Canada heartily welcomes the Secretary-General's recognition of the need to t...

Canada heartily welcomes the Secretary-General's recognition of the need to take effective measures to address conflict-related sexual violence such as rape as a weapon of war, and calls for the protection of human rights defenders. Governments have the responsibility to deal with the issues of women and peace and security. Civil society can potentially play a constructive role. For example, in Sierra Leone, for which Canada has the honour to chair the country- specific configuration for peacebuilding, the defence of women's rights by local organizations has led the State to act to protect particularly vulnerable groups of women, leading specifically to a new law criminalizing sexual offences and imposing stiffer minimum penalties for offenders. The law is a step forward in holding perpetrators of sexual violence accountable in that country.