Women and Peace and Security - Security Council, 10175th meeting

The 10,175th meeting of the Security Council is called to order. The provisional agenda for this meeting is Women and Peace and Security. Peace is decided with women emerging from conflict by enhancing their participation. I would like to warmly welcome the distinguished high-level representatives present in the Security Council chamber. Your presence today underscores the importance of the subject matter under discussion. Before each of you is a list of speakers who have requested to participate in accordance with Rule 37 of the Council's Provisional Rules of Procedure, as well as Rule 39. And also pursuant to previous practice of the Council in this regard. I propose that they be invited to participate in this meeting. There being no objections, it is so decided. In accordance with Rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting. Ms. Sima Sami Bahus, Executive Director of UN Women. Ms. Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Laureate and founder and president of the Gubawi Peace Foundation Africa, and Ms. Kavia Osoka, Executive Director of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. It is so decided. In accordance with Rule 39 of the Council's Provisional Rules of Procedure, I also invite His Excellency Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. It is so decided. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of Item 2 of the agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2026/477, a letter dated 9 June 2026 from the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration. I now give the floor to Ms. Sima Sami Behoos.

Madam President, Excellencies, I thank Colombia for holding this session and for the invitation to address this council this morning. I also thank Her Excellency Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio for her leadership and her presence here with us today. In a world that is ever more impacted by crisis, the need for solutions, for pathways to peace, has never been more urgent. Yet we continue to overlook one of the most proven. Gender equality and women's empowerment is among the most powerful approaches to achieving peace. Thank you. This is neither speculation nor ideology. It is empirically robust, tested time and again, each time reaffirming its value in addressing crises and conflicts. Excellencies, it has been over two decades since the Women, Peace and Security Agenda was adopted in this Council through Security Council Resolution 1325.

Thank you.

We have done countless studies since then, and we have heard firsthand in this Council and elsewhere of the lessons learnt. When women are safe, nations are more peaceful. Attitudes towards women and gender equality best predict political violence, extremism, and terrorism. Where women are excluded from public life and employment, the risk of conflict rises. Strong women's movements reduce violence before, during, and after conflict. Women in security and peacekeeping improve performance and accountability. Rolling back women's rights is an early warning of conflict and authoritarianism. And peace is more likely to be reached faster and to last longer when women are at the table. Madam President, Excellencies, we know all this. That is why when we pursue peace without women's voices, without women at the table leading alongside men, our efforts become compromised. They become fragile and ultimately not serious. We face today the highest number of conflicts since the United Nations' founding across every region, from Afghanistan to Haiti to Myanmar to Lebanon to Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond. Unprecedented in number and scale of humanitarian and geopolitical impact, a full quarter of humanity today live lives of terror, uncertainty, and insecurity.

Thank you.

These are conflicts women neither choose nor lead, yet for which they pay the highest price while excluded from diplomatic efforts to end them. This is true of the conflict in Sudan, the world's largest humanitarian crisis, one where the atrocities committed against women and girls shame humanity. And yet across myriad diplomatic initiatives, not one Sudanese woman has taken part in actual negotiations. True also in Ukraine, where the war grows ever deadlier for women and girls, and only men featured in all rounds of peace talks. We see the same trend in the fragile ceasefires in Lebanon, in Palestine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more. All this as our new mediation landscape sidelines the United Nations. Making women's exclusion worse. The United Nations had achieved between 16 and 23% women's participation in UN-led processes in the past 5 years. Too low, yes, but still double the global average when all mediation processes are counted. And the UN had placed women in positions of chief mediator including in all the processes it has led last year, and nearly half of mediation expertise deployed being women. But this promise down the path to genuine gender equality in the pursuit of peace matters far less when the United Nations' role is increasingly being sidelined, when this multilateral system is under immense pressure.

Thank you.

I remind us that the United Nations led a mere 3 peace processes last year. 15 years ago, it had led 14 peace processes. Women are disappearing from peace and mediation processes. I am sure this is something we will all come to regret. Esteemed members of the Security Council, there is an alternative. Less than 2 years ago, the Secretary-General launched a Common Pledge on Women's Participation in Peace Processes. 43 Member States, regional organizations, and mediation actors have joined, including some of you here today. Many are mediating the peace processes I mentioned above. I call on others to join. And I call on those— all those who have joined to to endorse the target of a minimum one-third of women's representation advocated by the Secretary-General and the CEDAW parity goal of General Recommendation 40. And to routinely report, including here, at the Security Council and the WPS meetings, on the gender composition of talks they broker or they support, the measures taken for women's direct inclusion, and the barriers faced in going beyond tokenistic inclusion and meetings on the margin. Acting on those opportunities would make a difference in high-level diplomacy in our current mediation landscape. But equally important is to strengthen our support to women-led mediation at the community level. In Sudan, UN Women surveyed 85 women-led organizations lately, Nearly half were involved in community mediation, countering hate speech, de-escalating tensions among different displaced populations and host communities, convincing local youth to disarm. In Afghanistan, under the worst conditions for women and girls globally, we have found ways to work with more than 200 women organizations, including women human rights defenders. Thank you. Community leaders, journalists, and more who are still advocating for their rights. They negotiate with the local authorities and deliver psychosocial support and essential aid to the most marginalized and vulnerable women and girls. In Lebanon, we found that 80% of women peacebuilders are contributing to the response to the recent escalation without any funding.

Thank you.

What is true in Afghanistan, in Lebanon, in Sudan, and beyond is true for every country on the agenda of this Council. Imagine what more these women and their organizations could achieve with the support they need and they deserve. Excellencies, both despite and because of these challenges, we remain by your side as partners, from your high-level diplomacy to support of community-level mediation. The role of UN Women was able to play in the negotiations for the Havana Peace Agreement is high among our achievements, and we are proud of it. That agreement ended 52 years of conflict, and UN Women's recognition in the peace agreement itself gives us fresh impetus as we continue to make our contribution to peace and security. We look forward to continuing to support Colombia on the path to an ever more peaceful and prosperous future. And we know that where countries have prioritized gender equality, they have better emerged from conflict, better prevented relapse, better served their nations and peoples, spared them war, and made possible the enjoyment of peace. I look forward to today, to hearing more of the lessons learned, more of those experiences, and more examples that inspire us all. Madam President, women are the largest and most reliable constituency for peace, and we are failing not only them but everyone through their exclusion from decision-making at a time where we need them most. Thank you. We are undermining peace today, sabotaging peace tomorrow. We can and must choose differently. This imperative seems ever more urgent and the costs of inaction ever greater— costs measured in failed agreements, in broken ceasefires, and transitions that have not delivered. Women are ready, Excellencies. They have waited more than long enough.

Thank you.

I thank Ms. Bajous for her briefing. And now I give the floor to Ms. Leymah Gbowee.

Adelante.

Please go ahead.

Thank you, Madam President. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues from civil society, ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to have been invited by Columbia, and I'd like to say thank you for having me. I would like to take this moment to express solidarity with women across the world that continue to suffer injustices and abuse. Women who find themselves unable to make choices related to their reproductive rights, to education, leadership, peace and security. Women who are bound by the shackles of violence and war in places where peace remains a mist and a dream. Those sisters who, despite the challenges they have endured on a daily basis, wake up every morning and are determined— Good morning. That they would bring their communities closer to peace through their actions. In 1994, as a young social work student, I was assigned to the Ministry of Health to work with women refugees from Sierra Leone. Every day I would walk into the room and see these women huddled together working on their community peace plan. They were not preparing for the refugee life that they lived. They were preparing for their return to Sierra Leone and planning the ways they would transform their society. Each and every one of those women carries scars, both physically and psychologically, but that was not a deterrent for them planning to build peace in a nation that had been ravaged by war. I was very cynical, especially as a young woman living in Liberia through war at the time. How could they be enthusiastic about their plan to build peace? I couldn't help but think about the driving force behind their actions. How can women who have been raped, abused, misused still carry such a light about peace and security? How could they still consider engaging with the perpetrators of these hideous crimes? Over time, they saw my cynicism and said to me that the philosophy and peace that we need, the philosophy of peace that we need could only come if we women banded together and brought and worked for peace in our community. By that time, by the time the Security Council resolution was adopted in 2000, 6 years after my encounters with the women of Sierra Leone, I had become thoroughly acquainted with the pervasive violence and the dire consequences it had on women, men, girls, and boys. No one is spared from the consequence and pain of war.

Thank you.

But the women and girls in conflict-affected countries have suffered, continue to suffer from widespread atrocities, discrimination, violence, including sexual violence, rape, and mutilation, to mention a few. Even with the efforts that numerous stakeholders have put into achieving the goals of Resolution 1325 and the integration of its principles into legal policy framework, at the national, regional, and continental levels, it cannot be said that we have effectively achieved anything across the world. The conversation around peace and peace processes still primarily are limited to men with political power and men with guns. The common slogans like "Men make war, they should make peace" are tired and untrue.

Thank you.

It has been proven countless times that men make war but are unable to make peace themselves. On the other hand, women have proven repeatedly that they are competent in peace and security processes at all levels. Decades ago, the Mana River Women Peace Network in West Africa led the way for shuttle diplomacy and high-level mediation. In 2003, the Women Peacebuilding Network Me being a part of them, engage in inter-religious mass protest and advocacy. The evidence is clear. When women participate meaningfully in peace processes, peace agreements are more durable, communities recover more quickly, society become resilient. Women are not victims to be protected alone. They are leaders, mediators, negotiators, and architects of peace. Thank you. Liberia as a nation is evidence of Women, Peace and Security in action. This year marks 23 years since the signing of the peace agreement. We have not gone back to war. Liberia stands as a shining example of when women are involved in peace processes, those processes last. This is not by magic, but by the consistent engagement of women during many post-war processes that had the potential to threaten the peace of Liberia. Liberia has had 4 post-war elections that were hardly contested, but transitions were smooth, thanks to the swift collective ingenuity of women peacebuilders from across all aisles. The gains that have been made did not come on flower bed of ease, but rather through hard work, and most time without funding and recognition. Thank you. Madam President, Your Excellencies, dear delegates, 25 years since the passage of the Security Council Resolution 1325, we continue to see stakeholders exclude women who consist of over 50% of all of the population or most population. How do you change the dynamics of a particular situation without engaging and utilizing all of the resources at your disposal? Today, I urge the Council to move from commitment to implementation. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda is not a dormant agenda. It is an actionable agenda. If we collectively put measures in place, we can attain global peace as women, using women as champions. Today, I recommend one, that we engage local women peace activists at the very beginning. Of peace mission. Partner with them. Seek their counsel as they are the custodians of their communities, hence the keepers of vital information. Most importantly, invest in their peacebuilding activities. Their work is the most important in most communities. Please, please, please, stop giving us the dregs of funding. You can't make war with millions and make peace with peanuts. Thank you. Bring women peace builders at the peace table, both as negotiators and mediators. It amazes me that only men with guns are invited to find solution to the war, whilst women who bear the greatest brunt are often invited as observers. The impact of conflict on the lives of women qualifies them for more than observer status as peacekeepers. Number 3, prioritize young women and girls.

The—

should be education, leadership opportunity, and the confidence to participate in public life. It's time for us, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Madam President, to move from political rhetorics. It is okay to have national action plan on 1325, but without— Without funding and political will to move forward, it remains a toothless bulldog. Madam President, Excellencies, peace is not merely the absence of war. Peace is the present conditions that give dignity to all. Let us build a future where every girl knows that her voice matters, every woman has a seat at the table, and every peace process recognizes that women are not an afterthought. They are essential partners in creating and sustaining peace. I thank you all.

I would like to thank Ms. Gbowee for her briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Kavya Ahsoka.

Eya e.

And she is the Executive Director of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security.

President, Excellencies, thank you for the opportunity to brief you today. I'm Kavya Ashok, and I lead the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, an international civil society coalition advocating for women's rights. Our members joined others in advocating for Resolution 1325 over 25 years ago, not only because we believed it was time for the Security Council to recognize women's right to fully participate in any discussions about their future, but also because we believed that this Council has an obligation to support this right. Today, as we face an intensifying, organized, and well-funded global backlash against gender justice and women's rights, women's participation is more important than ever because feminist movements are on the front lines of resistance to war and authoritarianism.

Thank you.

