Distinguished Women Parliamentarians, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon,
It is an honor to address this Forum on the occasion of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which provides space for strategic reflection on the mounting challenges for the full implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda, of which my mandate is part of. Since the signing of the Framework of Cooperation between my office and the IPU in June 2021, I feel very much part of the IPU family. I would like to thank the Secretary-General of the IPU for his active support to my mandate and commend all his efforts in promoting the engagement of parliamentarians in addressing conflict-related sexual violence.
This event comes at a dire time for global security. Conflicts are raging. Tensions are rising. Coups are erupting. We meet at a time when the impacts of conflict on women and girls have never been starker, as millions suffer the consequences of the wars of men. As we speak, in Sudan and Haiti — women and girls are being brutalized and terrorized by sexual violence. In Afghanistan — the denial of women’s basic rights is wrecking lives and depriving people of life-saving assistance. Two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, displaced and refugee women and girls are at increased risk of being preyed on by traffickers. In the Middle East, women and girls are disproportionately affected by the ongoing violence, bloodshed and displacement. Women and girls were among the many victims of the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Women and children are more than half the victims of the relentless bombing of Gaza.
The collective challenges before us are daunting. The figures speak for themselves on the dire state of our world: displacement due to violence, conflict and persecution at a record high; global military expenditure hitting a record-breaking of over USD 2.2 trillion. More than 600 million women and girls currently live in conflict-affected countries. The number of people forced to flee war and persecution has surpassed 110 million. Nearly a quarter of a century after the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325, women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in building peace remains an aspiration. In peace processes, negotiating parties continue to regularly exclude women, while atrocities, including brutal sexual violence against women and girls, continues to occur. Peace processes are still an almost exclusively male domain. Yet, the one thing that should be non-negotiable at the peace table is the participation of women. Of 18 peace agreements reached in 2022, only one was signed by a representative of a women’s group. Among the five UN-led or co-led peace processes in 2022, women’s representation stood at only 16 per cent, compared to 19 per cent in 2021 and 23 per cent in 2020. In peace processes led by Member States or other organizations, women were almost completely absent.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
With militarization on the march and democracy in retreat, we are witnessing shrinking civic space, virulent backlash against gender equality, rising reprisals against women’s rights defenders and journalists, and women’s civil society organizations chronically underfunded. It is estimated that between 70 and 90 percent of conflict-related sexual violence incidents involve the use of a weapon, in particular firearms. Yet less than one-third of voices heard in arms control forums are those of women. Women still remain marginalized from military decision-making. Impunity for war crimes against women, including sexual violence, remains the rule, and accountability the rare exception.
Women peacebuilders and human rights defenders continue to be targeted through gender-based hate speech and reprisals. New threats, misogynistic attacks and incitement to violence, are emerging from the largely ungoverned digital space, compounding the patterns and trends of conflict-related sexual violence and hampering the safe participation of women in public life. Amidst a world in chaos, the clock is ticking down to the twenty-fifth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000). The pioneers of the WPS agenda understood the links between equality, social stability, and durable peace. Resolution 1325 not only articulated a problem – it also prescribed a transformative solution. It forever changed the face of peace and security, by affirming that no conflict or crisis is gender neutral, and no effective response can be gender-blind. This grim backdrop, should give us all renewed urgency to efforts to ensure its full implementation. To protect hard-won gains, and pushback on the pushback, we need an urgent rebalancing of power and resources. Women have had enough of being shut out of the decisions that shape their lives; enough of their work going unrecognized; enough of threats and violence; and enough of promises left unfulfilled. Women demand concrete actions to make real strides forward.
As Parliamentarians, you have a critical role in finding solutions to these issues. You can all play a pivotal role in shifting this paradigm of women’s exclusion, to a context in which women can fully and meaningfully participate at all levels of decision-making on peace and security, and all levels of political and civil life. That requires pushing fair representation in national and local governments, cabinets and parliaments as well as setting ambitious targets for women on negotiating teams. Parliaments must continually expand the circle of allies and forge strategic partnerships with civil society and women’s organizations working to build peace at the local level. Women and their organizations are often present in regions where international actors are not. Women know exactly where the humanitarian corridors are and negotiate access with parties to the conflict. Everywhere, women are the first responders. Yet, many actors perceive them as new to this field. Women have always been at the grass-roots level and are trusted by local communities. It is therefore increasingly important to bridge this gap between the relevant work carried-out by women at the local level to build peace, resolve tensions ensure protection and assistance, with the policy-level scenarios where legislative frameworks are elaborated and adopted.
This alliance between women working on operational and policy responses is essential for many reasons:
1) to ensure that all forms of sexual violence as a tactic of war are criminalized;
2) to ensure that security sector actors are required by law to be gender-responsive; 3) to guarantee that women have a seat and are heard in peacemaking, security and reconciliation processes;
4) to amplify the rights, needs, and aspirations of survivors, not as passive beneficiaries, but as rights-holders, stakeholders, and the co-creators of solutions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
My mandate as Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict was established almost 15 years ago, though sexual violence has been part of every war from antiquity to the nuclear age. Important progress has been achieved: the Security Council has adopted a robust normative framework consisting of 10 resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, including no fewer than 5 specifically addressing conflict-related sexual violence, which recognized these crimes as a threat to collective security, an impediment to the restoration of peace, and a crime of concern to the international community as a whole. For the first time, wars were being looked at through the eyes of women and girls whose bodies had been part of the battlefield.
While significant normative and institutional progress has been achieved, words on paper are not yet matched by facts on the ground. Sexual violence continues to be used as a tactic of war, terrorism and political repression. The annual Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence for the year 2023, compiled by my Office, paints a disturbing picture of the gap between commitments and compliance, resolutions and reality, with an increase of 49 percent UN-verified cases from the previous year. To close the implementation gap, we must empower women’s organizations, and politically active women, including those working on the frontlines, and protect them from any form of reprisal. Women civil society activists are part of the irrepressible engine of this agenda, but they cannot drive peace processes when their own physical integrity, security, and rights are under threat. This can cause irreparable setbacks to achieve gender equality and sustainable peace.
Amidst a world in chaos, the clock is ticking down to the twenty-fifth anniversary of resolution 1325 and 30 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. We have a new momentum towards the recognition of gender equality and women’s empowerment at the heart of sustainable progress for all, with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need to implement the women, peace and security agenda in full, now. I urge you to make the most of the upcoming Summit of the Future in September, to push for progress on women, peace and security. The Summit is a chance to reform and revitalize multilateralism so that it meets the challenges of today with its “New Agenda for Peace” putting women’s leadership and participation at the centre of decision-making.
Many of you are coming to the table with new energy, new ideas, and new commitments. This is an important opportunity to shape the way in which we address our global challenges in the next decades. We need to translate the energy, commitment and focus on this room into concrete change on the ground and on the lives of women. It is time to write a new chapter- a new chapter guided by women’s leadership and participation that reflects the interests and needs of a historically excluded 50 percent of the population. The state of the world demands it. And women and girls, rightly, expect nothing less.
Thank you.