Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

I wish to thank the Secretary- General for his statement. His personal commitment to this cause ensures that sexual violence in conflict remain a critical concern for the entire United Nations system, and challenges us to work in unison.

I cannot overemphasize that the commitment of the United Nations system, however great it may be, can never substitute for the political will and action of national actors. The United Nations, through the United Nations Action Network of 13 entities, stands ready to support local efforts.

I believe that we have the collective will, and increasingly the tools, to make it an unsustainable liability for parties to use sexual violence as a weapon of war. The resolve of the Council and the international community as a whole has set us firmly on the path of accountability and prevention. We must stay the course until we achieve the critical mass of action that will turn the tide on history's oldest and least condemned crime.

Crucially, the draft resolution calls on all parties to a conflict to make specific commitments to prevent sexual violence, and challenges the United Nations to engage with parties to illicit such commitments. Such an engagement-based approach has already begun to yield results, with several formal agreements between the United Nations and affected countries to address conflict-related sexual violence.

The women's protection advisers are a new cadre of specialists combining political and security expertise, human rights monitoring and gender analysis. Their principal role is to catalyse the implementation of the key operational aspects of the Council's resolutions on sexual violence in conflict.

Since the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000), the women and peace and security agenda has made clear progress, expanding in both breadth and depth to occupy the important place it does today, supported by the legal instruments, political initiatives and practical activities of the Organization.

Despite that progress, however, we regret to note that reports from a number of conflict and post-conflict situations continue to point to increasing physical and emotional violence against women and girls, who are the primary victims of sexual violence and its negative consequences for their quality of life and future development. In that regard, we would stress the need to defend the human rights of the victims of serious violations.

We see signs of progress as some national Governments are making justice systems more responsive and accessible to survivors of sexual violence. For example, Sierra Leon's new sexual offence law gives stiff minimum sentences to perpetrators. Sri Lanka's women's protection units provide female staff at police stations, and privacy for women to report crimes.

We applaud and appreciate the critical role that civil society, especially local women's groups, plays in assisting survivors by providing them with medical care, counselling and a political voice, and by facilitating their access to justice.

We also commend international initiatives that bolster national capacity on the issue. The United Kingdom, and Foreign Secretary Hague in particular, deserves praise for leading the development by the Group of Eight of an international protocol on the investigation and documentation of rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict.