By Isabelle Cutting, PeaceWomen

The General Debate of the 65th General Assembly preceded the 10th Anniversary of SCR 1325. This year's General Assembly general debate took place from 23–30 September 2010, during which PeaceWomen monitored all statements for references to Women, Peace and Security. Relevant extracts and government statements can be found online by country and theme.

Prior to the opening of the Session, Member States met for the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Secretary-General also announced the nomination of the former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, as Under-Secretary General of the new UN Women Entity.

During the General Debate, 100 Member States incorporated references to issues of Women, Peace and Security in their statements to the Assembly. Forty-seven representatives specifically highlighted the need for greater prevention of and protection from gender-based violence as well as the unmet potential for women's participation in politics and society.

Noteworthy mentions included Estonia and Ireland, which expressed their intention to implement National Action Plans on Security Council Resolution 1325, while Finland signaled a forthcoming joint initiative with Kenya on Women, Peace and Security. Furthermore, Trinidad and Tobago announced that they would table a resolution on "women, disarmament, arms control and non proliferation" to the General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security.

Reaching Critical Will (RCW), similarly complied all references relating to disarmament, peace, and security by country and topic. In the context of the recent 2010 UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, RCW, on behalf of WILPF, urges UN member states and civil society to consider, what would you rather pay for:

One year of the world's military spending, or over 24 years of the additional foreign aid required to reach the MDGs by 2015?
One year of the world's military spending, or 700 years of the UN regular budget? 
One year of the world's military spending, or 2928 years of the new UN women's agency?

BACK
TO TOP

PeaceWomen.org is a project of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, United Nations Office.

Fair Use Notice: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
PeaceWomen.org distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.