Switzerland

We are here today to concretize the strategic lines of action developed in resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) to fight conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls. We therefore thank you, Madame, for organizing today's open debate. We welcome the report of the Secretary-General (S/2010/604), which provides an excellent basis for today's discussion, and wish to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Margot Wallström, for her excellent work. Her mandate is important and challenging. We assure her of our full support and encourage her to build strong synergies with the United Nations operational system.

First, Switzerland supports the establishment of a systematic sexual violence in conflict situations on its agenda. monitoring, analysis and reporting mechanism, as provided for in resolution 1960 (2010), adopted yesterday. The mechanism will collect timely, objective, accurate and reliable information about conflict-related sexual violence, for example on incidents, trends and patterns. Such information should be provided by competent and well-coordinated sources on the field and serve as a basis for concerted action by the Security Council. The mechanism should take into consideration the experience of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on the six grave violations against children in armed conflict identified in resolutions 1612 (2005) and 1882 (2009). With a separate mechanism for women and girls, the Council would assure consistency in countering the use of systematic sexual violence in conflict situations on its agenda.

Thirdly, we support the idea that all parties to conflict should prepare specific plans of action for ending acts of sexual violence in conflict situations on the Council's agenda. This would enable the international community to provide specific support to the actors concerned in fulfilling their obligations. Further, it would contribute to a transparent and objective follow-up by the Security Council. The deployment of rapid response teams on the rule of law, as provided for in resolution 1888 (2009), is an example of such support. In this context, we would like to mention the Justice Rapid Response initiative, initiated by Canada and supported by my country. The initiative provides, for example, rapidly deployable criminal justice professionals who collect information in cases of sexual violence in a timely fashion.

Finally, we invite the Council to systematically link thematic and geographical issues. When considering a conflict situation, it is crucial to include a thematic perspective, because the thematic issues on the Council's agenda are cross-cutting issues. To link that to today's subject — as deplorable as it is, sexual violence has become characteristic of many conflicts. It therefore calls for a consistent approach by the Council.