Women and peace and security/SecGen report – SecCo meeting – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Provisional

Security Council

Sixtieth year

5294th meeting

Thursday, 27 October 2005, 3 p.m.

New York    

Agenda

Women and peace and security 

  Report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security (S/2006/770)

  The meeting resumed at 3.05 p.m.

/…

  The President : I thank the representative of the Sudan for the kind words he addressed to the presidency.   Next I call on the representative of Israel.

 Mrs. Shahar (Israel): …

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  It may be worthwhile to note that some of the key mediators currently involved in promoting the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are women, among them our very own Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni; United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Greek Foreign Minister Theodora Bakoyannis, who chaired a special meeting of the Security Council just last month; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; the British Foreign Secretary and many other prominent women — women who are today the effective stewards of a political peace initiative in our region. These extraordinarily competent women, drawing on their own skills and, hopefully, on the work of the resilient and vigorous Israeli-Palestinian women’s peace movement, bring a renewed energy and dynamism to the negotiations.

  However, the election of Hamas, a terrorist organization, to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority has stalled the negotiation process. Additionally, it has made the identification of women leaders and representatives to peace negotiations from the Palestinian side all the more difficult.

  On the other hand, there is a visible movement of Israeli women, from across civil society and the political spectrum, advocating for peace. The recognition and effectiveness of such advocacy organizations and non-governmental organizations is a testament to the vibrancy of Israeli democracy and pluralism. Israel takes great pride in their leadership.

  More specifically, in the spirit of resolution 1325 (2000), Israeli and Palestinian women, under the auspices of the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Peace, met again this year here in New York. Their recent visit, which took place last month during the opening of the session, at the time of the general debate, facilitated meetings with key players in regional and peace negotiations, in an effort to restart dialogue and open more channels.

  Israel is determined that women should play an increasingly active role in peace negotiations, and we are committed to advancing the role of women in all aspects of society. We are hopeful that an enhanced role for women in peace negotiations will build lasting bridges of understanding with our neighbours and allow for the reopening of a dialogue to rejuvenate the prospects for peace.

  As Golda Meir, Israel’s only woman Prime Minister to date, once said: “The only alternative to war is peace. The only road to peace is negotiation.”

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   The meeting rose at 6.15 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council . Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A.