S/PV.4589Resumption1 Security Council

Mr. Karev (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): First of all, we would like to thank Angela King, Noeleen Heyzer, and Jean-Marie Guehenno for the information and observations they provided to us at our meeting today. We have found the information extremely useful for this debate. Combating all forms of discrimination and violence against women, the situation of women in armed conflict and their involvement and participation in peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction are increasingly included on the agenda of the most important universal and regional international forums. These issues are also discussed by the major bodies of the United Nations. The Security Council is no exception to this trend. On 31 October 2000, it adopted resolution 1325 (2000). Despite the attention focused on these issues and acknowledgement of their existence, we have to say that considerable effort is still required in order to overcome their negative consequences. Unfortunately, many recommendations exist only on paper, and others are not fully implemented yet. In this connection, we place great hopes in the inter-agency study now being prepared. The documents before us suggest that this research will contain specific practical recommendations, including with regard to the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). This includes improving the protection of women and girls during conflicts, increasing their participation in peace-building, and ensuring that gender issues are taken into account in various aspects of peacekeeping operations, and so forth. It is important here to avoid overly generalized, cliched conclusions and recommendations. Drafting comprehensive approaches should not be detrimental to the solution of specific issues or problems in any given situation. If we talk about what can be done by the United Nations, we would like to express our support for the idea of establishing a senior gender adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. We believe that the work of such a person would improve coordination on relevant issues during the peacekeeping activities of the United Nations. At the same time, we cannot forget that measures adopted by the United Nations alone are insufficient. What is needed is that real account be taken of the specific needs of women and girls during conflict situations and that they actually participate in all phases of prevention and settlement, in addition to post-conflict peace-building. A significant contribution to solving all of these problems can be provided by civil society, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), many of which have quite a lot of experience in this whole range of gender issues. Here it would be advisable to involve not only well-known NGOs but also local women's organizations. This point was well made by Ms. Angela King in her statement. Nobody would dispute the fact that it is the vulnerable sectors of the population, such as children, women, older people, the disabled, refugees and internally displaced persons, that suffer most during crises and conflicts. But it often happens that women and girls themselves act as combatants and are active participants in hostilities. That is why excluding them from the whole process of negotiations and peace settlement, or in the establishment of post- conflict power structures, can become a kind of slow ticking bomb that could trigger further crises. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate our belief that women can play an important role in conflict prevention and settlement, and in peace-building. To do that, it is necessary to ensure that they are full participants in measures taken for the maintenance and consolidation of international peace and security, and to ensure strengthening their role in decision-making with respect to conflict prevention and settlement.

Mr. Negroponte (United States): We welcome this discussion on conflict, peacekeeping and gender. We thank Under-Secretary-General Guehenno for his presentation, and we thank Angela King, the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, and Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), for their efforts to increase women's participation in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peace-building. As the Security Council stated in resolution 1325 (2000), "Civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict." But they also play an essential role in the prevention and resolution of conflicts. The United States Government is fully committed both to working to respond to the needs of women in times of conflict and to supporting the role that women play as planners, implementers and beneficiaries of peace processes. Indeed, President Bush has stated that fostering respect for women is an imperative of United States foreign policy, among goals that are "grounded in the non-negotiable demands of human dignity and reflect universal human values." On the specific question of women and conflict, Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in a speech delivered on 8 March of this year, International Women's Day, called women the most vulnerable group when conflict erupts and social structures break down. He then said, "In societies torn by violence, maternal and infant mortality rates skyrocket. When the men and boys go off to fight, the women struggle to care for family members left behind and to find ways to provide for their basic necessities. For all these reasons, much of our crisis response activity is geared toward meeting the needs of female victims of conflict, and we make a point of involving the women who are on the receiving end of our assistance in the shaping and carrying out of our relief programmes." It is clear that in any conflict, women on both sides are vulnerable. It is regrettable that my Syrian colleague has again used the Security Council to raise the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on Palestinian women, without acknowledging the impact of that conflict -in particular, dozens of homicide bombings that have taken place in the past year - on the women of Israel. As I said last night, we must be mindful of the responsibility of each and every United Nations Member State to