High-Level Side-Event on Gender and Sustaining Peace (on the Margins of High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace)

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at High-Level Side-Event on Gender and Sustaining Peace (on the Margins of High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace)

Mr Secretary-General, distinguished ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen

Good morning,

Thank you for inviting me and the opportunity to address this event.

When it comes to peace and conflict, we all know the history.

And, we know that it was dominated by men.

It was men who declared wars. It was mainly men who fought them. And it was men who ended them – to make peace.

Women were the victims; the collateral damage.

This is changing. Now, women are key actors, in the area of peace and security.

But, it is not changing as rapidly as we’d hoped. And so, we need to move faster

I will make two main points on this this morning.

My first point is simple: We cannot have Sustaining Peace without women.

I’ll mention three areas in particular.

First, in prevention. When there is more gender equality, there is more resilience to conflict. And, when there is more violence against women, there is a higher likelihood of violence between communities. So, there is a direct link between the role of women, and conflict prevention.

Women are also local mediators – called upon, when tensions look set to escalate. And they are also active, on the national and regional stages – including through the Pan-African Network of Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation, established by the African Union.

Secondly, in peace processes. Because, when women participate, a peace deal is more likely to stick. That is what the studies have told us. And, that is what we have seen on the ground.

The Colombian peace agreement includes over 100 provisions on gender. When I travelled to the country last March, I saw the direct impact. Women at all levels – from government to local communities – are committed to peace. And I am in no doubt that this has contributed, to the success we have seen so far

And third area I want to mention is post-conflict peacebuilding.

In conflict, women suffer, and sacrifice, just as much as – or even more than – men. Some are on the frontlines. Others are behind them, keeping families and communities going. Why should they be side-lined, once there is peace? They must participate in post-conflict analysis and planning. They must have decision-making power.

And so, my second point is more of a question: how do we make this happen?

Well, I think we already know.

We have the Women, Peace and Security agenda. And, since 2016, we have a new framework, called Sustaining Peace.

The guidelines are very clear. They tell us that women must lead and participate at every step of the cycle – from prevention, to conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

To make this happen, we need more policies, more plans, and more financing.

But, we are lagging – particularly when it comes to finance.

Only a small fraction of our budgets goes to preventing conflicts and sustaining peace. And an even smaller fraction of that goes to the gender dimensions, of these activities.

We cannot brush this under the rug. We need to put our heads together. And we need to find tangible ways, to accelerate action.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen

Edmund Burke said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it”.

In peace and security, men dominated our history. And women, were pushed to the side.

This was a big mistake.

If we want to make Sustaining Peace a reality, we need to learn from our mistakes. And we need to learn fast.

Thank you.