Without them, there can be no democracy or peace. Excellencies, since the very beginning, women's participation in peacemaking has been a founding principle of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and a collective demand of women leaders, many of whom my organization has proudly supported to brief the Security Council for over two decades. I want to begin by reminding you of what many of them have said. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yanar Mohammed, a prominent Iraqi woman leader, asked in 2015 what Iraq would have looked like if the Council had promoted an inclusive political process as women and marginalized groups had called for. She described how their continued exclusion paved the way for the creation of ISIS and its horrific abuses. She told you that Iraq could not wait another 15 years for the Women, Peace and Security Agenda to be implemented. Yet today, Iraqi women human rights defenders are being targeted with violence and hate campaigns, and even the word gender is now prohibited by the authorities, making women's participation or advocacy on gender-related issues all but impossible. Earlier this year, Yanar was assassinated at her home in Baghdad. To date, the perpetrators have yet to be identified, or held to account. At the same meeting in 2015, you heard from Julienne Lissengue from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who described women's exclusion from peace talks with the M23. Do you know what the response was, she asked, when women in North Kivu demanded their rightful place at the table? They were told, "There are only two parties in this conflict. Either you are part of the government or you are part of the M23. Armed actors were invited to negotiations. Women were not. Julian called on the international community to make women's participation a requirement in peace processes. 11 years later, amid renewed conflict with the M23, Congolese women's civil society are still being denied their place at the table. In 2019, Alaa Salah, who participated in the women-led uprising that ousted the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, called on the international community to support the demand of Sudanese women to have 50% representation across all peace processes and all levels of government. Sudanese women were ambitious and correct, but the international community failed them, allowing the military and armed groups to hijack the transition, rather than centering inclusivity and justice as the basis for Sudan's political future. We see the results today. As feminist leader Hala Al-Karib recently told you, Sudanese women bear the brunt of more than 3 years of renewed conflict fueled by unchecked external interference and blatant disregard for this Council's own arms embargo. Despite being on the front lines of community response, Sudanese women are excluded from official peace peace negotiations. Sherazad Akbar in 2023 described to you the Taliban's regime of systematic institutionalized gender-based repression, a system that Afghan women and international experts call gender apartheid. She outlined the Taliban's dystopian vision, an Afghanistan without ballot boxes, the media, rule of law, or of course, any rights for women. With over 230 edicts targeting women, the recent imposition of a repressive criminal procedure code, and just days ago, the Taliban's deadly retaliation against women in Herat who protested their draconian dress code, that vision of a public sphere without women is materializing before us today. In December, one year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime, Mariam Jalabi told you what it was like to return to a free Syria, from being wanted by 3 security branches to being welcomed home at the border. She recounted how Syrian women not only survived 54 years of brutal dictatorship, but played a leading role in advocating for human rights and international accountability, including for missing persons. She was clear that the Security Council must advocate for women's participation in Syria's democratic transition.

Thank you.

Last year, Noura Erakat described reproductive violence and genocide by Israel in Gaza and reminded you not to permit brute power to unravel our humanity. She called on you to ensure that Palestinians, especially women, are at the helm of their own political future. She asked you to take courage from the Palestinian women who refused to surrender. Despite these consistent messages from women leaders to the international community about what should be done, women's exclusion from peace processes and political leadership is still the norm. While UN-supported peace processes may have higher levels of women's participation, these are barely 6% of peace processes worldwide. And in situations like Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and Ukraine, this council has barely considered the question of women's rights let alone their participation in peace talks. Ahead of today's meeting, our coalition surveyed women's rights activists across conflicts and crises to ask them what the main barriers to their participation are and what support they need from all of you, the international community. Despite the different contexts they come from, the challenges they described were much the same. Unbridled militarization and conflict, flagrant violations of international law, deeply rooted patriarchal norms in their societies, laws, and institutions, male-dominated political structures that exclude women from peacemaking, unprecedented attacks on women's rights, including sexual and gender-based violence and retaliation against women for participating in public and political life, lack of funding, and little political will or accountability for those perpetuating their exclusion.

Thank you.

In other words, they reinforced what women's civil society have been telling you for 25 years. So what can you, the Security Council, do? First, uphold international law, including WPS norms. In 2025, only 46% of Security Council decisions contained any language related to women, peace, and security, the lowest since 2009.

Thank you.

Well-established international norms on gender equality, preventing gender-based violence, women's participation, and sexual and reproductive health and rights, among other issues, were repeatedly contested, rolled back, and actively removed from Council decisions. As you know, this has continued into 2026. Further, every day we see international law increasingly trampled in favor of narrow interests. Including by several members of this Council, who are not only violating the UN Charter themselves, but constraining the ability of the Council to do its job. So I want to be clear that disregard for international law and its specific protections for women and girls means no accountability, no peace, and a breakdown of the international system. Women's rights in their entirety, including their reproductive autonomy, must be upheld as a necessary condition for their participation representation in public life. Defending women's rights today means that member states must speak out when the human rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people, the independent voices of civil society, and the integrity of the multilateral system are under attack. While the political cost of holding the line on these issues may be great, the cost of dismantling the norms we have collectively built will be far greater. Thank you. Second, create the conditions for women's participation. As Wai Wai Nu, a former political prisoner from Myanmar, told you in 2024, women cannot take part in public and political life if the conditions for their participation do not exist. Empty condemnation of attacks against civilians while continuing to arm violence against them is unacceptable. Member States must commit to stopping arms transfers when there is a substantial risk that they may be used to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence, genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes in line with the Arms Trade Treaty. Further, member states should publicly condemn all violations of women's rights and hold perpetrators accountable. We also urge you to pursue accountability strategies that center gender justice, including codifying gender apartheid in the new Crimes Against Humanity Treaty, supporting prosecutions of gender persecution at the International Criminal Court, and ensuring accountability for violations of CEDAW at the International Court of Justice. The standards you set and defend today can help prosecute crimes tomorrow. Three, insist on women at the table. This means direct inclusion of diverse women, including women human rights defenders, peacebuilders, and feminist movements at all levels of decision-making, including Track I processes with the target of 50%. Indeed, equal means 50%. Women's participation must be politically supported and fully resourced. Quotas for women's participation must be established and enforced. Women's full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in peace processes, especially those supported by the UN, must be a standard requirement. No member state nor the UN should endorse, facilitate, or participate in peace processes where women are absent.

Thank you.

Further, you must ensure a zero tolerance approach to any form of attack or reprisal against women for their political participation, human rights and humanitarian work, peacebuilding activities, or cooperation with the UN, including the Security Council. Do not allow protection concerns to push women out of spaces where they belong. I urge you to keep these principles front and center as you consider women's participation in peace or political processes in every situation on this Council's agenda, from Syria to Afghanistan, from Sudan to Myanmar, from Yemen to South Sudan. Excellencies, the costs of women's exclusion from decision-making are crystal clear: repeated cycles of violence, less representative political systems, fewer checks on those in power, and more repressive societies. If there is one thing we can learn from the women leaders I have mentioned today, and 25 years of Women, Peace and Security, it is how essential women's participation and feminist mobilization is for democracy and for peace. Yanar, the feminist activist from Iraq whose testimony I began my statement with today, embodied this principle. For decades, she lived under constant threat as anti-rights and fundamentalist forces tried to stifle her activism. But she, like so many other courageous women human rights defenders, including those we have supported briefing the Security Council refuse to remain silent. Your role is to amplify these voices. Enabling the participation of women leaders like Yanar means doing everything in your power to give these organizations and movements the serious political support, funding, and protection resources that they need to do what they do best: speak out, document, deliver, protest, and build the resistance that is the lifeblood of peace. Thank you. And democracy. I thank you.

Gracias.

Thank you, Ms. Ahsoka, for the information that you provided in your briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia. Excellencies, Madam Sima Sami Behoos, Madam Leymah Gbowee, Madam Keva Ahsoka, Representatives of civil society and distinguished delegates. It is an honor for me to chair this open debate as Foreign Minister of Colombia and as a woman in a space of power. This shows that when women reach these spaces, we highlight priorities where they have historically been absent. I would like to thank and recognize the presence of high-level authorities— Thank you. Permanent representatives and delegations joining us today, as well as our briefers whose contributions enrich our discussion. Colombia is chairing today on the basis of the experience of a country that has learned a fundamental lesson: Sustainable peace is not possible without the full effective, significant, and safe participation of women, youth, adolescents, and girls. Over 25 years ago, this Council adopted Resolution 1325, recognizing with the Women, Peace and Security Agenda that peace cannot be built without those that sustain life in the midst of war, and today more than ever we must defend it. The world is going through a concerning moment. There are over 50 active armed conflicts. War is expanding, and its consequences disproportionately fall upon women, youth, adolescents, and girls. This is why Colombia advocated for this debate. The most recent report of the Secretary-General is alarming. Women make up less than 7% of negotiators in global peace processes, and they are absent in almost 9 out of each 10 negotiation tracks. These numbers prove that there is a structural failure in our peace architecture. This Council cannot ignore this diagnosis because when women participate effectively in negotiation processes, the likelihood that these agreements last at least 15 years rises by 35%. For instance, processes supported by the United Nations more often include a gender-responsive approach through formal mechanisms, consultations with civil society, and specific provisions that promote the participation of women in all stages of the process. Reinforcing and providing adequate resources for these initiatives is critical so that this stops being the exception And instead becomes a systematic practice. And in this sense, we would like to highlight the Secretary-General's Initiative for Women's Participation in Peace Processes as a concrete tool to strengthen women's representation and leadership. The final peace agreement signed in Colombia in 2016 set a historic precedent globally by including a cross-cutting approach to gender through over 100 specific actions such as no amnesties for sexual violence and the creation of the Special Forum on Gender for Peace. Moreover, Decree No. 1179 of 2025 transformed our National Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security into a state policy. This is a plan that was crafted with the participation of over 1,500 diverse women from all our regions, and it is precisely that level of participation which confers it its legitimacy. And this is why today we can speak with authority on what it means to build peace with a gender-responsive focus. And therefore, Colombia invites states to develop and implement national action plans and participatory peace processes because nothing should be decided about us without us. Nothing should be done without us when we are talking about our peace, our security and our rights. And this is why we are not just here to speak out against the horrors of war that turns women's bodies into its territory, but rather to uphold a truth that is supported by experience and by evidence: women are not only victims, but rather fundamental actors in peacebuilding.

Thank you, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

We want to show that all of these gains are the result of decades of struggle led by women's organizations and feminist movements that were able to translate their claims into public policies. This is why supporting and protecting organizations led by women in conflict and post-conflict situations also means going from political commitments to sustainable and predictable financing. And in that sense, we call for specific resources for gender equality in all peacebuilding mechanisms, official development assistance, humanitarian aid, post-conflict reconstruction and transitional justice, with differentiated and transparent monitoring. Because the sustainability of peace also depends on ensuring access to comprehensive justice, it is imperative that victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence related to conflicts receive attention free from any form of discrimination. And to the women listening to us now, I would like to say to you with clarity, we are facing a concerning wave of authoritarianism and setbacks when it comes to our rights. We see governments that are restricting sexual and reproductive rights, excluding women from decision-making spaces, and legitimizing hate speech. In multilateral forum, they do not want to speak about gender, nor do they want to speak about our diversity. And that very same logic has arrived to this Council. In recent months, we have seen how they seek to weaken language on gender in resolutions and how they eliminate minimum protection standards in peace operations. Are not technical adjustments. They are political decisions. Let us recall a basic premise: what is not named does not exist. Invisibilization is the first step to oppression, and now this is a palpable reality. And this is why Colombia reaffirms its commitment to defend the integrity of this agenda in each negotiation and to work with Member States to ensure the full implementation of international law and the resolutions of this Council. The rights of women are not negotiable. We do not accept the exclusion of women in spaces where peace is decided. We do not accept the normalization of hate and discrimination. We do not accept—

Thank you.

Rollbacks when it comes to rights conquered after decades of struggle. We do not accept that the history of women when it comes to peace and security continues to be only a history of resistance. And this is why peace is not built for women, but rather peace is built with women in all of their diversity throughout the world. And today, in this Security Council, Colombia would like to send an unequivocal message to the international community: We will continue to defend the women, peace, and security agenda. We will continue to broaden women's participation in decision-making spaces. We will continue to build peace in each territory, and we will continue to defend our rights. I thank you. I resume my functions now as President of the Council, and I now give the floor to those members of the Security Council that wish to make a statement. I now give the floor to Denmark.

Thank you, Madam President. And let me also thank Executive Director Bahus and today's civil society briefers President Gbowoe and Executive Director Asoka for their briefings and for their commitment to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Then I commend Colombia for convening this debate, and we welcome your presence here today, Minister Villavicencio. Colombia stands as a testament to the crucial role of women in peacemaking. Colombian women demanded a seat at the table in negotiating what would become the 2016 peace agreement. They further demanded provisions to safeguard and advance women's rights and gender equality, making it the first peace accord in the world to fully integrate a gender perspective. Madam President, women's full, equal, and meaningful participation in peace and security processes is not a matter of symbolism. It is a matter of effectiveness and common sense. When women participate, peace agreements are more likely to last and less likely to fail altogether, as we heard from our briefers today. Women peacebuilders often have perspectives and constituencies that are otherwise overlooked. They bridge divides, facilitate dialogue across conflict lines, and help build trust that sustainable peace requires. The evidence is clear. From Liberia to Colombia and Northern Ireland, women have fought their way to the table and secured durable peace. Women have demonstrated time and again that their participation strengthens peace efforts and improves outcomes. The question is therefore no longer whether women should be included, but how we ensure that they can participate safely, effectively, and on equal terms. And yet—

Thank you.

