25 February - Guinea-Bissau today adopted its national plan of action for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325, following an inclusive consultation process involving the authorities and civil organizations  supported by the UN.

The Plan will be officially launched by the government during a special session of the Parliament, on International Women's Day, 8 March 2010.

According to the document, Guinea-Bissau's Government commits to support increased participation of women, in decision-making, in national and regional peace consolidation mechanisms, in UN peace operations, in ongoing political processes and the peace consolidation agenda in the country, and in politics and political affairs.

The national plan of action, through its 23 key objectives, details an effective portfolio of measures and actions that will guide the forthcoming Security Sector Reform (SSR) process, in a manner that will integrate women's and girl's specific needs for security and justice and ensures the full protection of their human rights.

Ending violence against women, and the culture of impunity, is one of the pillars of Guinea-Bissau's plan of action for the Implementation of Resolution 1325. The Plan excludes perpetrators from the benefits of any measures of amnesty.

The Government will institutionalize, by way of its National Budget, the necessary financial support to local omen's peace initiatives, as well as to research and information dissemination on the differential impact of conflicts and political crises on women and children, in order to better organize and ensure the protection of their rights.

One of the key points of plan is the commitment to collaboration with the UN Integrated Peace-Building Mission in uinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for the training of military, police and other security forces on the protection women's rights, the incorporation of a gender perspective in the implementation of their mandates and the implementation of disarmament programs and reduction of excessive military expenditure.

UNIOGBIS is supporting the Guinea-Bissau's plan with a comprehensive three pronged strategy, namely determining and supporting an institutional program for the implementation of 1325 in Guinea-Bissau, supporting the government and parliament's endorsement of the national plan of action, and integrating a gender perspective into all facets of UNIOGBIS' mandate implementation.