Apparently, UNAMID is being asked not to go to certain areas. However, when it talks about UNAMID's civilian component, which has a unit for protecting women against sexual violence in armed conflict, it does have permission. Therefore, we did provide access. In that regard, I think we are talking about erroneous information in the report.

In the legal and judicial spheres, the Office of the Prosecutor-General for crimes in Darfur, which was set up pursuant to the peace agreement, has established an investigation of reports from victims and complaints have been made. That is above and beyond the efforts made by the advisory council on human rights, the Ministry for Social Planning and the Ministry to combat violence against women.

In the post-conflict period, from May 2009 to May 2012, 10 security forces personnel were reported to have been involved in six incidents of sexual violence in Northern Province. That is out of a total of 307 persons accused in 256 incidents for the entire Northern Province.

We note that this year report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2014/181) contains references to the Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/25/L.1/Rev.1), accountability and a comprehensive truth and reconciliation commission. We are disappointed that such issues, which have no relevance to that before us, have been dragged into this report.

The Government of Sri Lanka has implemented a firm policy on sexual violence and taken firm action on reported cases of violence against women and girls during the conflict and the post-conflict periods in my country. Sri Lanka has deplored all violence against women and has a well-established policy against gender-based violence and all forms of sexual abuse.

The Government has given special consideration to uplifting the social and economic status of war widows. Bilateral assistance has already been obtained to initiate a self-employment programme for war widows in Batticaloa in collaboration with the Self Employed Women's Association, based in India.

Significantly, no credible evidence has been directly brought to the attention of Government authorities by any of the parties. The Government has not been provided the evidence — which is claimed to be in the possession of the authors of these reports — in order to investigate and respond.

My delegation hopes that international discussion of issues of this nature will facilitate broader appreciation of the inherent challenges and practical outcomes based on realities on the ground. States should be consulted on all aspects of international actions to combat sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, including the provision of assistance.

Legal action has been taken by the Government in all of the above-mentioned cases in which Sri Lankan Security Forces personnel were involved. The military has taken stringent action, including discharging offenders or imposing other punishments in accordance with the military and penal codes. Furthermore, charges have also been filed in normal criminal courts.

In times of conflict and post-conflict situations, attention should be paid to all forms of violence against civilians, but especially to sexual violence. Conflict often creates family dislocations, shattered livelihoods and sole breadwinners, with the resulting negative consequences. Single mothers are often the product of conflict, and, in some cases, that increases vulnerability to sexual harassment, exploitation and violence.