I would like to highlight some of our priorities and how we will strengthen our commitment. Finland has been a dedicated supporter of the women and peace and security agenda. This is reflected in the new Government programme setting out the implementation of 1325 (2000) as a priority. Finland is currently implementing its second national action plan. Next year we start the preparations for the third national action plan, taking into account the recommendations of the global study and the high-level review.
We welcome the fact that the United Nations reviews — the global study and the reviews of peace operations and the peacebuilding architecture — bring conflict prevention and mediation to the fore and stress the importance of the participation and leadership of women. Finland continues to promote conflict prevention and the role of mediation, and strives to effectively and meaningfully involve women in peace and mediation processes. Finland is committed to a joint Nordic initiative called Nordic Women Mediator’s Network, to be established this year.
It is undisputed that increasing the number of women in peacekeeping operations enhances the effectiveness and operational capacity of these operations. Strengthening the gender architecture of peace operations, both in the field and at headquarters, is crucial. Finland will continue deploying women to peacekeeping operations as military experts in numbers at least equivalent to the proportion of women in our national defence forces. We also aim to increase the number of Finnish female police officers seconded to United Nations peacekeeping operations. As a new commitment, we stand ready to deploy a specialized unit of 3-4 female police officers to the United Nations by the end of 2016.
Sexual violence and abductions of women and girls are used as a weapon of war and a tactic of terror. The critical need to address sexual violence in conflict and to step up efforts to eliminate impunity has been forcefully recognized across the world. Finland has been a staunch financial supporter in this area and will continue to be one. We have provided multi-year financial support to the International Criminal Court Trust Fund for Victims. Finland has also contributed financially to the Justice Rapid Response initiative, the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.