Participation

In addition to police and military personnel, missions also require stronger civilian capabilities. We fully support the Secretary-General's initiative to respond to the increasing demands for civilian personnel. In this context, the creation of CAPMATCH was a very important step forward.

Lastly, women must be included as active participants at every stage of peacebuilding, peace agreements and development programmes, including in decision-making roles. Women are essential partners in any peaceful society and contribute to the three pillars of sustainable peace, namely, economic recovery, social cohesion and political legitimacy.

United Nations peacekeeping has saved and protected tens of millions of lives around the globe. It helps shattered communities and neighbourhoods rebuild themselves. It replaces strife with harmony. Brave women and men in the peacekeeping missions have made tremendous sacrifices in the cause of peace. More than 3,000 peacekeepers have laid down their lives to save the world from the scourge of war. Today we collectively pay homage to them.

The contribution of women in peacekeeping operations requires special acknowledgement. Often, women in peacekeeping missions serve as a source of inspiration to women and girls in conflict-ridden parts of the world. On its part, Namibia has heeded the Secretary-General's call by nominating women to serve in various United Nations peacekeeping missions.

I also want to underline that women have to be included as active participants in peacekeeping missions and in all peacebuilding activities, including in decision-making roles, because we know that peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes involving the participation of women have a better chance to succeed.

It is clear that no lasting peace can be achieved unless we address the root causes of a conflict from the outset. The crises in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa make that evident every day.

A multilateral dimension requires that United Nations peacekeeping activities should effectively respond to arising conflicts, new political challenges and threats to peace. Today, we can definitely say that the potential of United Nations peacekeeping activities has significantly increased in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

The fourth point concerns gender. There is a crucial element common to peacekeeping and peacebuilding that is conspicuous by its absence in the concept note for today's debate (S/2013/4, annex). Perhaps the single most transformative step towards ensuring the success of peacekeepers as early peacebuilders would be the deployment of more women on missions.

Women are one of the principal pivots in the transformation of a society. It is therefore vital to enhance their participation in decision-making. The integration of women into the police and the army will make it possible to enhance the fight against sexual violence and to promote human rights within those institutions.

Clear and detailed planning is required to ensure that the peacekeeping-peacebuilding transition is seamless in order to avoid any regression into conflict. That requires the involvement of local communities in trust-building exercises and the involvement of women at all levels of society in remaking their communities.