We thank all briefers for their interventions.
The objective of today’s debate is to address the main achievements and challenges in the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. I would focus on the following:
The foundation of the WPS agenda is built on human rights. Violations of human rights are recognised as one of the triggers for conflict. Restrictions on women’s full enjoyment of human rights and the absence of gender equality increase the risks faced by them in conflict and undermine their full, equal and meaningful participation in peace processes. Women’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is equally relevant in conflict and can be life-saving for survivors of sexual violence. Pushback on the human rights of women weakens also the Women, Peace and Security agenda. We cannot accept this.
Implementation and accountability. All of us have taken concrete commitments on WPS – nationally, regionally, in the UN and as the Security Council. Our record of keeping them is mixed. We welcome steps to increase accountability for the implementation of WPS related actions. This was one of the reasons for Estonia’s decision to join the Generation Equality Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action as a catalytic member. We are also preparing Estonia’s third national action plan on Women, Peace and Security. We welcome the report by the Secretary-General and its recommendations.
Making WPS an integral part of each Council discussion and outcome. The Council has taken a clear decision in this regard. Yet often it is not able to agree to live up to its decision in mandate renewals and country-specific resolutions. We also need to improve our follow-up on the deliberations and recommendations arising from the Informal Expert Group.
The data is clear – the inclusion of women increases chances for sustainable peace and thus the effectiveness of Council action. Yet women constituted, on average, no more than 13 per cent of negotiators and only 6 per cent of signatories in major peace processes between 1992 and 2019, and this proportion remains low. With shrinking political, civic, and physical space for women’s participation the Council needs to speak up for this clearly.
Cooperation of various stakeholders, in particular the key role of civil society organisations and women peacebuilders. The WPS agenda would not have come into being and it would not be possible to make it a reality without them. The cooperation of diverse women civil society representatives with the Council needs to be broader and more meaningful. We need political will and joint action to stand up to threats and reprisals against women human rights defenders. The UN has verified that in the four years leading up to 2019 102 women human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionist were killed for their work; in reality this is an undercount.
Resources. We need to back up commitments with funding. For the UN peacekeeping and political missions this includes supporting women protection advisors, gender advisors and human rights officers. It also means adequate resourcing and gender expertise in all sanctions expert groups. Furthermore it entails support to women’s organisations and initiatives.
Each of these challenges has been multiplied by the COVID-epidemic.
The Secretary-General pointed out that there have been notable achievements on Women, Peace and Security, but this progress has been ‘too slow, too narrow, with setbacks and easy to reverse’. As a member of the Security Council, which adopted resolution 1325 20 years ago, we reaffirm our conviction that we need to do better and that we cannot take a step back from the clear commitments that we have made.