Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) [on acts of sexual violence against civilians in armed conflicts]
Symbol: S/RES/1820(2008)
Date: 2008-06-19
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/63 [201] WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICTS
S/63 [189] CIVILIAN PERSONS--ARMED CONFLICTS
S/63 [187] CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS
Subjects: UN. Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations|UN. Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. Working Group|UN. Peacebuilding Commission|SEX CRIMES|WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICTS|CIVILIAN PERSONS|GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE|HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS|INTERNATIONAL SECURITY|MILITARY PERSONNEL|TRAINING PROGRAMMES|WAR CRIMES|CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY|TROOP-CONTRIBUTING STATES|POLICE|GUIDELINES|REFUGEES|DISPLACED PERSONS|DISARMAMENT|MILITARY DEMOBILIZATION|SOCIAL INTEGRATION|POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION|FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS|REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS|REPORT PREPARATION|COORDINATION WITHIN UN SYSTEM
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: BELGIUM
vote: yes
country: BURKINA FASO
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: COSTA RICA
vote: yes
country: CROATIA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: INDONESIA
vote: yes
country: ITALY
vote: yes
country: LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA
vote: yes
country: PANAMA
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SOUTH AFRICA
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VIET NAM
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                    S/RES/1820 (2008)
               Security Council                                                Distr.: General
                                                                               19 June 2008




               Resolution 1820 (2008)
               Adopted by the Security Council at its 5916th meeting, on
               19 June 2008

                    The Security Council,
                     Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation of
               resolution 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005) and 1674 (2006) and recalling the Statements
               of its president of 31 October 2001 (Security Council/PRST/2001/31), 31 October
               2002     (Security    Council/PRST/2002/32),   28    October   2004     (Security
               Council/PRST/2004/40), 27 October 2005 (Security Council/PRST/2005/52),
               8 November 2006 (Security Council/PRST/2006/42), 7 March 2007 (Security
               Council/PRST/2007/5), and 24 October 2007 (Security Council/PRST/2007/40);
                    Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
                     Reaffirming also the resolve expressed in the 2005 World Summit Outcome
               Document to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including by
               ending impunity and by ensuring the protection of civilians, in particular women
               and girls, during and after armed conflicts, in accordance with the obligations States
               have undertaken under international humanitarian law and international human
               rights law;
                     Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
               (A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third
               Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000:
               Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century”
               (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning sexual violence and women in
               situations of armed conflict;
                     Reaffirming also the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the
               Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol
               thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols
               thereto, and urging states that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding
               to them,
                    Noting that civilians account for the vast majority of those adversely affected
               by armed conflict; that women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of
               sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in,
               disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group;



08-39144 (E)
*0839144*

S/RES/1820 (2008)


               and that sexual violence perpetrated in this manner may in some instances persist
               after the cessation of hostilities;
                     Recalling its condemnation in the strongest terms of all sexual and other forms
               of violence committed against civilians in armed conflict, in particular women and
               children;
                    Reiterating deep concern that, despite its repeated condemnation of violence
               against women and children in situations of armed conflict, including sexual
               violence in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties
               to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with immediate effect, such acts
               continue to occur, and in some situations have become systematic and widespread,
               reaching appalling levels of brutality,
                     Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
               Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc
               international criminal tribunals,
                     Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of
               conflicts and in peacebuilding, and stressing the importance of their equal
               participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion
               of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with
               regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
                     Deeply concerned also about the persistent obstacles and challenges to
               women’s participation and full involvement in the prevention and resolution of
               conflicts as a result of violence, intimidation and discrimination, which erode
               women’s capacity and legitimacy to participate in post-conflict public life, and
               acknowledging the negative impact this has on durable peace, security and
               reconciliation, including post-conflict peacebuilding,
                    Recognizing that States bear primary responsibility to respect and ensure the
               human rights of their citizens, as well as all individuals within their territory as
               provided for by relevant international law,
                     Reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
               take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians,
                    Welcoming the ongoing coordination of efforts within the United Nations
               system, marked by the inter-agency initiative “United Nations Action against Sexual
               Violence in Conflict,” to create awareness about sexual violence in armed conflicts
               and post-conflict situations and, ultimately, to put an end to it,
                     1.    Stresses that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of
               war in order to deliberately target civilians or as a part of a widespread or
               systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate
               situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace
               and security, affirms in this regard that effective steps to prevent and respond to
               such acts of sexual violence can significantly contribute to the maintenance of
               international peace and security, and expresses its readiness, when considering
               situations on the agenda of the Council, to, where necessary, adopt appropriate steps
               to address widespread or systematic sexual violence;
                     2.    Demands the immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed
               conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians with immediate effect;



2                                                                                                         08-39144

                                                                                                 S/RES/1820 (2008)