cease providing safe haven for Palestinian groups that finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts. Returning to the subject at hand, since resolution 1325 (2000) was adopted, the United Nations Secretariat and United Nations peacekeeping missions have made changes to take better account of gender concerns. We support these changes but agree that more progress can and should be made. Although we know women are more likely to suffer in times of conflict, this does not mean we should view them merely as victims. We agree that there remains a lack of awareness on the part of policy and decision makers that war affects men and women differently and that women and men bring different perspectives to the peace process. We commend the commitment of Under-Secretary Guehenno to improving the gender awareness of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to that need. Although I know the Secretary-General and the Secretariat have worked to improve gender awareness in the United Nations, there remains work to be done. As we look at peacekeeping, peacemaking and post- conflict peace-building, the Security Council, as well as regional and subregional actors, needs a systematic means of integrating women as planners, implementers and beneficiaries of our collective efforts. The Secretariat should expand the number of women appointed to positions at all levels, including high-level envoys, as well as human rights investigators and monitors. Sustainable peace requires the involvement of women as well as men. Several examples illustrate the need to expand the participation of women in peace operations. The concern that United Nations employees may have been involved in the sexual exploitation of women in West Africa is a reminder that there should be a large number of women in peacekeeping missions and other United Nations efforts. This applies not only to West Africa, but also to Bosnia and other United Nations missions. The United Nations zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation by United Nations employees is the right way forward, and we encourage further efforts to ensure all United Nations employees are aware of the policy and that violators are punished. Not only can female peacekeepers bring a heightened awareness of the special risks of women in conflict, but women often find it easier to express concerns to other women. We encourage DPKO to further expand the number of women as peacekeepers, civilian police and civilian members of peacekeeping missions. Women also have a valuable role to play in conflict prevention and peacemaking. In that regard I would like to recall the instrumental contribution of the Mano River Union Women's Peace Network to generating a dialogue among the leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. We all should seek the assistance of women's groups and other non- governmental organizations who contribute to so-called track two negotiations around the world. Thank you again, Mr. President, for convening this discussion. I look forward to hearing the further comments and insights of our other colleagues.

Mr. Doutriaux (France) (spoke in French): Two years ago we adopted resolution 1325 (2000). As Jean- Marie Guehenno, Angela King and Noeleen Heyzer mentioned, its implementation is not entirely satisfactory. Some progress has been made, but the situation of women and children has not really improved. They still constitute the majority of civilian victims of armed conflict. They are still the largest group among displaced persons and refugees, and the impact of conflict on women - for example, in the transmission of AIDS - is still very serious. We await the report of the Secretary-General, about which Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer have already told us something. However, there are some encouraging developments, as mentioned by the Cameroon delegation. For example, the Rome Treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC) recognizes that rape and other forms of sexual abuse of women are covered by the ICC and are regarded as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Another encouraging development is the creation of posts for advisors on gender-specific issues in six United Nations missions, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, East Timor and Sierra Leone. This is an improvement, but we must note that resolution 1325 (2000) has so far been implemented only very weakly. That is why today's debate is so important, so that both members and non-members of the Security Council can make their contributions as to how to better implement the resolution and offer input to the Task Force report under preparation, as discussed by Ms. King. I have a few questions. Several delegations, including the Ambassador of Norway, spoke of the need in DPKO to establish a specific post for gender issues. I believe there were some problems in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) in that connection. Of course I know the Security Council should not get involved in ACABQ matters, but it might be useful for that Committee to reconsider the matter so that a post for a counsellor on gender issues can be set up in DPKO. I have a question for Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer. A lot has been said about the role of women in peace processes and in the reconstruction of States after conflicts. The Mano River Union Women's Peace Network has been mentioned often. Ms. King spoke of experiences in Burundi and Somalia in that connection. Afghan women are becoming increasingly involved as well. Mr. Brahimi and Mr. Karzai spoke of the Loya Jirga, of what part women would play in that process. I ask Ms. King what her Division and the Secretariat can do to help women who want to take initiatives in peace-building and ending conflicts in their countries. Finally, Ms. Heyzer spoke of anther study to be prepared by independent experts on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). While this is a good idea, I wondered how that study would fit in with the report of the Task Force described by Ms. King and others. One last word. France joins the Latin American club of countries with female ministers of defense. I allow myself to say this, because it was mentioned by Chile and Colombia.

