The draft resolution emphasizes that sexual violence must be specifically reflected in other critical peace and security processes and arrangements, such as security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes. That includes ensuring that those who commit, command or condone sexual violence be vetted and excluded from positions of influence and power.

That is why the theme of today's debate — combating impunity for sexual violence — is of the utmost relevance and urgency. By focusing on impunity, we make a more concerted effort to put the spotlight on the perpetrators, that is, on those who commit, or command, or condone sexual violence in conflicts. In so doing, we begin to re-direct the stigma and the consequences of sexual violence from the survivors to the perpetrators.

Since taking office, in September 2012, I have placed particular emphasis on engaging national stakeholders in order to foster national ownership, leadership and responsibility.

Over the course of five years, we have seen significant progress at the political level, advances led largely by the Security Council.

In their day-to-day lives, survivors of sexual violence are forced to face the men who raped them — in banks, in supermarkets and at the schools of their children, children whose “inheritance” is the stigma of sexual violence, many of whom are offspring born of rape.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the guns may have fallen silent 20 years ago, but for the survivors of sexual violence the war has not ended. Their battle continues as they struggle with physical and psychological injuries, stigma and isolation, poverty and destitution. That is what I have witnessed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in many other countries devastated by war.

I wish to thank the Secretary- General for his statement. His personal commitment to this cause ensures that sexual violence in conflict remain a critical concern for the entire United Nations system, and challenges us to work in unison.

I cannot overemphasize that the commitment of the United Nations system, however great it may be, can never substitute for the political will and action of national actors. The United Nations, through the United Nations Action Network of 13 entities, stands ready to support local efforts.

I believe that we have the collective will, and increasingly the tools, to make it an unsustainable liability for parties to use sexual violence as a weapon of war. The resolve of the Council and the international community as a whole has set us firmly on the path of accountability and prevention. We must stay the course until we achieve the critical mass of action that will turn the tide on history's oldest and least condemned crime.

Crucially, the draft resolution calls on all parties to a conflict to make specific commitments to prevent sexual violence, and challenges the United Nations to engage with parties to illicit such commitments. Such an engagement-based approach has already begun to yield results, with several formal agreements between the United Nations and affected countries to address conflict-related sexual violence.