General Women, Peace and Security

Today they bear witness to the fate of too many civilians — men, women and children — in Syria and Iraq, but also in Nigeria, Somalia and Central Africa. Let us hear their call.

We know that armed conflict and instability — and the resulting economic desperation — amplifies the risk of human trafficking for vulnerable people, especially women and children, people with disabilities, migrants and displaced people. Sadly, refugee and internal displacement camps are particularly fertile ground for human traffickers.

Argentina would like to point out that, while the threat of trafficking in persons may in fact increase in conflict situations, it is important to bear in mind that the United Nations has already developed a sophisticated system to fight trafficking, which has been designed through resolutions of the General Assembly, in particular under the agenda items entitled “Crime prevention and criminal justice” and “Advancement of women”.

Based on the most recent reports, approximately 135 people, mostly civilians, including women and children, were killed or wounded in the carnage

Daily, we read the headlines and witness the effects of complex and multidimensional conflicts — images of violence, destruction and humanitarian crises that arise from the precarious state of security. Men, women and children are at risk as the result of decisions taken by internal and external political actors and institutions.

Men and women on their way to work, as well as children and the elderly waiting for their buses home, have all fallen victim to shootings, stabbings and other horrendous acts of terror.

I would also like to thank the Swedish presidency for convening today’s open debate. You and I, Madam President, have also worked together in the past, when you were Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Sexual Violence in Conflict. I salute your continuing efforts to place conflict prevention and gender at the centre of your foreign policy.

The Syrian Government calls for pressuring Israel for the immediate release from prison of Sidqui Al-Maqt — the Syrian Mandela — and his co-prisoners Iyad Al-Johari and Amal Abu Saleh, who are being held in inhumane conditions in Israeli detention centres, as well as rescinding the unjust sentences of Amal Abu Saleh and a female prisoner, Bashira Mahmoud

Resolution 2334 (2016), of 23 December 2016, which condemns the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, was adopted by consensus and co-sponsored by my country at the end of our term in the Security Council as a non-permament member, and has undoubtedly contributed to bringing to the attention of the international community the terrible impact of the occupation of Palestinian territory on the hundreds of thousands of

For millions, these advances have made the world a far more hospitable place. In the past 12 years, Governments and non-governmental actors alike have conspired to help cut the world’s extreme poverty rate in half. More girls are in school, fewer children are dying as a result of preventable illness, and the world continues to make advances against the scourge of global diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS.