Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 31, 2018



NATO HQ, Brussels,  Jan. 31, Wed.











People
Phil Boucher and Peter Mikelbank
January 31, 2018 10:52 AM
Angelina Jolie is joining forces with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to target sexual violence against women.
The actress and human rights campaigner, 42, visited NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday to discuss how the alliance can step up its efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict zones, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
“There can be no lasting peace and security without equal rights and participation for women in all societies,” Jolie told reporters in a press conference after her discussions with Stoltenburg — who penned a joint op-ed with Jolie for The Guardian, titled “Why NATO Must Defend Women’s Rights.” “Those rights cannot be achieved in an environment where there is impunity for mass crimes against women and girls.”
She added, “This is not only a question of protecting women; this is a question of valuing women.”
Stoltenberg confirmed the commitment of NATO to the process of protecting women in war zones outlined within Jolie’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. Launched five years ago in London, the campaign now has 157 countries signed up to its protocols.
“We must shine a bright line on this darkest of crimes,” said Stoltenberg. “NATO has the responsibility to be a leading protector of women’s rights. We know from experience that strengthening the role of women in the armed forces is not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do.
“Sexual violence is a tactic of war against women and girls, but also men and boys. NATO is already doing a lot to tackle this issue but there is more that we can do.
“Today, Special Envoy Jolie and I have decided to work together, focusing on three points: training, monitoring and reporting, and awareness.”
Jolie’s NATO visit is the latest stop in a whirlwind tour that has combined business with pleasure. On Tuesday, the Oscar-winner visited Paris to film a commercial on the Champs-Elysées for perfume house Guerlain, before taking all six of her children to explore the world-famous Louvre art museum.
Later that afternoon, Jolie met with the French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron during a visit to the presidential Elysées Palace to discuss “education, violence against women and [Jolie]’s activities as UNHCR Special Envoy,” a source tells PEOPLE.
This followed a trip to the Zataari refugee camp in Jordan on Sunday, where Jolie and daughters Zahara, 13, and Shiloh, 11, met Syrians who’ve fled the devastating civil war in the country, including a number of young girls who are part of the TIGER (These Inspiring Girls Enjoy Reading) project, which focuses on education and empowerment.
“I have met with victims of sexual violence male and female, young and old around the world and when I meet them I wish that I could put a camera to them and I wish the world could hear their voices and they could speak about themselves,” added Jolie at NATO headquarters, which she visited because “we need those who have the capacity to make change to be focused on the right things and doing the right things”.
She continued, “This fight for equality is not about giving women their rights. You don’t give it to them – they have it. They’re born with their rights. This is something that every woman and every girl is born with their human rights and we must protect them and fight for them.”





BRUSSELS (AP) - Movie star Angelina Jolie says she and NATO's chief have agreed on ways to help the military alliance better combat the use of sexual violence against women and children in conflict zones.
Jolie said Wednesday that wherever sexual violence occurs "peace is far harder and far more costly to achieve. It therefore has a direct bearing on NATO's efforts to protect stability."
Speaking after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, she said: "We are going to focus on training, reporting, monitoring and awareness as a way of ending impunity."
Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, warned that rape is being "used as a weapon to achieve political or military goals."










































































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Sunday, December 10, 2017










Ending gender-based violence is a vital issue of peace and security as well as of social justice. Nato can be a leader in this effort

All violence against women betrays the fundamental promise in the UN Charter of equal rights and dignity for women. It is one of the prime reasons why women remain in a subordinate position in relation to men in most parts of the world.

When this violence is committed as an act of war it tears apart families, creates mass displacement, and makes peace and reconciliation far harder to achieve. In fact, it is often designed expressly to achieve those goals as part of a military strategy.
Despite being prohibited by international law, sexual violence continues to be employed as a tactic of war in numerous conflicts from Myanmar to Ukraine and Syria to Somalia. It includes mass rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, and rape as a form of torture, ethnic cleansing and terrorism. It accounts in large part for why it is often more dangerous to be a woman in a warzone today than it is to be a soldier.
In our different roles we have seen how conflicts in which women’s bodies and rights are systematically abused last longer, cause deeper wounds and are much harder to resolve and overcome. Ending gender-based violence is therefore a vital issue of peace and security as well as of social justice.
The Nato Alliance was founded to safeguard not just the security but also the freedom of its peoples: in the words of President Harry Truman, as “a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression”. For nearly 70 years Nato has stood for collective defence against military threats. But also for the defence of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and the UN Charter.
We believe that Nato has the responsibility and opportunity to be a leading protector of women’s rights.
In particular, we believe Nato can become the global military leader in how to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict, drawing on the strengths and capabilities of its member states and working with its many partner countries.
Over the coming months we will be working together and with others to identify ways in which Nato can strengthen its contribution to women’s protection and participation in all aspects of conflict-prevention and resolution.
First, by building on Nato’s commitment to integrate gender issues into its strategic thinking as part of its values and reinforcing a culture of the integration of women throughout the organization including in leadership positions.
Nato’s senior military leaders, have a vital role to play in being positive role models, and promoting the role of women in the military.
Second, by helping to raise the standards of other militaries. Nato and Allied countries are involved every day in training partner militaries around the world. We want to explore ways in which existing training on the protection of human rights and civilians, including against sexual violence, can be strengthened.
Third, Nato has developed standard operating practices for soldiers in the field, learned through mandatory pre-deployment training. Standards and training are not the only answer, but they ensure that personnel recognize the different ways in which women and girls are affected by conflict and are trained to prevent, recognize and respond to sexual and gender-based violence.
This is a vital part of helping to create lasting cultural changes, including debunking the myths that fuel sexual violence and deepening understanding of the centrality of protection and rights for women in the creation of lasting peace and security.
Fourth, Nato already deploys gender advisers to local communities in Kosovo and Afghanistan, while Nato’s female soldiers are able to reach and engage with local communities. Stronger awareness of the role that gender plays in conflict improves military operational effectiveness and leads to improved security. Strengthening this culture can only benefit Nato’s contribution to peace and security over the long term.
Fifth, Reporting on conflict-related sexual violence is now one of the tasks of Nato commanders. Nato is also creating a reporting system to record instances of gender-based violence compatible with UN Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Arrangements.
With this data, which will be shared with the UN, Nato soldiers will be able to discern patterns and trends so that they will be able to respond more quickly to prevent potential violence. By reporting crimes and supporting work to bring perpetrators to justice, Nato can challenge the culture of impunity, including for senior leaders and those most responsible.
Nato Allies have strongly committed to put these issues front and center every day, in how they train soldiers, in how they operate in the field, and in how they interact with civilians who find themselves in combat zones.
We will also be urging more concerted action in the wider world. By working together with business, civil society, governments and political leadership writ large, international organizations such as Nato can help lead the way toward ending impunity for sexual violence in conflict.
It is humanity’s shame that violence against women, whether in peaceful societies or during times of war, has been universally regarded as a lesser crime. There is finally hope that we can change this. We owe it to ourselves – men and women alike – and to future generations.

Jens Stoltenberg is NATO Secretary General. Angelina Jolie is co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative


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