deputy executive director of UN Women.

This is the third year that Lindenmayer has taken steps at SIPA to mark International Women’s Day. Previous speakers included former Chile president Michelle Bachelet, who is now the executive director of UN Women, and Margot Wallström, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict.

Lindenmayer explained why she started the tradition: “This is a school for international relations with a large proportion of women and foreign students. Women constitute half the world, and peace cannot be achieved without them. They are victims in conflicts but also agents of change. They are the ones who rebuild the social fabric of society after civil wars. To me, it only makes sense to celebrate International Women’s Day here.”

Lindenmayer said this year’s panelists were “incredible role models,” particularly for students who are thinking of working in conflict zones. “I want to provide students with this kind of inspiration,” she said.

The discussion traced the development of the conceptual framework of issues related to women, peace, and security in the Security Council, focusing especially on Resolution 1325 and the seven-point action plan.

“Resolution 1325 was a real landmark. It was the first time the question of gender was linked to peace and security,” said Cheng-Hopkins.

Puri talked about how various resolutions have helped create a more gender-friendly ecosystem. “These resolutions not only set out an accountability pattern and protocol for governments that are involved, but also for troop-contributing countries, the UN troops, civilian authorities, UN agencies, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Political Affairs, and those of us, like UN Women, who are there on the ground to make sure that these accountability protocols are followed.”

Underscoring the creativity of the UN in responding to the changing nature of the conflicts with the new conceptual framework, Lindenmayer said, “When I was in peacekeeping operations, many of the tools now used by the Security Council did not exist. When women were being raped in conflicts, there was no naming and shaming, and there were no names being put in the annexes of the secretary-general’s reports.”

Explaining that the seven-point plan was focused on the “involvement, leadership, voice, and participation of women in all aspects of the continuum from peace to development,” Puri said that UN Women had developed 26 indicators to hold the UN system to account.

Speaking about the somewhat controversial measure of the seven-point action plan of allocating special temporary measures or quotas for women in Parliament or public office, Chen-Hopkins pointed out that countries like Rwanda and Burundi that have adopted the measures have seen a measurable difference in the representation of women.

But why, asked Lindenmayer, is there so much violence against women, despite the rapid strides in the development of the conceptual framework? Was it a case of poor implementation?

Drawing from her own experience of working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zerrougui said, “People break the law because they know there is no risk.… Those who are supposed to protect the population are not there, or are part of the problem.”

Making a case for strengthening the legal framework in the Security Council, Zerrougui said, “It is only then that you can come and fight the commander, chief of the staff of the army, minister of defense, and say, ‘You have to fight impunity and we are here to support you.’”

Zerrougui also emphasized that a lot was being accomplished on the ground. “It’s not easy – you start from nothing,” she said. Tracing the process of working with victims of sexual violence, she said, “The most important thing that you have to know is that these victims feel that they are the problem … they are in shame. When you get there and say, ‘You are a victim’, and ‘They are perpetrators,’ and you tell their leaders that you have to protect them, you give them the courage and stand and go to the justice system. This is a whole process … I think we are achieving a lot. “

Helping the audience understand just why conflicts breed violence against women and girls, Puri said, “In conflict and post-conflict settings, there is a climate of impunity for three categories of people – the government forces, the non-government forces, and those who are taking advantage of the chaos.”

“Systematic practice of sexual violence as a weapon of war” is taking place in Mali right now, said Puri. “We are very concerned about it. The UN is present there, trying to provide protection and support to women who have suffered.”


Shifting the discussion to women working in the UN, Lindenmayer recounted not being able to come up with the single name of a woman negotiator for a student who wanted to contact one.

Zerrougui stressed that while women are in a male-dominated space at the UN, their numbers and influence is steadily growing. “Women in our position started growing inside the UN thanks to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who insisted that women be part of leadership positions.”

Puri agreed, noting that the secretary-general is “leading by example.” In Ki-moon’s first term, the number of women in top leadership has gone up by 6 per cent – the largest historic increase at this level, she said.

But not everyone at the UN has matched up to the Secretary General’s enthusiasm for having more women leaders in the organization. “There is a major deficit in the D1, D2, P5, and P4 levels,” said Puri, adding that UN Women is advocating special temporary measures, particularly in regard to promotion if not recruitment, and a number of policies that make it easier for women both at the headquarters and field level to succeed.

Students also came away with advice on how to approach a career at the UN, both professionally and personally, thanks to anecdotes from Lindenmayer on how she juggled bringing up two children while handling the Iraq and Somalia crises.

“If you are interested in a career in humanitarian, peace, missions or working in difficult situations, my one advice to you is do it early, almost immediately after you graduate or shortly thereafter,” said Cheng-Hopkins. Field experience, she said, was necessary to build credibility within the UN, and also inner confidence to deal with the subject matter.


Exhorting students in the audience to join the UN, Zerrougui said, “Go ahead and do it….If you join the UN, you will like to stay in the UN.”

— story by Neha Tara Mehta; photographs by Annie Waldman MIA ’14