A/HRC/34/15
H.
Gender perspective
51.
In its resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, the Security Council
called upon all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to
adopt a gender perspective, including (a) the special needs of women and girls during
repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict
reconstruction; (b) measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous
processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation
mechanisms of the peace agreements; and (c) measures that ensure the protection of and
respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the Constitution,
the electoral system, the police and the judiciary.
52.
With regard to Cyprus, the Security Council reiterated, in its resolutions 2263 (2016)
and 2300 (2016), that the active participation of civil society groups, including women’s
groups, was essential to the political process and could contribute to making any future
settlement sustainable. It also recalled that women played a critically important role in
peace processes, and welcomed all efforts to promote bicommunal contacts and events,
including by all United Nations bodies on the island. It also welcomed the efforts of
UNFICYP to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United
Nations code of conduct. It requested the Secretary-General to continue to take all
necessary action in this regard and to keep the Council informed, and urged troopcontributing countries to take appropriate preventive action, including the conduct of
predeployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary and other action to ensure full
accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel.
53.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has expressed concern at
the large gender disparity in labour market participation and the large gender pay gap due to
vertical and horizontal occupational sex segregation. It also expressed its concern that,
despite the increase in the number of women in Parliament, they are still underrepresented
at decision-making levels in both the public and private sectors. Regretting the insufficient
information on women’s representation at decision-making levels in the public sector,
including the executive and the judiciary, and in the private sector, the Committee
recommended that Cyprus take all measures necessary to (a) increase the level of
participation of women in the labour market; (b) increase women’s representation in
decision-making positions in the public sector, and encourage greater representation of
women in senior positions in the private sector; (c) close the pay gap between men and
women, including by strengthening the enforcement of the Law on Equal Pay for Men and
Women for Equal Work or Work of Equal Value (Amendment) of 2014; and (d) ensure the
full implementation of the measures outlined in the National Action Plan on Gender
Equality 2014-2017 (E/C.12/CYP/CO/6, paras. 17-18).
54.
On 3 and 4 November 2016, the Cyprus Women’s Lobby and World Vision
International held a conference attended by the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral and at which civil society, the Government and the international community
discussed the role of women in the peace and security agenda, including within the Cyprus
context, and also touched on issues of relevance to the future solution of the Cypriot
question, education and human security.
55.
In his most recent report on his mission of good offices in Cyprus, the SecretaryGeneral reported that the bicommunal Technical Committee on Gender Equality,
established by the leaders in May 2015, had met on various occasions and was involved in a
series of events organized to raise awareness of the importance of the involvement of
women in the peace process, on the basis of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
(S/2016/15, para. 13). He was encouraged by the concrete steps taken to foster the
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