On June 19, 2008, a special Open Debate of the UN Security Council took place in New York, with Condoleeezza Rice, Secretary of State, presiding. After many hours of open debate on the topic of Women and Peace &  Security, including the use of sexual violence against women and girls as a tactic of war, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1820.

The UN’s most powerful body has thus recognized that halting sexual violence in conflict zones is critical to the maintenance of global peace and security. The concept paper for the draft resolution under consideration was brought to the Council by the UN Ambassador from the , Zalman Khalilzad. The resolution was co-sponsored by ten Security Council members plus 32 other UN member states. I was in the balcony during the morning discussions and, while I was brought to tears by some of the first-hand reports on violence against women and girls from many of the speakers, I was heartened by the unanimous vote in favor of the Resolution much later in the day. Just two days before, four member states on the Council were opposed to the draft.

With the passage of this resolution, the UN’s ability to respond to the high level of sexual violence in conflict situations should hopefully be improved. The adoption, in 2000, of Security Council Resolution 1325 was historic in that it required member states and the UN system to protect and promote women’s human rights. However, the effective implementation of 1325 has been challenging due to the lack of prevention and protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, and the need to end impunity for these acts of violence.

Report by Madeleine Brecher, ICJW UN Representative, New York