Implementation

France also welcomes the zero-tolerance policy for United Nations personnel implemented by the Secretary-General, a policy that should be tirelessly pursued. Similarly, we support the Secretary- General's due diligence policy, his policy of screening peacekeeping and political mission staff with regard to respect for human rights, as well as his policy on restricting contact with persons being sought by the ICC.

Finally, with regard to legal progress, the ad hoc tribunals created by the Council, and then the International Criminal Court (ICC), have included acts of sexual violence among the crimes within their jurisdiction. They have been recognized as war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.

Fiji is committed to the elimination of sexual violence and to working both domestically and with the international community to do so. At the national level, Fiji's Ministry of Women has revived the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Elimination of Violence against Women to coordinate policy responses across all Government agencies.

Accordingly, I would like to conclude by restating Fiji's steadfast commitment to working with the international community to implement resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions.

We support the continued application of targeted and graduated measures by the relevant Security Council Sanctions Committees aimed at perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, as well as other measures at the Council's disposal, including referrals to the ICC, mandating commissions of inquiry and further steps towards ensuring systematic monitoring of commitments by parties to conflict under its resolution 1960 (2010).

The European Union now has gender advisors and/or human rights focal points in each of its crisis management missions and operations throughout the world. We continue our work on specific training modules on human rights and gender in crisis management, while ensuring a focus on sexual violence in armed conflicts.

The European Union and its member States highly appreciate the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, including its coordination with other international entities such as Justice Rapid Response and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, as well as the recent commitments of the Group of Eight to do m

Sexual violence in conflict remains prevalent, yet universally under-reported. That is, inter alia, the result of threats faced by those who come forward to report such crimes. We underline the need to take all measures necessary to protect survivors, witnesses, humanitarian workers, medical personnel, human rights defenders and journalists who contribute to aiding survivors and collect information on sexual violence.

The European Union continues to implement its dedicated policy on women, peace and security adopted in 2008. The European Union support to various initiatives related to women, peace and security amounts to approximately €200 million a year.

We share the assessment of Special Representative that fostering national ownership, leadership and responsibility in addressing sexual violence are some of the most important aspects in the fight against sexual violence. It is essential that local communities consider sexual violence as a crime.