Statement of Kazakhstan at the 2016 WPS Open Debate
Kazakhstan Implementation
We commend the ongoing mechanisms set in place after the 2015 high-level review panels on peacekeeping and peacebuilding and the 15-year review of resolution 1325 (2000), which powerfully highlighted the women and peace and security agenda. Notable among these mechanisms are the Security Council’s new Informal Expert Group, the Global Acceleration Instrument for Women and Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, the network of women and peace and security national focal points and the Peacebuilding Commission’s gender strategy.
There is a need to increase the availability of gender-disaggregated data and of reports on progress towards implementing and monitoring these commitments, to step up intense capacity-building and to formulate strong new pro-women policies and legislation.
Global processes are effective only when they become strongly rooted on the ground. Allow me to elaborate the steps taken by Kazakhstan to support global efforts.
In collaboration with the Multi-Country Office of UN-Women in Almaty, regional organizations, the Parliament and civil society, Kazakhstan has formulated its 1325 National Action Plan with a designated budget, to be adopted this December.
We will work to achieve the global target of earmarking 15 per cent of our official development assistance for women and peace and security. In 2017, we will set out monitoring frameworks with progress indicators to assess these targets.
Kazakhstan pledges its unfailing support to the women and peace and security agenda when it takes its non-permanent seat on the Security Council, and would like to see it kept as a cross-cutting priority item in the Council’s deliberations. My country can be counted on to be a strong voice on behalf of women’s protection and empowerment.
Kazakhstan Participation
At the same time, despite laudable strides made, there is still insufficient participation and leadership by women, both in times of conflict and of peace. As the Secretary-General underscored in his report, the overall share of women is either at the same level or has even regressed in many key areas.
We recognize the vital role of women in United Nations peacekeeping and conflict resolution. We are presently contributing by deploying our highly qualified military observers with gender competence to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara and the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. Kazakhstan has signed the London Communiqué, which, among other topics, highlights the role of women in peacekeeping. We also support the new United Nations initiative for the appointment of more women in senior United Nations leadership positions and, at the same time, doubling the number of women in the United Nations peacekeeping operations by 2020.
Kazakhstan Conflict Prevention
We welcome the close links between peace, security and sustainable development in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — the nexus that is essential for conflict prevention. We are focusing on Afghanistan with a multidimensional approach of conflict prevention and resolution, recovery, reintegration and humanitarian assistance, through our official development aid program, KazAID. In cooperation with Japan and the United Nations Development Programme, in August 2016 we launched numerous interventions for gender equality in Afghanistan, including providing policy support and capacity development to its Ministry of Women’s Affairs.