Rwanda

Our Government considers violence against women and girls as an assault on human dignity. Over the years, we have created a favourable environment for gender equality, women's empowerment and children's rights. We have demonstrated a strong political will to end the scourge by adopting supportive policies and legal frameworks, which include a gender- sensitive Constitution and laws on the prevention and punishment of gender-based violence and on the protection of children from violence. As Ambassador Power stated, our new parliament — our lower Chamber of Deputies — attests to the fruitfulness of the policies on our agenda, as recent elections raised women's representation in that body at 64 per cent.

"At the continental level, Rwanda is among the leading the police-contributing countries, with female police and correctional officers serving in the United Nations peacebuilding and peacekeeping missions in Liberia, Haiti, the Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad. Those officers actively contribute to combating and raising awareness on violence against women in the communities they serve. They also serve as advisers on gender-based violence and share best practices with other officers and local authorities."

"Let me also emphasize that, in our efforts to promote the women and peace and security agenda, in 2010, my country adopted a national action plan on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). To that end, we have adopted a range of policies to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. One of the foremost priorities is to protect and rehabilitate the dignity of victims. We commend those countries that have also adopted national action plans and urge those that have not done so to make it a priority."

Rwandans have come to understand first hand the importance of strengthening internal justice mechanisms and building institutions that enhance accessibility to justice. We believe that the fight against impunity is primarily the responsibility of States. The international community, including the United Nations, should support national jurisdictions and help them to build capacity where gaps exist, by providing guidance and direction drawn from best practices in the field. That is not to suggest, however, that those international justice mechanisms are irrelevant; indeed, a political international mechanism or tribunal could complement the work of national jurisdictions in the fight against impunity and bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity and genocide, including crimes against women and girls, to justice.

My delegation welcomes the adoption of resolution 2122 (2013) and hopes that it will help speed up the implementation of the women and peace and security agenda articulated in resolution 1325 (2000). Specifically, we are pleased that the resolution advocates for improving the quality of gender analysis by calling for gender expertise in all United Nations- led commissions of inquiry, transitional justice mechanisms, groups of experts of the relevant Sanctions Committees and mediation processes; by supporting special representatives, special envoys and mediation support teams and political and peacekeeping missions in that regard; and by deploying gender advisers and women protection advisers. We also welcome the Secretary-General's recommendations, including his call for an independent review of the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) in preparation for its high- level review in 2015. We hope that such a review will provide in-depth analysis and recommendations for the best way forward.