STATEMENT OF PANAMA, OCTOBER, 2015

Fifteen years have passed, and women’s contributions are still undervalued and underutilized. The claims and spaces created through women’s participation in the prevention and resolution of conflicts should be enhanced to guarantee them the primary role they have been called on to play. The post- 2015 development agenda (General Assembly resolution 70/1), recently adopted by our Heads of State, follows that path. It is an important step towards achieving the goal of women’s broad and equal participation, without discrimination. The world needs such a fundamental transformation. We cannot continue to do what we have been accustomed to doing; that is no longer an option. The issues of peace and security are a commitment that is intrinsically related to the promotion of human development, seen as people-centred sustainable development, in the context of governance, into which women’s presence and actions must be interwoven. From the home to public life, the State must ensure the empowerment of women and men alike so as to build better citizens, better fathers, better mothers, promoting a platform of education that helps to raise children who are peaceful and non-aggressive.