SecurityWomen: Annual Report
September 2021 - August 2022
Welcome to SecurityWomen’s Annual Report 2022, which gives an account of the work and achievements of the charity, the challenges, and our vision for a better future.
SecurityWomen (SW) gained UK charitable status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in October 2016. The Registration Number is 1169486.
The registered address is:
70 Lexington, 40 City Road, London EC1Y 2AN
Our trustees are:
Barbara Cleary – Chair
David Chitty - Financial Trustee
Kurt Eyre
James Geer
Rachel Grimes MBE
Carolyn Hall MBE
Terri McNerney
Ulrike Theuerkauf
New trustees/directors
We welcomed Rachel Grimes to the Board and are delighted that she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from her considerable experience in the UK Army and her current job with NATO. She has been responsible for the implementation of the UK Army’s policy on Women, Peace and Security, and has herself deployed on UN Peacekeeping mission to the DRC.
David Chitty has taken over from Elisha Neethling as our Financial Trustee – thank you to Elisha for steering the finances of SW for the previous three years. David is an experienced Chartered Accountant, operating in many countries around the world.
SecurityWomen is also registered in the US since January 2018, with a board of directors as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation (EIN 82-4491639).
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Mission and Purpose
SW is an advocacy and research organisation which seeks women’s greater participation in all aspects of the security sector – policing, defence forces, UN peacekeeping, private security and cyber-security – on a global basis, in what is a very male dominated environment. The premise is that a better security for all is achieved when the makeup of security personnel reflects the composition of society. A greater gender balance may also help deter violence and escalation to conflict.
SW operates on an educational basis and aims to provide information relating to, and promote awareness of, gender equality in the security sector to the public and private sectors, government and the wider community. This is done through gathering of information from around the world, publicising through the SW website
(https://www.securitywomen.org) and app (https://app.securitywomen.org), social media, and other media events and platforms.
SW aims to highlight the importance of women’s rights within this sector which has extreme occupational segregation of women and men. SW also carries out evidence-based research into, and monitors, the state of gender equality in security sector organisations, both statesponsored and in private security.
Activities and Achievements
This year has once again been disrupted by the Covid pandemic. The US opened up to outside visitors on November 8[th] 2021, and SecurityWomen was able to attend the first inperson event for CSOs at the UN in New York for over 18 months on 17[th] November. This was a Town Hall event at which CSOs were invited to question the President of the UN General Assembly, Hon Mr Abdulla Shahid from the Maldives. SecurityWomen was invited to present their question: ‘ In an ever more volatile, dangerous world, how can women have a greater role in security sector institutions to enable a better security for every person in society? ’.
In his response, Mr Shahid mentioned that the Maldives has a female Defence Minister and believed 100% the important role women play as leaders and actors to end conflict. Women remain under-represented in public life, at the negotiating table and in peacekeeping missions, and the issues, he said, are the same for senior women politicians as for young girls, that of gender stereotyping.
Mr Shahid declared that women perform better in peace negotiations, in peace building and conflict resolution and that we need to do away with stereotyping which says women shouldn’t do certain jobs. He ended by saying that sustainable security is not possible without the involvement of women.
On 28 October 2021, to commemorate the anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, SecurityWomen ran an online event with the UK Civil Society Women’s (CSW) Alliance, presenting research which SecurityWomen had conducted in South Africa with Stellenbosch University on the Recruitment of Women into the South African National
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Defence Force, and research carried out by the Igarapé Institute in Brazil into female peacekeepers.
The review of our application for special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has been stalled for another year, due to the backlog of work for the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs.
Our research project, conducted in partnership with the University of East Anglia, into the attitudes of girls/young women towards the UK Armed Forces and consideration of a career there, is still postponed.
Presentations:
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In November 2021, SecurityWomen made a presentation to UNA/USA, in collaboration with one of our US SecurityWomen directors.
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And on 3[rd] March 2022 a talk to UNA/USA was given re ‘Gendering UN peacekeeping’.
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To GAPS executive team, July 2021
On 16 December 2021, SecurityWomen participated in an online event with UK and international politicians and CSOs addressing the ‘Invisible Gap’ – how women are treated differently in times of conflict to men: men wounded are war heroes, but for women, raped in conflict, they are forced to hide in shame. This took place in anticipation of the UK Government’s Conference on PSVI in November 2022.
Following last year’s conference, run by the New Delhi based Interdisciplinary Institute of Human Security & Governance (IIHSG), SecurityWomen once again partnered with IIHSG in organising the International Conference, 23 – 25 February 2022, on Human Security and Governance. SecurityWomen held a panel event on Policing and Women’s roles in Policing. As one of the partnering organisations, SecurityWomen was invited to give the Valedictory Speech, and provided the Foreword to a book, ‘Women, Security & Governance’, which was published in June post-conference. The invasion by Russia on Ukraine on 24 February 2022 added poignancy to the event.
Participation in relevant expert groups:
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On 15 March 2022, SecurityWomen participated in an Advisory Group meeting on the Women in Peace Operations Project organised by the International Peace Institute (IPI).
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SecurityWomen was invited, on 22 March 2022, to a Community of Interest Workshop on Gender Integration by the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations (NCGM).
SecurityWomen once again participated in the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and organised an online panel event which took place on 22 March 2022, entitled ‘ Women’s roles in security at the heart of climate change crises’ with speakers from Rwanda and Kenya.
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SecurityWomen was also invited to participate in the CSW ‘Vienna Café’ discussions with Ministers and politicians from various countries. It was encouraging to put across SW’s objectives to improve security services especially policing and peacekeeping to better respond to women’s and girls’ safety and protection needs impacted by climate change and natural disasters.
