Statement of Hungary at the WPS Debate October 2016
Statement of Hungary
Women in conflict situations lack protection, live in fear, are at risk of being raped on a daily basis, have almost no access to justice, are economically disadvantaged and live with limited freedoms. I therefore believe that women have to transition from being victims to establishing themselves as active agents for peace and security. We, together with the United Nations system, must help them to that end.
Statement of Hungary
I would like to concentrate today on the need for cooperation. The issues that form part of the women and peace and security agenda are interrelated and interconnected, and must be addressed as such. For effective implementation of the women and peace and security framework at the national and international levels, close and comprehensive cooperation is needed among institutions and Governments. Hungary welcomes the launching of the women, peace and security national focal points network, and we hope that it will effectively assist Member States to implement the women and peace and security agenda. Moreover, Hungary has already engaged in an interministerial cooperation process to review how its national contribution could be improved and has established a women and peace and security national focal point within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In order to successfully implement a holistic approach, we need to use all the tools available within the United Nations system. We need actionable recommendations on women and peace and security matters, not only from the Security Council but also from all treaty bodies. In addition, we should find ways to use the Universal Periodic Review to accelerate its further implementation.
Statement of Hungary
Hungary strongly supports the efforts to increase the meaningful participation of women at all stages and levels of peace processes. We also encourage Member States to support women’s engagement in local, national and global decision-making structures, including the participation of women in electoral processes. We have heard today strong examples. They should inspire all of us because they are examples for all of us and through those examples we could create mechanisms that enable the participation of women in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and conflict prevention. In this period, for example, Hungary financed a gender-based training workshop in Kenya within the framework of its international development cooperation strategy. Women play a key role in areas affected by conflict in ensuring the livelihoods of their families in the midst of chaos, and are particularly active in community- building and peace movements at the grass-roots level. However, such women-led organizations are noticeably fewer, or even absent, from formal peace processes. We hope to see recognized the important role that civil society and women-led organizations play in peace processes. Similarly, the increased participation of women in peacekeeping missions is of the utmost importance. Their contribution could be particularly useful in designing and implementing strategies for the protection of civilians and humanitarian assistance. The Security Council should also continue to promote women’s participation and gender mainstreaming as part of making peacebuilding processes and post-conflict recovery efforts more inclusive. We do not only want women to be present in decisionmaking at the negotiation table because it is just; we want them to be included because history has shown so many times that the participation of women is vital to peacebuilding and the creation of peaceful and inclusive societies.