Can an ant move an elephant?

17:30
Time for the introductory presentation “Critical Revision of the Implementation of UN Res. 1325 and future perspectives for (inter)national work at the EU and UN Level”. Katariina Leinonen from the Council of the EU, Human Rights Unit in Brussel, took it upon herself to both acknowledge that the European Parliament’s work is “not to be underestimated” and voice the aspects that still need to be improved. Among the things to applaud: the Comprehensive Approach to the UNSC Resolution 1325 that has already been developed and is a great document to start from, the creation of a specific EU taskforce to develop indicators to measure the implementation of the resolution (among other things funding after conflict, women’s participation in peace negotiations and sexual abuse from the staff stationed in conflict zones). She also praised the succesful incorporation of a gender perspective in the planning, execution and follow up of 13 missions all over the world and an increase in participation from the civil society. However, Leinonen was not afraid to express criticism and listed the following points as room for improval: the need to increase awareness of gender and women rights as a security issue, the lack of training (needs to be more sistematic and should be compulsory for the people sent to intervene in conflict zones), need for reinforcement of gender maistreaming and the lack of National Action Plans (“we can”t afford to not have one”). The question of whether an ant can move an elefant or not is the one that seems to be posed when it comes to the implementation of the Resolution 1325. The answer that Leinonen had was a big “yes”: she just has to be smart and find a way.