We still fall short. Across the globe today, political agreements and ceasefires are mediated and negotiated predominantly by men and among men. In Sudan, for example, women have been historically and are currently excluded from various peace tracks. We therefore welcome the steps taken by the quintet to include women's civil society groups in ongoing talks. The DRC stands out as an exception, with former presidents Tshisekedi and Sampa Panza holding key roles in the AU panel of facilitators for the peace process. We should learn from this and build on this example, not treat this as an anomaly. Madam President, protection is not a secondary concern. It is a precondition. Yet despite commitments, including the promise of Resolution 1325, Women peacebuilders continue to face significant threats. Across conflict settings, women civil society leaders and human rights defenders are subject to threats, intimidation, harassment, and reprisals simply for engaging in peace and security work. These attacks undermine peace efforts by silencing critical voices and shrinking civic space. Afghanistan offers the starkest warning of what happens when women are systematically excluded. Afghan women are denied education, excluded from most employment, restricted in their movement, silenced in public, and increasingly denied a voice in their own future. Afghan female staff are not even permitted to enter UN premises. If women's right and participation can be denied so fundamentally, it cannot be taken for granted anywhere. Thank you. Madam President, women-led organizations remain chronically underfunded despite being at the forefront on conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and community resilience. Too often, these organizations are expected to deliver transformative results while operating with short-term, project-based, and unpredictable funding. If we are serious about advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, we must match our commitments with resources. Denmark has been committed to this agenda for over 2 decades. We adopted the first— world's first national action plan on Resolution 1325, and we continue funding women peacebuilders all over the world. Madam President, in closing, the Women, Peace and Security Agenda has always been about more than representation. It's about recognizing that lasting peace cannot be achieved when half the population is excluded from shaping it. Ensuring women's meaningful participation, protecting them from threats and reprisals, and resourcing their work are not optional add-ons. They are essential conditions for peace that lasts. Denmark remains proudly committed to this objective.

I thank you.

Grazie.

I thank the representative of Denmark for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the United Kingdom.

Thank you, President, and let me welcome you, Your Excellency, to the Council and thank Colombia for convening this important debate. And thank you also to Executive Director Bahus, Ms. Bawi, and Mr. Shoka for their briefing today. 26 years on from the Security Council Resolution 1325, This Council's message remains clear: sustainable peace requires women's full, equal, meaningful and safe participation. And yet, as we've heard from our briefers today, women continue to be excluded from peace negotiations and political transitions. According to the Secretary-General's Annual Report, in 2024, nearly 90% of negotiation tracks had no women present. The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda globally, and we see 3 priorities for collective action. First, we must turn commitments on women's participation into reality. We must address the barriers that limit women's access to political power, financing and security, and ensure that women-led civil society organizations are supported as key partners in sustaining peace and security. That is why the UK continues to support and amplify women-led organizations, including through over $4.7 million in funding to women's rights organizations operating in fragile and conflict settings. Second, we must do more to prevent and respond to reprisals against women peacebuilders and women human rights defenders. Women who engage in peace and security efforts face rising intimidation, threats, and violence. We call on all states to protect women peacebuilders and ensure accountability for those who target them. The UK will continue to work with partners, including UN Women, to prevent and mitigate these risks. In May, my Foreign Minister launched a new international coalition to end violence against women and girls, which is working to drive political leadership and accelerate collective action to prevent violence in all its forms. And third, President, we must address the changing nature of conflict and its gender-related impacts. Women and girls are often the most worst affected by conflict and disasters. And yet they are frequently unable to access life-saving support, including protection and reproductive health services. They also continue to face gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence. The UK is responding to these challenges through sustained humanitarian action and by supporting locally led efforts. In February, my Foreign Minister announced over $26 million of new funding to support survivors of CRSV to access medical and psychological support in Sudan. In Colombia, UK funding has helped advance accountability and support for thousands of survivors of CRSV over the last 10 years, including helping the Colombian transitional justice system improve access to justice. President, strengthening women's participation is a strategic imperative for sustainable peace and security. We must act with urgency to translate our commitments into concrete action and to ensure that women are meaningfully involved in peace processes, free from threats and reprisals. I thank you.

Gracias. I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Panama.

Thank you, Madam President. And distinguished Minister of Foreign Affairs of the sisterly Republic of Colombia, Her Excellency Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Panama would like to greet you and congratulate you for convening and presiding this important meeting. We would also like to thank civil society representatives Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace laureate and founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, as well as Ms. Kavya Ashoka, Executive Director of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, for their very valuable contributions. Panama would like to join those voices that have expressed that peaceful and stable conditions are only possible when there is the full, equal, significant, and safe participation of women in all spaces and at all levels of decision-making. These principles are reflected is rooted in our foreign policy, which is based on multilateralism, respect for the United Nations Charter, and diplomacy as an essential tool for conflict prevention. And this conviction guides our commitment to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. According to the most recent report of the Secretary-General on this issue, The exclusion of women from peace processes continues to be rampant, with participation numbers that are negligible. They barely make up 7% of negotiators, 14% of mediators, and they are absent from the vast vast majority of negotiation processes. These numbers reflect a concerning reality. Those that bear the highest cost of conflicts continue to be underrepresented in spaces where humanitarian, political, and security responses are designed, those responses that will in turn define their lives and their integrity. The consequences of armed conflicts are not neutral from the point of view of gender. This reality can be tangibly and regrettably observed in contexts such as Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, Gaza, Afghanistan, and Myanmar, where women have been Underrepresented in formal spaces of negotiation and mediation. Their exclusion does not only weaken the legitimacy of these processes, it also is a failure in terms of their capacity to generate trust among citizens, address the causes of conflicts, and build lasting agreements. Panama would also like to reiterate its concern over the deterioration of the rights of women in several of these contexts, specifically in Afghanistan. Recent reports on the detentions of dozens of women for alleged infractions to the dress code and the violent repression of protests showcase the growing institutionalization of the exclusion of women from public life. Madam President, in an international context characterized by the rise of armed conflicts, historic levels of military spending, which in turn feeds these conflicts and the deepening of divisions, it is obvious that international peace and security cannot be addressed by turning away from half of the global population. Women peacebuilders and human rights defenders also face risks of reprisals and barriers to their participation, especially Indigenous women, women of African descent, and women living in rural areas. We recognize their contributions as indispensable aspects to understand dynamics that go from early warning on conflicts to community mediation, the response to humanitarian crises, and local reconciliation processes. This is why Panama considers that it is crucial for this council, as we are doing right now, to continue listening without any kind of obstacles and directly to the voices of women from civil society that are coming from contexts that are part of its agenda. President, we recognize good practices such as the historic participation of women in the creation of the Colombian peace agreements. 10 years after the signature of these agreements, it continues to be an international precedent by including broad sectors of women in the negotiations and within the provisions of the agreements. In the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women have played an important role as community mediators in conflict situations. Their participation has contributed to the peaceful settlement of disputes, enhancing social cohesion and the promotion of a more inclusive local governance. Panama deems that the exchange of experiences and good practices is important to uphold the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. And this is why in 2025, our capital hosted a regional meeting along with other countries drafting national action plans. Along with UN Women, we made strides in capacity building, the participation of civil society, and regional cooperation to translate commitment into concrete results. Madam President, the evidence is clear. Excluding women from peace processes lowers their chances of success. Their genuine and substantive participation is the difference between signing a peace agreement and actually living in peace, as well as between agreements that are announced and societies that are truly able to sustain them over time. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Panama, member of this council, for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the United States.

Thank you, Madam President, and I also thank all of our briefers this morning. In many of the countries on this council's agenda, Women and girls face higher levels of violence, severe restrictions in their access to jobs and economic opportunity, and insufficient social protections. They also face exclusion from the education they need to survive and to help their societies rebuild in the aftermath of conflict. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have denied young women pathways to receive an education secure jobs, or receive training. Over the past 5 years, the Taliban have systematically reversed decades of hard-won progress on women's participation in peace and security. The deterioration of security situations in Sudan and South Sudan have each caused prolonged humanitarian crisis, which disproportionately impacts women and girls. Sexual violence is pervasive, both inside and outside of active conflict areas. Under President Trump, the United States was the first country with a comprehensive law on women, peace, and security. The Women, Peace, and Security Act, which President Trump signed into law in 2017, provides a legal framework that codifies the— the objectives of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 and guides our work both at home and abroad. The United States is committed to defending and promoting the human rights and economic empowerment of women and girls. It protects the ability of women and girls to engage in all aspects of social, civic, political, and economic life. The United States strongly supports efforts to combat violence against women and girls. UN member states must match word with deeds. The United States remains the largest single donor to the humanitarian system, and we continue to prioritize lifesaving emergency responses. We understand the imperative of protection assistance for women and girls in conflict and disaster settings, particularly those who are victims of sexual violence. Under the leadership of President Trump, the United States is working hard to bring an end to numerous conflicts around the world. We urge all UN member states to join us in these efforts. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the United States, a member of the council, for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Russia.

Thank you, Madam President. We welcome your presiding over Security Council meeting. We are grateful to the Colombian presidency for organizing the meeting today. And we thank the UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bakus, for her statement, and we note the contribution of representatives of civil society to the discussion. One of the main objectives adopted in 2000 in the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is ensuring that women have equal access, equal with men, to processes related to the maintenance of peace and security. Members of the Council remain committed to this goal, but approaches to achieving this goal are different. The formula according to which It is stated, "Let women come to the negotiating table and you will get peace," regularly appears in UN thematic reports and is heard from high-ranking officials. However, in fact, we are often being proposed simplistic approaches to its implementation, for example, through the introduction of artificial quotas, quotas which are often non-attainable even in developed countries. And according to these quotas, women should occupy leadership positions or be involved in peace negotiations on the basis of gender alone. Thank you. And such requirements are often made for countries which are in a state of armed conflict with destroyed economies, the collapse of health and social support systems, as well as the lack of access to education. As a result, applicants for these vacancies are frequently not local women, but rather those who are externally funded NGOs, that represent the priorities, rather, of their donors. And once they are in power, they become an obedient tool of their sponsors. And we are convinced that this is not why the Women, Peace and Security Agenda was created. Madam President, for women's participation in conflict resolution to be truly effective and to contribute to building strong and sustainable peace, rather than just exist as something that's being checked off on paper, practical measures are needed to to improve their economic situation, their access to education and decent work. And this is where the UN need to extend assistance at the request of relevant states. The Russian Federation attaches priority to these areas. It is not a coincidence that the level of education of Russian women, especially young women, consistently remains one of the highest in the world.

Agreed.

According to recent studies, more than a third of women in Russia have higher education diplomas, and almost half of girls aged 25 to 34 have such diplomas as well. Russia's strong educational traditions are directly related to the quality of training of specialists involved in international efforts to maintain peace and security, and in particular, Thanks to this grounding, we can help ensure higher standards of training for women peacekeepers on the basis of the UN-certified peacekeeping training center under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Russia contributes significantly to developing countries when it comes to education. The leadership potential of Russian women and their professional readiness to work in the most difficult conditions is also maintained— manifested in the humanitarian sphere, especially in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. And a significant role in this direction was played by the former Ombudsperson for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatiana Nikolaevna Moskalkova. During her 10 years in this position, she made an invaluable personal contribution to the repatriation of detainees, search for missing persons, organizing exchange of prisoners of war, and extending assistance in obtaining medical care and family reunification.

Thank you.

