Russia, backed by China, failed on Friday to have a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on the representativeness of women in spheres of power and in peace processes, the text failing to obtain in a vote that 5 votes out of 15.
The project contained recommendations for UN member states to improve the status of women. It was considered very weak and without added value by a majority of Council members – including the United States and Europe – and even constituted a step backwards compared to the texts adopted for 20 years.
It took nine votes for Moscow to pass the resolution, the high point of its presidency of the Security Council in October, without the use of a veto by one of the permanent members of this forum.
The five members who voted in favor of the resolution are Russia, China, Indonesia, South Africa and Vietnam. The other 10 members of the council abstained, inflicting a stinging setback on Moscow and Beijing.
On the subject of women, as on that of the fight against terrorism, the target of an American veto in August in an Indonesian text, “it is incredible that there is no unity, but that there is there are real divisions ”within the Security Council, lamented a diplomat on condition of anonymity.
Critics of the text pointed out that during negotiations, a reference to human rights had been purely and simply erased. The text lacks references to the crucial role of civil society in promoting women’s rights, several Western diplomats also stressed.
According to one of them, speaking on condition of anonymity, while the first version of the text seemed to represent a good starting point, it was hardened as the discussions under the impetus of the China, mainly.
Challenges and achievements
For the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, the rejection of the text “is further proof of a worrying trend: the attempt by some to establish a monopoly on the protection of women’s rights, while refusing to d ‘others the right to take part in the debate’.
“As written by Russia, with the assistance of China, this draft resolution was intended to undermine and reverse the progress made over the past 20 years, with an abusive and flagrant use of the United Nations Security Council to advance their own agendas, ”retorted his American counterpart, Kelly Craft.
In a statement, China said it “participated in the negotiation constructively, helping to improve the text and build consensus,” suggesting that this had not been the case with the West.
The project “does not correspond to the challenges and the ambition which are essential”, summarized the French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière. “The rush to adopt this resolution before the end of this month will not have enabled us to rally around a consensual text,” he added.
As for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian project “did not reflect the leadership role” assumed since the beginning of the year by women, added his Belgian counterpart, Philippe Kridelka.
For Christoph Heusgen, German Ambassador, if the text had been adopted, it “would have weakened the gains” obtained since the adoption in 2000 of resolution 1325 which had been a fundamental step in defining a framework for improving women’s rights. . “There is no monopoly on women’s human rights,” he said, brushing aside Russian criticism.
A point of view shared by Estonia and Acting British Ambassador Jonathan Allen. The adoption of the text “would have undermined the significant achievements” obtained and “the continued efforts of so many women’s rights activists”, judged the British diplomat.
In a statement, Grant Shubin of the NGO Global Justice Center said that countries that were against this “unnecessary and dangerous resolution”, which reversed 20 years of progress, “should be congratulated”.