Along with our policies of empowerment, my Government developed a strategy to combat gender- based violence in 2005. We established a unit within the Ministry of Justice to combat violence against women and girls, as well as a specialized police unit within the Ministry of the Interior. We have had a national strategy in place since 2008 to combat female circumcision.

After the outbreak of rebellion in Darfur, the Criminal Act of 1991 was amended to include clauses on crimes against humanity and war crimes and to revise article 149, on rape and adultery.

Spain wishes to express its gratitude for the opportunity to participate in today's Security Council debate and to discuss the specific measures that need to be promoted in order to ensure the full participation of women and girls in peace processes.

Spain welcomes the Secretary-General's report (S/2012/732) and supports its observations and recommendations, in particular the attention that the role of women's organizations deserves in the context of the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding.

Spain has devoted significant efforts to the promotion of the role of women and the gender perspective in conflict situations. In that regard, I would like to recall that my country drafted an action plan on women, peace and security in 2007, which has been updated several times since; in fact, the third monitoring report was presented during the second half of 2012.

Spain has also been promoting a number of initiatives in the field of foreign policy, cooperation for development and defence policy to ensure the proper implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

Since the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000), many variables have changed in our approach to peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In that changing context, questions of gender have become an ever more important factor when it comes to the planning, training and evaluation of missions. However, the reasons that led to the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) still persist.

My country also wishes to acknowledge the work done in this area by UN-Women and its Executive Director, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, and to convey our appreciation and gratitude for the recent publication of the sourcebook on women, peace and security, which is a very practical contribution to the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

I would also like to make special mention of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, which highlights the invisibility of women with disabilities in times of conflict. They are the forgotten ones in wars, refugee camps, reconciliation processes and in terms of access to justice.

Currently, we have at our disposal a large body of relevant resolutions and reports. Moreover, and as Spain has already stated during previous debates, experience has shown that when women have the means and the legal framework to do so, they are extremely effective in building peace. That is why this debate is so important, because the role of women in peacebuilding is indispensable.