Mr. Aguilar Zinser (Mexico) (spoke in Spanish): We are grateful to Mr. Jean-Marie Guehenno, Ms. Angela King and Ms. Noeleen Heyzer for their presentations. Women and children are those most affected by armed conflicts. Women and girls are frequently the specific and deliberate target of attacks by armed groups and armies in conflicts such as those suffered in Bosnia, the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and other countries. Attacks, violations, abuse, subjugation and murders of women have outstripped other military objectives and goals of conquest. In conflict situations, women play very diverse roles as refugees, as heads of families, as the backbone of their communities, as peace activists and even as combatants. Nonetheless, when mechanisms for peace are designed, women and their experience and needs are ignored or little valued, and they are excluded from the formal processes of negotiation and peace-building. Women - their social perspective, their understanding of problems stemming from violence and their efforts to reconcile - can make the difference between war and peace. So that women, in particular those in societies affected by conflict, can have a voice in peace processes, it is fundamental to incorporate gender perspectives into peacekeeping operations in a much more systematic way, in conformity with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). My delegation recognizes that there have been advances in mainstreaming gender perspectives into peacekeeping operations, but we are not satisfied. The process is slow and the achievements are limited. With women's active participation, their viewpoints and their perspective, peacekeeping operations can have better mechanisms for confidence-building in the reconciliation of communities broken by hatred and rancour. It is a question of facilitating, with the active presence of women, communication between peacekeeping missions and the local population so that the international presence can truly contribute to the restoration and consolidation of peace. In short, it is a question of making peacekeeping operations more effective. In considering the establishment or the renewal of a peacekeeping operation, we must take into account the accumulation of principles, instruments and plans formulated since the World Conference on Women, held in Mexico in 1975, including the guidelines adopted by the Security Council and by the Economic and Social Council, and the study by the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as studies undertaken by the Secretary-General and by the United Nations Development Fund for Women - studies that are about to be released. In that regard, my delegation wishes to insist on the need to take concrete steps that are measurable in the short term, so that there can be closer cooperation on this subject among the Security Council, the General Assembly and the subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council; so that gender perspectives can be incorporated in a truly systematic way into all peacekeeping operation mandates; so that verification mechanisms - preferably external - can be established to ensure that those mandates are implemented; and so that there can truly be greater participation by women in all stages and at all levels of peacekeeping operations, including those of planning, implementation and assessment. The Member States of the Organization must conduct more effective campaigns to recruit women and, above all, to present candidates for leadership and decision-making posts. There are few women who have been in charge of a United Nations peacekeeping mission. That must change, and such change depends on Member States, but also - and above all - on the Organization's being consistent in its principles and guidelines. In that regard, I welcome the recent appointment of a woman as Special Representative of the Secretary- General in Georgia. It is fundamental that training courses for members of peacekeeping missions - as well as for staff working for those missions at Headquarters - incorporate gender perspectives. Any operation must have at least one gender expert. And it is also important that that function not always be performed by a woman, as is usually the case. Strong mechanisms should be established to investigate cases of abuse and exploitation of women by armed groups, by State authorities or by members of peacekeeping operations. In accordance with the foregoing, full implementation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, of international human rights law and of emerging international criminal law should be promoted. Systematic and generalized attacks on the physical integrity and dignity of women - crimes whose victims are women in conflict situations - must be definitively prosecuted and punished by international law as war crimes - as crimes against humanity. The recognition of a link among gender, conflict and peacekeeping, as reflected in resolution 1325 (2000), is only one aspect of the broad subject of mainstreaming gender perspectives, with respect to which the United Nations must demonstrate its leadership, most especially if it wishes its views to be emulated outside the Organization.

