Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Libya

The literature on gender equality, development and security suggests that sustainable peace and successful long-term development are linked to gender equality policies (Selimovic & Larsson, 2014: 5). UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325), approved in 2000, reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building, and in postconflict reconstruction.1 It calls for equal participation of women in decision-making related to peace processes, protection of women from violence, in particular sexual violence in armed conflict situations, and gender mainstreaming in conflict management and peace building efforts.
SCR 1325 was ‘the Security Council’s first resolution that recognised the specific risks to and experiences of women in armed conflict and women’s central role in maintaining international peace and security’ (HRW, 2015: 4). A series of subsequent Security Council resolutions have reinforced the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda laid out in SCR 1325: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013)2 and 2242 (2015). Despite growing international recognition of SCR 1325 as a global norm, on the ground implementation has been slow and arduous. Issues include lack of funding for grassroots women’s organisations, and challenges evaluating implementation such as lack of timely and disaggregated data (HRW, 2015: 5). Moreover, ‘gender rights tend to be moved down the list of priorities in precarious transitions from war to peace – by international as well as national stakeholders’ (Selimovic & Larsson, 2014: 5). This has certainly been the case in Libya.
Over five years since the 2011 revolution, Libya remains far from reaching a consensus political settlement, or indeed even establishing a stable interim arrangement (Idris, 2016). There are currently three governments laying claim to power: the General National Congress (GNC) and Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, and the House of Representatives (HoR) in the east (Freedom House, 2016). The country is deeply divided along political, geographic, religious and ethnic lines. There are numerous armed groups engaged in local, regional and national conflicts. Implementation of SCR 1325 and associated WPS resolutions in such a context is extremely challenging.