2024-2025. With her participation, it was possible to achieve the release of more than 4,000 Russian prisoners of war. In April 2026, the last month of her tenure, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners twice under the format of 175 for 75 and 193 for 93. Now the post of the ombudsperson for human rights in the Russian Federation is occupied by Yana Valeriyevna Lantratova, Who previously headed public delegations, was a member of parliament. On June 5th, she met with her Ukrainian counterpart, and they agreed to exchange lists of people whom both sides are ready to take in and hand over. They also agreed to continue joint visits to prisoners of war who are on the territory of Russia or on the territory of Ukraine, to continue actions to transfer letters and parcels from relatives. In addition, the human rights Ombudspersons of the two countries agreed to organize a communication channel to exchange documents which are needed for payments and benefits if members of the same family live on different sides of the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Another indicative example is the Presidential Ombudsperson for Children's Rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. Her office is doing critical work to reunite Russian and Ukrainian children and their parents separated during the conflict. Thank you. With her direct participation, it was possible to return 30 children to 22 families in Russia and 141 children to 114 families in Ukraine and third countries. In addition, she leads a wide range of efforts, from assistance in ensuring the safety of children in war zones to providing them with education, medical care, social security, humanitarian aid, and assistance in organizing psychological medical support and rehabilitation. And all of this is being done in the context of a large-scale campaign to discredit her work and pressure. Part of that is an arrest warrant from the so-called International Criminal Court. And finally, it is impossible not to note the colossal contribution of the women of Donbas to the settlement of the crisis. In particular, a member of the People's Council of the Lugansk People's Republic, Olga Anatolyevna Kopseva, for a long time headed the working group on the exchange of prisoners of war and carried out humanitarian activities within the framework of the trilateral contact group. Daria Vasylievna Marozova holds the post of the ombudsperson for human rights in the Donetsk People's Republic. Her tasks, including protecting the rights of the Russian population affected by hostilities, and coordinating the return of detainees. Um, Anna Borisovna Sarokova leads the interagency working group to search for burial places of victims of Ukrainian aggression and their identification. Thanks to her very difficult work from a moral point of view, inter alia, information was obtained about hundreds of civilians killed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine who otherwise would be considered missing. And this is only a small fraction of the heroic women of Donbas who continue to fight daily for justice for their compatriots. And the obstacles in their way are much more dangerous than the lack of affirmative action. For their active social and humanitarian activities, they risk paying with their lives because their names are included in the execution lists of the Ukrainian portal Mirotoorets, which we have repeatedly told the Council about. And for those who do not know about that site yet, let me clarify and say that this site, which is supported with the blessing of the Kyiv authorities, contains personal data of people and calls for their elimination. All these women ended up in their positions not at all within the framework of the struggle for nominal gender parity. The key to their positions was their own professionalism and determination. And the results they have achieved on the ground are precisely the very indicators of peace that women are working for, in contrast to the abstract percentages from statistical reports that are used for opportunistic purposes to divide states into those who are advanced and those who are lagging behind. And we do hope that the UN Women will pay due attention to the role of the women I just listed and to the pressure that they are being under. The Russian Federation appreciates very highly and is very proud of the contribution of its compatriots to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. And we see practical results from efforts to expand their educational opportunities and create conditions for their professional training. In this regard, we intend to continue prioritizing genuine equality between men and women, including through the comprehensive improvement of the socioeconomic situation. I thank you.

I thank the delegation of the Russian Federation for the statement, and I now give the floor to the delegation of France.

Thank you, President, and welcome to New York for this new visit in order to preside over the Security Council. France is grateful to you because you have dedicated this debate to the central role of women in peace efforts, and we would like to thank the Executive Director of UN Women, Madame Sima Bahus, as well as Ms. Kavya Ashoka and Ms. Leymah Gbowee, for— Noble Peace Laureate. —for their briefings, and even more importantly, for your work and for the work of your organizations to benefit women and peace. And choosing this topic is very relevant, Madam President, because your country ended a decades-long clash through an agreement and with modalities that gave women an unprecedented role. And this peace has lasted for 10 years now. And this choice reflects the aspiration of the vast majority of member states who, despite voices that ask for regression, We'd like to consolidate gains of the last decades when it comes to the rights of women and continue walking down the path of specific legal equality between men and women. And this is everything that has to do with France's commitment, our commitment that we assumed, like Colombia, by adopting a posture of feminist diplomacy. Three words today: participation, support, and protection. First, participation. Enhancing women's participation when it comes to all aspects related to peacekeeping should be the lodestar for this Council. It is the condition for sustainable peace. And the Security Council has to make sure that in our work, the 10 resolutions that we have adopted within the context of WPS irrigate all of our work. Whose— which includes mandates and peace operation components. We have to reinforce the presence of gender counselors, and we should support training for uniformed women. And when it comes to peace agreements, tell me, in South Sudan, we must make sure that women's participation and the respect of their rights is a central goal of our peace discussions. I'm thinking right now about Afghanistan, where women—— that are subject to an untenable regime that segregates them systematically on the basis of their gender. They must be at the center of our dialogue on the future of the country. Their rights cannot be sacrificed over a supposed pragmatism. Beyond that, and consistent with General Recommendation No. 40 from CEDAW, we should reinforce women's representation in all of our systems for decision-making. And we should work towards the goal of parity, and this includes within UN governance. Second, we must in parallel directly support women from civil society that on the ground are working for peace. We should strengthen our support to the funds and agencies of the UN that support women peacebuilders on the front lines. France is working by providing a fund to support —feminist organizations, one of the largest ones given its geographic and financial coverage. Let's offer to these artisans of peace a platform and levers. And in this spirit, in Paris on the 12th of June, we hosted a meeting for civil society representatives from Israel and Palestine, and this included many women that are committed to peace and the two-state solution. Third, the participation of Women in peace efforts demands their protection. In recent years, women and girls have been exposed to conflicts, and the proportion of women and girls among the victims have risen. Ukrainian women and girls, especially in the Donbas, have suffered due to the Russian invasion and the brutality of the Russian armed forces. They are proof of this. The number of of sexual violence in conflict, of cases of sexual violence in conflict verified by the UN is unprecedented. And therefore, the Secretary-General of the United Nations put for the very first time a permanent member of this Council in its blacklist. What levers do we have? We have Council sanctions against those responsible, support to national jurisdictions, and— Thank you. Support funds for victims like the Global Fund for Survivors. President, France just adopted its fourth National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security. So you can count on our country to, in each one of the Council's negotiations, to prone for a demanding approach when it comes to the participation and protection of women. Against the brutality of the world that attacks women and girls, we will continue to mobilize along with the United Nations to create a peace that will not be written without them. I thank you.

Gracias.

Thank you for your statement to the representative of France. And now I give the floor to the representative of Liberia.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. We join in Welcome, Your Excellency, to the chamber and to preside over this important debate. Liberia thanks Colombia for convening this debate and the briefers for their invaluable insights. Today, Your Excellency, We wish to testify. Liberia's peace was built by women, including Madam Leymah Gbowee, of whom Liberia is so proud. Thank you. Along with others who refused to be spectators to their own suffering. Their courage helped to end our war, made the peace process both successful successful and enduring, and has changed our country sustainably for the better. The evidence concerning women, peace, and security truly condemns us.

Thank you.

In 2024, 676 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometers of deadly conflict, the highest number since the 1990s. According to the Secretary-General's 2026 report, Documented conflict-related sexual violence rose sharply from 2024, marked by extreme brutality and overwhelmingly targeted women and girls. It warns that conflict-related sexual violence is escalating At scale and brutality across multiple conflicts, while funding cuts, impunity, and shrinking protection systems are leaving survivors increasingly vulnerable and without access to justice or essential services. Yet, As already noted by previous speakers, women represented only 7% of negotiators, and nearly 9 out of 10 peace negotiation tracks included no woman negotiator. While global military spending exceeded 2.5% $1.7 trillion, women's organizations in conflict-related settings receive just 0.4% of international aid. This imbalance is stuck. Resources continue to flow to war, while investments in peacebuilding remain severely underfunded. This is a choice. The exclusion of women is not an oversight to be corrected by a bit better data. It is a power arrangement to be challenged like the women of Liberia did by courage and political will. Liberia therefore calls on this Council and all member states to do 3 things. First, we must implement what we have promised. Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1960, 2106, and 2467 are obligations, not, as we tend to treat them, aspirational literatures. The Secretary General's Common Pledge on Women's Participation has 37 signatories, when it should really be 193. Second, we must fund what we claim to value. Women's organizations in conflict zones must receive at least 1% of bilateral aid. The Secretary-General has asked for no less. Third, as this institution turns 80, we must protect what a generation fought, including giving their lives to build. The UN 80th process must not dismantle gender equality commitments under the COVID of austerity. Reforms that silence women are retreats to a dark past in the history of mankind. Madam President, in Liberia, women did not wait for a seat at the table. Led by Madame Bowie and others, they built a different table. They crossed battle lines in white t-shirts, sat between warlords, and held the silence until the guns inevitably followed. From that crucible came Africa's first female to be elected democratically Head of State of Liberia. This was not a symbol. It was a consequence of trusting women as true agents of transformation. In Liberia, Madam President, women's leadership did not end when the guns fell silent. It shaped what came after. Of the 9 commissioners on Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 4 were women, including its vice chair. Their presence helped the Commission do something most truth processes failed to do. Nearly half of all statements gathered came from women, because women trusted other women to hear what had happened to them. Thank you. During the war. Also, in our disarmament and reintegration program, more than 22,000 women came forward to disarm, roughly 1 in 5 of all excombatants, only after the process was redesigned to make room for for them. Transitional justice and reintegration are not the postscript to peace negotiations. They are where inclusion is tested at scale, long after the cameras have left the negotiating room. Madam President, Liberia also understands The participation of women without accountability creates an incomplete process. It tells women, wrongly, that their testimony matters, but their remedy can wait. A council that wants peace processes to include women must also insist that the justice and reparations that follow inclusion be delivered, not merely documented. This Council endorses peace processes and gives them international legitimacy. That is our greatest point of leverage. Which must not be squandered. Therefore, Liberia calls on this Council to adopt a standing practice: before it endorses, extends, or lends authority to any peace process, it should conduct a gender participation assessment. Thank you. Not a new resolution, not a new body, a decision made here that no process receives the Council's blessing while women remain locked out of it. Applied consistently, this will change negotiating rooms more than another decade of declarations we will make. The architecture of accountability exists. What is needed by all of us is the will to use it. In conclusion, Madam President, we do not ask this Council to believe Liberia. We ask it to believe its own resolutions. Thank you. Its own data, and the testimony of every country made stronger because women led the way out of the war. A peace built without women is only a pause in violence. A peace built with women is a foundation for sustainable justice. Thank you. Peace, reconciliation, and lasting security as we are trying to achieve in Liberia. This is why the question before us is no longer whether women belong at the center of peacebuilding. They have already proven that they do. The question is whether This Council has the courage to make their leadership unavoidable, their participation non-negotiable, and enduring peace the true measure of our work here and the success of it. I thank you for your kind attention.

Gracias.

I thank the representative of Liberia for the statement, and now I give the floor to the representative of Pakistan, who is a member of this Council.

Thank you, Madam President, Foreign Minister. Pakistan welcomes your initiative to convene and preside over this important debate on women, peace, and security, and we thank Executive Director, Madam Seema Bawus, for her briefing. And we also appreciate Madam Bovey and Madam Ahsoka for their powerful interventions. And I would like to particularly thank Madam Bovey and Ambassador Lewis, the Permanent Representative of Liberia, for Thank you, Mr. President, for highlighting Liberia as a success story in the implementation of this agenda. Madam President, 26 years after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325, this agenda remains one of the Council's most transformative commitments, yet also one of its most unfinished promises. Women continue to bear the gravest consequences of conflict, displacement, foreign occupation, poverty, and sexual violence, while remaining underrepresented in peace negotiations, political transitions, and reconstruction processes. And as Madame Baus said, women are a major constituency for peace. That is why peace built without women is peace built on fragile ground. It may end the sound of guns, but it cannot properly heal the wounds of societies, restore trust in people and institutions, or better prevent the return of conflict. Sustainable peace also requires— Thank you. The wisdom, leadership, and lived experience of women, not at the margins but at the table where decisions are made. This is not only a question of fairness; it is a question of effectiveness. Peace agreements that include women are often more responsive to the needs of communities and more durable over time. Women's participation brings attention to social cohesion, education, health, livelihoods, justice, reconciliation, and the protection of civilians—issues without which peace cannot take root. We believe that Women, Peace and Security Agenda must be implemented through practical, context-specific, and nationally-owned Myers. Pakistan is playing its part to advance this agenda. In Pakistan, women have served with distinction in diplomacy, peacekeeping, politics, public service, law enforcement, civil society, and humanitarian response. And Pakistani women peacekeepers continue to contribute to UN missions with professionalism and courage. Reflecting our commitment to inclusive peace and security. Madam President, we wish to highlight some priorities to translate this vision into reality. First, women's participation in peace processes must be made systematic, not symbolic. The U.N. and regional organizations should ensure that mediation teams negotiation delegations and peace support mechanisms include women at senior levels. Second, participation must be safe. And this was a point highlighted here again. Women peacebuilders, human rights defenders, journalists, and community leaders often face intimidation, online abuse, reprisals, and violence. The Council should call for stronger protection measures, including early warning mechanisms, secure channels for engagement with the UN, and accountability for attacks against women peacebuilders. Third, women participation must be matched with adequate resources. Member States, the UN system, and international partners Should ensure dedicated, predictable, and flexible support for women's meaningful participation in peace processes, political transitions, recovery, and peacebuilding. Fourth, post-conflict recovery must integrate gender perspectives from the beginning. Reconstruction plans should prioritize women's access to education, healthcare, healthcare, documentation, justice, land, and livelihoods. We must remember economic recovery is also peacebuilding. When women are economically secure, families and communities are more resilient. Fifth, the Council must address the root causes that deny women peace and security, including prolonged conflicts, foreign occupation, poverty, discrimination, and impunity. The WPA's agenda cannot be separated from the broader obligation to uphold the UN Charter, international law, and the right of peoples to self-determination. Madam President, women do not enter peace processes merely to add a voice. They bring substance to peace. They bring the concerns of families, communities, and future generations into rooms too often dominated by power politics. If we want peace to last, women must be there from the outset to help shape those decisions. Pakistan reaffirms its commitment to the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in all efforts for peace, security, and development. I thank you.

