Peacekeeping

We must in no way allow violence against women and sexual violence to be seen as an inevitable part of armed conflicts. In that regard, we are pleased that the Secretary-General has implemented a zero-tolerance policy in peacekeeping operations for all forms of violence against women, gender violence and in particular violence and sexual abuse.

Pakistan's commitment to the United Nations agenda of peace and security needs no elaboration. For more than half a century, Pakistanis have served in United Nations peacekeeping operations in challenging circumstances.

With the support of Luxembourg, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations has been able to implement similar initiatives in Timor-Leste and in Haiti.

We welcome the start of implementation in the field, of the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements and hope that the difficulties remaining in collecting and verifying information and in establishing shared databases will soon be resolved.

Preventive diplomacy as an intervention must be undertaken expediently to protect potential victims and to nip any kind of possible impunity in the bud. The Council has previously recognized a critical link between security issues and socio-economic concerns such as poverty, disease and environmental degradation.

The Secretary-General's report (S/2012/33) offers clear guidance on important steps that the international community must take. For instance, operationally, those listed in the annex of these reports should face additional measures from the Security Council sanctions committees. Israel also strongly supports the recommendation to include provisions for conflictrelated sexual violence in ceasefire and peace agreements.

My third point pertains to the responsibilities of United Nations peacekeepers, and Chad is the case study. The Secretary-General's report sets out steps being taken to improve the training of peacekeepers with regard to conflict-related sexual violence. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and UN-Women collaboration in that regard is particularly welcome. The standards for United Nations peacekeepers must be the highest.

Predeployment gender-related training for peacekeepers is also significant in contributing to a more enhanced understanding of the protection of women and children by United Nations peacekeepers. The gender training workshop for peacekeepers that will be held in Indonesia next April is part of such efforts.

On the part of the United Nations, there has been modest progress in areas such as gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations and training of peacekeeping personnel on gender perspectives. In that context, we commend Special Representative Wallström for having brought a new synergy in addressing the issue of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.

Finally, we want to reiterate our support to the United Nations campaign against sexual violence in conflicts, as well as to the Secretary General's Policy of Zero Tolerance on Sexual Exploitation and abuse by the United Nations Peacekeeping and Humanitarian personnel. We also encourage Mrs.