SRSG Zainab Hawa Bangura (left), Ambassador María Cristina Perceval, and SRSG Leila Zerrougui.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
(New York, USA, 19 June 2015) – Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, and Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, today welcomed the adoption of a General Assembly resolution establishing 19 June as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Approved by consensus, the resolution, co-sponsored by 114 Member States, aims to raise awareness of the need to end conflict-related sexual violence, to stand in solidarity with the survivors of sexual violence around the world, and to pay tribute to all those working on the front-lines, often at great personal risk, to eradicate this scourge.
The date 19 June commemorates the breakthrough adoption of Security Council resolution 1820 in 2008, which recognized sexual violence as a tactic of war and a threat to global peace and security, requiring an operational security, justice and service response. It recognized that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and/or constitutive acts of genocide.
“This annual commemoration will serve as a global call to action for security, justice and service actors on behalf of survivors of sexual violence in conflicts all over the world,” said Special Representative Bangura, who observed the plenary session alongside Special Representative Zerrougui.
“Our challenge now is to translate advocacy and political will into concrete actions and protection on the ground,” Special Representative Bangura added.
Special Representative Zerrougui highlighted how children are targets of sexual violence during conflict not only because they are generally physically and mentally more vulnerable than adults, but also because making victims of teens and those who are even younger strikes at the very heart of any given community.
“Sometimes children are attacked because of lawlessness,” Special Representative Zerrougui said. “But we also know that targeting children can be a weapon of war. When perpetrators seek out children for sexual violence, they also know that doing so will devastate the entire family, even the entire community.”
She added: “Dedicating a Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict gives us an additional opportunity to encourage even more focus on this very grave issue. It is also an indication of the seriousness with which the international community regards this particularly egregious crime, and serves as a signal that Member States intend step up their collective response to it.”
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For additional information:
· Paulina Kubiak, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, kubiakp@un.org
· Steve Edwards, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, edwards@un.org