Participation

To conclude, allow me to share the following thoughts with Council members. In our view, the tenth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) presents a valuable opportunity to establish a bridge between the Security Council and the General Assembly in terms of the participation and inclusion of women in conflict prevention and resolution and in peacebuilding.

The Government of El Salvador acknowledges and values the progress made thus far, both by the international community as a whole and by Member States in particular, in reaffirming the important role of women in conflict prevention and resolution and in peacebuilding.

El Salvador welcomes the evolution of this historic resolution and the subsequent adoption by the Council of resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1882 (2009) on the prevention and response to sexual violence in conflicts an resolution 1888 (2009) on the participation of women in peacebuilding.

El Salvador acknowledges and welcomes the important contribution made by the Peacebuilding Commission to efforts to promote and strengthen the participation of women in peacebuilding following conflict. We also welcome the efforts made on a daily basis by civil society organizations, especially women's movements, aimed at incorporating the gender perspective in peacekeeping operations.

Moreover, our multidimensional operations have greatly benefited from the recruitment of gender advisers in each of our missions. Those advisers have provided valuable technical expertise in the Sudan, on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; in Chad, on prison reform; in Burundi, on election support; and in Afghanistan, on constitutional reform.

With regard to police personnel, beyond the presence of a woman — who is seated behind me — at the head of our entire police force around the world, we have set up a plan to enable us to achieve a 20 per cent proportion of our worldwide police personnel being female by 2014. As for our 15 peacekeeping missions, three are now led by women, while none were a few years ago.

We have seen in Liberia and Haiti how effective the links of female peacekeepers with the local population have been, particularly in internally displaced persons camps, as in Haiti, for example. Besides their professional qualities, those women model the principle of gender equality.

Thirdly, we will continue to engage closely with troop- and police-contributing countries to help them prepare military and police personnel with the knowledge, skills, expertise and profile to effectively implement resolution 1325 (2000).

Secondly, our focus in future must be on building the capacities of women to build and sustain peace in their own countries. We must invest more in facilitating women's participation in political processes and in newly restructured security sector institutions. We must also work closely with local women to identify and implement protection strategies.