In hiring practices for both civil service and private industry, women and men go through the same selection process and have an equal chance. In many cases, applications from women are strongly encouraged. In matters of peace and security, Burundi's National Security Council includes 2 women among its seven members.

The women and peace and security agenda has been a catalyst for greater civil society engagement with the Council. This has enriched our work, giving us access to new perspectives and information. In all societies, there are real obstacles to women's political participation. Even in countries that have championed women's rights for decades, insidious barriers to true equality persist.

The issue of women's participation in peace talks and other conflict-related negotiations certainly contains more than an element of justice. It is also an issue of effectiveness, which has a direct impact on the success of conflict resolution and mediation efforts. Women can bring to the table unique perspectives on issues such as impunity, accountability, and justice.

Last month, during the general debate and at an event on women's political participation, President Dilma Rousseff made it clear that the empowerment of women is high on Brazil's agenda. We have enacted advanced legislation on the protection of women, established specialized police stations for women's issues, and put women at the centre of our Bolsa Familia cash transfer programme.

I would like to conclude by stressing a crucial point. The Council's support to empowering women in conflict and post-conflict situations is very important. However, it cannot stand on its own. The effective and sustainable political participation of women depends on social inclusion and economic opportunity.

Brazil is encouraged by the progress made in taking forward the indicators on women and peace and security. We underline the importance of their close adherence to the letter of the relevant Security Council resolutions. Indicators, however, are not an end in themselves. They help us to gain a better understanding of the situations and to assess progress made towards our goals.

Brazil is deeply engaged in cooperation activities with a number of countries emerging from conflict. In Brazil, the participation of women in the decision-making processes that deal with those issues has been steadily increasing, in keeping with the broad trend observed in Brazilian politics more generally, both in the executive and legislative branches.

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.

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.

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).