We urge the United Nations to lead by example. We commend the Secretary-Gener...

We urge the United Nations to lead by example. We commend the Secretary-General for his efforts to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions, and we encourage him to break even more ground in the years to come. We welcome the call, in the resolution just adopted, to the Secretary-General to develop a strategy to that end. The Secretary General should ensure that all his envoys and representatives include women in all formal peace processes they lead. They should actively seek the views of women also outside of the formal negotiations. Furthermore, we encourage the United Nations, together with the World Bank and relevant regional organizations, to include a requirement for women's participation in the standards of post-conflict needs assessments and to track gender- specific budget allocations.