IMplementation

More broadly, it is not enough to support the women and peace and security agenda today, one day a year. Words spoken in this Chamber are not enough. Commitment means action every day throughout the year in mandate renewals and other negotiations, here and in capitals. And sadly, the reality at the moment is that women and girls continue to be affected inordinately by conflict and insecurity in Syria, in South Sudan and in so many other places. And to compound the injustice, while women’s lives are on the line, their voices are seldom heard in the pursuit of peace. We need only look at the gender balance of the Council.

Finally, an increase in our ambitions for women and peace and security should be matched by an increase in the financing underpinning it. That includes more support for the Global Acceleration Instrument for Women and Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (GAI), and for UN-Women and civil society. It means making our development spending gender- sensitive, something that the United Kingdom continually strives for. And in the most basic terms, it means increasing our spending on projects related to women and peace and security. The United Kingdom has increased its spending by more than 50 per cent, to $10 million in this financial year, including $1 million for the GAI, and I hope others will do the same.

And yet, in this very Chamber a year ago, we all committed to doing something about it — to take the words of resolution 2242 (2015), which I was proud to draft with Román, and turn them into something meaningful, something real.