A Conversation with Ambassador Marriet Schuurman, NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace, and Security
By Karlijn Jans
At the end of October 2016, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on Women, Peace and Security. On behalf of NATO, Ambassador Marriet Schuurman stressed the importance of the inclusion of women in the security and defense sector. She argued: "because it allows us to respond better -- and smarter -- to the many complex security challenges that we face today. Gender Equality is about credibility and capability. It is about the resilience of our societies; the readiness of our forces and the effectiveness of our operations." Shortly before the debate in the United Nations Security Council, I sat down with Ambassador Schuurman, NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace, and Security, a position created in 2012 as a high-level focal point of NATO's gender-related work.
With United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted 16 years ago, the international community acknowledged the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacekeeping, and post-conflict reconstruction. It stresses the importance of equal participation for the sake of peace and security. Unfortunately, less than 3 percent of signatories to peace agreements and less than 10 percent of peace negotiators are women.
Schuurman: "There are actually two parts in this. First of all, women have equal right to be heard, they are equally affected or often even more affected and at the same time it is the right thing to do but also a smart thing to do. In practice the smart argument always works better because everyone benefits when women have a meaningful way to participate and their experiences are as valuable as the male's in terms of conflict."
To support this claim we only need to look at the statistics: when women are included in peace processes there is a 20 percent increase in the probability of an agreement lasting at least 2 years, and a 35 percent increase in the probability of an agreement lasting at least 15 years. For example, in the recent Colombian peace negotiations, women made up one-third of peace table participants. These negotiations had a gender subcommittee--the first of its kind--and the final agreement has a gender chapter, also the first of its kind, and gender is mainstreamed across all areas of the agreement. The Ambassador noted that the matter not only evolves around having women at the table, but is also about their qualitative input.
Schuurman: "In those cases where there was qualitative participation and equal participation, we know that chances of a peace agreement increases by 15 percent, but that chances that that peace agreement will actually last increased by more than 35 percent... The reason for that, I think, has to do with gender, it has to do with the fact that all of society, men and women, have different concerns and are differently affected. And often what you will see at negotiation tables is that men negotiate for power, women negotiate for sharing of responsibilities."
She acknowledged that bringing women to the table will complicate things, but more people bring more ideas. It also means that if a solution is reached, it will be more comprehensive. Ambassador Schuurman is not the only advocate to empower women, calling for countries to step up their efforts in the defense and security field. She finds an ally at the UN, in fact the only women seated at the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Samantha Powers. "We know that when women are empowered to take place in peace processes, efforts to reach compromise and find solutions to deadly conflicts are more likely to succeed and the agreements reached are more likely to last," Ambassador Powers stated at the same UN Security Council debate in October.
Inclusion is not only confined to peace negotiations, but needs attention in national militaries as well. Having an inclusive military involves both including a gender perspective in actions and operations as well as achieving diversity in an organizational matter by including women in the ranks. The NATO action plan aimed at improving inclusiveness is endorsed by all member states plus 27 NATO partners- a total of 55 nations.
Schuurman: "What we have seen since the adoption of UN Resolution 1325, that there is a rather big divergence among the allies in terms of female participation in armies, it goes from almost less than 1 percent to 20 percent in military positions."
Progress was made between 2000 and 2010 but slowed down between 2010 and 2015, particularly at the senior level, according to the Ambassador.
Schuurman interestingly noted there is a misconception that if you recruit enough women, they will automatically move towards the top. "We are 15 years later and it has not worked," she noted. Achieving inclusive security and female representation in the military ranks "is not something that organically grows as it implies a cultural change." Military culture still hold stereotypes of women. Change requires dedicated leadership for a longer period of time. Having women rise in the ranks takes time and attention.
Schuurman: "We have to make sure that we attract the best and the brightest and get the best out of our people."
The Ambassador noted that those countries with gender inclusion targets in their militaries make progress in a very short period of time. Schuurman therefore believes that achieving higher female participation is a matter of sustained political will. Stressing the importance of inclusiveness and diversity, Ambassador Schuurman adapted Sheryl Sandberg's slogan: "Lean in, not blend in." It is paramount that the future generation of women stay engaged in the defense and security sector.
To young girls and women who wish to be active in advancing security and making societies more resilient, safe, and stable, the Ambassador recommended: "Go for it! Happily ignore all the prejudices that are out there. Do no try to change yourself... [trust your] importance and the added value of your unique being and your unique talents and experiences. They are as valuable as anyone else's. Once you start to copy a perceived image one may have of what it would be like to work at, for instance, NATO, you basically lost your added value."
Karlijn Jans specializes in defense and security policies. She currently works as a strategic analyst at the The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. Karlijn received an LL.M in European Law from Maastricht University and MA in European Studies from King's College London. She has been a part-time modular student at the Netherlands Defence Academy and chairs the Netherlands Atlantic Youth Association. Karlijn is also a Europe Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.