This year, the Commission also considered the question of violence against women as part of its follow-up to the Beijing Platform for Action, and held an interactive dialogue on the subject. Expert panellists, member States, United Nations system entities and non-governmental organizations were able to share their experiences and the results achieved.

The Commission on the Status of Women, too, has contributed to advancing global policy on women, peace and security. At its forty-eighth session in 2004, the Commission considered women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution and in post-conflict peacebuilding.

The Commission on the Status of Women plays a central role in monitoring the implementation of the Platform for Action, including with respect to women in armed conflict. I recognize and welcome the key role and critical efforts of the Security Council in preventing sexual violence and combating impunity in conflict and post-conflict situations.

In this context, the Council's effort to set up a mechanism for monitoring and reporting sexual violence against women may prove to be very useful, not only to the Council's work but also to other organizations working on issues pertaining to sexual violence against women and gender issues in general.

In 2008, the Commission evaluated progress in the implementation of the 2004 agreed conclusions through an interactive dialogue. Many participants reported on initiatives to address sexual violence in armed conflict and to increase the participation of women in peacekeeping and security forces.

Efforts to address violence against women are often not comprehensive, consistent or sustained, and there continues to be insufficient coordination among relevant sectors. Knowledge regarding the scope, prevalence, impact and cost of violence against women remains inadequate, and capacities for collecting such data are insufficient.

All the United Nations world conferences on women have recognized the interlinkage between gender equality, development and peace. In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Member States devoted a section of the Beijing Platform for Action to women and armed conflict, noting that women and girls were particularly affected by armed conflict because of their status in society and their sex.

The Secretary-General's report (S/2010/604) on the implementation of resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) lists a series of acts that can only be described as atrocities committed against women in various conflict situations currently on the Council's agenda.

The international community cannot remain indifferent to such atrocities, nor accept the myth that rape is an inevitable by-product of war. Doing so would paralyse any attempt to eradicate such actions. Sexual violence must be considered a violation of the victims' human rights; that being the case, the perpetrators must be prosecuted, judged and punished.

Regrettably, sexual violence is a constant at all stages of armed conflict. Often, it is not a matter of isolated incidents, but instead includes related crimes such as kidnapping, indiscriminate killing, torture, looting and forced displacement. The international community must continue to urge armed groups to end such abhorrent practices and to work with States to end the impunity surrounding them.