Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security: Summary of the meeting on Yemen, 23 March 2017

On 23 March, the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security held its first meeting on women and peace and security in Yemen. Members received a briefing from the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen and the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden opened the meeting. She highlighted t he importance of the Informal Expert Group in providing Security Council experts with field-based expertise and up-to-date information and analysis and welcomed the Yemeni women’s agenda for peace and security, which had been drawn up by representatives of Yemeni civil society and shared in November 2016 with the Secretary-General, the Special Envoy, the Council and the sponsors of the peace process. She particularly emphasized the importance of the participation of women in the peace process and the need for political solutions that included women in order to ensure sustainable peace and development.