Participation

In our region, Australia was pleased to announce in August our partnership with members of the Pacific Islands Forum on a new 10-year Pacific women's initiative. It aims at redressing the dramatic under- representation of women in decision-making settings, by bringing Governments and civil society groups together to develop policy and to help change perceptions about women's and men's roles in communities.

This open debate serves as an opportunity to address the importance of women's political participation, especially in regions and countries affected by conflict.

However, women have, by and large, remained excluded, especially in efforts to find workable solutions to conflict. In that regard, one of the most important tasks should be to increase the presence of women in decision-making processes. The inclusion of women at all stages of the peace process will ensure a more lasting and representative settlement.

The best way that we have found to respond to the theme of this debate is to refer briefly to the National Action Plan of the Argentine Republic for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), which is in its final phase of adoption. It will be adopted by a presidential decree once the final review phase, is under way right now, has been completed.

It was this Organization that took on the calls by and the initiative of millions of women around the world in order to say “enough!” to a double situation of injustice and discrimination against women that consisted of, on the one hand, silencing the voices of the victims and, on the other hand, hiding the faces of women and girls as rights holders and protagonists of social, economic and cultural changes that could promote, prote

We see a marked improvement in the position of women through a pronounced presence of women in political and social life. Currently, there are 69 female members of Parliament, making up more than a quarter of the total number of parliamentarians. There are also encouraging signs for the future of women's social participation.

To that end, by focusing on training and equipping the army, we have seen an encouraging growth in the number and capacities of our security forces. Those efforts have included women's participation in the Afghan National Army, in which they serve in a variety of capacities, including highly technical roles, such as pilots.

The Secretary-General expresses concern in his report in regard to the slow global progress in women's participation and representation in peace talks. The Afghan Government recognizes the vital role that women have to play in the peaceful resolution of conf licts, and remains committed to focusing on women's rights throughout the peace process.

In the 12 years since its adoption, resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent related resolutions have been helpful tools, not only to bring to the attention of the international community the importance of the women and peace and security agenda, but ALSO to strengthen women's participation rather than simply branding them as victims.

While the current trend for a stronger focus by the PBC configurations on security sector reform (SSR) activities is, in our view, a positive development, it is critical to ensure that such focus does not duplicate the work carried out by United Nations missions whose mandates already include SSR assistance as priority tasks.