The President: I now return to the rule 37 list. The next speaker is the representative of Australia. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table.

Mr. Blazey (Australia): Thank you, Mr. President, for convening this important meeting on women, peace and security. We join other delegations in expressing appreciation for the valuable presentations. This meeting is appropriate, given that women still play a very marginal and neglected role in conflict prevention and resolution. As we see it, two basic challenges face the international community as we address the issue of women, peace and security. The first relates to the scepticism mentioned earlier. It is the ongoing task of making it the genuinely accepted wisdom that conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building all benefit enormously from the proper application of gender perspectives. That is gradually being achieved within the United Nations system, and it can be assisted by leadership, by the further development of focused training strategies and by the appointment of gender specialists. The more important aspect of the challenge, however, is how to incorporate gender perspectives and how to enhance the role of women in communities that are experiencing conflict or are at risk of conflict. That is where the bulk of our future work should lie if we want to see the widespread benefits of applying gender perspectives to conflict situations. The second challenge is how to continue to transform general principles and statements of intent into meaningful and practical programmes, policies and activities in the field. Work is being done in that regard, as we have heard - particularly in newer United Nations peacekeeping missions - but very much more will be needed. The forthcoming study of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security - which Australia has supported with a grant of $A100,000 - together with the complementary study being undertaken by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), should provide a good basis for developing strategies and approaches that have real impact. We welcome the intention of the drafters of the Secretary-General's study to provide practical and focused recommendations. Consistent with that practical focus, we would be cautious about recommendations for more action by United Nations legislative bodies on this subject. In our View, it would be more productive to allow resolution 1325 (2000) to be regarded as the definitive statement of the Council's View on gender and security, rather than to risk diminishing the Council's coin by issuing further resolutions. The key task should be how to turn resolution 1325 (2000) into a living document of use to practitioners and to communities in conflict. The study should consider recommending how that might be achieved. Like others, we see merit in the study's providing concrete examples of situations where the participation of women and the application of gender perspectives helped provide conditions for a cessation of hostilities and for the creation of viable, productive post-conflict communities. In Australia's region, the Bougainville peace process benefited from the active participation of women's groups, which played a vital conciliatory role in bringing warring factions together and in fostering more harmonious community relations. In the Solomon Islands, too, women played an important supportive role in the quest for peace. The study's inclusion of such examples - and, of course, of the East Timor experience - would enhance its practical value as a tool for positive change. Thought also needs to be given to the question of how success and progress are to be assessed. In this regard, it will be necessary to carefully distinguish means from ends. For example, appointing gender specialists, while a worthwhile objective, is still primarily a means, a step towards an end, and not an end in itself. The real test is in the field: have women been more directly involved in peace processes, in conflict prevention and in peace building? Have their needs been met? Have their perspectives been valued and built into United Nations peace activities? Have their interests been taken into account in strategies which address the political economy of conflict? The careful delineation of means and ends may also assist in resolving the current difficulties over funding the senior gender adviser position in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Australia firmly supports the establishment of that position. Finally, we would place high value on developing accountability measures to track the state of, and any progress in, bringing perpetrators of crimes against women to book and in establishing mechanisms to address cultures of impunity.