Gracias. Thank you to the representative of Pakistan for the statement. And now I give the floor to the representative of Latvia.

Gracias, Senhor Presidente. Para empezar—

Thank you, President. To begin, I would like to I would like to thank Colombia for their presidency of the Council and for convening this open debate on women, peace, and security. And I would like to cordially welcome Her Excellency Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, who is presiding over our meeting today.

So, a deep appreciation to Ms. Sima Bahus, Executive Director of UN Women. And Ms. Limang Bue and Kavya Sokha for the insightful briefings today, and even more so for their dedicated efforts and advocacy for the rights of women. Their perspectives remind us of why our discussion today matters. Madam President, I would like to raise 3 points. First, inclusion. Peace cannot begin at the negotiating table during a conflict. It must be built into institutions, legal frameworks, and decision-making long before a conflict erupts, and sustained throughout post-conflict recovery. And this requires practical frameworks that translate commitments into actions. National action plans on women, peace, and security are an important tool for ensuring that women hold real decision-making power. Ukraine demonstrated how these frameworks can remain relevant even in the most difficult circumstances, as they adapted their action plan during times of war, ensuring that the focus on women leadership is maintained. Second, despite decades of evidence, women's participation in peace processes remains an exception rather than the norm. In a world facing rising conflict, displacement, and conflict-related sexual violence, women and girls bear disproportionate harm, yet their voices are still missing where decisions are made. And we heard several times today, in 2024, women accounted for only 7% of negotiators and 14% of mediators in formal peace processes, even though agreements with women signatories are more durable. Many of today's most consequential negotiations unfold with no women at the table, limiting the inclusivity of the process and the strength of the outcomes. And this exclusion also risks leaving out issues that directly affect women's lives. Latvia welcomes that the UN-led and UN-supported processes consistently show higher levels of women's And this should be an overarching goal, no matter who the mediator is. We commend the initiatives aimed at increasing women's participation in all peace processes, such as the Secretary General's Common Pledge for Women's Full, Equal, and Meaningful Participation. And this is also true for the selection process of the next Secretary General. After 80 years' long history of men holding this important position, It is about time for a woman to lead the UN. So the question is no longer, "Why a woman?" The question is, "Why not a woman?" Third, women peacebuilders are essential in bridging local peace efforts and formal negotiations. Around the world, women's organizations have shown extraordinary leadership, from mediating disputes at the grassroots —to shaping national agreements, to laying the foundations for reconciliation. Colombia's experience is exemplary. Women's networks helped shape key elements of the peace process, leading to the world's first peace agreement fully integrating a general— a gender perspective. Women peacebuilders in Ethiopia and Liberia have driven dialogue at local, regional, and national levels. In Yemen, women negotiated humanitarian access to water. Afghan women's organizations continue fighting to be heard and shape their country's future. From the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion, women's organizations in Ukraine have been among the country's most effective first responders. Women must be genuinely listened to, not merely heard. Women-led civil society organizations should have meaningful opportunities to influence outcomes, and this requires protection against reprisals, formal roles in peace processes, and access to training that amplifies their expertise. Latvia has a longstanding tradition of women's participation in decision-making at all levels, alongside global leadership in women's rights advocacy, and we're proud of Latvia's women's organizations, whether they build resilience through mentoring programs locally, empower women and girls through teaching STEM or digital literacy in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, or advance community-based approaches in addressing sexual and gender-based violence. Madam President, excluding women weakens peace itself, and there is no credible reason in the 21st century for women to be absent from the tables where peace is negotiated. And we should no longer be asking whether women belong at the table, but why the world continues to tolerate tables built without women. I thank you.

Grazie.

I thank the representative of the Latvian delegation for the statement, and now I give the floor to the representative of Somalia, a member of this council.

Madam President, let me begin by expressing our appreciation to the presidency for convening this important meeting and to today's briefers, Director Bahus, Ms. Bowie, and Executive Director Asoka, —for their powerful insights and unwavering commitment to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Your voices and efforts remind us that peace is not forged only in distant capitals, but built each day by women in communities across the world. As we gather today, we must acknowledge that the promise of Resolution 1325 remains unfinished. Across the world, women are still unrepresented, underrepresented in peace negotiations and decision-making, and bear the disproportionate impacts of conflicts. Yet history shows that when women participate fully, peace is not only possible, but sustainable. Thank you. Allow me to offer the following points for the Council's consideration. First, Africa has led by example in advancing women's participation under exceptional circumstances as a foundation for sustainable peace. Women across our continent have brokered local ceasefires, led reconciliation and rebuilt societies. In Liberia, women led a movement that ended a brutal civil war and paved the way for the African— Africa's first female president. In Rwanda, women played a central role in post-genocide reconciliation and now make majority of the parliament. In my own country, women are part of the architecture of reconciliation and state-building. In Sierra Leone and South Sudan, women have led mediation efforts and local ceasefires, and they built fractured communities. At the same time, we must strive to end conflicts and address their root causes, including occupation, poverty, exclusion, inequality by exerting more efforts, and women actively be at the center and shape peace and security solutions at every level. The African Union's Continental Strategy, aligned with Agenda 2063, demonstrates our commitment to silencing the gun by integrating gender perspectives into Africa's peace and security architecture, as well as governance architecture. These are not aspirations alone. They are concrete actions inspiring the world and should be supported at the regional and national level adequately and sustainably. Second, we must prioritize the safety and protection of women peacebuilders. Too often, women who step forward to lead are met with harassment, intimidation, or violence— threats that now extend to the digital sphere. Women are increasingly targeted by digital harassment and AI-driven disinformation and misinformation intended to silence their voices. Their courage is remarkable, but courage alone Legal protections is not enough. The Council and Member States must ensure robust legal, physical, and digital protections so women can participate fully and fearlessly in peace processes. Without genuine safety, the promise of Resolution 1325 will never be realized. Third, we must move from words to action. With robust monitoring data and accountability. As we have heard, declarations alone will not suffice. Missing gender data continues to conceal exclusion and the true toll of conflict on women and girls, making both their suffering and contribution invisible. Therefore, we must continue to improve data collection and analysis and remove every barrier to women's participation. It's important to work together and raise the standard in inclusion, accountability, and transformative action. Madam President, in closing, let us draw from the wisdom of this African proverb that testifies to that end, and I quote: [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] No river runs so fast that a woman cannot build a bridge across it. End of quote. The obstacles before us are real, but so too is the ingenuity and determination of our women. Let us ensure women have the support and opportunity to build those bridges across every divide and towards a future of sustainable peace and development. I thank you.

Muchas gracias.

I thank the representative of Somalia for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Greece, a member of this council.

Thank you, Madam President, and distinguished Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. I would like to Welcome you to this council today, and I would like to thank Colombia for convening this timely open debate. It is worth highlighting that the peace process in Colombia is a model for international conflict resolution because it has reached unprecedented levels of women's representation and it has truly incorporated gender in a cross-cutting way.

Director of UN Women, Ms. Sima Sami Bahus, for her briefing and her unwavering commitment, as well as the representatives of civil society, Ms. Lima Robi and Ms. Kavya Ahsoka, for their powerful messages and for paving the way for women. In October, we commemorated the 25th anniversary of the landmark Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security. As we look ahead to the next quarter century of the Agenda's implementation, it is vital that we build upon lessons learned while replicating best practices and success stories. I would like to make 3 points to today. First, sustainable peace and security unattainable without the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women. It is well established that peace processes yield higher implementation rates and last longer when women are actively engaged. As conflict affects demographics differently, men constitute the majority of frontline casualties while women bear the brunt of its secondary consequences. Displacement, conflict-related sexual violence, food insecurity, and the collapse of healthcare, education, and social infrastructures define the complex realities women and girls must navigate during and after conflict. To exclude women from peace processes is to exclude their valuable insight insights into addressing the structural causes of conflict and ensuring post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding. In this regard, Greece fully endorses the Secretary-General's call for women to constitute at least 30% of participants in peace processes. In parallel, gender provisions should be integrated into all peace agreements and ceasefire frameworks. Thank you. Second, women's participation should be substantive rather than symbolic or driven solely by compliance with quotas. Women should be granted genuine decision-making authority, ensuring they have a voice and not merely a seat at the table. Participation should also be inclusive of all women—peacebuilders, negotiators, mediators, local and indigenous women, and civil society representatives. Crucially, the protection of women leaders remains of paramount importance as they frequently face threats, intimidation, and reprisals for their vital work. Third, the Colombian peace process has demonstrated how its meaningful participation framework can be effectively operationalized. Women in Colombia not only participated actively in peace negotiations, but also ensured that gender provisions were mainstreamed throughout the peace agreement. Women comprised approximately 20% of the government's negotiating team and 43% of the FARC delegates, the highest share of female representation in modern peacebuilding history. In stark contrast to the historic breakthroughs in Colombia, the situation in Afghanistan represents one of the most severe rollbacks of women's meaningful participation in recent history. Following the 2021 Taliban takeover, the fragile gains achieved by women in Afghan civil society and governance were rapidly dismantled. An aspiring democracy was replaced by a regime that erases women from public and private life, barring them from secondary education, employment, and political dialogue. Madam President, women's meaningful participation is the result of a whole-of-government approach and not an issue that can be addressed through stopgap measures. In Greece, this objective This objective is systematically mainstreamed through the annual action plans of all ministries. In this endeavor, our National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security serves as an indispensable framework for translating the above-mentioned objectives into actionable and measurable commitments. Sustainable peace cannot be realized without gender equality and the full empowerment of women and girls. Greece reiterates its full support for the Executive Director of UN Women and reaffirms its commitment to working with her and with fellow member states to ensure that women's participation remains at the core of peacebuilding.

I thank you.

Grazie.

I thank Greece for the statement. And I now give the floor to the delegation of Bahrain.

[SPEAKING ARABIC] Madam President, we would like to start by thanking the Republic of Colombia for this open debate, which is important on the issue of women, peace, and security. We welcome the President, His Excellency, Ms. Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of of Colombia presiding over this meeting. We also express our appreciation to Her Excellency Ms. Sima Bawous, Executive Director of UN Women. We thank her for her important briefing. We also took note of the briefing made by Ms. Kavya Ashoka and Ms. Leymah Gbowee. Madam President, this discussion of ours is of particular importance at the time at a time when conflicts continue raging throughout the world with humanitarian and security consequences which are dangerous, which is why we need to strengthen the effective participation of women in peace processes and in political transitions, as their participation makes these processes more effective and making sure that the results are more lasting. Madam President, the King of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, may God protect him, and with the support and guidance coming from His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, may God protect him, attach special importance to the role of national institutions to translate the commitments of WPS into our policies and programs. At the forefront of these institutions is the Supreme Council for Women. Since its establishment in 2001 and under chairmanship of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the spouse of His Majesty the King, has been playing an important role as a national mechanism, leading efforts to empower women and to integrate the needs of women in development and decision-making processes. And building on this approach, the Royal Highness's Princess Sabiha bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa's Global Award for Women's Empowerment, which was launched in partnership with UN Women's stands out as a leading international Bahraini initiative. It reflects the Kingdom's role in supporting women's empowerment effort and highlights successful and impactful practices aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Beijing Declaration Platform of Action and Security Council Resolution 1325. And in this regard, I would like to underscore 3 points. First, enhancing women's participation in peace operations is all the more effective when they are participating from the earliest stages of designing these operations, whilst respecting the national context and the needs of communities in question. Thank you. And not when they just add it later on during the process. The early and meaningful participation of women makes the dialogue more inclusive, strengthens trust, and contributes to developing solutions that are more realistic and making sure that the peace is more lasting. Second, discussion of women's participation in peace processes Will only be complete if we address the humanitarian and security conditions faced by women and girls in conflict areas, including such issues as displacement, the collapse of services, being deprived of education and employment, and increased risk of violence and exploitation in all of its forms. And that's why we emphasize the importance of making the needs of women and girls an integral part of relief and recovery efforts, ensuring their access to basic services without discrimination alongside with prevention, protection, and peacebuilding efforts. Third point, translating commitments related to women, peace, and security into tangible results requires policies and programs that take into account national context and are based on strong national institutions. This includes capacity building, enhanced coordination amongst relevant stakeholders, and linking women's empowerment efforts with development programs, the rule of law, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding. Thank you. In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting WPS agenda and to supporting all endeavors that enable women to actively and effectively participate in conflict prevention, mediation, peacemaking, and peacebuilding in a way that promotes a more secure, more stable, and prosperous future for humankind. I thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

I would like to thank the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain for their statement. And I now give the floor to the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a member of this council.

