The topic of today's debate is of particular importance. The sustainable political, social and economic development of a country is possible only with a strong civil society that is involved in all stages of decision-making, including in conflict prevention and resolution and peacebuilding.

The international community's involvement in scaling up women's community initiatives and improving their access to national and international dialogue and mediation processes is of particular relevance. The Security Council recognized as much in its presidential statement on this topic last year (S/PRST/2011/20).

Moreover, the United Nations itself should live up to its own standards by ensuring women's adequate representation in peacekeeping operations at different levels and by improving training on gender- specific issues for military and police in peacekeeping missions.

Latvia participates in capacity-building in several conflict situations and post-conflict countries. Women's leadership, participation and economic empowerment are among the main priorities of our capacity- building initiatives. Latvia has shared its experience and implemented projects in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries.

Latvia believes that women's political leadership and economic empowerment are key to ensuring women's participation in the prevention of conflict, conflict resolution and long-term recovery efforts. They are also part of UN-Women's main thematic prioritie and, as a member of the UN-Women Executive Board beginning in January 2013, Latvia will contribute to their implementation.

In order to increase the representation of women's civil society leaders in peace processes and post-conflict peace consolidation, formal arrangements — such as on the security of women human rights defenders, security prior to and during elections and childcare arrangements — and capacity-building in leadership, conflict analysis and negotiation skills should be provided.

In conclusion, let me reiterate Latvia's commitment to the promotion of gender equality and the participation of women and their civil society organizations at all levels and in different contexts of decision-making. We encourage further coordinated work by United Nations institutions and Member States in effectively implementatinig resolution 1325 (2000).

We believe that the fourth ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to be held in Jakarta this December, will reaffirm such a strong commitment to implementing resolution 1325 (2000) as an integral part of the development agenda. My delegation also appreciates the efforts made by the United Nations system to strengthen mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on regional initiatives.

Promoting the rights of women is at the core of the human rights policy of my country, and Kazakhstan, as a member of the Executive Board of UN-Women, wholeheartedly supports the multilateral effort in that direction.

My delegation would therefore also propose United Nations system-wide coherence on gender empowerment in conflict resolution through closer coordination between United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. Furthermore, the best results will be achieved if all stakeholders, together with Member States, the private sector, academia and the media form a strong partnership to achieve our common objective.