New York, New York — AS DELIVERED
Thank you so much, Madam President. And I want to thank Switzerland for bringing us together on this important topic; it’s really fitting that we gather today on United Nations Day. Thank you, also, Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed, for your presentation, as well as Executive Director Bahous, and the other briefers, for your critical contributions to our discussion today.
Madam President, Colleagues, as we mark 24 years of Resolution 1325, I find myself thinking about the moment the text was adopted. Then, like now, we saw horrific civil war in Sudan and increasing violence in Myanmar. Devastating conflict in Gaza and Israel and the rest of the Middle East, draconian repression in Afghanistan, and now an unprovoked war in Ukraine. Then, as now, women and girls bore the brunt of conflict. But then, as now, women were also the key to ending it – and preventing it in the first place.
The landmark women, peace, and security resolution codified the pivotal role women play in peacebuilding. And in the time since, the Security Council and the UN have only further incorporated the framework in our efforts. It has made a difference. But more needs to be done.
Before its adoption, women comprised somewhere between one and two percent of all peacekeepers. That number has increased almost tenfold. But really it ought to be a hundredfold. Between 1990 and 2000, only 12 percent of peace agreements referenced women; now, that number is 33 percent. But it should be 100 percent.
Women have increasing representation in the halls of justice and legislative bodies, grassroots-level peacekeeping efforts and local law enforcement. And of course, there are over 40 women leading their country’s missions in the United Nations, including the Fab Five here in the Security Council. But again, the numbers could, and should be higher.
This representation isn’t just good in and of itself. We have seen that when women are involved in the peacebuilding process, in the United Nations, and beyond it. The result is a more just and durable peace.
Take Liberia, which was ensconced in civil war 25 years ago. I remember vividly the images of women and girls gathering in the streets to demand an end to the violence, and I was there as they rebuilt democracy in the years to come, a democracy that persists to this day.
Still: as the Secretary-General’s report made clear, not every country is so lucky. Progress has been rolled back; inequalities remain entrenched, including in the UN system.
Indeed, the striking similarities between the world two and half decades ago and the world today just go to show: there is so much more work to be done.
We have the responsibility to root out injustice and inequity within the UN system, so we can live up to the potential of the WPS agenda.
I believe there are three keys to doing just that, what I’d like to call the three “I’s”: investment, initiative, and implementation.
And let’s start with the first: investment. Simply put, we need to provide the resources needed to mitigate the crises of today and address the day after.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s recommendations for increased WPS funding at the national, regional, and local levels.
The United States continues to answer this call: whether committing resources to government-led WPS Centers, or investing in Rapid Response Funds to support women’s participation in politics and public life.
All of this is in addition to the nearly $40 million dollars we have given to the UN’s Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund.
In addition to funds, we also need to lend political will. And that brings me to my second “I”: initiative. That is, pushing the envelope on the WPS agenda, in our own respective countries, and within the multilateral system.
That was the impetus behind the United States’ 2017 WPS Act, a legal framework to guide our thinking at home and abroad. Since its passage, we have launched partnerships with UN Women to help Ukraine implement its WPS National Action Plan and Ethiopia create a more gender-inclusive Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
We have centered the perspectives of women peacebuilders, gender-based violence first responders, and civil society leaders in Sudan, as we work to end the war and the catastrophic humanitarian situation it has created.
And we have collaborated with the High Commissioner for Human Rights to create a first-of-its-kind policy framework for the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, including measures to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, establish a Gender Advisory position, and incorporate an action plan on women’s participation and protection.
We remain eager to work within the Council to ensure the WPS resolution fulfills its full potential.
It was for that reason that the United States signed onto the Common Pledge to Increase Women’s Full, Equal, and Meaningful Participation in Peace Processes, and it’s why, along with ten other members of the Council, we signed and advanced a statement of Shared Commitments on WPS. And we encourage newly-elected members to do the same.
Finally, we get to the third “I”: implementation – the most important of the three. We must commit to not just talking about WPS commitments, but implementation of the WPS agenda. We must commit to protecting and promoting the fundamental freedoms of women and girls, including women and girls from minority racial and religious communities, the disability community, and the LGBTQI plus community.
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We join the Secretary-General in urging accountability for those who violate women’s human rights: whether it’s the Taliban seeking to erase women from public life in Afghanistan or generals using rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan.
Colleagues, the world is not as different from 2000 as we would like it to be, as women and girls deserve it to be. But if we invest in, take initiative on, and fully implement the WPS agenda, we can chart the course towards a more secure and peaceful future, for women and girls, and for all of us.
Let me end by sharing that this morning, I had the opportunity to meet with three extraordinary women who were awarded the State Department’s Global Anti-Racism Champion Award, Urmila Chaudhary, a Nepali human rights defender; Tanya Duarte, an Afro-Mexican feminist and anti-racist activist; and Tomasa [Yarhui] Jacome, an indigenous human rights defender and politician in Bolivia, all of whom demonstrated our need to support and commit to the WPS agenda.
I promised them this morning that I would amplify their voices here in the Security Council today, and I thank them for the extraordinary work that they do. And I thank you all for your commitment. Thank you.