Merci.

Thank you, Madam President. The Democratic Republic of the Congo presents its warmest greetings to Her Excellency Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Minister of Foreign Affairs President Duque, President of the Republic of Colombia, and would like to thank your country for convening this open debate on women, peace, and security. The theme we have today is of special importance because it has been established that lasting peace cannot be built without full, equal, significant, meaningful, and safe participation of women. My delegation reaffirms that the participation of women is not just a simple normative imperative, but an essential precondition for conflict prevention, mediation, peacebuilding, and post-conflict recovery. For a woman who is emerging from a conflict, participating in these processes means moving from being a survivor to being a legitimate peace actor. His experience clarifies priorities, his voice makes decisions more legitimate, and his commitment contributes towards building institutions which are more inclusive and resilient. Experience shows, in fact, that when women fully participate in peace processes, then the agreements thus concluded are more inclusive, their implementation is more lasting, communities are better protected, and societies are better able to prevent the resurgence of violence. Madam President, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and despite the constant challenges having to do with the armed conflict in the eastern part of the country, the government continues making efforts to strengthen the role of women in the area of peace and security. These efforts are translated into area through the implementation of the National Action Plan under Resolution 1325, promoting women mediators and community leaders, the integration of gender dimension in the security sector reform, fighting against conflict-related sexual violence, and also through the strengthening of women's participation in government institutions and local governance mechanisms. My delegation also reaffirms its commitment to the principle of zero tolerance of conflict-related sexual violence, and we remain fully committed to continue with the reforms aimed at protecting women and girls, in particular in insecure areas. Sustainably ending a conflict, however, requires that we go farther. We must ensure effective participation of women in peace negotiations, in community dialogues, and in transitional justice mechanisms. Guaranteeing their access to education, training, to resources and economic opportunities. We need to protect women human rights defenders and peace actors, strengthen national capacities to prevent and fight against gender-related violence, and support local initiatives which are led by women, which very frequently are in the first line of mediation, prevention, and social cohesion efforts. Thank you. Madam President, the Democratic Republic of the Congo calls on the Security Council, the United Nations, and all of the international partners to strengthen their support of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, in particular by doing the following: strengthening the technical and financial support to the programs under the agenda, facilitating the access of women and girls to accessible, inclusive, and gender-sensitive justice, intensifying the fight against all forms of gender-based violence, including violence committed with the use of digital technology, whilst guaranteeing comprehensive care for survivors, promoting greater participation of women at all decision-making levels, in particular by supporting women's leadership and young women's involvement. Greater involvement in women's economic empowerment, education, professional training, and social protection of women. Taking into account the emerging challenges, in particular climate change and the health consequences which affect women and young girls in conflict situations in particular, and preserving multilateralism based on dialogue, respect for international law, and taking into account national context.

Madam President.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains convinced that strengthened international cooperation based on collective responsibility, the respect for international law, and listening to women themselves is indispensable to prevent conflict and build lasting peace. Peace is built with women. It's— peace is consolidated thanks to their leadership, their expertise, and their involvement. Their participation cannot be viewed as simply symbolic. It's part of the foundation for just, inclusive, and lasting peace. It's by guaranteeing their protection and by lifting— lifting the obstacles to their participation and fully recognizing the role they play at all peace process stages, in prevention and reconstruction as well, that Our Council will truly help build a more stable and safer future. I thank you.

Gracias.

I thank the delegation of the DRC for the statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of China, a member of this Council.

Thank you, President. I welcome the presence of Foreign Minister via Vicencio at this Council presiding over this meeting, and thank Executive Director Bahus, Ms. Ashoka, and Ms. Bawi for their briefings. Women are a vital force in maintaining international peace and security. Guided by the spirit of the Beijing World Conference on Women, global women's causes have flourished since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325, women have played an increasingly important role in preventing and resolving conflicts, as well as in maintaining and building peace. However, given the increasingly volatile international context, to lift women out of poverty and violence once and for all and ensure their meaningful participation in peace processes so they can achieve genuine comprehensive development, much remains to be done and concerted efforts from the international community are essential. I wish to highlight 4 points. First, we must make every effort to prevent and resolve conflicts, thus creating a peaceful environment in which women can live and prosper. Currently, 676 million women and girls worldwide remain trapped in conflict and instability, from the war in Gaza to gang violence in Haiti, to the terrorist perils in the Sahel region of West Africa, tens of thousands of women and girls are living in constant fear and despair. If peace is not secured, there are no women's rights and interests to speak of. The Security Council must effectively fulfill its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, working tirelessly to end wars and hostilities, and foster dialogue and reconciliation. All parties to conflicts should stay the course towards the overarching goal of political settlement, fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, and create a peaceful and secure living environment for women and girls. Second, it is essential to fully leverage the role of women and give them equal opportunities to participate in the peace process. Currently, the extent and level of Women's involvement in peace processes vary significantly and their access to peace-related processes is more limited in developing countries. In recent years, the UN has taken a range of positive steps to support women in high-level positions and as heads or deputy heads of missions. However, in UN peacekeeping operations, female military personnel account for only 6% and female peacekeeping police officers less than 15%. We must effectively implement Security Council Resolution 1325 and its follow-up resolutions, steadily increase the representation of women in peace processes, enhance their awareness and capacity to participate in political mediation and peacekeeping operations, and leverage the vital role of women in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction. Third, we need to promote women's economic, empowerment and create conditions to ensure their all-round development. Currently, global progress in women's development remains uneven and inadequate, with nearly 10% of women globally still living in extreme poverty. Countries should safeguard women's rights and interests through the right policies and adequate resourcing, protect them from discrimination and prejudice, create more opportunities to unleash their potential and support women's greater role in digital transformation and green development. China commends Colombia's efforts to enhance women's participation in the implementation of the peace accords, enabling more women to benefit from economic and social development. We call on the Afghan government to take proactive measures to effectively safeguard the fundamental rights of women and girls in education, employment, access to public services, and participation in social life. Fourth, we need to deepen international cooperation to pool strength for the balanced development of the global women's cause. According to UN Women estimates, the annual funding gap for gender equality in developing countries is as high as $420 billion. We support UN Women, UNDP, and other agencies in further playing their roles to help women in the Global South, especially in conflict areas, tackle challenges such as poverty and inequalities. Developed countries should fulfill their official aid commitments in earnest and increase financial, technological, and capacity-building support for women's development in developing countries, China also supports enhancing experience exchange and cooperation among women from different countries through South-South cooperation to achieve common development. President, China has always been an advocate of and contributor to the global women's causes. To date, China has deployed over 1,200 female peacekeepers in aggregate and trained more than 20,000 women professionals for over 180 countries and territories. China has also implemented women's empowerment projects exceeding $40 million in over 20 countries. We also support the economic and livelihood development of women in developing countries through capacity-building programs and multilateral exchange platforms. Last October, China and UN Women successfully co-hosted in Beijing the Global Leaders Meeting on Women, where important consensus was achieved reached on a range of issues related to gender equality and women's development. China remains committed to working with all parties to implement the Beijing Declaration Platform for Action well to make greater contributions to advancing global women's causes. Thank you.

Gracias.

I thank the representative of China for the statement. And the delegation of the Russian Federation has requested the floor for a further statement. You have the floor, ma'am.

Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to make a number of comments in reaction to what was said by the Ambassador of France. First of all, I'd like to recall that the military operation related to Donbas was begun by Kyiv in 2014. It was a full-scale military operation using aviation against civilians. And in the course of this military operation, numerous military war crimes have been committed, first and foremost on the part of volunteer battalions, including sexual crimes. You may have heard of the Tornado Battalion, who was particularly noticed in this regard. I also wanted to point out that including Russia in the list of violators as regards sexual violence is a politicized decision because this was made on the basis of accusations that were never verified. We were never provided with any kind of factual information that we could verify. And in conclusion, I would like to point out that if France is so concerned concerned with the situation as regards sexual violence, well, perhaps they could share with us the information as regards their own country. As we know, in France right now a scandal is brewing as regards sexual violence against children in Paris alone. At the same time, 100 cases are being investigated. You could perhaps share with us, tell us what happened, why this situation arose, and what measures are being undertaken. I thank you. Gracias.

I thank the representative of the Russian Federation for that additional information. Now, I give the floor and I welcome His Excellency, Mr. Minh Vu Nguyen, Vice Minister of Foreign Relations of Vietnam.

Madam President, I wish to thank Colombia for convening this open debate and for highlighting the importance of women's participation in peacebuilding. Peace agreements may end wars, but lasting peace is built in homes, community, institutions, and economies. And in all these spaces, women are indispensable actors. For countries emerging from conflict and war, rebuilding a nation involves far more than restoring infrastructure. It requires healing community, promoting reconciliation, and laying the foundation for sustainable peace. In this journey,, the role of women is both profound and indispensable. The Secretary-General's report and many findings of UN agencies have consistently shown that women bear the burden of displacement, poverty, disrupted education and healthcare, and the loss of loved ones. Yet, focusing on women's vulnerability tells only half the story. The Women are not merely survivors of conflict. They are builders of peace, drivers of recovery and development. Their participation strengthens social cohesion, accelerates recovery, enhances household stability, and fosters inclusive economic growth. Today's debate recalls Security Council Resolution Resolution 1889, introduced by Vietnam and adopted by the Council in 2009. The resolution underscored the importance of women's participation at all stages of peace processes, particularly in post-conflict situations. And since then, the women, peace and security agenda has remained a priority of our national development effort. Starting with the first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in 2024 and the effective implementation of numerous policies to enhance women's participation in political, economic and social life. Madam President, given the importance of women's participation in peacekeeping, Vietnam believes that it is time that we translate our commitments into concrete action with greater determination. First, we should redouble our efforts to promote the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in peace negotiations and decision-making processes. Second, addressing the needs of women in post-conflict situations is essential. Greater investment should be directed towards healthcare, education, and women's economic empowerment. And third, all governments, UN agencies, and other stakeholders can further advance the women, peace, and security agenda by supporting women-led peacebuilding, women-led reconciliation, and women-led local community initiatives. While also empowering women in new areas of digital transformation, STEM education that I have just heard now— just now, and climate resilience. In this regard, we hope that ongoing UN reform efforts will not diminish the implementation of this important agenda. In conclusion, Madam President, let us recognize women, not only as those most affected by conflict, but also as leaders, peacebuilders, and architects of a more secure future. When women participate meaningfully in shaping peace, peace itself becomes more durable, more inclusive, and more sustainable. I thank you.

I thank the minister for his statement, and I now give the floor to Her Excellency, Ms. Shamma Obaid Islam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Thank you, Madam President. We deeply appreciate the presidency of Colombia and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia for convening this very important open debate. And I thank you for giving me an opportunity to be a participant in this debate. I also thank the UN Women Executive Director and the briefers for the valuable insights on women, peace, and security agenda. Bangladesh's experience from its 1971 War of Liberation demonstrates that women are not only victims of conflict, but also essential agents of nation-building and peace. In the post-independence period, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman institutionalized women's empowerment by establishing women's affairs division reflecting and early recognition of women as key catalysts for peace and development. Our former Prime Minister Begum Khaledaziz's revolutionary decision to make education free for underprivileged girls from primary to high school indicates a significant step forward to girls' education and empowerment. Our national commitment to peace— Thank you. Was further reinforced by our first female Prime Minister, who upon her release after nearly 6.5 years of unwarranted detention under the previous autocratic regime called for no destruction, no anger, and no revenge, and urged love and peace to rebuild the country. This ethos continues to inform our current policy orientation. Thank you. With women forming half our population, their participation is indispensable to building a peaceful Bangladesh. Guided by clear electoral mandate, our government under the leadership of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman is pursuing a peace-driven, people-centered foreign policy with women at its core. Recent initiatives such as farmers' cards for women, farmers and family cards for female heads of households are strengthening grassroots empowerment. Madam President, Bangladesh's commitment to the WPS agenda is longstanding. We recall with pride that Resolution 1325 was adopted when Bangladesh served on the Security Council. We believe that no nation can rise and progress without empowering their women. We were among the first in South Asia to adopt a national action plan on WPS and are now developing its next cycle. We have also reaffirmed our commitment through active engagement in the WPS focal points network, including the recent meeting in Italy. As a major troop contributor, we recognize the importance of women peacekeepers with 313 Bangladeshi women currently serving in UN missions. We also host over 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingya, including survivors of extreme violence, and apply a gender-responsive WPS approach in humanitarian response. Yet global progress remains uneven. We therefore call for women's meaningful participation in peace, processes, predictable financing for women-led organizations, implementation of national action plans, and stronger integration of WPS into climate and humanitarian action. We also urge decisive action against cyber harassment and technology-driven violence targeting women. On a personal note, I represent Bangladesh government, but I am a female political activist. And a parliament member in Bangladesh, and have experienced digital harassment at all levels, and have known so many women from different countries and societies facing the same. We further call for ending the plight of Palestinian women and girls through a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. To conclude, let us reaffirm our collective responsibility to ensure gender-balanced participation in all peace and security efforts. I thank you.

