Implementation

As the representative of the European Union will underscore in his statement, with which Luxembourg fully associates itself, 10 years after the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) we regret to note that the progress achieved in its implementation and in the mplementation of its follow-up resolution remains unsatisfactory.

The seven-point action plan presented by the Secretary-General in his recent report on women's participation in peacebuilding (S/2010/466) is an excellent tool in that respect. If implemented, it will serve as a valuable contribution to the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

Before I conclude, allow me to pay tribute to the essential role played by both civil society and women's organizations in the creation and implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). Without their commitment and contributions, the issue of women, peace and security would never have enjoyed the attention it merits and must without question continue to enjoy in the future.

Women continue to be seriously underrepresented in positions as Special Representatives and Deputy Special Representatives of the Secretary General. We therefore welcome the seven-point action plan contained in the last report of the Secretary-General on Women's participation in Peacebuilding. We regret that the Council, in its last PRST on Post-Conflict Peacebuilding (S/PRST/2010/20), was not able to welcome this forward-looking report.

When the Security Council adopted the landmark resolution 1325 on 31 October 2000, it acknowledged the negative impact of armed conflicts on women and highlighted their decisive role in conflict prevention and in consolidating peace. Ten years later, however, the plight of women and girls in armed conflicts goes on unabated. The implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda remains slow and uneven at best.

To underscore our commitment, we have contributed to the financing of the "Monthly Action Points" of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), which highlight how the Security Council can integrate relevant content of resolution 1325 in its daily work, in particular on country specific issues.

The work of the Court is therefore of direct relevance to the 1325 agenda, as the Security Council anticipated when referencing the Rome Statute in 1325 ten years ago. It is therefore astonishing that the role of international criminal justice in general and the ICC in particular are entirely absent from the latest report on the implementation of resolution 1325 - not its only, but perhaps its most serious defect.

It is our firm belief that the advancement of the Women, Peace and Security agenda is intrinsically linked to the way the Security Council receives and analyzes information on its implementation, as well as on the commitment of Member States to take concrete action. We therefore commend the Council for endorsing the 26 indicators against which the implementation of resolution 1325 will be measured.

We would like to thank our partners, who were very supportive of us in this endeavour. In particular, I would like to thank the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and, of course, the United Nations family in Liberia and other partners from the international community.

We Liberians are proud to have been among the first to develop a national plan through a collaborative effort of the Government, United Nations agencies, local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and other partners. Our plan was launched in 2009 during the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security.