Peacekeeping

Estonia is particularly concerned about the implications of armed conflicts for the most vulnerable groups. There is growing understanding that women and children are impacted uniquely and disproportionately by the effects of conflict and its aftermath. I should like to encourage the Council to include in the mandates of peacekeeping missions provisions on human rights monitoring, with special focus on the rights of children and women.

As a friend and supporter of the International Criminal Court, we have a commitment to upholding the rule of law, and we have strong faith in the institution as an international court of last resort. We remain concerned that hundreds of human rights abusers remain at large, frustrating the course of justice and endangering innocent women and children.

With regard to the composition of missions, there needs to be an appropriate structure and the staffing that is required to protect women and children from violence, in particular sexual and gender-based violence. We recognize the United Nations policy of due diligence in the area of human rights, which should continue to be part of mandates for peacekeeping operations.

In addition, peacekeeping forces have implemented training programmes for police to investigate crimes of sexual violence and other crimes and have contributed to building domestic institutional capacity.

The role of women in conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding is of great importance. Therefore, Namibia fully supports the inclusion of women in security systems such as the armed forces, the police and peacekeeping operations and special political missions in support of various United Nations resolutions that recognize that important role.

Peacekeeping operations are one of the most important aspects of the women and peace and security agenda. In recent years, such operations have gradually incorporated protection-of-civilian mandates, with special attention to women and girls. The progress has been significant, but there are still limitations in meeting the expectations of both local populations and the international community.

In that context, we would like to point out that Uruguay has been in the vanguard when it comes to including women into the armed forces, as reflected in the number of women deployed by the armed forces and by the national police in Uruguayan contingents to peacekeeping missions.

Less impressive, however, is the level of women's participation in police and military deployments. The figures of ten percent and three percent respectively remain well below the modest target of twenty percent that had been set for next year. Just as disappointing, only four of the twenty seven peace-related field missions are led by women.

The elimination of the root causes of conflict is the best way to prevent sexual violence and to address impunity. Combating impunity is possible only by building transparent, effective, non-discriminatory and functioning institutions and justice systems. It is vital to ensure that women and girls have access to judicial institutions and proper representation.

"The events unfolding in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Central African Republic — as Ms. Balipou mentioned — in Syria and elsewhere around the world, where women continue to be the special target of violence committed by men, show that there is still a long way to go to protect women in situations of armed conflict.