Participation

In all aspects of Government, including our military and policing strategies, we have worked to ensure that women are adequately represented. We have eight female ministers in the Federal Executive Council, eight female senators and 280 female judges, including three on the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The highest-ranking police officer in Nigeria's centralized police force is a woman.

We all have our roles to play in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). Civil society has been at the forefront of these efforts, bringing to public awareness the scope and breadth of the problem. We have done much, but there is much to be done. Civil society will continue to work to empower women in war-affected regions, and to work on the ground with policymakers to bring about global peace and human security.

Throughout those 10 years of conflict, peace, destruction, reconstruction and change, women and girls have been the most affected, although I think we would also say that in those 10 years there have also been some significant advances. Some women and girls have benefited from greater involvement in peace processes, greater representation in key decision-making positions and a stronger focus on the prevention of violence.

New Zealand's region is the Pacific, where women are playing critical roles in brokering and maintaining peace in places such as Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Timor-Leste. Despite their important role, however, women remain marginalized from formal negotiations, are seriously underrepresented in national decision-making processes and are still vulnerable to domestic violence.

Member States also have responsibilities for the implementation of 1325 (2000) nationally and within their regions. Women constitute up to 30 per cent of New Zealand's contribution to United Nations and United Nations-mandated peace missions — among thehighest rates in the world. The New Zealand Defence Force pursues a diversity strategy that values the full integration of women, including at senior levels.

But, like others, New Zealand can still do more, and it agrees that commitments are required to ensure the advancement of the 1325 agenda. We therefore commit to developing a national plan of action on resolution 1325 (2000). We commit to mainstreaming issues faced by women with disabilities in our implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

That, in turn, will mean that, as Governments come and go and as conflicts break out and abate, women and girls are protected and can fully participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace and security.

The importance of women's participation in confiict prevention, conflict resolution and reconstruction is clearly addressed in landmark Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820, on women, peace and security. I would go as far as to say that "1325" is one of the best-known resolutions the Security Council has adopted. More so, it should also be one of the mostly widely implemented resolutions.

The Netherlands has from the beginning put its full weight behind the implementation of 1325 and following resolutions. On 4 December 2007 the Netherlands adopted the Dutch National Action Plan (NAP) on SCR 1325, relying on a broad support base.

Women cannot be the silent bearers of the pain and sorrows of conflict, with all of the psychosocial trauma and stigmatization that implies. They are peacemakers and the very foundation of social cohesion and integration. They are an inherent part of the reconstruction and rebuilding of our country.