Norway Participation

Where women are included and can exert an influence, we are more likely to reach a peace agreement and the peace is more likely to last. Where women are involved in peacekeeping, the operation enjoys more trust and is more effective. Where there is political will, sexual violence can be addressed, even in humanitarian crises.

Yet, in spite of our knowledge and experience, in spite of our commitments, we still have a long way to go. Women are still excluded from many processes that will decide their future. Women are still suffering abuse and even being targeted directly. We are still not tapping into the resources of 50 per cent of our populations when it matters the most.

From now on, women will expect to take part. Civil society will demand to be heard. More stakeholders will want to have a say, because it has been done before. And even though the Syria talks are not moving in the direction we hoped, the Geneva process has achieved something new: women and civil society are consulted regularly through innovative formal mechanisms. We now have very concrete examples of inclusion. We have been very happy to support these developments.

The Nordic countries deploy many women to United Nations peace operations: 35 per cent of the police officers deployed by Norway and 50 per cent of those deployed by Sweden are women and 40 per cent of all personnel Finland sends to civilian crisis management operations are women. Women made up 50 per cent of the experts deployed by the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit last year. This is because we know that gender balance makes our contingents better. We also support the African Union and several African countries in their endeavours to train more women and to ensure that their police forces are gender responsive.