Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Allow me first to emphasize the importance of the role of the United Nations in promoting the participation of women in achieving peace, security and development, as well as in the initiatives undertaken in response to the problem of sexual violence in conflicts.

Fourthly, China supports resolution 1960 (2010), which was just adopted. We hope that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Margot Wallström, will perform her responsibilities strictly in line with the mandate formulated by the Council to play a constructive role in addressing sexual violence in armed conflict.

China condemns all acts of violence against women in armed conflict, including sexual violence. It urges parties to conflicts to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law.

Third is to closely assess the usefulness of including in the annexes to the annual reports lists of parties responsible for sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the Security Council agenda as a basis for more focused engagement on the parties. In that connection, we believe that the Council's work on children and armed conflict could serve as a guide.

The second is to assess the advisability of adopting sanctions and other measures by the relevant Security Council sanctions committees, as provided in resolution 1888 (2009), taking into consideration their short-, medium- and long-term impacts.

Fourth is to call on parties in situations of armed conflict on the Council's agenda to make specific and time-bound commitments to put an end to all acts of sexual violence, including clear orders through the chain of command.

Fifth is to support the efforts of the United Nations system to establish monitoring and reporting arrangements with regard to conflict-related sexual violence; to promote the participation of all concerned in the analysis of information, including on trends, patterns and early warning indicators; and to evaluate and identify targeted actions against perpetrators and programmatic responses for survivors.

Chile takes a positive view of the following recommendations in the report. The first is to invite the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to exchange pertinent information with the Council and its relevant sanctions committees.

Chile attaches great importance to the issue of conflict-related sexual violence, which usually affects highly vulnerable groups and which represents a threat to security and a persistent obstacle to peacebuilding, including in situations addressed by the Council. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which my country has ratified, defines six types of sexual violence as crimes against humanity.

Believing as we do in the merit of the principles underpinning those resolutions, we welcome the Secretary-General's comprehensive report (S/2010/604) on this subject. We also wish to highlight the role played by Ms. Margot Wallström's in fulfilling her mandate as the Secretary-General's Special Representative. We urge her to continue to work actively and collaboratively while avoiding duplication of efforts addressed in other mandates.