Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Women Building Peace in a Changing Environment
Madam President,
We welcome your participation in today's meeting. We thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bacchus for their assessments of the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. We note the contribution made to the debate by the representatives of civil society.
Russia is a pioneer in establishing and promoting the equality of men and women, and we have always welcomed women’s contribution to the work of the UN and to the implementation of its purposes and principles, among which peacekeeping plays an important role. Women's participation in peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes should be promoted and supported.
Women are not just immediate victims of any conflict who need protection, but they also bear the main brunt in protecting children and helping the elderly. Therefore, women have a stake in peace more than anyone else. Their contribution to formulating solutions to security problems, settling armed conflicts and post-conflict recovery cannot be overemphasized.
Women's participation leads to more sustained and trusting relationships in post-conflict societies, helps to prevent offences against women and children, facilitates follow-up measures to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims, and ultimately helps to avert recurring violence.
But involving women in peacekeeping is not a mechanical process, and it is not just about numbers and arithmetic balance. What is necessary here is to broaden interaction, first and foremost, with women living directly in conflict-affected areas, especially when it comes to internal armed conflicts.
It is important to avoid the politicization of women's participation in peacekeeping processes, whereby, owing to the efforts of donor countries and other external actors, the focus is shifted from the locals bearing the full brunt of the conflict to non-governmental organizations or individuals who are supposedly championing women's rights but de facto are implementing their sponsors’ agenda. Such approaches are not helpful in bringing peace, and should not be encouraged within the UN.
Overall, enhancing the role of women in peacebuilding processes should be part of a more comprehensive effort aimed at strengthening women's economic capacity. What we need to do in this regard is to facilitate women's access to education, employment, entrepreneurship, as well as their access to financial services and modern technology; we also need to support mothers and families.
In this context, we cannot ignore the issue of unilateral coercive measures that hinder post-conflict recovery, increase the vulnerability of women and children, deprive them of social protection, and sometimes simply lead to starvation. We call on the United Nations to actively monitor the adverse impact of such measures on all strata of society, to collect relevant data and not be afraid to make them part of the reports on specific situations.
Madam President,
In assessing the implementation of the WPS agenda, we cannot but note the unevenness of the UN's efforts. For example, we know that the agenda is being actively implemented in Africa. However, we do not know how it is being implemented in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict. We do not see any Security Council meetings on women in Gaza. Moreover, certain delegations do not seem to be enthusiastic about promoting WPS provisions in that conflict, although these very delegations traditionally call themselves champions of this agenda.
Madam President,
To conclude, I would like to emphasize that women's peacekeeping in a rapidly changing world should be part and parcel of strengthening national and regional efforts to ensure security and achieve lasting and stable peace. Russia stands ready for constructive cooperation so as to attain these goals.
I thank you for your attention.