STATEMENT OF NETHERLANDS, OCTOBER, 2015

There is clear evidence that increasing political participation by women results in better negotiations, better and more sustainable agreements, better governance, more wealth, distributed more equitably, more and better conflict prevention and ultimately, therefore, more peace and security. The Kingdom of the Netherlands works with women’s organizations on peace, justice and development, and empowering women and girls is crucial in all those areas. But huge challenges remain. Conflict is still rife, and we are confronted with ever more extreme violence. In such situations, women do badly. And when women do badly, the world suffers. Guns take over, and the result is violence, impunity and spiral of more poverty and conflict. One appalling example of that was the assassination of one of our partners, the Libyan lawyer Salwa Bugaighis, on 25 June 2014.