Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Recalling its resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1674 (2006), 1738 (2006) and 1894 (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, its resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013) on women and peace and security, and its resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009),1998 (2011) and 2068 (2012) on children and armed conflict, noting as well the reports of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict (S/2013/149) and children and armed conflict (S/2013/245) and the conclusions of its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/AC.51/2011/3),

20. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all MINUSTAH personnel with the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop- and police-contributing countries to redouble efforts in preventing cases of misconduct and to ensure that acts involving their personnel are properly investigated and punished;

19. Encourages MINUSTAH to continue assisting the Government of Haiti in providing adequate protection to the civilian population, with particular attention to the needs of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, especially women and children, including through joint community policing in the camps, in line with Security Council resolution 1894 (2009);

18. Strongly condemns the grave violations against children affected particularly by criminal gang violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of women and girls, and calls upon the Government of Haiti, with the support of MINUSTAH and the United Nations country team, to continue to promote and protect the rights of women and children as set out in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009), and 1889 (2009), and encourages all actors in the Haitian Government, the international community and civil society to renew their efforts to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence in Haiti; as well as to improve response to rape complaints and access to justice for the victims of rape and other sexual crimes; encourages national authorities to promote national legislation in this regard;

Recognizing that strengthening national human rights institutions as well as respect for human rights and due process and combating criminality, sexual and gender-based violence, and putting an end to impunity are essential to ensuring the rule of law and security in Haiti; welcoming in this regard the establishment of the inter-ministerial commission on human rights,

Acknowledging that sexual and gender-based violence remains a serious concern, particularly in marginalized districts of Port-au-Prince, internally displaced persons camps and remote areas of the country,

10. Expresses its concern that women and girls in Liberia continue to face a high incidence of sexual and gender-based violence, reiterates its call on the Government of Liberia to continue to combat sexual violence, particularly against children, and gender-based violence, and in coordination with UNMIL, to continue to combat impunity for perpetrators of such crimes and to provide redress, support, and protection to victims, including through public information campaigns and by continuing to strengthen national police capacity in this area and to raise awareness of existing national legislation on sexual violence and encourages the Government of Liberia to reinforce its commitment in this regard, including by funding the implementation of its national action plan on sexual and gender-based violence and improving women's and girls' access to justice;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that UNMIL has the requisite qualified specialist advisers with the professional skills and experience appropriate to this transition phase in order to enhance mentoring with the aim of increasing the capacity of the Government, particularly the LNP, to accelerate the implementation of sustainable rule of law, justice, governance and SSR programmes, including mechanisms to hold perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence accountable;

Recognizing the significant challenges that remain across all sectors, including continuing problems with violent crime, in particular the high rates of sexual and gender-based violence, especially involving children, recalling its resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013) on women, peace and security, welcoming the renewed efforts by the Government of Liberia, in coordination with UNMIL, to promote and protect the rights of civilians, in particular women and children, in this regard, recognizing the Government for signing the UN-Women's COMMIT initiative and reaffirming the importance of appropriate gender expertise and training in missions mandated by the Security Council,

10. Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by UNIFIL to implement the Secretary-General's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and punished in cases involving their personnel;