UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL 27 October 2005
Women, Peace and Security
Statement by H.E. Mr John Dauth LVO Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
(Check against delivery)
Mr President
Australia warmly welcomes the reaffirmation by leaders at the 2005 World Summit of their commitment to the full and effective implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
Their reaffirmation of the landmark resolution adopted five years ago demonstrates an increased international awareness of the gender dimensions of conflict and a recognition of the importance of women�€™s full involvement in all efforts to promote peace and security.
Women are often at the forefront of community-level conflict resolution and peacebuilding but are too often excluded from higher-level peace processes. We have seen the significant contribution that women can make to effective peacebuilding recently in both Bougainville and Solomon Islands and strongly encourage the participation of women in efforts at all levels to bring about and maintain peace and security. Australia strongly supports continued efforts to implement the resolution and is pleased to have contributed financially to the Secretary-General�€™s study on this issue.
Australia places importance on providing continued training on Resolution 1325 to personnel from within the Australian Defence Forces. In this regard, we welcome the Secretary-General�€™s new, comprehensive plan for reinforcing and integrating women�€™s issues into the world body�€™s peacekeeping and post-conflict operations. Greater sensitivity to the interests of women will also make a vital contribution to the challenge we face in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers �€“ an appalling situation and a blight on a key area of UN activity.
Through our aid program we are continuing to focus attention on implementing resolution 1325. We have developed a training module on conflict analysis and peace, as well as conflict impact assessments, which include gender components, for use in our development assistance programs, and we are continuing to incorporate the concepts of resolution 1325 into those programs.
Following the violence of 2000 in Solomon Islands, for example, the Community Peace and Restoration Fund, whose overarching goal was to contribute to the overall process of restoration of peace and development, provided a critical peace dividend for the entire population. It enabled the delivery of immediate direct and practical assistance to communities throughout the country and included 95 projects specifically for women.
Under our Solomon Islands program, we are also supporting a range of NGO activity focussed on supporting community resilience and promoting inter-community peace. We have supported the Peace Building and Women�€™s Empowerment Program which aims at promoting community-based trauma counselling initiatives, peacebuilding and reconciliation between communities.
In Sri Lanka we are funding a number of activities specifically designed to reduce the scope for conflict among communities. These include a program to address the impact of conflict on women. The program works with conflict affected women in the north and eastern districts, as well as displaced Muslims and women in Central Sri Lanka.
Mr President,
We recognise that progress has been made on the implementation of resolution 1325 and welcome the work done to date in this regard. However, we must continue to ensure the increased participation of women at all levels and all stages of peace operations and work towards greater involvement of women in peacebuilding efforts. Australia reaffirms its commitment to playing its role in achieving this objective.