A/HRC/28/20 H. Gender perspective 48. 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, inter alia, (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. 49. With regard to Cyprus, the Security Council reiterated in its resolutions 2135 (2014) and 2168 (2014) that the active participation of civil society groups, including women’s groups, is essential to the political process and can contribute to making any future settlement sustainable. It recalled that women play an important role in peace processes, and welcomed all efforts to promote bicommunal contacts and events, including, inter alia, on the part of all United Nations bodies on the island. 50. During the review of Cyprus by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on 4 February 2014, Canada recommended that the State under review take further concrete measures to promote equality between men and women by enabling full and meaningful participation by women in the decision-making levels of the formal peace process and the advancement of negotiations regarding the Cyprus issue. Australia recommended that it incorporate a gender perspective in negotiating and implementing any settlement accords.46 The Government accepted these two recommendations in June 2014, noting that, “in the framework of the inter-communal talks, women have played an important role as members of the negotiating bicommunal structures and bodies, working at the same time outside the framework of the negotiations.” The Government encouraged non-governmental organizations and civil society that deal with gender mainstreaming and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), and was taking their input into account. It added that the overall objective remained “the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in a manner that ensures the respect of fundamental freedoms and human rights for everyone, including gender equality, in law and in practice.” 47 51. In July 2014, the Human Rights Committee asked the Government of Cyprus to provide information on the way in which human rights concerns, particularly gender perspectives, were incorporated into the peace process, and on measures taken to strengthen dialogue with non-governmental and women’s organizations to promote and encourage civil society and community-level participation in the peace process; and to fully involve women in all stages of the peace process, including in decision-making, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).48 52. On 16 December 2013, the Gender Advisory Team, a group of academics and civil society activists from both sides of the divide working on gender equality from a peacebuilding perspective, organized a seminar on the theme “Gender and the law: debating citizenship in Cyprus”. The seminar targeted experts and practitioners in the fields of gender and legal reform in Cyprus, focusing on the links between gender and citizenship in situations of multiple and intersecting jurisdictions. Recognizing that forms of citizenship around the world are premised on highly gendered concepts of personhood and State, the 46 47 48 A/HRC/26/14, paras. 114.34 and 114.35. A/HRC/26/14/Add.1, para. 28. CCPR/C/CYP/Q/4, paras. 2 and 5. 15