Remarks by the President of the General Assembly
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock
at the High-Level Event “Women at the Table: Advancing Inclusive Decision-Making in Peace and Security”

27 October 2025

 

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Your Excellency, Dr. Emma Kantema, Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare of Namibia,

Madame Deputy Secretary-General,

Madame Executive Director of UN Women,

Special Envoy of the African Union,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Thank you for the opportunity to join you today in celebrating Women, Peace and Security, and 25-years of Resolution 1325.

 

Allow me to offer my sincere appreciation to Namibia for both organizing the discussion, as well as for leading on the launch of the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA) Accountability Compact Report.

 

Decades ago, it was Namibia and its partners, including civil society, that advocated and lobbied for women to play a leading role in peace and security.

 

Their message was clear: women cannot and will not be cast exclusively as victims in conflict. Women are peacekeepers. Decision makers. Legislators. Arbitrators and mediators. Healers and storytellers.

 

Including them is not just a matter of principle; it is about recognizing the practical reality that, without the full, equal, safe and meaningful participation of women, peace is neither comprehensive nor sustainable.

 

It was this concerted advocacy effort – in Beijing at the Fourth World Conference on Women and in Namibia, with the Windhoek Declaration – that helped usher in Resolution 1325, a landmark moment not only for women’s equality but for peacemaking, peacebuilding and peacekeeping.

 

1325 represents a tacit acknowledgement that women have a vital role to play in fostering, building, and preserving peace.

 

That women are not only entitled to an equal role in peace and security, but that peace and security are better off because of it.

 

More practically, Resolution 1325 has helped to lift the barriers to meaningful participation for women and girls in this sector.

 

• • • 36 peace agreements were signed last year, a third included a provision on women and girls.
    • The percentage of women-in-uniform at the UN has doubled.
    • Half of the senior leadership positions in the police components of UN missions are held by women.
    • 113 national action plans aimed at promoting the Women, Peace and Security agenda have been adopted.

 

While 1325 has helped to lift barriers, these results are far from enough.

 

Unfortunately, despite these facts, some question the need for the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

 

This represents a security threat for women, as every war goes, unfortunately, over the body of a woman, as we have seen in the most horrendous sexual crimes in Sudan.

 

But it is also a security threat for men and society as a whole, as peace agreements become more fragile and less comprehensive without the involvement of women.

 

I therefore commend each of you here today for continuing to advocate on behalf of the WPS agenda.

 

Member States echoed the call in September, during the commemorative event marking 30-years since Beijing, for women’s full equality, including in the context peace and security.

 

And Member States echoed the call during the adoption of the Pact for the Future, last year. In the Pact, Member States committed to prevent and tackle the threats, human rights violations, and abuses experienced by women and girls in conflict situations.

 

I would also like to thank and commend all those women peacekeepers, activists, legislators and mediators who stand as an example for so many others, as shown in the exhibit currently in the Visitor’s lobby, which also commemorates the 25^th anniversary of 1325.

 

Women like Mona Hamad, in Sudan, who empower women to drive democratic change by participating in peace process.

 

And women like Lubna Ezzedine, who founded Lebanon’s Women’s Peacebuilding Network to engage in post-conflict recovery.

 

Every picture there tells the same story, but from different perspectives.

Women are peacekeepers.

Women are mediators.

Women are overcoming victimization to support and lead and empower.

 

They each serve as a reminder that peace is more durable when women are involved.

 

They each remind us that we are stronger and better together.