Two years ago, I visited the HEAL Africa hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. I met a girl there who had been gang-raped by soldiers and left for dead.
On the day of my visit, she was one of ten such cases scheduled for surgery.
It is useful to meet with these victims but we have to hear more than the painful details of their ordeals. We need to listen closely to what they are asking for: The chance to send their children to school.
A safe path to walk on without fear of attack. Opportunities for a normal life.
HEAL Africa is helping these women and girls. So are similar projects across the continent, like the Panzi hospital [which] Dr. Mukwege is leading, and around the globe.
But even if we could stitch together all these efforts, that would never stop the suffering caused by sexual violence.
The suffering will only stop when we attack the problem at its source.
Some say the horrors of wartime rape are “unspeakable”. But as leaders we must speak out. Sexual violence thrives on silence and impunity.
This crime is not inherent to any one culture or continent; few of today's conflicts are free from these atrocities.
That means our challenge is to prevent the cycle of violence and vengeance, discrimination and disempowerment, rage and recrimination that give rise to rape as a tactic of war.
Both the United Nations and the African Union recognize that sexual violence in conflict is a political and security issue that demands a political and security response.
We also know that prevention is possible.
In Darfur, joint UNAMID firewood patrols have increased women's freedom of movement and cut the number of rapes.
In Liberia, the presence of female police has improved reporting and response.
The United Nations wants to work closely with the African Union and African troop contributors to better prepare our peacekeepers to respond to sexual violence as a security threat. We need Africa's leaders and leaders around the world to support this campaign.
Last month, the Security Council adopted a resolution to enhance accountability for conflict-related sexual violence.
The resolution was co-sponsored by more than 60 countries, including 10 African States. It signals that there will be consequences for sexual violence, including the listing of perpetrators and referrals to Sanctions Committees or international courts.
It also calls for armed groups to make commitments to combat sexual violence. The AU will be a key partner in devising a system to track these commitments.
Ultimately we have to create conditions where armed groups see sexual violence as a liability, rather than a tool in the struggle for power. .
We have to raise the cost of committing atrocities to the point where they harm the perpetrators even more than the victims.
That means that when a peace process begins, perpetrators are never permitted to get or to retain positions of military, political or economic influence.
Where sexual violence has been part of the fighting, ending it must be part of making peace.
Africa has some of the world's most progressive legal instruments to address this scourge and advance women's rights.
These include the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.
I also welcome the African Union's decision to make sure that its Peace and Security Council holds an annual session on the situation of women and children in armed conflict.
The challenge now is to ensure these laudable commitments are felt where they matter most, in the marketplaces where women trade, at water-points, and along the roads where girls walk to school.
At the dawn of the African Women's Decade, we look forward to women's greater contribution to shaping the destiny of this continent.
No region can realize its potential unless women and girls are able to realize theirs.
Thank you very much.