In August 2022, SecurityWomen had the opportunity to visit the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP). We are in the process of writing a report on the visit and intend to present the findings at a SW-organised conference in 2023. We are grateful for the welcome and cooperation of the Force Commander, Major General Ingrid Gjerde, and all the personnel within UNFICYP that made our visit so memorable and positive.
SecurityWomen has continued to work with GAPS (Gender Action for Peace and Security) UK, contributing to the Shadow Report on the UK NAP (National Action Plan), and has participated in virtual and in-person meetings, as well as meetings of the APPG on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
In June 2022, SecurityWomen attended an FCDO organised workshop on the new UK NAP which is due to be launched in Spring 2023. FCDO Minister, Vicky Ford, attended and we appreciated being able to pose questions to her, and to contribute to the discussions on what should be included in the new NAP.
SW continues as a member of the UK CSWA (UK Civil Society Women’s Alliance) and taking a lead with the WPS Action Group.
Personnel
As stated, SW is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. It has an Executive Director, Dr Juliet Colman and together with SW Chair, Barbara Cleary, we are extremely fortunate to have a team of well-qualified and enthusiastic volunteers and interns:
Caroline Pinder - has managed the posting of news items on the SW website and app and directed news to our social media experts. She has taken on this task since January 2022 from Joy Lall, one of our US directors. Caroline became a member of the GAPS/GADN working group on the UK Government PSVI (Preventing sexual violence in Conflict) Conference due to take place Q4 2022. Caroline has taken on the role of Research Manager.
Caroline Kinsella has kept us up to date with US progress on WPS. Her excellent articles can be found on the SW website.
Nabila Ferdous – participated in our online event at the IIHSG Conference and shared her knowledge of security from an Asian country viewpoint.
Tyler Eyre – is a much valued volunteer with SW. She has designed many event flyers, managed our social media output, and organised a campaign around VAWG and 16 days of activism.
Alice Macleod – joined our team in May 2022 and has produced extremely useful reading lists of relevant articles/books/events every quarter. She has also written a paper on why having more women in peacekeeping is so vital and necessary.
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Mari Maldal – has been part of SW whilst studying for her Master’s degree at King’s College London and carried out research into Norwegian Conscription. Her publication can be found on the SW website.
Felix Dixey – joined in June 2022 and has provided much needed structure and strategy to SecurityWomen’s social media.
Zehra Sami – joined SW for the Spring/Summer 2022. She has worked through and written up summaries of the new NAPs which have multiplied in number through the momentum generated by the 20th anniversary of SCR 1325. Thank you for this valuable work.
Saraa Fadl – came to SW through an internship program run by Global Career Center in cooperation with Drexel University in the US. Saraa has helped with rearranging parts of SW website and produced a write-up of an event attended at NYU, ‘Yelling at Snowflakes’.
Next steps
The research which has been suspended during the Covid pandemic, will be resumed in 2022/2023. SW will aim to secure funding to establish proper resource for on-going work on website/app/social media maintenance, and for proposed research projects. SW will aim to fund internships and make plans for a Conference in 2023.
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Juliet A Colman
Director, SecurityWomen August 2022
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----- Start of picture text -----
Charity Name No (if any)
SecurityWomen 1169486
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date To Period end date
from 09/01/2021 08/31/2022
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Reimbursement of prior period expenses - - -
Funding from governments - - -
Voluntary Receipts 12 - - 12 30
12 - - 12 30
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total receipts 12 - - 12 30
A3 Payments
Project expenditure - - -
Training - -
Administration of Charitable Activities 1,134 - - 1,134 935
Sub total 1,134 - - 1,134 935
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 1,134 - - 1,134 935
Net of receipts/(payments) - 1,122 - - - 1,122 - 905
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 11,526 - - 11,526 12,831
Cash funds this year end 10,404 - - 10,404 11,926
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| Section B Statement | of assets and liabilities | at the end of the period | at the end of the period | at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endowment | |||
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | funds | |
| B1 Cash funds | Current Account Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ 10,404 10,404 OK |
to nearest £ - - OK |
to nearest £ OK |
- - |
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endowment | |||
| funds | funds | funds | |||
| B2 Other monetary assets | Details N/A |
to nearest £ - |
to nearest £ - |
to nearest £ |
- |
| B3 Investment assets | Details N/A |
- Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) - |
- Current value (optional) |
|
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
Details N/A |
- Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) - |
- Current value (optional) |
|
| Fund to which | Amount due | When due | |||
| B5 Liabilities | Details N/A |
- liability relates |
- (optional) |
(optional) | |
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Name | Date of approval |
||
| Barbara Cleary | 26.4.2023 |
Registered Number: 1169486
SecurityWomen
Receipts and Payments Accounts For the year ended 31st August 2022
| Receipts Funding from governments Voluntary Receipts Sub total Asset and investment sales Sub total Total Receipts Payments Project expenditure Training Administration of Charitable Activities Sub total Asset and investment purchases Sub total Total Payments Net of receipts/(payments) Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
2022 2021 £ £ 12 30 |
|---|---|
| 12 30 - - |
|
| - - | |
| 12 30 | |
| - 400 1,134 935 |
|
| 1,134 1,335 - - |
|
| - - | |
| 1,134 1,335 | |
| - 1,122 - 1,305 11,526 12,831 |
|
| 10,404 11,526 |
Registered Number: 1169486
SecurityWomen
Statement of Assets and Liabilities For the year ended 31st August 2022
| Assets Cash in bank and at hand Liabilities Non-current and current liabilities Net Assets |
2022 2021 £ £ 10,404 11,526 |
|---|---|
| 10,404 11,526 |