General Women, Peace and Security

Resolution 1325 (2000), then, reaffirms the important role that women play in the prevention and solution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, underscoring the importance of women's participating on equal footing with men and of their full participation in all initiatives aimed at maintaining and fostering peace and security.

Over two and a half years have passed since the first peacebuilding report was commissioned. That report was commissioned as a result of concerns about the support provided by the international community, including particularly the UN, to countries emerging from conflict. Many of the issues that it identified were not new.

On this occasion, Thailand would like to emphasize a few aspects of peacebuilding that we believe to be crucial to its success and conducive to women's participation in the process.

But that will not happen without dedicated funding for women's needs. Conflicts leave states severely weakened and social structures decimated. In such situations, women are vital to ensuring that the basic survival needs of families and communities are met.

At the outset, I would like to welcome the progress report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict (S/2010/386), as well as the report of the Secretary- General on women's participation in peacebuilding (S/2010/466). The substantive contribution of the co-facilitators of the 2010 review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture (S/2010/393, annex) deserves to be commended.

Last year the Security Council recognized that the Secretary-General's 2009 report on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict (S/2009/304) was an important contribution to a more effective and coherent international response to post- conflict peacebuilding. The Council also saw the continued engagement of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) as the Secretary-General embarked on the implementation of his ambitious agenda for action.

We believe that lasting peace in a conflict would remain elusive without improving the conditions of women and other vulnerable segments of the society. For long-term economic recovery and social cohesion, women's access to health, education and entrepreneurship is essential.

In the context of human-dimension of Peacebuilding, the Secretary General's report on “Women and Peacebuilding” is both candid and objective. The report put forth a ‘seven-point action plan' that factors gender perspective in Peacebuilding endeavours.

The reports before us today mark a critical turning point in the United Nations strategy for peace and security. The in-depth analysis contained in the report on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict (S/2010/386) dovetails with the proposals in the report on women's participation in peacebuilding (S/2010/466).

My delegation acknowledges the value of the reports we have before us (S/2010/386 and S/2010/466) and shares the view that we must place peacebuilding at the very centre of the work of the United Nations in various areas, including the participation of women and the strengthening of the Organization's peacebuilding capacity.