General Women, Peace and Security

Let me compliment the efforts of the African Union Mission in Somalia. I would mention women’s role in peace in Liberia and, perhaps less known, in Uganda recently.

We all know that three very important reviews were carried out in 2015 and this year, and I will not cite them all. But I would like to make several comments with regard to them, particularly in the context of the high- level review of resolution 1325 (2000). I would like first to acknowledge the excellent work of the African Union in reviewing the resolution by citing four fundamental facts.

We finance the Clingendael Mediation Facility, which trains groups of senior AU African women mediators together with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, UN-Women and the AU. The women are also supported to develop a sustainable network, gain access to resources and increase their own expertise and skills set, thereby strengthening the position of women in peace processes.

 In our view, the women and peace and security agenda should always be at the centre of United Nations- African Union cooperation in the maintenance of peace and security. 

The recently concluded reviews of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture and peacekeeping operations, and of the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security, clearly emphasize that.