The Secretary General developed the United Nations Guidance for Effective Mediation in response to a request from the General Assembly (A/RES/65/283). The Guidance identifies a number of key fundamentals that should be considered in mediation processes: preparedness; consent; impartiality; inclusivity; national ownership; international law and normative frameworks; coherence; coordination and complementarity of the mediation effort; and quality peace agreements.

This was the first landmark Security Council resolution on women, peace and security. The resolution 1325 (2000) addresses the impact of war on women and the importance of women’s full and equal participation in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. The resolution also calls for special measures to protect women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence and outlines gender-related responsibilities of the United Nations in different political and programmatic areas.

This Security Council resolution addresses the obstacles to women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding. The resolution 1889 (2009) calls for the establishment of a global set of indicators to track the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), emphasizes the need to ensure gender mainstreaming in all post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery processes and requests the Secretary-General to report on women’s participation and inclusion in peacebuilding and planning in the aftermath of conflict.

This Security Council resolution recognized for the first time conflict-related sexual violence as a tactic of warfare and as a serious threat to international peace and security. The resolution calls for an end to widespread conflict-related sexual violence, the accountability of all actors to counter impunity for such crimes and calls on the United Nations to develop appropriate mechanisms to provide protection from violence and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence against civilians.

This Security Council resolution recognized for the first time conflict-related sexual violence as a tactic of warfare and as a serious threat to international peace and security. The resolution calls for an end to widespread conflict-related sexual violence, the accountability of all actors to counter impunity for such crimes and calls on the United Nations to develop appropriate mechanisms to provide protection from violence and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence against civilians.

This Security Council resolution provides the accountability architecture needed to list and de-list perpetrators, as well as to monitor patterns and trends of conflict-related sexual violence. Security Council resolution 1960 (2010) also calls for an expanded mandate to comprehensively address sexual violence, when used as a tactic of conflict or emerging as a consequence of conflict.

This Security Council resolution seeks to fill-in gaps in the existing Sexual Violence in Conflict (SVC) framework, through establishing a conceptual framework and practical guidance on how to operationalise SVC on a consistent basis throughout the peace and security agenda, including, in all aspects of UN conflict resolution efforts.

In this Resolution, the Security Council stresses its determination to make greater and more effective use of “negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement and resort to regional and subregional organizations and arrangements, as well as the good offices of the Secretary-General.”