WPP Endorses Open Letter Sustainable Development Goals

Dear Friends of Women Peace and Security,

On 14-18 July the General Assembly (GA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will hold its final session. Member States must now take strong action to ensure a conflict prevention approach to development that strengthens gender equality and peace in the SDGs.

Many Member States already have shown leadership and commitment to this approach. Timor Leste, Papua New Guinnea/SIDS, and Canada have all championed a peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, effective and capable institutions goal, and the Common African Position on the Post2015 Development Agenda includes a dedicated pillar on peace and security.

The SDG Zero Draft released 2 June 2014 brings critical attention to the importance of strengthening Women Peace and Security (WPS) considerations in the SDGs. It reaffirmed that the next development agenda must be guided by principles of freedom, peace and security, and respect for human rights, including gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This year, over 50 organizations around the world signed a joint Open Advocacy Letter by WILPF, CWGL, GJC, and GNWP to the Co-Chairs of the OWG, advocating for a conflict prevention approach to the next development agenda that builds on existing commitments on gender and conflict including CEDAW, Beijing, and the WPS agenda including a target on reducing military spending.

In your statement for the 11th and 12th OWG sessions, and in your country’s work on Post2015 SDGs, we urge you to support a stand-alone goal on Peaceful and Inclusive Societies as well as a stand- alone goal on Gender Equality. We also urge you to mainstream both peace and gender throughout the SDGs. In this regard, we ask you to support the following points:

• CHAPEAU: Support and strengthen references to commitments on women’s human rights and peace in the SDG chapeau by including references to the UN Charter, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action, and the WPS agenda

• PEACEFUL SOCIETIES GOAL
   - PARTICIPATION: Support and strengthen the target on inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making by adding “meaningful”, “for all”, and “including in peace processes at all levels and transitional governance arrangements” (16.4)
   - PREVENTION:
         - Support prevention targets on reducing illicit arms trade (16.3), building a culture of non-violence (16.7), and strengthening formal and non-formal dispute resolution mechanisms (16.8)
         - Strengthen prevention targets by adding “reduce excessive military spending” to target 16.3 (to be consistent with Beijing Area E and Agenda 21 (22.16.e)), adding “ratify and implement the Arms Trade Treaty”, and including WPS 2010 global indicator #17 on the Small Arms Light Weapons (SALW) target
  - PROTECTION: Strengthen targets on IDPs and refugees (16.9); implement security sector reform (16.10); support enhanced gender training for humanitarian and security personnel and relief and recovery services to uphold human rights, including for women refugees, women human rights defenders and internally displaced people (IDPs); and call for “support for gender-sensitive durable solutions” for refugees and IDPs (16.9)

• RELIEF & RECOVERY: Support and strengthen target on equal access to responsive justice systems by addressing women’s equal access and rights (16.12) and the root causes of poverty and inequality which fuel conflict.
  
  
• GENDER EQUALITY GOAL
  - Strengthen targets by addressing conflict including on participation (5.8) by adding “and in peace and transitional governance processes”; on resources and services (5.7) by adding “including multi sectoral services for women and girls in conflict”; and on engaging men and boys (5.11) by adding “including in conflict settings”
  
  
• OTHER GOALS:
  - Support and strengthen references to women’s human rights in the SDG goals and targets by adding this language on “for all people everywhere” to all goals 
  - Support and strengthen references to peace in SDG goals and targets (such as 16.2 on refugees and IDPs) more generally by integrating conflict and its root causes including militarized inequality and poverty which fuel conflict along with other forms of disaster risk reduction and as a contributor to vulnerable situations and marginalization
  
  
• MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION
  - Support target on increasing financial resources to achieve gender equality (17.17) and development (17.27); strengthen by adding “including by reducing military spending” as an innovative financing mechanism (to be consistent with Beijing Area E and Agenda 21 (22.16.e)) Also strengthen 17.17 by adding increase “access to capital, land, credit and” financial resources
  - Support target on acting within provisions of international agreements (17.42) including those on WPS
  - Support target on regular monitoring and reporting including for multi-stakeholder initiatives and partnerships (17.43) and for multinational corporations (17.39); strengthen by including accountability on WPS and women’s human rights for non-state actors including international financial institutions the private sector
  - Support target on global cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and transfers (17.46); strengthen by adding combatting illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) including through ratification and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)
  - Strengthen target on promoting strong international institutions (17.44) by addressing institutional accountability to promote human rights of all people including women and girls, inclusive participation, and transparency; strengthen accountability including of international financial institutions and in situations of conflict

Finally, we ask you to design a conflict prevention approach to development that cuts down silos between security and development and between gender blind and gender sensitive approaches. We call on you to build on existing WPS commitments and to invest in gender equality and women’s substantive participation, protection, and rights toward sustainable peace and development for all. For the next set of development goals to positively impact all countries and all groups of people, a gender and conflict analysis must be included in the new set of goals.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information or to discuss these issues further.

DRAFTING TEAM: Abigail Ruane (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom); Elizabeth Cafferty (Women’s Refugee Commission); Harriette Bright (Femmes Africa Solidarité); Mavic Cabrerra Balleza (Global Network of Women Peacebuilders); Savi Bisnath (Center for Women’s Global Leadership); Stephanie Johanssen (Global Justice Center);

SIGNED:

1325 Action Group (Nepal) Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (Thailand) Center for Women’s Global Leadership (US)
Cordaid (The Netherlands)
Femmes Africa Solidarité (International)
FOKUS: Forum for Women and Development (Norway)
Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer –FEIM (Argentina)
The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (Fiji)
Global Justice Center (US)
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, a program partner of the International Civil Society Action Network (International)
Global Partnership for Local Action (Sudan)
Inclusive Security (US)
International AIDS Women Caucus-IAWC (International)
The Programme on Women's Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – PWESCR (India) Saathi (Nepal)
Women for Peace (Germany)
Women Peacemakers Program (Netherlands)
Women’s Environmental Program (Nigeria)
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (International)
Women’s Refugee Commission (US)
Women's UN Report Network – WUNRN (International)