Women and girls are much more vulnerable to the impacts of violent conflict than men, due to the breakdown of social and legal systems when violence occurs and because of inherent gender inequalities. Women frequently bear the brunt of the devastating consequences of armed violence, including sexual violence.

We also encourage the United Nations to include relevant elements of the women and peace and security agenda in all country- and mandate-specific reports to be considered by the Security Council.

The United Nations Development Programme network of peace advocates, N-PEACE, is also undertaking important work in Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Nepal. Earlier this month, N-PEACE launched an interactive internet portal to connect peace advocates within and across countries with experts in the field.

The Council has consistently recognized the significance of women in preventing, managing and resolving conflict, including as recently as through two important recent resolutions, resolution 2014 (2011) on Yemen and resolution 2009 (2011) on Libya.

Recent years have seen several institutional developments to better integrate these matters into the work of the Security Council and the United Nations. The establishment of UN-Women was a landmark development. We welcome its initial work to take forward the implementation of all the resolutions on women and peace and security. But more can be done.

Peace negotiations not only shape the post-conflict political landscape directly, through agreements on justice, power-sharing and constitutional issues, but also indirectly, by lending legitimacy to those represented at the peace table. A properly integrated role for women enhances the prospects of a durable and lasting peace.

Of course, when we talk about conflict prevention we are talking not just about involving women in preventive diplomacy. We also speak of the much broader agenda of ensuring that drivers of conflict do not have the chance to surface. Democratic institutions, the rule of law and economic development are foundations of peaceful societies. We cannot expect such societies to flourish without embracing the role that women play in shaping them.

It is not possible to create a legitimate and durable post-conflict political system that does not include the full and equal participation of women in decision-making. The role of women in economic development must be recognized in order to grow a post-conflict economy. Women, after all, are most likely to be providing direct support to children and extended kinship networks.

In our own Asia-Pacific region we have seen great improvements in women's capacity to engage in peace processes that affect them. That is also a key focus of our own aid programme in the region. In Indonesia and Nepal, we have supported women mediators, negotiators and advisers to identify and implement strategies for improving women's participation in peace processes.

For example, FemLINKPacific leads a community and media policy network on women, peace and security in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. Through the production of a wide range of media initiatives, they are empowering women across the Pacific to engage with decision makers at all levels on issues that affect them.