社論：參與是婦女平等和賦權的關鍵

The largest annual gathering with special focus on issues which impact on women and thereby humanity as a whole is now taking place in New York.

It is the annual session of the Commission on Status of Women (UN-CSW) under the United Nations umbrella， attracting hundreds of government and civil society participants representing their nations and organisations.

This is the 58th time that CSW is meeting and over the years， its agenda has evolved in a meaningful way to bring to global attention to women’s equality and their contribution to human progress.

關注影響女性乃至整個人類社會問題的最大規模的年度會議在紐約召開。

會議由聯合國婦女地位委員會召開，吸引了數百名來自政府和社會組織的代表參加。

此次會議是婦女地位委員會在聯合國框架內的第58次會議，歷年的會議議程不斷以有意義的方式引起國際社會關注婦女地位平等及婦女對社會進步的貢獻。

For last few years， equality of women’s participation at all decision making levels has taken a special profile in its deliberations and many parallel events. Participation has emerged as the major area of practical application for women’s agenda.

At the same time， engaging men and boys for gender equality is being seen as an essential component of any proactive strategy.

Adoption of the landmark U.N. Security Council resolution 1325 boosted the essential value of women’s participation. For a long time， the impression has been that women were helpless victims of wars and conflicts.

近年來，婦女平等參與各個層面的決策已體現在各項審議和多件平行事件中。婦女參與已成為婦女進程付諸實踐的重要領域。

同時，讓男人和男孩參與到促進性別平等的過程被看作是推動策略的重要組成部分。

聯合國安理會1325號決議的通過提高了實現婦女參與的重要價值。長期以來，人們固有的觀念是婦女是戰爭和沖突的無助受害者。

In reality， women have shown great capacity as peacemakers. They assumed activist roles during conflicts while holding together their families and communities.

At the grassroots and community levels， women have organised to resist militarisation， to create space for dialogue and moderation and to weave together the shattered fabric of society. The contribution and involvement of women in the eternal quest for peace is an inherent reality.

實際上，婦女作為調停人已展現了巨大的潛力。他們在維護家庭和社區的同時，還在沖突調解中擔當了積極分子的角色。

在社會基層和社區層面，婦女自發組織起來反對軍事化，營造空間進行對話和調解，將分散的社會團結到一起。婦女對尋求社會和平的貢獻和參與已經是不爭的事實。

The consensus statement that the Security Council issued on Mar. 8， 2000 formally and for the first time brought to global attention to fact that the contribution women have been making to preventing war， to building peace has remained unrecognised， under-utilised and under-valued.

It finally recognised that “peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men”.

This conceptual and political breakthrough led in October that year to the ground-breaking resolution 1325 of the Council on “Women and Peace and Security”.

Validity of its core message that sustainable peace is possible only with women’s full participation has become increasingly relevant in today’s context when we find women being excluded from peace conferences.

聯合國安理會2000年3月8日官方發布的一致聲明首次正式使國際社會關注這一事實，即婦女阻止戰爭發生、營造和平社會的作用尚未被關注、未被足夠利用和未被充分肯定。

聲明認為，“和平與男女平等有著不可分割的聯系”。

這一概念性和政治性的突破也促使聯合國安理會于2000年10月通過了關于“婦女、和平與安全”的1325號決議。

決議核心內容——只有婦女的完全參與才有可能實現，可持續的和平與當今世界婦女被和平會議排除在外的現狀密切相關。

The current international practices that make women insecure and deny their equality of participation， basically as a result of its support of the existing militarised inter-state security arrangements， is disappointing.

I draw your attention to the existing concept of security based on inter-state power structure rather than on human security – security of the people. Human security is rarely a primary consideration in the Security Council’s decision-making.

This should make us determined to ensure that women have more avenues to promote peace， not only at the local level but also at the national， regional and global levels.

目前讓婦女缺乏安全感、拒絕婦女平等參與的國際現實令人失望，這主要是由當前國際上普遍支持的軍事化國家間的安全格局造成的。

我希望各位關注現有的安全概念，這個概念是建立在國家之間實力格局基礎上的，而不是建立在人類安全——人的安全的基礎上。人類安全這一概念在聯合國安理會決策中很少被優先考慮。

這就需要我們努力保證婦女有更多推動和平的渠道，不只是在當地，而應該在國家范圍、區域范圍甚至全球范圍。

By bringing their experiences to the peace table， women can inject in the peace process a practical understanding of the various challenges faced by civilian populations.

The mechanisms and arrangements that come out of such involvement are naturally more sensitive to the needs of common people and， therefore， more purposeful and sustainable.

Recognition that women need to be at the peace tables to make a real difference in transitioning from the cult of war to the culture of peace， I believe， made the passage of 1325 an impressive step forward for women’s equality agenda in contemporary security politics.