Gracias, Excellencies. I would like to thank Her Excellency Madam Obaid Islam for the statement. I wish to remind all speakers that they must limit their statements to a maximum length of time of 3 minutes so that the Council may carry out its work expeditiously. After 3 minutes, your microphone light will begin to blink to indicate that you must conclude your statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Kazakhstan.

Madam President, distinguished members of the Security Council, Excellencies, allow me to express my gratitude to the presidency of Colombia and you personally for organizing this timely open debate, and to the briefers for their insightful statements. The theme today touches upon the very core of building a sustainable global future. Present discussion addresses a widening gap between normative commitments and the reality on the ground, where women continue to be underrepresented in formal peace processes. For the Republic of Kazakhstan, this engagement carries profound significance. Thank you, Mr. President. Of significance. Over the past 34 years, Kazakhstan has consistently strengthened its institutional foundations to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. We recognize that inclusive peace processes are inherently more sustainable. The implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions is not merely a gender issue. It is a security imperative. Women must be recognized not only as victims of conflict, but as leaders, mediators, peacekeepers, negotiators, and decision-makers. A decisive step in consolidating our national system was the successful implementation of our first National Action Plan for Security Council Resolution 1325. Moving forward, we are currently developing and adopting our second National Action Plan through broad consultations in involving civil society organizations and government officials. This new cross-agency framework will comprehensively address pressing and emerging challenges while continuing to promote the meaningful participation of women in peacebuilding and security processes. At the national level, our Family and Gender Policy Program until 2030 integrates gender equality principles into all areas and levels of decision-making, targeting a minimum of 30% of women at leadership levels. This commitment is further reinforced by the Action Plan on Human Rights and Rule of Law signed by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in December 2023. Along with this, the government implements initiatives to promote equal rights, counter sexual harassment in the workplace, and systematically address domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence. New legislation fully criminalizes domestic violence, introducing multi-sectoral mechanisms to protect women and children. This domestic progress directly translates into our international peacekeeping footprints. Since 2018, 20 Kazakh female military service members have participated and continuing doing so in the United Nations peace operations in Lebanon, Western Sahara and the Golan Heights. Peace negotiations and post-conflict recovery are inherently incomplete in half of humanity if half of humanity is excluded from the process. The international community must take concrete measures to remove barriers to women's participation and strengthen institutional frameworks. Kazakhstan reaffirms its full readiness to continue expanding its peacekeeping presence, placing a with special emphasis on strengthening the role of women as architects of security. I thank you.

Gracias. Thank you for your statement. And I now give the floor to the representative of Indonesia.

Madam President, I thank Colombia for convening this meeting and the briefers for their valuable insights. For more than two decades, For decades, the international community has called for women's participation in peace process. Yet despite countless resolutions, commitments, and repeated affirmations, women remain excluded from meaningful decision-making in peace process. Too often, their inclusions are merely symbolic, while being denied genuine decision-making power. Further, women are not only absent from negotiating tables, they are also disproportionately bearing the brunt of violence. The Secretary-General's 2025 report on WPS stated that women and children killed in armed conflicts has quadrupled, and 7 out of 10 women killed in conflict globally died in Gaza. We must therefore move beyond this illusion of inclusion. Women's participation is not only a matter of representation, but a strategic necessity for lasting peace. In this regard, Indonesia wishes to emphasize 3 points. First, women's participation in peace processes is not merely a normative commitment; it is an operational imperative. As the initiator of Security Council Resolution 2538 on Women in Peacekeeping Operations, Indonesia calls upon all UN member states to implement their commitments in a concrete and measurable manner. Indonesia has seen firsthand how women peacekeepers, including Indonesian Women Peacekeepers, play a vital role in civilian protection. Their role is significant in building trust with local communities, improving access to women and children, and ensuring protection efforts more responsive to realities on the ground. In 2025, Indonesia have contributed over 200 women peacekeepers, its highest figures since 2015. However, what matters most is not numbers alone, but ensuring that women's voices shape decisions and outcomes. Second, the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women is indispensable throughout the peace continuum. When women participate in peace negotiations, the opportunity of agreements are greater and more likely to sustain. Therefore, tokenism must end and meaningful influence must begin. This requires sustained investment to create enabling environments and strengthening women's capacities as mediators, negotiators, and peacebuilders. In our region, Indonesia initiated the Southeast Asian Network of Women Peace Negotiators, and mediators, as a platform for exchange among Southeast Asian women pool of experts involved in peace process. Third, we must strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships, including with women-led and grassroots organizations. Their local knowledge and leaderships are indispensable to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Indonesia has reflected this approach in its National Action Plan on Women's Empowerment and gender equality in social conflicts, which has increased women's participation in local conflict prevention mechanisms. These efforts have helped build a pipeline of women peace actors and strengthened linkages between community-driven initiatives and broader policy frameworks. Madam President, peace cannot be decided for women. It must be decided with women. It can only be sustained when women participate fully, equally, and meaningfully in shaping the decisions that determine the future of their societies. Indonesia stands ready to champion this path forward to a more durable and peaceful world. I thank you, Madam President.

Gracias. I thank the delegation of Indonesia for the statement, and now I give the floor to the delegation of Brazil.

Madam President, Madam Minister, Your presence at the helm of this debate is particularly symbolic. Brazil would like to thank Colombia for convening this timely debate and for highlighting an essential truth: peace is decided with women. The delegate of Brazil, a woman, to the Conference of San Francisco in 1945 already knew that— Bertha Lutz, who at the time said to an audience that was practically all male that there would be no peace in the world unless women helped build it. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda cannot be seen as ancillary to our work. The full, equal, significant and safe participation of women is a condition for conflict prevention, mediation, maintenance and peacebuilding as well.

Thank you.

It should be present from the very diagnosis of the conflict until negotiations, the implementation of agreements, institutional reforms, and socioeconomic recovery. Women should not be seen only as victims of conflicts. They are community leaders, mediators, defenders of human rights, trust builders, and agents of peace. At the same time, when they are victims of violence, including sexual violence, they deserve protection, comprehensive services, justice, repair, and guarantees of non-repetition. When it comes to mediation and peaceful solution of disputes, Brazil prones dialogue, preventive diplomacy, and inclusion. We participate in specific networks in order to strengthen the role of women in peace initiatives, including the Regional Network of Women Mediators of the Southern Cone, the Ibero-American Network of Women Mediators, and the Network of National Focal Points on Women, Peace and Security. These networks help correct a persistent oversight: women should be seated at the decision-making table, not just be consulted on the margins. In peacekeeping missions, it is indispensable to incorporate a gender-based focus in mandates, planning, risk analysis and in our interactions with communities. We should also broaden the presence of women, both civilians and women in uniform, at all levels, including leadership. In peacebuilding, inclusion should translate into representative institutions, accessible public services, and real opportunities for political and economic participation. In relation to gender-based violence, Brazil defends the importance of comprehensive policies when it comes to prevention and attention, such as our National Pact to Prevent Femicides and the initiative House for Brazilian Women. These programs articulate protection, justice, social assistance, health, public safety, and economic autonomy. Madam President, there will be no lasting peace without gender equality, without social participation, and without the active participation of women in all spheres of human activity, especially when it comes to promoting peace and preventing conflicts. Brazil trusts that the Women, Peace and Security file will continue to consolidate in the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, and it will help make our UN Charter the guide par excellence to living together globally. I thank you.

Gracias, Alaila.

I thank the delegation of Brazil for the statement. And I now give the floor to the delegation of Israel.

Madam President, thank you. As I listened to briefers today, I can relate to the concerns raised regarding the impact of conflict on women in the Middle East and around the world. Unsurprisingly, as it has been over the past 3 years, once again briefers have decided not to acknowledge the suffering of women in Israel. If the UN briefers themselves refuse to acknowledge the women in Israel, the impact on our lives, our part in negotiations and in participation, then what is the message? That we don't matter? It is my obligation to make sure women in Israel are not excluded from this hall. As— and as others refuse to acknowledge us, I will brief you accordingly. Thank you. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda is not an abstract framework for Israeli women and girls. It reflects a daily reality shaped by profound security challenges and the resilience of women in times of crisis. Israeli women and girls continue to live under constant missile, rocket, and drones attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist organizations. Including Hezbollah and the Houthis. Under these conditions, women are not only among the most affected civilians, but are also central to national resilience by sustaining communities and responding to emergencies under fire. We are proud that women hold significant roles and contribute to Israeli security with meaningful representation in strategic planning, Air Force, intelligence, and combat roles. President, the October 7th massacre perpetrated by Hamas further underscored the urgent need to strengthen the international response to sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and terror attacks. Such crimes demand rapid documentation, survivor-centered care, and effective accountability mechanisms. Yet critical evidence is often lost— in the immediate aftermath of attacks. In this context, Israel is proud to sponsor, along with the governments of Switzerland and Argentina, the development of a new toolkit led by UNODC for emergency first responders addressing sexual and gender-based violence linked to terrorism. This initiative will equip medical teams, police, and emergency responders with practical tools to identify, document, and preserve evidence under extreme conditions, strengthening accountability and advancing the protection and prevention pillars of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Madame President, in line with the principle of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, we take note of the meaningful participation of women around the table at the recent rounds of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon facilitated by the United States. This is a positive development in our region in which women remain underrepresented in many peace and political processes. President, I am obliged to draw the attention of the Security Council to the recent report of the Civil Commission on October 7th crimes by Hamas against Women and Children. Based on thousands of verified testimonies, photographs, and videos, the report documents 13 recurring patterns of sexual and gender-based violence committed during the October 7th massacre and against hostages thereafter. The report endorsed by the internationally recognized expert makes an important contribution to the evidentiary record and to ongoing efforts to ensure accountability for those crimes. At the same time, it is highly disgraceful that the Secretary General decided to include Israel in the annex of the annual report on CRSV. This decision entirely ignored the comprehensive and detailed 55-page official report submitted by the government of Israel, which refutes the baseless accusations of the Secretary General. Thank you. Moreover, the Secretary-General completely overlooked extensive cooperation and dialogue with the Office of the SRSG on CRSV, preferring to choose politics and anti-Israel bias over facts. This latest decision yet again undermines the objectivity and credibility of UN mechanisms. It joins the silence of UN Women, the agency created to defend women's rights, who took nearly 2 months to explicitly condemn Hamas and address the reports of sexual violence from October 7th and continues to ignore the impact of the conflicts on women in Israel. It shows how those who claim to defend women's rights turn their backs on Israeli women since it does not fit the agenda. Israel remains committed to advancing the principle the principles of Resolution 1325 through legal frameworks, government policy, international cooperation, and ongoing efforts to expand women's participation in security and diplomatic spheres. I thank you.

Gracias por— Thank you for your statement. I now give the floor to the delegation of Poland.