                  3.   Demands that all parties to armed conflict immediately take appropriate
           measures to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms of sexual
           violence, which could include, inter alia, enforcing appropriate military disciplinary
           measures and upholding the principle of command responsibility, training troops on
           the categorical prohibition of all forms of sexual violence against civilians,
           debunking myths that fuel sexual violence, vetting armed and security forces to take
           into account past actions of rape and other forms of sexual violence, and evacuation
           of women and children under imminent threat of sexual violence to safety; and
           requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to encourage dialogue to address
           this issue in the context of broader discussions of conflict resolution between
           appropriate UN officials and the parties to the conflict, taking into account, inter
           alia, the views expressed by women of affected local communities;
                 4.    Notes that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war
           crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide,
           stresses the need for the exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty
           provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes, and calls upon Member
           States to comply with their obligations for prosecuting persons responsible for such
           acts, to ensure that all victims of sexual violence, particularly women and girls, have
           equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, and stresses the
           importance of ending impunity for such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to
           seeking sustainable peace, justice, truth, and national reconciliation;
                 5.   Affirms its intention, when establishing and renewing state-specific
           sanctions regimes, to take into consideration the appropriateness of targeted and
           graduated measures against parties to situations of armed conflict who commit rape
           and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in situations of armed
           conflict;
                6.    Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Security
           Council, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and its Working Group
           and relevant States, as appropriate, to develop and implement appropriate training
           programs for all peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel deployed by the United
           Nations in the context of missions as mandated by the Council to help them better
           prevent, recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence
           against civilians;
                7.   Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to
           implement the policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in United
           Nations peacekeeping operations; and urges troop and police contributing countries
           to take appropriate preventative action, including pre-deployment and in-theater
           awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such
           conduct involving their personnel;
                 8.   Encourages troop and police contributing countries, in consultation with
           the Secretary-General, to consider steps they could take to heighten awareness and
           the responsiveness of their personnel participating in UN peacekeeping operations
           to protect civilians, including women and children, and prevent sexual violence
           against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, including wherever
           possible the deployment of a higher percentage of women peacekeepers or police;
                 9.    Requests the Secretary-General to develop effective guidelines and
           strategies to enhance the ability of relevant UN peacekeeping operations, consistent



08-39144                                                                                                        3

S/RES/1820 (2008)


               with their mandates, to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms
               of sexual violence and to systematically include in his written reports to the Council
               on conflict situations his observations concerning the protection of women and girls
               and recommendations in this regard;
                     10. Requests the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations agencies,
               inter alia, through consultation with women and women-led organizations as
               appropriate, to develop effective mechanisms for providing protection from
               violence, including in particular sexual violence, to women and girls in and around
               UN managed refugee and internally displaced persons camps, as well as in all
               disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes, and in justice and
               security sector reform efforts assisted by the United Nations;
                     11. Stresses the important role the Peacebuilding Commission can play by
               including in its advice and recommendations for post-conflict peacebuilding
               strategies, where appropriate, ways to address sexual violence committed during and
               in the aftermath of armed conflict, and in ensuring consultation and effective
               representation of women’s civil society in its country-specific configurations, as
               part of its wider approach to gender issues;
                     12. Urges the Secretary-General and his Special Envoys to invite women to
               participate in discussions pertinent to the prevention and resolution of conflict, the
               maintenance of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding, and encourages
               all parties to such talks to facilitate the equal and full participation of women at
               decision-making levels;
                     13. Urges all parties concerned, including Member States, United Nations
               entities and financial institutions, to support the development and strengthening of
               the capacities of national institutions, in particular of judicial and health systems,
               and of local civil society networks in order to provide sustainable assistance to
               victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations;
                    14. Urges appropriate regional and sub-regional bodies in particular to
               consider developing and implementing policies, activities, and advocacy for the
               benefit of women and girls affected by sexual violence in armed conflict;
                     15. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Council by
               30 June 2009 on the implementation of this resolution in the context of situations
               which are on the agenda of the Council, utilizing information from available United
               Nations sources, including country teams, peacekeeping operations, and other
               United Nations personnel, which would include, inter alia, information on situations
               of armed conflict in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically
               employed against civilians; analysis of the prevalence and trends of sexual violence
               in situations of armed conflict; proposals for strategies to minimize the
               susceptibility of women and girls to such violence; benchmarks for measuring
               progress in preventing and addressing sexual violence; appropriate input from
               United Nations implementing partners in the field; information on his plans for
               facilitating the collection of timely, objective, accurate, and reliable information on
               the use of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict, including through
               improved coordination of UN activities on the ground and at Headquarters; and
               information on actions taken by parties to armed conflict to implement their
               responsibilities as described in this resolution, in particular by immediately and




4                                                                                                        08-39144

                                                                                              S/RES/1820 (2008)


           completely ceasing all acts of sexual violence and in taking appropriate measures to
           protect women and girls from all forms of sexual violence;
                16.   Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.




08-39144                                                                                                     5