Estonia welcomes the important steps taken in that area within the framework ...

Estonia welcomes the important steps taken in that area within the framework of the United Nations in the past two years. However, the fact that, according to the Secretary-General's report entitled “Strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution” (A/66/81), only four of the United Nations negotiating party delegations out of the 14 peace processes under way in 2011 included a woman delegate, which shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement. We would therefore encourage taking steps to ensure the inclusion of women in the ongoing peace processes. In a similar vein, it is regrettable that, in 2011, out of the nine peace agreements signed only two contained women and peace and security provisions.