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Annan urges Security Council to boost role of women in peacemaking

Annan urges Security Council to boost role of women in peacemaking

Addressing the Security Council today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a strong pitch for greater attention to both the plight of women suffering in armed conflict as well as their potential role as peacemakers.

Addressing the Security Council today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a strong pitch for greater attention to both the plight of women suffering in armed conflict as well as their potential role as peacemakers.

In a meeting convened two years after the Council adopted its landmark resolution 1325 on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the Secretary-General pointed out that since then, the UN has been prompted to look “more critically at our own work, and how we deal with gender perspectives.”

Citing a report which he compiled in response to the resolution, Mr. Annan called attention to the specific ways that women and girls suffer under conditions of war. “Existing inequalities between women and men, and patterns of discrimination, tend to be exacerbated in armed conflict,” he said, noting that women and girls become particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation.

“But if women suffer the impact of conflict disproportionately, they are also the key to the solution of conflict,” he said, lauding the contribution of women to peacemaking efforts. At the same time, he pointed out that generally, women are not present during peace talks, and called for reversing this trend, including through the appointment of UN mediators.

While hailing progress in closing the gaps in the legal protections available to women, Mr. Annan said “there remains much to be done, particularly to improve prevention and to combat impunity.”

On the issue of sexual exploitation, the Secretary-General said the UN and its Member States “must do their utmost to ensure that an international presence provides protection and security for all people – women and men, girls and boys – and does not exacerbate inequalities or lead to an increase in violence against women and girls.”

“The United Nations must not and will not tolerate sexual or other abuse by any staff – civilian, military or humanitarian,” he told the meeting, which was scheduled to hear from some 40 participants.

“The world can no longer afford to neglect the abuses to which women and girls are subjected in armed conflict and its aftermath, or to ignore the contributions that women make to the search for peace,” Mr. Annan said.

Pointing to the beneficial nature of boosting the role of women, the Secretary-General told the Council, “Just as your work can promote gender equality, so can gender equality make your work more likely to succeed.”