Implementation

But we can take nothing for granted. How do we go from past horrors to a beginning of post-confit normality? With the help of the United Nations, since the signing of the joint communiqué of 30 March, 2013, our Government has designed and deployed a plan of action to combat sexual violence.

There is in fact political will to address the issue of conflict-related sexual violence, but more needs to be done to fight the culture of impunity. Combating sexual violence in conflict is an integral part of the wider conflict-prevention agenda, and we should spare no effort to tackle the problem holistically. Raising awareness about the scale of sexual violence in conflict and its impact on societies is the first step.

That is why we must continue to include sexual violence as a designation criterion for imposing sanctions and to ensure that sanctions committees and monitoring mechanisms base their efforts on experts specializing in gender-based and sexual violence in conflict. We consider it timely for Special Representatives to share information with sanctions committees as needed.

First, in terms of the link between sexual violence and trafficking, sexual violence in trafficking are issues that must be dealt with by all countries. However, in times of war, relevant prevention and protection mechanisms are almost completely eroded, allowing the activities of terrorist groups and criminal networks to thrive.

At the national level, Estonia has made important progress with regard to the fight against violence against women and sexual abuse of children. For example, victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied under-age foreigners and sexually abused minors have the right to receive counselling services and psychological help.

In highlighting once more the importance that Brazil attaches to the women and peace and security agenda of the Security Council, let me conclude by mentioning the release, last March, of Brazil’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which is the result of a joint effort by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Justice and Citizenship, as well as UN-Women and civil society.

We underline the importance of making full use of the mechanisms and tools created by the Security Council to combat and prevent conflict-related sexual violence, and we welcome and encourage further use of the human rights and sexual violence-related criteria in the Council’s sanctions regimes. To date, 18 of the 28 European Union (EU) member States have adopted national action plans in compliance with resolution 1325 (2000).

The impact of sanctions on gender-responsive policies and budgeting within respective countries is another significant aspect. Sanctions, as a form of collective punishment, flagrantly and indiscriminately violate the basic human rights of all citizens, particularly women.

Resolution 2331 (2016) is of particular importance to Liechtenstein. It identifies a correlation between human trafficking, sexual violence, armed conflict, terrorism and transnational organized crime. It also reflects some of the ideas resulting from a joint workshop we held with the United Kingdom and the United Nations University (UNU) on denouncing and disrupting trafficking and modern slavery and protecting its victims.

At the national level, we have established an active prevention policy, particularly through training our deployed staff and effective investigation mechanisms. The competent national jurisdictions are systematically and immediately seized in the event of an allegation. Furthermore, we actively support the work of the International Criminal Court in that regard.