The third issue is the focus on participation. A defining feature of the resolution 1325 (2000) agenda is that it goes beyond protection to embrace empowerment.
The steps already taken by the Security Council in relation to targeted sanctions are welcome and significant, but there is more to be done. As the non-profit organization Security Council Report identified in its recent cross-cutting report, political caution in the Council has precluded a more ambitious use of sanctions in the women, peace and security context.
The report needs to be updated almost as soon as it is written. As an example, the latest information reaching us about the Central African Republic suggests a situation out of control, with sexual violence employed on all sides as an instrument of conflict.
Such high-profile action and momentum — and even more of both — are desperately needed. The recent report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/149) sets out the brutal realities facing women in conflict situations today. It does not shirk from going into exhaustive and difficult detail.
One of the core recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's report is that all the Security Council Sanctions Committees include a focus on crimes of sexual violence and that the Council expand its institutional capacity so as to develop ways to apply sanctions where no such committees are in place.
Last week's forthright Group of Eight declaration is clear evidence of how high-profile the issue has become. I would like to commend the United Kingdom on the leadership that it has demonstrated with its Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. We look forward to that momentum being maintained with a further Security Council debate in June.
Finally, let me briefly update the Council on developments in Ireland. We are currently undertaking an independent review of our resolution 1325 (2000) national action plan and, in the interests of transparency and sharing lessons learned, we intend to make public the main lessons identified as part of that process.
Faced with such horrors, how can we translate the concern voiced around this table into meaningful action on the ground? I would like to focus on just three points, following on from the European Union statement and from the statement by the representative of Canada on behalf of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security, both of which Ireland has aligned itself with.
Empowerment cannot and will not happen without women's participation. Promoting participation is a challenge that is shared right across the United Nations system, but the Security Council clearly has responsibilities within its remit. The detailed and independent Security Council Report to which I referred earlier gives cause for concern in that regard.
