Colombia

We thank Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, for her briefing and for the contributions of UN-Women, which help to strengthen coordination and cooperation in the implementation of mandates relevant to women, peace and security. I assure Ms. Bachelet of our support as she fulfils her important mandate.

We agree with the Secretary-General that UN-Women constitutes the cornerstone for articulating the mandates of the United Nations system in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. In this context, we emphasize the role that broad and inclusive intergovernmental consultations have in evaluating the gender architecture and the advancement of women, as well as the agreements between States on models and practices adopted in that area. All of that is an essential element for progress in improving national capacity to generate greater participation of women in conflict prevention and mediation.

We also emphasize the importance of the reference in the Secretary-General's report to relief and recovery, as well as the actions being taken with regard to gender mainstreaming in the post-conflict phase, including job creation, education policies, life skills training, opportunities and support for children, access to basic services in health, education and legal support, and the provision of basic public services, such as water and sanitation. We emphasize that this represents an enormous challenge for States.

In terms of prevention, Colombia's armed forces have incorporated into their training programmes courses in the prevention of gender-based violence, sexual violence, sexual and reproductive health, sexual and reproductive rights and gender equality.

There has been legislation in place in this area since 1992, recently updated by a law in 2011 that provides for and promotes the participation of women in the exercise of legislative policy work in the Congress, as well as in the executive and judicial branches. There are now 37 women in the Colombian parliament. The highest positions in the country's public prosecutors' and comptrollers' offices are held by women. In the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Minister and two deputy ministers are women, from whom I receive orders — I mean, instructions — every day.

Our priority is the incorporation of gender perspectives into our major national policies, including development plans, strategies for poverty eradication and the promotion of employment and entrepreneurial culture, among others. We place particular emphasis on action related to protecting women against all forms of violence, as well as for protecting those in particularly vulnerable situations, such as indigenous women, migrant women, trafficked women and girls, and women in rural areas, among others.

Finally, we would like to reiterate that approaches to human rights that focus exclusively in monitoring mechanisms do not contribute to achieving sustainable solutions, unlike mechanisms for cooperation, constructive dialogue and effective support for countries,which do indeed genuinely contribute to effective solutions.