Should the Holy See continue to enjoy their Permanent Observer status in the United Nations?

[Editor’s Note: WOC is an NGO in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN. Janet Antico is one of WOC’s representatives at the UN and offers this critique of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.]

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 ~ Women, Peace, and Security

The Holy See enjoys the privilege of permanent observer status in the United Nations and has the ability to influence decisions and recommendations, mandating their “Christian values” on social, cultural and economic issues worldwide.  

In situations of conflict and tension around the world, women and children bear the brunt of violence, including rape as a weapon of war.  In response to violence against women and children in conflict and post-conflict countries, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 (October, 2000) and the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda was established.  By reaffirming the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, Resolution 1325 requires the equal participation and full involvement of women in peace-building efforts and negotiations, with women in decision-making roles.  Studies have shown that including women’s voices and participation at the peace table has positive effects for those communities in crisis.  This resolution requires member states to translate the WPS agenda into National Action Plans; these NAP’s establish budgets and funding for women’s empowerment and gender-inclusive parameters in all aspects of peace and security.

The four pillars of UNSCR 1325 includes Prevention, Protection, Participation, and Peacebuilding and Recovery.  Recovery emphasizes a “survivor-centered approach”, which prioritizes the rights, needs, and wishes of survivors of sexual violence, which includes sexual and reproductive health and services.  In these war-torn states, women and girls that have suffered rape and gender-based brutality are at risk for lack of quality healthcare and increased maternal mortality.  Children born out of rape are subject to stigma, becoming stateless, and lack access to education, healthcare, and basic services.  Part of Recovery offers access to contraceptives, including emergency contraception.  This is of major concern for the Holy See.  While they condemn sexual violence used as a weapon of war, Bernadito Auza (represented as the Permanent Observer of the Holy See) “objects strongly to the suggestions that abortion be part of measures aimed at recovery and rehabilitation”.  Where is the concern for the physical, psychological, and emotional welfare of women and girls that have been subjected to such abhorrent violence?  What about the value of women’s and girl’s lives and the choices they need to make to survive?  

This callous attitude towards the victims in conflict and post-conflict communities was reiterated in a Vatican Statement this past October, 2020 on the 25^th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.  Once again, the Holy See agrees in general that women’s rights are universal human rights, and acknowledge that healthcare is crucial to the well-being of women and children, yet they reject Recovery that includes sexual and reproductive health as a “suppression of their capacity for motherhood.”

With these statements, I do not see the Vatican committing to a National Action Plan which is required by all member states.  Where is their commitment to establishing a budget and resources that would enable women’s voices and active participation in peace-building negotiations?  

In his New Year’s Day, 2020 homily Pope Francis appears to recognize the value of women in their work, their minds, and their physical existence, saying “[w]omen are givers and mediators of peace and should be fully included in decision-making processes.  Because when women share their gifts, the world finds itself more united, more peaceful.  Hence, every step forward for women is a step forward for humanity as a whole.”  

This sounds wonderful; however, the all-male hierarchy of the Catholic Church fails to include women in authority or decision-making roles within their own power sphere.  They discriminate on the basis of sex, even though the Code of Canon Law clearly states “…every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language, or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s interest.” 

 The Holy See needs to be held accountable for not implementing a National Action Plan or evaluating their lack of progress on advancing the women, peace and security agenda.  They do not acknowledge that women’s and girl’s rights, including reproductive health, are human rights.  And they blatantly discriminate against women within their own organization.  Therefore, they do not deserve their permanent observer status in the United Nations and they should be removed from future negotiations and statements.