General Women, Peace and Security

The peace and security situation is different today as compared to 15 years ago, as the testimony of Ms. Mohammed this morning illustrated. The persistent cycles of conflicts and of fragile situations, among other things, have been exacerbated by new weapons technologies and new threats, such as the rise in violent extremism, which has spread easily thanks to the new information technologies.

Under the inspiration of the late President Hugo Chávez Frías and as part of our 1999 constitutional process, the Bolivarian Constitution guarantees the broadest human rights for our people and establishes gender equality, while also banning any kind of discrimination against women, whether on religious, racial or ethnic grounds. We do not tolerate any kind of exclusion or violence against women.

Given that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the three target countries of Belgium’s national action plan, my delegation would like to thank Ms. Julienne Lusenge for her briefing on the situation in that country.