As in any conflict situation, it is the international community's responsibility to ensure accountability for the atrocities committed, including sexual violence. We welcome the United Nations-led peacekeeping operation to Mali, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and the deployment of a senior women's protection adviser from the outset.

We welcome the adoption today of resolution 2106 (2013), which, together with resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009) and 1960 (2010) complement landmark resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security. All five Nordic countries are sponsors of today's resolution.

We commend the contribution of the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, as well as the Justice Rapid Response, which serves to support the strengthening of the national capacity to investigate and prosecute such crimes.

We also welcome the United Kingdom's initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict and the subsequent Group of Eight declaration, which we hope will enforce the already existing array of mechanisms within the United Nations and at the regional and national levels. The focus on sexual violence is important but should not come at the expense of the broader agenda on women, peace and security.

The Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations, established last year, supports military organizations in applying a gender perspective in operations. The centre is a hub for the exchange of knowledge and experience in this area.

National programmes on rehabilitation, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration have devoted special priority to the situation of women, in close cooperation with the relevant United Nations agencies, including UN–Women. My country has had a national strategy on combating gender-based violence since 2005, and has established a unit under the Ministry of Justice to combat violence against women and children.

My delegation would like to state that the situation of women in areas of conflict in the Sudan has witnessed considerable progress compared to previous periods, thanks to the efforts of my Government, embodied in the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement with some armed rebel movements, including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). It should be recalled that there are a number of rebel movements still outside the peace process.

In the implementation of the work plan contained in resolution 1325 (2000), our Government established a number of specialized centres at the central and national levels to coordinate the efforts of women in the fields of peace and development and to provide them with consultative guidelines with regard to strengthening the principles of equality and a gender perspective.

In addition to the efforts deployed by the advisory council for human rights in Darfur, social services and security units as well as the unit against violence against women, the Government this month launched the 10-year national action plan on human rights as a clear-cut national strategy to enhance the situation of human rights in the Sudan.

The most recent reform of Spain's military code of conduct includes the obligation to provide specific protection to women and children against rape, enforced prostitution, humiliating and degrading treatment or any other form of exploitation or sexual assault within the context of armed conflict.