Reconstruction and Peacebuilding

I should like to say A few words on the peacebuilding front. The Peacebuilding Commission holds much promise for involving women and girls in designing and then operationalizing post-conflict strategies.

As we know, the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations are unique and, sadly, often overlooked. Today's adoption of resolution 1889 (2009) is a response to a significant body of research findings that reinforce what we have always known — achieving durable peace, recovery and development in post-conflict countries requires the meaningful participation of women in all aspects and at all levels of peace processes.

Thus, ceasefire and peace agreements, as well as disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion programmes, must fully incorporate the specific needs of women and girls. Who better than women themselves to plead this cause? We must therefore guarantee their effective participation in all stages of the peace process.

Peacebuilding is first and foremost a responsibility and a challenge that fall to States. In countries emerging from conflict situations, priorities are numerous and all are urgent. In such a context, the situation of women and girls must be an absolute priority.

Nine years after the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) and one year after the adoption of 1820 (2008), and despite the Security Council's repeated recommendations and appeals, post-conflict situations regrettably remain marked by the ongoing devastating impact of armed conflict on women and children.

The fight against sexual violence is one thing; the broader question of the role of women and their place in peace negotiations, peacebuilding and reconstruction processes is quite another. Resolution 1325 (2000) is and must remain, in our view, the key instrument guiding our actions in this area. However, as far as the implementation of this resolution goes — excuse me for speaking frankly, Mr.

Secondly, and in order to ensure that the specific needs of women are truly taken into account and earnestly responded to in peacebuilding and reconstruction processes, we must put our money where our mouth is when it comes to gender budgeting. We must allocate sufficient resources to women's programmes. This is an effort which it behoves each and every one of us to undertake with urgency, not only here but also at the national level.

Austria will continue to advocate for an increase in the number of women appointed to senior United Nations positions both at Headquarters and, in particular, in field missions. We highly welcome the efforts of the Secretary-General in this regard. Having three female special representatives and six deputy special representatives serving in missions in various conflict areas is already a major step ahead.

We believe that the systematic incorporation of gender issues in post-conflict recovery projects cannot be undertaken at the technical level or through theoretical commitments, but that it depends to a large degree on political will and adequate financing. Thus, it is up to us to make that a reality.

The participation of women in post-conflict peacebuilding processes can be analyzed from the standpoint both of the United Nations system and of the State. In the first case, it is essential to address the issue of gender from the planning stage of activities in the field and to sustain it in all phases of reconstruction and peacebuilding.