Implementation

Sixthly, we must support UN Women, which is well placed to coordinate the various actors within the United Nations system and bring coherence to the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

First, there is a need to create more awareness and to provide technical support for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions, such as 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1889 (2009), specifically in national gender machineries, foreign affairs ministries, the judiciary and the army.

Today is a firstly an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made since the adoption of resolution 1325. At the UN, we now have a special representative of the Secretary General to tackle violence against women in conflict, a new agency in the form of UN Women, and a greater number of women in leadership roles. Outside the UN, 22 member states have adopted National Action Plans.

Third, we must ensure that the entire international community takes responsibility for implementing Resolution 1325. This requires more than warm words.

The 10 year anniversary has brought new momentum to this Council's work on women, peace and security. The challenge now is to translate that into concrete action on the ground. The UK stands ready to play its part. The British Government just approved a new National Action Plan that sets out our future commitments, including specific strategies for supporting women in priority countries including Afghanistan, Nepal and DRC.

First, we still lack effective methods for understanding the problem and monitoring the impact of our work. The adoption today of indicators represents an important step forward. We will, for the first time, be able to understand the scale of the challenges we face, evaluate the progress we are making and target our approaches more effectively. We encourage the Secretary General to implement these indicators as widely as possible.

As the Security Council witnessed on our recent mission to Sudan, devastating sexual violence continues to destroy the lives of women trying to rebuild communities in Darfur. And yet during that visit, we also had the chance to hear how inspiring women leaders are striving to rebuild inclusive and democratic societies in Southern Sudan.

Ukraine stands fully committed to the implementation of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009). However, there must be a coherent strategy to cover all aspects of the protection of women and women's rights. In that regard, Ukraine welcomes the establishment of the United Nations composite entity, UN Women.

Today's debate presents yet another important opportunity to promote the effective, coherent and systematic implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), which gave much-needed and welcome visibility to the question of women's empowerment, their role as peacebuilders and their vulnerable position as victims of war.

In conclusion, Ukraine reiterates its readiness to continue to work constructively with other Member States in order to ensure the protection of women in armed conflict and women's participation in peace processes.