Implementation

The EU warmly welcomes the report of the Secretary General on Women's Participation in Peacebuilding and congratulates the Secretary General for setting out a strategic seven point Action Plan. As we mark this month the tenth anniversary of SC Resolution 1325 we need redouble everyone's efforts to increase women's participation at all stages and all levels of peace processes and peacebuilding efforts.

Furthermore, the success of any peacebuilding process also rests on its ability to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women in the socio- economic and political spheres. It is important for the General Assembly and the Security Council to study and evaluate the Secretary-General's report (S/2010/466) on women's participation in peacebuilding, and the seven commitments underlying the proposed action plan.

In welcoming the Secretary General's second report before us today, i.e. Women's participation in Peacebuilding, my delegation would like to underline the attention given to the role of women in the peacebuilding. Women represent more than a half of the active population and carry an important part of the peacebuilding activities. Without an active participation of women it would not be possible to succeed in the peacebuilding efforts.

We are grateful for the Secretary-General's detailed overview of the progress achieved in the implementation of his agenda for action set out in the report on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of the conflict he issued a year ago (S/2009/304). In particular, we find valuable the many diverse examples from the field used to further clarify and support the report.

Lastly, we welcome the Secretary-General's proposal of specific measures to ensure that the recommendations contained in the report are implemented on the ground through the inclusion of women in development, infrastructure, employment, and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes.

I would like to highlight the Secretary-General's report on women's participation in peacebuilding and his seven-point plan, which places women on truly equal footing with men and emphasizes their full participation in the peacebuilding process from the outset. As stated in the report, women's participation is crucial in shoring up the three pillars of lasting peace: economic recovery, social cohesion and political legitimacy.

Chile supports the fact that the proposed seven- point peacebuilding plan embodies a gender approach. In order for it to succeed, there must be proper coordination among the various United Nations agencies and coordination between them and other external partners, in particular international financial institutions, that participate in the peacebuilding process.

First, Canada supports the seven-point action plan contained in the Secretary-General's report on women's participation in peacebuilding (S/2010/466).

Canada also agrees that monitoring of the action plan can be facilitated by the global indicators on resolution 1325 (2000), which we call on the Security Council to endorse on 26 October. In that spirit, Canada was pleased to announce earlier this month the launch of its new Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security.

We welcome the fact that there is overwhelming support in the international community for vigorous action to ensure women's full participation in peacebuilding, and we urge Member States to make substantial long-term investments in women's security and productive potential.