Implementation

We applaud and appreciate the critical role that civil society, especially local women's groups, plays in assisting survivors by providing them with medical care, counselling and a political voice, and by facilitating their access to justice.

We also commend international initiatives that bolster national capacity on the issue. The United Kingdom, and Foreign Secretary Hague in particular, deserves praise for leading the development by the Group of Eight of an international protocol on the investigation and documentation of rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict.

The United States welcomes this opportunity to reaffirm the indispensable role of women in bringing peace and security to countries embroiled in conflict or emerging from it. Women's active, indeed integral, involvement in peace processes and transitional justice mechanisms, including to address sexual violence, is critical to laying the foundation for lasting peace.

We have indeed made strides in addressing sexual violence in conflict, but there is still a long way to go. More countries should criminalize conflict-related sexual violence. Provisions that prohibit amnesty for perpetrators must be put into ceasefire and mediation agreements.

We can and must do all those things but must never lose sight of our overriding objective: to consign the use of rape as a weapon of war to the pages of history. I believe that has to begin, above all, with a focus on ending impunity and by bringing to bear the weight, authority and leadership of the Security Council.

These and other steps listed in the resolution, if fully implemented, will represent vital new advances. But it is only a beginning. We need action on all fronts, from the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole, and from Governments in conflict-affected countries. We need to begin to demolish impunity, create a new culture of deterrence, and at the same time focus on long-term care and support for survivors.

Resolution 2106 (2013), which we have just adopted today, sends a powerful signal to the world of leadership from the Security Council. It recognizes the commitments made in the G-8 declaration, which will add to the international momentum that has begun to gather but which must now become unstoppable.

Of course, all countries must do more to address violence against women in all its forms, and not just in conflict situations

For example, the United Kingdom is now taking the lead in developing a new international protocol on the investigation and documentation of rape and sexual violence in conflict, working with experts from all over the world.

We have also set up a team of over 70 United Kingdom experts, including doctors, forensic scientists, police and gender experts, which can be deployed to reinforce United Nations and national efforts. It has already been deployed in Bosnia, to the Syrian border, and to Libya, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo this year.