Madam President, Poland aligns itself with the statement of the European Union, as well as the remarks of Canada, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security to be delivered. At the outset, let me thank Colombia for convening this meeting and the briefers for their invaluable input. Madam President, more than 25 years after the adoption of the Security Council Resolution 1325, one lesson has become clear: peace is stronger more legitimate and more sustainable when women are meaningfully involved in shaping it. At the same time, we should be honest about the world we face today. Many of the most devastating conflicts are not moving towards peace. In some cases, there are no meaningful negotiations at all. In others, diplomatic efforts continue to— with little or no participation of women. This does not make the Women, Peace and Security Agenda less relevant. Just the opposite. Women's participation cannot be reduced to a seat at the negotiating table, important as that remains. Women are mediators, community leaders, first responders, human rights defenders, and peacebuilders. They help prevent conflict, strengthen community resilience, sustain essential services through war, and lay the foundations for recovery long before formal peace processes begin. Nowhere is this more evident than in Ukraine. For yet another year, this Council is confronted with the unacceptable reality that one of its permanent members continues its war of aggression against a sovereign neighbour. Russia's actions have caused death, immense human suffering, displacement and destruction, while challenging the very principles upon which this Organization was founded and further eroding the credibility of this Council. At the same time, Ukrainian women have demonstrated extraordinary courage and leadership. They have served on the frontlines, delivered humanitarian assistance, documented violations of international law, supported displaced families, sustained local communities, and helped keep public institutions functioning under the most difficult circumstances. Many have also been at the forefront of the efforts to locate, support, and advocate for the return of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported or transferred by Russia. Their voices must to help shape Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. But Ukraine is not a unique case. We pay tribute to the brave women facing armed conflicts around the world and recognize the vital role they play in peace-building efforts, including in the context such as Colombia, whose experience demonstrates the value of women's meaningful participation in peace processes. Poland also wishes to underline that there can be no sustainable peace without accountability. Those responsible for war crimes, including conflict-related sexual violence, must be brought to justice. Equally important is support for women-led civil society organizations. In many conflict-affected settings, they are among the most trusted and effective partners in laying the groundwork for lasting peace, often reaching out to communities long before international institutions can. Their participation should be a central component of peacebuilding and recovery efforts. Madam President, National Action Plans remain one of the most practical tools for translating commitments into action. Poland is currently preparing its second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, drawing the lessons learned in recent years, including those arising from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Madam President, women's participation is not only a matter of rights. It is a matter of peace and security. When women are excluded, peace processes are less representative, less responsive, and ultimately less sustainable. When women participate fully, equally and meaningfully, societies are better equipped to prevent conflict, recover from war and build lasting peace. This is why advancing women, peace and security agenda remains not only a moral obligation, but also a strategic imperative. And I thank you.

Gracias por todo.

I thank the delegation of Poland for its statement. And I now give the floor to the delegation of Qatar.

Madam President, Your Excellency Rosa Yolanda Vila Vicencio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, we thank you for presiding over this important open debate. We also thank the briefers for their valuable contributions. Madam President, the ongoing wars and conflicts have profound repercussions on women and girls, they are the most affected by crises. This reality makes it necessary to make concerted efforts to strengthen the role of women as a fundamental pillar in achieving peace and security. In this regard, we must not overlook the catastrophic humanitarian conditions experienced by women in conflict areas, including in the occupied Palestinian territories as a result of violations committed by the Israeli occupation. This endangers the lives of Palestinian women. Thank you. Palestinian women and girls and leads to the deterioration of education, health, and other vital services. As indicated in the latest report of the Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security, the grave violations committed against women and girls, including in the occupied Palestinian territories, provide stark examples of the serious risks faced by women in crises and in crisis settings. Madam President, with regard to the situation in the Gulf region, Recent developments have highlighted the importance of maintaining regional security and stability, given their direct impact on the lives of communities, including women and girls. These developments underscore the need to continue efforts to promote dialogue and diplomacy, adhere to international law, and resolve disputes through peaceful means, contributing thereby to a more secure and stable environment that supports development, ensures the continuity of essential services, and empowers women and girls. Against this background, the State of Qatar will continue its tireless efforts and its support for good offices aimed at enhancing regional security and stability to serve the interests of the peoples of the region and the world, including women and girls. In this context, the State of Qatar welcomes the agreement on a memorandum of understanding between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the outstanding issues between the two countries, including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. We consider this to be an important step towards consolidating sustainable peace and enhancing economic growth regionally and internationally. We express appreciation for the will demonstrated by both sides and their commitment to moving forward in resolving differences through negotiation and peaceful means. We commend the partnership and efforts made by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, as well as all regional and international parties— Thank you. To de-escalate tensions and to reach convergences leading to an agreement on this memorandum. Madam President, the steadfast commitment of the State of Qatar to the women, peace, and security agenda is manifested in its recognized initiatives and diplomatic efforts in the field of mediation and in its commitment to provide broader opportunities for women to participate in dialogue and decision-making processes. We joined the Secretary-General campaign, Common Pledge for Women's Participation in Peace Processes, thereby translating our commitment into action. And we take pride in it, in our active involvement as a member of the Arab Women Mediators Network. We also hosted the third meeting of the Working Group on Women, Peace and Security in Arab States in October 2025, which emphasized the importance of regional cooperation to strengthen women's leadership in peace and security efforts. In conclusion, we will continue our efforts in enhancing the full participation of women as a main pillar in achieving the comprehensive and sustainable peace that we aspire to. I thank you, Madam President.

I thank the delegation of Qatar for their statement. And now I give the floor to the delegation of Liechtenstein. You have the floor.

Thank you so much for the floor, Madam President. At the moment of growing pushback against the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, one truth remains clear: peace is more legitimate, inclusive, and durable when women participate fully, equally, and meaningfully, as Colombia's own experience clearly illustrates. Yet the gap between commitments and practice remain stark. In 2024, women made up 7% of negotiators in peace processes worldwide, and nearly 9 in 10 negotiation tracks included no women negotiators at all. Women's participation improves the quality and sustainability of peace agreements, broadens agendas beyond power sharing, and increases the chance that agreements address justice, livelihoods, education, and long-term reconciliation. For Liechtenstein, the lesson is clear. Women's participation must not be symbolic, conditional, or delayed. It must be built into peace processes from the outset. The Secretary General's Common Pledge on the Full, Equal, and Meaningful The Guideline on the Participation of Women in Peace Processes offers a useful operational framework and we encourage broader support for it. Madam President, the protection of women and girls in armed conflicts requires more than statements of intent and policy commitment. Together with our partners at DCAF, Liechtenstein launched a project to provide practical recommendations and tools to advance women, peace and security and gender perspectives in international humanitarian law. Effective civilian harm reduction demands actionable steps that integrate gender perspectives through military doctrines, policies and operations. At the same time, it is critical to also strengthen inclusive, same— safe and sustained community— community engagement, as well as monitoring, investigation, and accountability mechanisms. This includes attention not only to direct harm, but also to reverberating effects such as displacement, disrupted health, heightened exposure to sexual and gender-based violence, loss of livelihoods, and essential services. It is equally important to recognize the central role —of women-led civil society organizations and grassroots women peacebuilders. In many conflicts, women's networks are first responders and last to leave. They provide services to survivors, build trust across communities, document violations, negotiate for civilian protection, and sustain the social fabric on which peace ultimately depends. Madam President, the Council must also match its own commitments with action. Resolution 2242 called for integrating women, peace, and security concerns across all country situations on its agenda. Yet gender language has been weakened or removed in several mandate renewals. We also regret that there has been a sharp decline— in women's civil society briefers. According to the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, the Council heard from only 31 women's civil society briefers last year, down 44% from the year before and the lowest annual total since 2020. This is deeply concerning. Women's participation must be expanded and protected, including against reprisals. I thank you so much.

Gracias.

I thank the delegation of Liechtenstein for the statement. And now I give the floor to the representative of Portugal.

Senhora Presidente.

Madam President.

For convening this timely debate and for placing women where peace processes must place them. At the center of decision-making. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda is grounded in rights, results, and impact. Peace agreements are stronger when women help shape them. Institutions are more legitimate when they reflect the societies they serve. Transitions are more resilient when women participate fully, equally, meaningfully, and safely. Sadly, this is still not the reality. Women continue to be underrepresented— in negotiations, excluded from decision-making, and exposed to intimidation and attacks, including against women civil society leaders and peacebuilders. At the same time, we are witnessing a troubling pushback against women's rights and gender equality. More than 25 years after Resolution 1325, women's participation cannot be treated as an aspiration or as a box to tick. It must be a condition of credible mediation and sustainable peace. Portugal sees 4 priorities for successful outcomes. First, women must be included from the outset, not brought in once decisions have already been taken. Mediation teams should have gender expertise. Delegations should be more representative. And reporting should assess women's real ability to shape negotiations, not only their presence in the room. Second, women-led Civil society must be supported and protected. That means safe access to political processes, predictable funding, protection from reprisals, and serious engagement with the analysis, early warning, and local knowledge that women peacebuilders bring. Third, gender perspectives must be built into recovery, reconstruction, security sector reform, and transitional justice. Post-conflict transitions that ignore inequalities risk-reducing the grievances that fuel conflict. Fourth, commitments must be translated into implementation. National action plans remain key instruments. In March, Portugal adopted its fourth national action plan on women, peace, and security for 2026-2030. It strengthens women's participation and leadership in diplomacy and international missions, includes training on gender equality,— and conflict-related sexual violence for deployed personnel, and reinforces action on prevention, protection, and accountability. In the same spirit, Portugal also supports efforts to increase women's representation in leadership positions across the UN system, including through the Senior Women Talent Pipeline Initiative. Portugal will continue to support UN peace operations and transition processes that integrate women, peace and security,— across planning, mandates and delivery. As an incoming member of this Council, we are committed to keeping this agenda visible, operational and results-oriented. Senhora Presidente, the test before us is simple: not whether we support women's participation in principle, but whether peace processes change in practice. Peace cannot be decided for women. Peace must be decided with women. Thank you.

Muchas gracias. Thank you very much to Portugal for the statement. And I now give the floor to the delegation of Chile.

Madam President, I would like to thank Colombia for convening this open debate, as well as Madam Sima Bahus, Madam Leymah Gbowee, and Madam Kaiva Ashoka for their valuable contributions. President, history has shown that no society is capable of achieving sustainable peace when a significant part of its population is absent from decision-making. Exclusion creates fragility. On the other hand, participation strengthens legitimacy. This is a lesson that transcends regions, cultures, and generations. This is why The Women, Peace and Security Agenda continues to be an indispensable tool to move towards societies that are more peaceful and resilient. It is not just about ensuring rights. It is also about strengthening the quality of our institutions, improving decision-making, and making sure that the possibilities of reaching a sustainable peace are increased. After 25 years, gaps persist. Women continue to be underrepresented in peace negotiations, in mediation mechanisms, and in political transitions. Too often, those who have directly suffered the consequences of war continue to have a limited voice in peacebuilding. Madam President, boosting the full, equal, significant, and safe participation of women in peace processes demands that we go from commitments to action. This requires ensuring that they participate from the very beginning of negotiations. It requires eliminating barriers that limit their access to decision-making spaces, as well as strengthening their leadership and ensuring their protection in the face of threats, intimidation, and violence. And in pursuit of that goal, Chile was the first country in Latin America to adopt a national action plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. And recently, we launched its third edition. This instrument has promoted a— A— cross-cutting and intersectorial public policy to strengthen the significant participation of women and to include a gender perspective and human rights perspective in the creation of peace and security in our country. To draft this plan, we broadly consulted civil society by bringing together women's organizations, foundations, universities, and other academic institutions. Institutions. Thank you. Moreover, it contemplates the creation of an observatory for Resolution 1325, an observatory that would be in charge of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of this resolution. The significant participation component is one of the strategic pillars of this plan. Chile thus considers that civil society organizations and specifically those that are led by women, are indispensable actors in conflict prevention, mediation, reconciliation, and rebuilding societies affected by violence. Their detailed knowledge of local realities, their proximity to communities, and their capacity to create trust turn these organizations into strategic partners to build a sustainable peace. Madam President, the experience that we have accumulated over several peace processes shows that women are key actors to re-establish trust, strengthen social cohesion, and prevent a resurgence of violence. Mm-hmm. Their participation is not a secondary element to peace, but rather one of its fundamental pillars. Chile specifically recognizes the lessons learned from the Colombian peace process, whose experience highlighted the value of having specific mechanisms so that the voices and perspectives of women are part of crafting solutions that are both lasting and legitimate. Finally, Madam President, we should make sure that women are not just beneficiaries of that peace, but also protagonists in its construction. We reaffirm our commitment to the full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and we will continue to work alongside the United Nations, member states, and civil society to promote a peace that is more inclusive, representative, and long-lasting. I thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. I thank the delegation of Chile for the statement. The delegation of France has requested the floor to make a further statement. You have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President. My delegation is obliged to reply to the regrettable comments made by the Russian Federation. The parallel that the Russian delegate tried to establish between the exactions committed by Russia and what recently has happened in France is simply completely inept. Once again, Russia is trying to distract the Council from the crimes it has committed. It is a maneuver to try to evade its responsibilities. Let us recall that it was through a rigorous methodology that the Secretary-General of the United Nations established that Russia has repeatedly committed in its war of aggression against Ukraine sexual violence against prisoners of war and against Ukrainian civilians. Let us also recall that this is on top of the observation made by the SG since 2023. According to him, Russia in this very The same war has killed, mutilated children, and also attacked schools and hospitals. All of this can be verified by consulting the Secretary-General's official documents. Russia will have to be accountable for its actions, regardless of whatever kind of clumsy distraction they try to do and that aren't fooling anybody. I thank you.

We still have a number of speakers left on our Speaker] With the agreement of delegations, members of this council, I shall now suspend this meeting until 15 hours. The meeting is suspended.