In that connection we wish to highlight the policies carried out by our Government in the defence sector. In recent years the Ministry of Defence — under the leadership of a woman, Dr. Nilda Garré — has undertaken a profound process of mainstreaming a gender perspective.

To continue making progress towards the objectives set out in resolution 1325 (2000), we wish to take this opportunity to reaffirm some of the commitments taken on by Argentina. First is the implementation of quantitative and qualitative tools to measure and to know in numerical terms — but also strategically — what the situation is with regard to participation of women in peacekeeping operations.

Resolution 1325 (2000), then, reaffirms the important role that women play in the prevention and solution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, underscoring the importance of women's participating on equal footing with men and of their full participation in all initiatives aimed at maintaining and fostering peace and security.

In 2007 Argentina was selected by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to undertake a pilot programme in the region to disseminate the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). In that framework, the Argentine Foreign Ministry convened an inter-ministerial group on gender and peacekeeping.

I wish to stress the importance that Argentina affords to the systematization of international information on the matter so as to ensure the effective implementation of this standard, which is a valuable guide for ensuring respect for the human rights of women in conflict situations and makes visible the important contribution of the inclusion of the gender perspective in peacebuilding processes.

Further, we will move forward with programmes of training on issues of gender and human rights for contingents that are soon to be deployed. That will include developing curricula that consider the gender perspective in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, by integrating both women in the contingents and women in the local population.

Finally, in the Argentine National Centre for Joint Training for Peacekeeping Operations, the annual curriculum will include an international seminar on gender and peacekeeping operations, an initiative has no precedent at the international level.

At the outset, Mr. President, I would like to congratulate you on your initiative to convene this open debate. Argentina's participation in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance missions is among the pillars of its foreign policy. For that reason, as we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000), the Argentine Republic wishes to underscore its firm commitment to the role of women in peace and security.

Another point is continuing to develop a data base that gathers statistics on the voluntary participation of women in peacekeeping operations, including the number of women deployed and their roles in the missions, inter alia.

Argentina wishes to associate itself with the statement made by the Minister of International Cooperation of Canada on behalf of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security.