While the Government will continue to adopt social, economic and security measures relating to women and children, which also have relevance to the Commission's findings, courses of action will also be taken in response to the Commission's recommendations.

The adoption of resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) were seminal steps towards enhancing the protection of women and girls from sexual violence in conflict situations. The widespread abuse of women and children in conflict situations has caused much revulsion in civilized minds. Humankind had to take action to deal with this appalling reality.

Sri Lanka stands ready to extend its support to achieving gender parity in United Nations peacekeeping activities and in carrying our gender-related mandates of the peacekeeping missions. Necessary predeployment training has been completed to deploy an all-female battalion comprising 855 personnel and 28 female officers, at any time.

Sri Lanka has had a very constructive engagement with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. We appreciate the open and transparent manner that has been adopted by the Special Representative's Office in working with Sri Lanka on this important issue.

Sensitive to the vulnerabilities of women in postconflict situations, the protection of war-affected women and children is a priority for the Government of Sri Lanka. Every effort is being made to ensure that their lives are returned to normalcy, as far as possible and as speedily as possible.

In addition, as an incremental step to enhance the mechanisms to safeguard the rights of women that are already in place in Sri Lanka, the Government has developed a national action plan for the promotion and protection of human rights, which has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The national action plan contains a specific section dedicated to the rights of women, covering a plethora of issues.

We also thank the Secretary-General for his report on Conflict-related sexual violence (S/2012/33) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Wallström, for her briefing.

My Government is currently conducting its third review of the national action plan on women and peace and security, incorporating the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's reports and in the resolutions, statements and decisions of the Security Council, especially those relating to sexual violence in conflict.

Moreover, in order to raise the profile of gender advisers and ensure the inclusion of the gender perspective in peacekeeping missions, the Ministry of Defence of Spain organized a course in late October 2011 on the gender perspective in operations, with conferences for members of the armed forces on equal opportunity, setting norms on gender issues, and the fight against rape and sexual violence in conflict.

In recent months, in application of Spain's national action plan on resolution 1325 (2000) and other associated resolutions, we have engaged in several activities, especially in the area of training, that I wish to highlight. We are firmly convinced that training is an essential aspect of our efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict.