Statement by Mr.Gennady Kuzmin, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council on Promoting the implementation of the women and peace and security agenda and sustaining peace through women’s political and economic empowerment
We would like to thank you for organizing today’s meeting, Mr. President, as well as the SecretaryGeneral and the Executive Director of UN-Women, for their participation in our discussion.
Our thanks also go to to Ms. Randa Siniora Atallah for her participation. The Secretary-General’s report (S/2018/900) presents a fairly complete and objective picture of the state of affairs in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), as well as subsequent resolutions aimed at protecting women in armed conflict, enhancing their role in peace processes and unlocking their potential.
If I may, I would like to note that as part of its consideration of the agenda item on women and peace and security, the Security Council should focus specifically on issues directly related to establishing and maintaining international peace and security. In our view, attempts to exploit these issues — in order to advance the cause in the Council of human rights and gender issues traditionally covered by other bodies of our Organization such as the General Assembly, the Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights Council and the Commission on the Status of Women — are damaging and unfounded.
Such tactics lead to pointless duplication of effort and an imbalance in our system’s overall coordination, and ultimately create obstacles to the effective implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). The Russian Federation consistently supports all measures aimed at increasing the influence of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, as well as women’s active participation in peace negotiations and electoral processes. The key document in the context of post-conflict restoration is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which, together with the Security Council resolutions on women and peace and security, establishes the essential legal and political basis for effective cooperation.
At the same time, the classic negotiating process, founded on the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, with its effectiveness confirmed and in demand among Member States, has in no way lost its relevance. Our task is to create the conditions for the full inclusion of women in every possible aspect of that process. Considering the importance of this topic, we would like to thank the Secretary-General for his proposals for organizing the work of the departments of the Secretariat in preparation for the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000).
While a comprehensive review of actions for implementing the women and peace and security agenda in the upcoming period will be extremely helpful, it will be important to focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the performance of the relevant areas of the Secretariat while sticking strictly to the principle of the division of labour. In that regard, we expect to see information on the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Secretariat’s gender parity programme, and an expansion of the number of specialist advisers in peacekeeping missions and other United Nations country offices.
We hope that in the framework of the forthcoming review, proposals and assessments from Member States, including those dealing with armed conflicts, will be considered from the point of view of the practical implementation of Security Council resolutions in the area. We would like to say a few words about the practice of developing regional and national strategies and establishing national structures for implementing this issue. We firmly believe that such measures should be adopted out of objective necessity owing to the existence of an armed conflict or post-conflict settlement.
Unfortunately, we cannot support a policy of mathematically enlarging this or that bureaucratic structure in the absence of conflict, threats of infringements on the rights of women or crimes committed against them. In my opinion, today’s discussion clearly demonstrates the substantial progress that has been made in creating equal opportunities for women’s active participation in the maintenance of peace and security, as well as enhancing their role in decision-making.
We are ready to continue constructive dialogue on the subject.
