[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1207 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1207

  Commemorating 20 years since the passage of United Nations Security 
   Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and reaffirming the United States 
          commitment to the women, peace, and security agenda.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2020

Ms. Frankel (for herself, Mr. Waltz, Ms. Speier, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Raskin, 
Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Riggleman, Mr. Lynch, Mr. McGovern, 
 Ms. Houlahan, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Vela, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Trone, Ms. Meng, 
 Mr. Crow, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Phillips, Mrs. 
 Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Case, Mr. Keating, and Mr. Castro 
of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Commemorating 20 years since the passage of United Nations Security 
   Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and reaffirming the United States 
          commitment to the women, peace, and security agenda.

Whereas the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted United Nations 
        Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security on 
        October 31, 2000;
Whereas UNSCR 1325--

    (1) underscores the important role of women in conflict prevention and 
resolution, peace negotiations, peace building, peacekeeping, humanitarian 
response, and postconflict reconstruction;

    (2) emphasizes the importance of protecting women and girls from, and 
ensuring justice for, all forms of conflict-related violence, including 
sexual violence;

    (3) stresses the importance of the equal participation and full 
involvement of women in efforts to both promote and maintain peace and 
security; and

    (4) urges member states to increase women's representation at all 
decision-making levels in national, regional, and international 
institutions and mechanisms to prevent, mitigate, and resolve conflict;

Whereas, since October 31, 2000, 88 countries and territories have developed 
        national action plans to implement UNSCR 1325;
Whereas countries with greater gender inequality suffer from a greater 
        likelihood to engage in violence and more political instability, 
        corruption, and internal conflict;
Whereas higher levels of gender equality are associated with a higher likelihood 
        of peace talks in intrastate conflicts;
Whereas countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full 
        and equal rights and opportunities;
Whereas according to the United Nations, between 2000 and 2020, women's 
        representation in national parliaments has increased from 13.1 percent 
        to 24.9 percent;
Whereas the University of Edinburgh found the percentage of peace agreements 
        with gender equality provisions worldwide has increased from 14 percent 
        to 22 percent between 1995 and 2019;
Whereas, in 1993, women represented just one percent of uniformed United Nations 
        peacekeepers and in 2020, women constitute 4.8 percent of military 
        peacekeeping contingents and 10.9 percent of police units within United 
        Nations peacekeeping missions;
Whereas, on September 25, 2017, Congress passed the bipartisan Women, Peace, and 
        Security Act of 2017, the first national legislation to implement UNSCR 
        1325, which was signed into public law on October 6, 2017 (Public Law 
        115-68);
Whereas pursuant to Public Law 115-68, the United States Strategy on Women, 
        Peace, and Security was released on June 11, 2019;
Whereas, on June 11, 2020, the Department of State, the United States Agency for 
        International Development, the Department of Defense, and the Department 
        of Homeland Security released their Women, Peace, and Security 
        implementation plans; and
Whereas, on January 24, 2020, the bipartisan Women, Peace and Security 
        Congressional Caucus was established in the House of Representatives 
        to--

    (1) ensure that the women, peace, and security policy goals set forth 
in UNSCR 1325 and the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 remain 
national security and foreign policy priorities for the United States;

    (2) exercise congressional oversight of the implementation of the 
Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017;

    (3) promote and support United States efforts to elevate women's roles 
in, and contributions to, advancing peace and security globally; and

    (4) educate Members of Congress and the public on the importance of 
women, peace, and security initiatives, giving women impacted by conflict a 
voice in Congress: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commemorates the 20th anniversary of the passage of 
        United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000);
            (2) recognizes that the empowerment of women and girls and 
        their meaningful inclusion in policy-making, decision making, 
        and conflict prevention and resolution efforts is directly 
        connected to long-term peace and security;
            (3) calls on countries around the world to promote the 
        meaningful participation of women at all decision-making levels 
        as a critical foreign and domestic policy priority; and
            (4) reaffirms the United States commitment to serve as a 
        global leader in increasing the meaningful participation of 
        women in processes to prevent, manage, resolve, and recover 
        from conflict, in accordance with the Women, Peace, and 
        Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-68), including by--
                    (A) consistently supporting the meaningful 
                participation of women in peace and security processes 
                and decision-making institutions;
                    (B) promoting the physical safety, economic 
                security, and dignity of women and girls and supporting 
                the equal access of women to aid distribution 
                mechanisms and services;
                    (C) appropriately applying gender analysis to 
                improve the design, targeting, and effectiveness of 
                United States Government policy and programs to advance 
                peace and security, including conflict-prevention 
                activities and strategies;
                    (D) training, equipping, and empowering United 
                States diplomatic, defense, and development personnel 
                to promote women's leadership in preventing and 
                resolving conflicts around the world;
                    (E) increasing women's representation at all levels 
                of the diplomatic, defense, and development workforces 
                across the United States Government; and
                    (F) strengthening accountability and improving 
                outcomes by designating specific and measurable goals 
                and monitoring, analyzing, and evaluating 
                implementation efforts across the United States 
                Government.
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