protection program
Refugee Women, Peace and Security
While women and children are increasingly the targets of war, their contributions to building peace at the community level are almost always overlooked or not understood. The Women's Commission joined a coalition of organizations in a campaign to press the United Nations Security Council to acknowledge and tap into the contributions of women who are building and maintaining peace within war-torn countries worldwide. In October 2000, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325, calling for women's increased protection in armed conflict and their participation in all aspects of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building. The Women's Commission and its partners now monitor the implementation of this resolution, which has become international law. We work to ensure that displaced women's voices are heard at the highest levels of decision-making and that they are active participants in peace-building and reconstruction. Read our report "Room to Maneuver: Lessons from Gender Mainstreaming in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations."
Protecting Refugees from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
The Women’s Commission’s advocacy work on enhancing the protection of displaced women and children has led the organization to undertake an evaluation of the Building Safer Organizations Project which is geared towards assisting humanitarian agencies address issues of misconduct among their own staff. The evaluation highlighted the importance of agency staff being trained to conduct professional investigations of alleged sexual exploitation and the Women’s Commission serves on a inter-agency steering committee to promote international attention to the issue.