Reconstruction and Peacebuilding

No country emerging from war can, without risk, leave its young people on the sidelines without any future, knowing only a culture of violence. Programmes for disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating combatants must therefore take into account the specific needs of children, in particular young girls, who are even more severely affected than boys and whose reintegration is even more difficult.

Last year, following a children-sensitive approach and supporting girls' education in particular, Croatia funded the construction of a library in Afghanistan used by 5,000 children, and a high school attended by 600 children. Last year we also provided medical treatment in Croatia to a number of Palestinian children suffering from respiratory diseases, thereby contributing to their psychosocial rehabilitation and well-being.

The Government of Colombia is working with the full conviction that the rebuilding of society in post-conflict situations, if we are to achieve the peace that we so deeply desire as Colombians, should be established on the basis of protection for boys and girls.

Belgium has similar concerns about the reintegration of children who were involved in armed conflict, not only as child soldiers but as sexual slaves, scouts, messengers or in any daily life task. The psychological impact of recruitment into armed forces and the significant stigmatization of the children make their return to civilian life especially difficult.

Seven, we should concentrate on the elimination of post-conflict effects on the mortality rate of children and women as an indirect cause of war. In ongoing conflicts, men die more frequently in direct armed actions, whereas women die more frequently in the post-conflict period.

The United Nations reports of the 1990s submitted by Ms. Coomaraswamy and Ms. McDougall (E/CN.4/1996/56, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/13) stated that the comfort women issue was one of sexual slavery in armed conflicts, requiring the acceptance of legal responsibility, compensation and the punishment of perpetrators.

The Japanese Government has yet to take responsibility for the issue. At the General Assembly last year, the Japanese delegation mentioned Japan's contributions to the victims of sexual violence in armed conflicts. But it said nothing about the comfort women. If their definition of the victims of sexual violence in armed conflicts does not include comfort women, is that a case of double standards or a denial of the past?

As our colleague from Namibia said, in all phases of conflict, before, during or after, the position of women deserves specific attention. Women are crucial to the prevention of conflicts, to protection during conflicts and to reconciliation after conflicts. Therefore my Government has worked closely with UN-Women in recent months so as to have a group of Syrian women invited to Geneva and to New York.

The role of women in conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding is of great importance. Therefore, Namibia fully supports the inclusion of women in security systems such as the armed forces, the police and peacekeeping operations and special political missions in support of various United Nations resolutions that recognize that important role.

We would therefore call for such a team to provide a voice for those without voices, namely, victims, and collect testimony from the most vulnerable groups, such as women, children and minorities. In so doing, we will avoid the pitfall of an official uniform narrative of the past that would be out of kilter with the conflict in fact experienced by the people.