Including Women in Leadership, Decision Making Engenders Peace, Benefits Everyone, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Security Council Open Debate

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Security Council open debate on women, peace and security:  “Strengthening Women’s Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups”, in New York today:

I thank Gabon for organizing this important debate on “strengthening women’s resilience and leadership as a path to peace in regions plagued by armed groups”.  We cannot separate the perilous state of peace in our world from the destructive effects of patriarchy and the silencing of women’s voices.

The challenges we face today — from proliferating conflicts to worsening assaults on human rights – are in many ways connected to the trampling of women’s rights and to deeply ingrained misogyny around the world.  We must call out this misogyny as it manifests itself in the abuse and discrimination that women confront on the street, at home, at work, as well as online.

But, we must also challenge the social, political and economic structures and norms that sustain it.  We must stand firmly against armed groups who use violence as a weapon of war — and misogyny as part of their propaganda, recruitment and fundraising tactics.

Women and girls are often the primary targets of violence and abuse in conflict settings.  They must be in the vanguard of our response.  Study after study has demonstrated that when we strengthen women’s resilience and leadership, everyone benefits – including men and boys.

Women are more likely to foster inclusive modes of governance and coexistence; more likely to build peace and silence the guns; and more likely to invest in sustainable development — a cornerstone of peaceful, prosperous communities and societies.

The participation of women at all levels — from local communities to national parliaments — has played a pivotal role in changing the way we approach peace and security over the last 20 years.

But, progress has been slow.  Between 1995 and 2019, the percentage of peace agreements with gender equality provisions increased from 14 to 22 per cent.  Four peace agreements out of five still ignore gender equality.  And there remains a disconnect at decision-making levels.

Around the same time period, women constituted on average just 13 per cent of negotiators, 6 per cent of mediators and 6 per cent of signatories in major peace processes.  Seven out of every 10 peace processes did not include any women mediators or signatories.

Women’s participation in peace processes, and influence over decisions that affect their lives, continue to lag far behind, creating a real barrier to inclusive, durable and sustainable peace.

We must do better.  This means:  Dismantling patriarchal norms that exclude women from power.  Putting forward more women mediators and negotiators.  Establishing more regular and formal exchanges with women mediators to continuously improve our approach.  And securing greater and more predictable financing.

Today, women peacebuilders mediate disputes, defuse tensions and save lives in the hardest to reach places, yet their front-line work remains consistently underfunded.

The Secretary-General has identified five transformative actions for the decade ahead on women’s rights.  I urge you all to implement these without delay.  He has urged special attention to be paid to protecting women human rights defenders, who face rising threats, reprisals and violence.  These brave women are at the vanguard of the women, peace and security agenda.  For its part, the United Nations is acting to protect women leaders and human rights activists around the world.

In Afghanistan, the United Nations [Assistance] Mission has publicly condemned violence against women human rights defenders — including extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and torture.  The Mission is engaging with the de facto authorities to advocate for the protection of human rights of all Afghans, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity.

Our Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund — which has already supported over 600 local women’s organizations in crisis settings — has opened a special window to support women activists at risk.  And across the world, we are pushing for women’s meaningful representation and participation in peace-making efforts — with some success.

In Sudan, the mission’s strategy for a gender responsive process included a 40 per cent target of women in delegations to the peace talks.  This year, the mission facilitated the formation of a women’s rights group which will participate in the next phase of political talks.

Our political and peacekeeping missions promote women’s participation in elections in conflict-affected countries, including by protecting women candidates from violence.  In the Central African Republic, a female candidate for Parliament alerted us that she was under threat.  Peacekeepers arrived swiftly, and the armed actors left.  Today, that former candidate is a member of Parliament.

In Mali, years of coordinated advocacy by women’s organizations, the United Nations, and this Council have contributed to significantly increasing the share of women in the Peace Agreement Monitoring Committee, from 3 per cent to 38 per cent.  We must build on these examples.  And we count on Members of this Council to do the same, using their influence to move the women, peace and security agenda forward.

The women, peace and security agenda is not just an answer to historic wrongs and marginalization, but an opportunity to do things differently.  When we open the door to inclusion and participation, we take a giant step forward in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding.

Yet, despite decades of evidence that gender equality offers a path to sustainable peace and conflict prevention, we are moving in the opposite direction.  We need full gender parity — including through special quotas to accelerate the inclusion of women — across election monitoring, security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and justice systems.

At this time of peril, conflicts and crises, we must pursue proven strategies for peace and stability.  Protecting women’s rights and promoting women’s inclusion is such a strategy.  Today, let us re-commit to put women’s participation at the centre of everything we do — everywhere.  Thank you.