在推動和平的會議中，婦女可以與大家分享實際經驗，把她們對民眾所面臨的各種挑戰的具體理解引入和平進程。

通過婦女的實際參與所創建的機制和進行的安排與普通民眾的需求更貼近，因此針對性更強，可持續性更強。

意識到婦女應參與和平會議能推動從熱衷戰爭到和平文化的過度，我認為，其將使1325號決議成為大力推進婦女公平參與當今安全政治的重要一步。

This was reflected very eloquently when in 2011 three women were chosen as Nobel laureates. Their citation for the Nobel Peace Prize referred to the Resolution 1325， saying that “It underlined the need for women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes and in peace work in general.”

The Nobel Committee further asserted that， “We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

This is the first time when a Nobel Peace Prize citation has mentioned a United Nations resolution so specifically.

2011年，3位女性榮獲諾貝爾獎也充分體現了這一點。她們在獲獎感言中提到了1325號決議，稱“它強調了女性與男性平等參與和平進程與從事和平工作的需要?！?/p>

諾貝爾委員會進一步強調，“只有女性與男性在影響社會發展的各個領域中獲得同等的機會，我們才能真正實現民主和世界的長久和平?！?/p>

這是諾貝爾和平獎獲獎感言中第一次如此具體地提到聯合國的決議。

The Charter of the United Nations in its Article 25 states that “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.”

Therefore， as a Security Council resolution 1325 is a commitment made by the United Nations， its member-states and the international community in general to take action to comply and work towards its full implementation.

In this context， I will underscore that top priority should be given to energising and supporting the U.N. member states to prepare their respective National Plan of Action (NAP) for 1325 at the country level.

Of 193 U.N. members， so far only 43 have prepared such plans and 10 more are reportedly on the way. A long way to reach 193!

《聯合國憲章》第25條規定“聯合國成員國在不違背憲章的前提下，同意接受并執行安理會的決定?！?/p>

因此，安理會1325號決議是由聯合國及其成員國和國際社會一道做出的承諾，承諾遵守決議并采取行動推動其完全實施。

在此前提下，我要強調，現在最重要的是要激勵和支持聯合國成員國為1325號決議的實施，制定各自的國家行動計劃。

目前，193個成員國中只有43個國家制定了計劃，另外還有10個國家在制定進程中，距離193個國家全部制定計劃仍有很長的路要走。

Civil society， in particular women’s organisations， human rights activists and peace groups around the world， need to mobilise their efforts to hold governments accountable for the commitments they made in Resolution 1325.

There needs to be international support to ways and means to enhance women’s participation and role in formal and informal conflict prevention and mediation efforts， including measures for capacity-building support for women’s peace movements in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Coordinated and coherent support by the United Nations system is particularly needed to achieve greater effectiveness of peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts through the increased participation of women and strengthened capacity to address gender issues in peace and post-conflict planning processes.

社會團體，特別是婦女組織、人權活動積極分子及全球的和平組織應該積極行動促使各國政府兌現關于1325號決議所作出的承諾。

我們需要為婦女的公平參與及提高婦女正式和非正式地阻止沖突和調解過程的角色地位提供國際支持，其中包括在沖突和沖突解除后的局勢下對婦女和平運動的能力建設支持策略。

由聯合國體系提供的協調一致的支持，在更有效的爭取和平與維護和平努力中尤為重要，它有助于增加婦女的參與和強化在和平與沖突后規劃進程中解決性別問題的能力。

It is essential that the views of both women and men are equally heard and recognised in society， and in economic and political planning and decision making. Only then can men and women equally and democratically influence progress in society.

My own experience during the course of my different responsibilities – more so during past 20 plus years – has shown that the participation of women in peacemaking， peacekeeping and peace-building assures that their experiences， priorities， and solutions contribute to lasting stability， good governance and sustainable peace.

1325 is a “common heritage of humanity” wherein the global objectives of peace， equality and development are reflected in a uniquely historic， universal document of the United Nations.

We should never forget that when women are marginalised， there is little chance for the world to get sustainable peace in the real sense.

在社會中、在經濟和政治的規劃決策中，男女同等發聲并被認可很關鍵。只有這樣，男女才能平等、民主地影響社會進程。

我曾從事經歷的不同工作，特別是最近20多年的經歷表明，婦女參與爭取和平、維護和平和建立和平的事業可以確保她們在維護長期穩定、優化管理和可持續和平的工作中發揮自己的經驗、特長和決策能力。

1325號決議是“人類共同的遺產”，全球和平、平等與發展的目標體現在這份獨一無二的、具有歷史意義的全球性文件上。

我們永遠都不應忘記，如果女性被邊緣化，世界就不能實現真正意義的可持續和平。

(This opinion piece was first published in IPS UN Journal on 13 March 2014

此篇社論原發表于國際新聞社聯合國月刊2014年3月13日期)