Implementation

In the recent past, South African women held the position of Deputy Police commissioner in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. We believe that the presence of women in peacekeeping missions positively benefits local women and girls, including other vulnerable groups in countries in, and emerging from, conflict.

In that regard, South Africa is among the States with the highest representation of women across all spheres of Government. Women are also at the helm of ministries in the fields of international relations, cooperation and defence. In the area of peacekeeping, we have deployed gender mainstreaming officers in positions of command in peacekeeping missions to ensure that issues related to women are addressed.

In conclusion, as members of the Security Council, we should encourage the incorporation of a gender perspective of preventative diplomacy initiatives in our mandate renewals.

Equally, the proposal to increase the number of women police and troops in United Nations missions is highly desirable in addressing the specific needs of women in conflict and postconflict countries.

Based on its past experience, South Africa is conscious of the centrality of women as peacemakers and facilitators in political processes and peacebuilding initiatives, particularly at the grass-roots level. Women at all levels of society have a role to play in conflict prevention and peacebuilding as agents of change.

We are in a transitional phase of providing and improving women's access to food, water, health, education and economic opportunities. The Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 has a gender orientation to it.

One of the six main goals of the UN-Women strategic plan, 2011-2013 (see UNW/2011/9), deals with women's leadership in peace, security and humanitarian response. That plan has outcomes with targets and indicators by which we can measure progress over time.

Given our lack of capacity and resources, much of the work on gender in Solomon Islands is externally supported and heavily consultant-driven. That said, our homegrown faith-based gender components have been in existence for the past couple of decades. We are assisted by the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

As a country emerging from conflict, we have put in place a number of peace and security initiatives. We have adopted traditional and external mechanisms. We have borrowed the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission model, which has a gender chapter to it.