General Women, Peace and Security

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1325 we must not relent on our accomplishments so far. Rather we must strive to ensure that the women, peace and security agenda finally becomes central to the peace and security debate.

The adoption by the Security Council of the resolution 1325 bears testimony to the progress made, during the last decade, in the area of Women and peace and security. This historic resolution has raised the much needed attention to the question of women's empowerment, which represents a priority for my country.

Today, we are commemorating the tenth anniversary of that Resolution, which has recognized the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts as well as in peacebuilding and opened a new path in the protection of women's full enjoyment of all human rights in armed conflicts and in the efforts to strengthen the participation and representation of women in peace and security processes.

Resolution 1325 (2000) focused the international community's attention on women in conflict and provides the basis for the international community to cooperate in helping countries in post-conflict situations to protect women's rights and interests. The international community has much to do for the comprehensive implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). Here, I wish to emphasize the following four points.

The action plan's third focus is civil society. One of the key aspects of the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) was the inclusion of civil society in the public process of launching this initiative — not as a mere spectator or recipient of the final result, but as an active party.

Secondly, concerning the role of our defence institutions, these institutions participated actively through working groups in the drafting of the plan. Most of the commitments made in this area are now being fulfilled.

My Government attaches great importance to this issue and to the difficult situation created by modern conflicts, in which women and children are most affected by the degradation of their living conditions and fundamental rights. We are therefore particularly grateful to you, Sir, for having convened this debate at an opportune moment for evaluating progress and dealing with pending issues.

Chile associates itself with the statement made by the representative of Canada on behalf of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security and the statement that will be made by the representative of Costa Rica on behalf of the Human Security Network. The year 2010 is a year for taking stock of progress in the human rights of women and in gender equality.

Throughout the many conflicts that Burundi has gone through, the people of Burundi have understood that the search for a viable and promising peace cannot be carried out by men alone but should also include women. Moreover, it has been well known for a long time in my country that women are the pillar of the family and therefore of society.

I need remind no one here of the hopes raised by the Security Council's adoption in October 2000 of resolution 1325 (2000), and subsequently of resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1889 (2009), which provide clear proof of the special attention the Council gives to the lot of women and girls who live in life-threatening conditions in armed conflict zones and daily pay a heavy toll.