Participation

The international community must continue to strive in pursuit of peace and security, and should makeuse of the capacities of women as agents of change. This year, the Nobel Committee recognized the efforts of women who fought, in different areas, to achieve peace — proof of the added value of their work and of the importance of continuing such an effort, for which the cooperation of my Government can always be counted on.

Women also suffer disproportionately from poverty. An important dimension in advancing peace and preventing conflict is to ensure greater and more equitable economic justice and development. Despite advances in positioning women to assume leadership roles in conflict prevention and mediation, those advances will be meaningless if the root causes of conflict, which are by and large developmental in nature, are not sufficiently addressed.

We further welcome the practical recommendations and the strategic results framework outlined in the Secretary-General's report, which constitute a concrete proposal to include women in conflict prevention and mediation. In particular, we wish to highlight the importance of nominating women to lead negotiation processes and increasing the number of women in the foreign services and security establishments.

Indeed, inroads have been made in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), as highlighted in the Secretary-General's report (S/2011/598*). However, let us be clear that gaps remain in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), as well as glaring disparities pertaining to the role of women in preventive diplomacy, formal peace processes and mediation.

Indeed, in congratulating the three outstanding women who were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year, President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, her compatriot Ms. Leymah Gbowee and Ms. Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, President Jacob Zuma underscored the important contribution that women continue to play in their ongoing struggle for women's rights, dignity, peace and development all over the world.

In the recent past, South African women held the position of Deputy Police commissioner in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. We believe that the presence of women in peacekeeping missions positively benefits local women and girls, including other vulnerable groups in countries in, and emerging from, conflict.

In that regard, South Africa is among the States with the highest representation of women across all spheres of Government. Women are also at the helm of ministries in the fields of international relations, cooperation and defence. In the area of peacekeeping, we have deployed gender mainstreaming officers in positions of command in peacekeeping missions to ensure that issues related to women are addressed.

Equally, the proposal to increase the number of women police and troops in United Nations missions is highly desirable in addressing the specific needs of women in conflict and postconflict countries.

My country has allocated a significant part of its budget to education and health, and on 14 May 2010, it adopted a law to establish full parity in all partially or fully elected bodies. In that manner, Senegal intends to ensure the effective participation of women in decision-making processes. To follow up on that law, a national gender-parity monitoring body was set up and will be officially inaugurated on 16 November.

The history of resolution 1325 (2000), more than ten years of it, has clearly confirmed in practice the key role and significance of this instrument for advancing the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution and in post-conflict reconstruction and also in protecting women during conflicts.