Participation

In 60 years of UN peacekeeping, only 7 women have held the post of Special
Representative of the Secretary-General. In terms of boots on the ground, a
measurement from April this year put the percentage of women military
personnel on UN operations at only 1.9%. Yet many militaries, including the
UK'S and other Troop and Police Contributing Countries, have a much higher

Despite this Council's recognition of the vital role that women can play in the
areas of conflict prevention and resolution, the remcord of women's participation in
peace processes since the adoption of resolutiori 1325 in 2000 is poor.
Remarkably, there are currently no women engaged as Special Envoys of the
Secretary-General. The Council has very recently reiterated this concern, in its

In conclusion, I wish to state that SADC remains committed to the full and effective
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). We, as the international community, have an
obligation to women the world over to ensure that their rights are promoted and their place in all
aspects of the peace process is assured. It is their equal participation and their full involvement

Gender equality and the empowerment of women is one of the founding principles of SADC and
is enshrined in the SADC Treaty of 1992. We have been greatly honoured by the leadership and
important contributions of women in recent peace processes and negotiations in our region. We
also take pride in the fact that, throughout our history, the women of Southern Africa have played

Furthermore, the Protocol specifies that, in time of armed conflict, States parties shall take such
steps as are necessary to prevent and eliminate incidents of human rights abuses, especially of
women and children, and ensure that the perpetrators of such abuses are brought to justice before
a court of competent jurisdiction. Sexual violence in conflict situations is inextricably linked to

From our experience in SADC, we have learned that it is important to build solidarity among all
stakeholders, particularly women. We therefore remain committed to working within a
consultative and collaborative framework to find peaceful solutions to conflicts. To that end, we
believe it would be important for women in local communities to be allowed to participate in

Women can make an even greater contribution to conflict prevention and settlement in all their
aspects. In post-conflict rehabilitation, we must make broader use of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a fundamental document. We must
also devote greater attention to gender mainstreaming in United Nations efforts to reduce poverty

It is important that gender mainstreaming in United Nations work, including in the field, yield
concrete results in the protection and advancement of women and girls in conflict and postconflict
societies. That requires balanced system-wide approaches that provide, first and foremost,
for the full participation of women themselves in those processes.

We are not suggesting the imposition of a quota for women in such processes; we want to promote
the greatest possible impact of their participation on outcomes and their implementation.
It is also essential to enhance women's participation and the consideration of women's needs in
peacebuilding and peacekeeping operations across the board. In many cases, for example, we

Over the past eight years, the Security Council has closely followed the implementation of
resolution 1325 (2000). The report of the Secretary-General (S/2008/622) clearly indicates that the
overall peace and security architecture of the United Nations has been more sensitive to women's
needs in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict societies. However, a noticeable gap