Implementation

We have one year remaining before the tenth anniversary of that resolution. That will be an important moment for the Council. We will want then to take stock of progress and set an ambitious forward agenda. To ensure that there will be real progress to take stock of, in the year ahead we will need to, first, generate imaginative solutions to the many obstacles to implementation, making use of the whole United Nations system.

Secondly, we must increase the number and standard of national-level implementation strategies, drawing upon peer experience and the excellent examples set recently by Liberia, Uganda and Chile. And thirdly, we must finalize and agree indicators to measure progress. We need data on success or failure in implementing specific provisions. We need to know what works and what does not. Today's resolution should help kick-start those efforts.

For our part, the United Kingdom is currently reviewing our national action plan for implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), one of only 16 of such national plans as the Deputy Secretary-General noted earlier. Our review is designed to ensure that our policies not only remain consistent with that resolution but also promote its implementation around the globe. We urge other Member States to do the same.

But we are heartened by the excellent effort led by the Secretary-General to address the lack of women in senior United Nations positions. He himself has appointed three of the nine women who have ever held the post of Special Representative of the Secretary- General, and he, of course, also appointed the Deputy Secretary-General, who is with us today.

Ukraine, as a non-permanent member of the Council back in 2000, was one of 15 countries that voted in favour of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). This decision of the Council, no doubt, was and is the milestone document on empowerment of women. We welcome the most recent report of the Secretary- General on the implementation of that resolution (S/2009/465) and support its recommendations.

Being an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping efforts, Ukraine has for years been contributing women civilian police and military observers to United Nations peacekeeping missions. We reiterate our readiness to continue working constructively with other Members States in order to ensure the protection of women in armed conflicts and women's participation in peace processes.

Uganda is the first and only country in the world to adopt a three-in-one national action plan on resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) and the Goma Declaration.

Uganda is committed to strengthening women's participation in the promotion of peace and security within the context of conflict prevention and resolution, eradicating sexual violence and ending impunity in conflict-prone situations. As Uganda is a country that has experienced an extended period of instability, the Government has set one of its priority goals as tracking progress on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

Uganda is aware that the adoption of a resolution does not automatically translate into its implementation. This year marks the ninth since the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security.

Uganda has an advanced, articulate and organized women's peace movement. Even before the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000), the Uganda Government had previously supported the efforts of women leaders, such as Ms. Betty Bigombe, who initially led the peace talks with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to end the conflict in northern Uganda.