The commemoration of the tenth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) last year resulted in a number of renewed commitments and achievements on the part of Member States in implementing that resolution and others on women and peace and security. This year has also seen numerous actions within the United Nations and by Member States in joint efforts to implement the resolution and advance women's participation in peace and security, with particular emphasis on preventive diplomacy, mediation efforts, conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
We welcome the report before us (S/2011/598*). The analysis of indicators it contains should provide valuable benchmarks for further planning and act as a road map. We also welcome the creation of the strategic results framework as an important tool for advancing implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and all other relevant resolutions on women and peace and security. Its main objectives include increasing consistency in decision-making processes among different United Nations bodies within their respective mandates and in capacity-building and cooperation with Member States, regional organizations and other partners, such as civil society.
Since the creation of UN-Women, greater coordination and coherence in policy and programming for women and girls are evident. We therefore consider that briefings of the Under-Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UN-Women should continue so as to facilitate a concerted and coordinated United Nations approach.
Conflict and post-conflict situations often bring violence and deprivation of rights. Addressing conflict related or sexual and gender-based violence, and combating various abuses of women and girls' rights, is an integral part of the women and peace and security agenda. In that context, we emphasize the importance of bringing those responsible for crimes against women and girls to justice. A range of existing legal and reconciliation mechanisms should be used at the national or international level, while support for national institutions and institutional reforms must be an integral part of this process.
Ensuring that women are represented and participate in decision-making forums, institutions and mechanisms concerned with preventing and resolving conflict and with peacebuilding; that they are included in peace agreement negotiations and implementation; and that enabling conditions for women peacemakers and peacekeepers are created requires clear guidelines and support on the part of the United Nations and national authorities. Member States and regional and sub-regional organizations should invest more in strengthening the capacity of women's organizations. Such organizations should be provided with support for their conflict-prevention and resolution efforts and consulted more on local women's peace initiatives.
We believe that countries should work on adopting national action plans or strategies in order to integrate issues of woman and peace and security, and gender issues, into their national policies and create a broader basis for implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). In that regard, it is also important to increase State institutions and services' knowledge and capacity in order to implement the resolution and collaborate effectively with international organizations and civil society. Here, I recall that Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted both a national action plan for the resolution's implementation and a gender action plan. Those two documents are crucial to streamlining activities related to the woman and peace and security agenda in relevant sectors and to accelerating the resolution's implementation in our country.
The role of the United Nations is to support Member States in this multifaceted process. It is important to create useful guidelines adapted to specific country situations, and to support the development of activities related to women and peace and security in the context of existing international obligations, rooted in national legislation.
We firmly believe that women should be involved in the policymaking and post-conflict planning and programming processes. It is also important to increase the number of gender experts on the roster. Furthermore, the various implementation gaps should be addressed more systematically, including through improved coordination and accountability for results. Clarity, comparability and consistency are necessary in order to monitor the impact of various efforts on women's empowerment and their rights.
The use of indicators can contribute to the efficient and effective monitoring and reporting of results and data collection and to identifying gaps or obstacles during this process in a coordinated manner. This is particularly important when we consider that successful implementation depends on the ability to clearly and distinctly measure the progress of our joint endeavours in the area of women and peace and security.
Finally, Bosnia and Herzegovina firmly believes that there can be no lasting peace and security without the full participation of women in every aspect and at every stage of peacekeeping and peacebuilding, as well as in conflict-prevention activities. We therefore remain committed to expanding our support for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), other relevant resolutions, and future efforts of the Security Council on this issue.