Peacekeeping

Another point is continuing to develop a data base that gathers statistics on the voluntary participation of women in peacekeeping operations, including the number of women deployed and their roles in the missions, inter alia.

Argentina played a dynamic role in the negotiation and adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1999 and 2000. The resolution brings together two objectives that are part of our national policy with regard to gender and defence: the promotion and protection of the human rights of women, and the inclusion of women in peacekeeping operations.

I am compelled to begin by stressing the great interest that Africa attaches to the subject at hand. Africa is host to 70 per cent of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, so today's issue is of direct relevance to its peoples. I would like to thank all the women of the world for the solidarity they demonstrated, above all to the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when they marched this month in Bukavu.

The African Union is further committed to working towards addressing violence against women perpetrated through human and drug trafficking, and to articulate the gender perspectives of child labour, prostitution and abuse.

"And there should be a special focus on boosting the number of women police officers and peacekeepers, like the Indian women I met who were serving so well in Liberia."

Women account for more than half of the world's population. Families cannot be
homes without women playing a key role in maintaining and nurturing them.
Societies cannot be peaceful communities without the vital participation of
women. My Delegation commends the measures the United Nations has
undertaken over the past years in promoting the role of women in peace and

We recommend that DPKO draw upon the inter-agency resources of the UN Action Against Sexual
Violence in Conflict, so that a wide range of experts and observers in the field can gather the
sensitive information necessary to identify and combat sexual violence as an instrument of war.

This is why the attention of the Council to this issue is so important. Security Council Resolutions
1325 and 1820 address sexual violence and exploitation in conflict situations more forcefully than
ever before. Resolution 1820, in particular, requires the Secretary-General to report on specific
situations in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically employed against civilians in

The U.S. welcomes the conclusion of the Secretary General's report, which states that the
deployment of women in the field facilitates engagement with civilians which leads to more access
to appropriate services for women and girls and lowers the incidents of sexual violence and abuse.
We also applaud efforts by nations such as Jamaica in attaining an equal number of women and men
in their UN peacekeeping contingents.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has talked of the challenge to peacebuilding in Liberia in
the following terms: "My biggest fear is that a small group might succeed in
trying to return us to conflict. It will always remain a fear until we've done enough
in responding to the needs of the population". It is clear that mobilising and
enabling all available human resources within a country emerging from conflict is