Implementation

We also thank the Secretary-General for his report on Conflict-related sexual violence (S/2012/33) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Wallström, for her briefing.

My Government is currently conducting its third review of the national action plan on women and peace and security, incorporating the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's reports and in the resolutions, statements and decisions of the Security Council, especially those relating to sexual violence in conflict.

Moreover, in order to raise the profile of gender advisers and ensure the inclusion of the gender perspective in peacekeeping missions, the Ministry of Defence of Spain organized a course in late October 2011 on the gender perspective in operations, with conferences for members of the armed forces on equal opportunity, setting norms on gender issues, and the fight against rape and sexual violence in conflict.

In recent months, in application of Spain's national action plan on resolution 1325 (2000) and other associated resolutions, we have engaged in several activities, especially in the area of training, that I wish to highlight. We are firmly convinced that training is an essential aspect of our efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict.

We welcome the commitments that were made by the Governments of countries of concern during the visit of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in relation to addressing impunity for sexual crimes and the training of security personnel.

We have taken note of the fact that the Secretary-General's report for the past year was prepared and compiled after a broad and extensive consultation with the 13-entity network — a fact greatly appreciated by my delegation, given that it has enriched the report by making it one informed by the conditions and experiences on the ground.

We fully concur with the recommendation that the Security Council should systematically reflect conflict-related sexual violence in the authorization and renewal of peacekeeping mandates and the renewal of special political missions.

We are pleased with the development of a framework of early warning signs specific to conflict related sexual violence by UN-Women, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the broader United Nations system. That will assist a great deal towards preventing those heinous crimes.

The Council has done an outstanding job over the past few years to comprehensively address the challenge of conflict-related sexual violence by adopting landmark resolutions aimed at eradicating it. South Africa welcomes the progress that has been made so far in the preparations of the terms of reference for women protection advisers, and we look forward to their early deployment.

South Africa supports the recommendations of the Secretary-General that the Security Council increase pressure on the perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence, that it utilize all means at its disposal, and that, in this matter, it fully support the use of referrals to the International Criminal Court.