Thirdly, we have increased our efforts to fight impunity, with due attention to the rights of victims. Justice, including meaningful reparations for victims, is essential in restoring the confidence of the people in their Government. There should never be amnesty for the most serious crimes, including sexual violence, which can constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We welcome the pronouncement by the UN Secretary-General in his report that the most significant institutional development with regard to women, peace and security has been the creation of UN-Women with the purpose of leveraging the entire UN system to ensure accelerated implementation of all relevant resolutions on the issue. We therefore look forward to working with UN-Women in achieving the goals of 1325.
In our consultations and interactions with civil society and the public, we acknowledge the work of FemLINKPACIFIC, a Fiji-based NGO that specifically deals with 1325. The Fijian Government promotes the enhancement of efforts to colloborate with the expertise and experience of women's groups, with a view to enhancing the implementation of 1325 at the national level.
We welcome the initiatives of the Security Council and the work carried out by the Secretary-General in establishing the set of indicators to track the implementation of the resolution and to provide guidance for all Member States in their efforts to achieve the desired goals of the resolution.
We are encouraged by the initiatives currently being undertaken by the Secretary-General and UN-Women in the implementation of Resolution 1325. We acknowledge that progress has been made in all the four thematic areas of the UN System-Wide Action Plan. We believe however, that much work remains to be done not only in relation to the UN strategic framework, but importantly in the national implementation of the resolution.
To effectively progress the resolution, we need to take a holistic approach. We depend on the guidance of the Security Council and the advice of the Secretary-General, UN Women, DPKO and other relevant UN departments and agencies. We need the input of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and the Peacebuilding Commission, and the assistance of the civil society and regional organisations.
It is for this reason that Fiji supports the development of a regional framework for the Pacific SIDS as an important step towards full implementation of the resolution in the Pacific. We believe that a framework which incorporates the principles of the resolution, with clear policy guidelines on its application to our unique national and regional characteristics, will accelerate the implementation process in the Pacific.
Fiji's commitment to the resolution is exemplified in our policies that, amongst other things, strongly encourage the recruitment of women in our security forces and their deployment with equal opportunities to peacekeeping missions. We support the global effort to increase the participation of women in UN police peacekeeping roles to 20% by 2014.
We welcome the United Nations strategic results framework and the set of indicators on women and peace and security, which guide the implementation of resolutions, and we also welcome the comprehensive report on the NATO/ Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council policy on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and related resolutions.
For a start, I would like to emphasize that women's security is part of overall peace and security and that women can contribute to peace processes and are very able to do so. The involvement of women in peacekeeping operations and conflict prevention is of the utmost importance to ensure the success of the operations, as it is the only way to reach the whole population.
