General Women, Peace and Security

The elections are closely connected to the political process to promote national reconciliation under Afghan leadership and ownership. We welcome the recent encouraging developments, including the more constructive attitude in the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Human rights, particularly women's rights, are the cornerstone of Afghanistan's development. To that end, Finland will continue its cooperation with Afghanistan on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security.

With regard to the human rights situation, the European Union thanks the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for publishing the report on the treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody in January 2013, and we welcome the constructive response of the Government of Afghanistan to that report.

In our development projects, Estonia pays extra attention to promoting women's rights and the well-being of children, as they are the most vulnerable groups. We believe that traditions or beliefs should never be used as a pretext for gender inequality and non-recognition of women's rights. At the recent session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Estonian Foreign Minister, Mr.

Canada welcomes the progress made in recent months in the peace and reconciliation process. We reiterate our insistence that women's rights not be forsaken for the sake of stability, as well as our support for an Afghan-led and -owned process. More can and should be done to ensure that the opponents of peace do not derail the reconciliation process through acts of terrorism.

For that reason, we wish to express our satisfaction with the fact that the UNAMA mandate that we have renewed today maintains its basic features, including the Mission's role with regard to elections at the request of the Afghan authorities, and the emphasis on the protection of civilians and the monitoring of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Afghanistan, in particular with regard to women and

Thirdly, economic transition and aid delivery will be crucial for the sustainability of the transition. That requires the commitment of the international community in supporting our self-reliance strategy through the transformation decade. The Tokyo Conference in July was about not letting the drawdown of international combat forces affect Afghanistan's strides towards stability and prosperity.

Argentina welcomes the fact that the draft resolution reaffirms the commitment to address the particular impact of armed conflicts on women and children, underlining what is contained in resolution 1325 (2000) and all subsequent resolutions.

In conclusion, let me reiterate that the international community has made progress in including women in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, tackling the scourge of sexual violence in conflict and making national commitments to act. But much more needs to be done so that the world fully sees women as actors, not victims, and as leaders, not followers.

As we mark the twelfth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000), we can point to real progress. United Nations mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding increasingly tap the expertise and address the concerns of women. Peace processes include greater outreach to women. More countries are developing their own national action plans on women, peace and security, yet our work is very far from complete.