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Next Monday, February 14, the co-chairs of the Technical Committee on Gender Equality will meet at the House of Cooperation to see how the action plan developed on these issues can deliver results, E/C Head of the Committee, Soula Zavou, told CBC.
Within six months, until the next resolution on Cyprus, she said, the UN wants to see a tangible result. Members of the Commission, Zavou said, "we want to move to action - action - action, and not just theory. This now depends politically. We will do our job."
In Resolution 2587, the UN Secretary-General called on the two leaders to submit an action plan by 15 December 2021, in coordination with the Technical Committee, for an equal and more inclusive participation of women in peace processes, giving encouragement to civil society. She called, she added, for the next processes - if possible - to have 30 per cent of the members be women.
Zavou said they worked with the TC members of the Technical Committee and after many online meetings, they came up with an action plan, which was presented and discussed on 17 January at the UN, approved and accepted by both leaders.
The action plan, she explained, includes practical recommendations addressing 3 questions. The first is how to ensure full, equal and meaningful representation of women in a negotiating process, he said. Second, how to engage civil society and women's organizations to seek their views on these issues and third, how to include a gender perspective in a solution process.
For the first question, Zavou said, it was recommended that all delegations include no more than two-thirds from any gender. "There should be, if possible, an appointment of co-chairs and members to working groups of technical committees with the same 2/3 rationale."
On the second question, she continued, there was a suggestion to hold workshops to prepare the ground in a future solution, in cooperation with negotiators.
[BR][BR]Also, she said, the two leaders could in a joint communication strategy prepare people for any negotiations.
It was also recommended, Ms. Zavou said, that in a solution process there should be a gender expert in each delegation to ensure that the gender perspective is taken and disseminated at all levels.
On how to proceed, Ms. Zavou said that on Monday they will discuss organizing an online meeting with the participation of women's organizations, after sharing the action plan with actors related to this issue, such as women's organizations and political parties, "because we have realized that the issue of women's participation in the peace process has not been touched that much."
The action plan will be announced later, she said, after final approval is received from the Foreign Ministry.
Sula Zavou noted that the UN keeps raising the issue of gender equality and the respective Technical Committee, saying that it (the G/K side) is consistent with what the SG has requested and they had the recommendations ready by September 15 last year.
Source: CNA
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