The President: The next speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of New Zealand. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. McIvor (New Zealand): New Zealand commends the United Nations for its recognition of the linkages between gender equity and the realization of peace and security. The Security Council debate almost two years ago, resulting in resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, was a milestone. That resolution expressed concern about the adverse impact of armed conflict on women and girls as civilians, refugees and internally displaced persons. The resolution promoted the role of women in preventing conflicts and in peacemaking and advocated that a gender perspective be mainstreamed into United Nations peacekeeping operations and that there should be greater involvement of women in such operations. New Zealand was pleased financially to support the Secretary-General's study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls that resulted from that resolution. New Zealand has participated in the group of friends of resolution 1325 (2000) and in the expert group meeting hosted by Canada to consider the best means to implement the resolution. In our own region, we are particularly aware of the impact of armed conflict on women and of the very constructive role that women can play in the peace process and in the rebuilding of society. Earlier speakers have referred to scepticism on this issue. But we know, for example, that, as my Australian colleague has just pointed out, women were instrumental in bringing to an end the secessionist crisis from 1989 to 1998 in Bougainville. And in the Solomon Islands, women's groups recently helped develop the momentum towards peace. Women literally took to the streets calling for an end to ethnic conflict between Gwale and Malaitans. We were impressed by the commitment of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to implementing resolution 1325 (2000) in East Timor. Not only did UNTAET make sure that its staff integrated gender issues into its work, it actively collected data and information about the situation of East Timorese women and ensured that East Timorese women had a say on issues of importance to them. UNTAET's report notes, however, that it is important for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) that Member States increase the number of women in the military and civilian police forces serving in peacekeeping operations. We are pleased to note that 461 women - more than 10 per cent of the total - have played an active role as part of the New Zealand peacekeeping force in East Timor. Finally, I welcome the opportunity of this debate to underline the fundamental importance of achieving gender equity for the maintenance of peace and security and of enabling women to participate in the decision-making process.

Ms. Murnaghan (Ireland): I will start off by thanking Under-Secretary-General Guehenno, Assistant Secretary-General Angela King and Ms. Heyzer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). My delegation concurs fully with the main findings and recommendations of their reports as highlighted this morning, and we look forward to receiving their detailed recommendations on implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). The presidency of the European Union spoke earlier in this debate, and we fully subscribe to the points made. The earlier speakers have addressed many of the points that my delegation would have made. For those reasons and also given the late point at which we are intervening, I will try to shorten our intervention. But there are a few points that we would like to make. I think that it is clear from today's discussion that there are a wealth of proposals and ideas as to how we might integrate gender perspectives into peace operations. The challenge, however, is to ensure that these recommendations and guidelines are implemented consistently throughout the system and to ensure that where the United Nations system deals with peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building, the gender perspectives are taken into account as a matter of course. My delegation would like to see the forthcoming reports identify appropriate mechanisms to ensure that gender perspectives are fully integrated into the work of all parts of the United Nations system. Those could include, for example, the proposal to establish a gender adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations - a proposal that we would fully support. Similar focal points should be considered for other departments, including, for example, the Department of Political Affairs, so as to systematically ensure that women are involved at every stage of peace negotiations in the planning, decision-making and implementation at all levels. Australia has just now also addressed that point. Provisions should also be made for the financing of those mechanisms, and resources should be allocated so that they can fully support gender offices in the field. In our View, any mechanisms or focal points should be based in the departments themselves at a senior enough level so as to have an impact on the decision- and policy-making of the department concerned. With regard to the issue of follow-up monitoring, we believe that this is crucial. There should be continuous monitoring and evaluation of how different parts of the United Nations family are doing and what steps could be taken to improve the system to ensure a consistent approach. We agree very much with UNIFEM. that gender should be an integral part of all peace operations, in the same way that security, policing and so forth are also a part. Gender advisers should be deployed at the outset of peace operations, including at the planning stage - as we said a moment ago - and should be sufficiently senior to have an influence on the decision-making process. In this regard I think the very positive experience in Kosovo and East Timor and other operations which have gender units bear out the idea that gender should be an integral part of all such operations. Last week, in drawing on the lessons learned in Sierra Leone, Ms. McAskie of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs made a number of very useful observations. One in particular, she mentioned that under the structure in Sierra Leone, humanitarian issues were centralized within the political and military decision-making of the Mission. Furthermore, she concluded that the inclusion of human rights and civilian affairs officers was an advance over previous operations. We believe that dedicated gender advisers in positions of influence in missions would be important to centralizing gender issues within the wider context of the mission. On the related point of ensuring that gender is adequately addressed in the mandate of an operation, there would be appear to be increasing evidence that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war. In this respect, the ruling of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia that rape and the enslavement of women can be classified as crimes against humanity brings into focus the importance of making adequate provision for gender issues in mandates. I think that in this particular regard, Ms. McAskie noted last week that the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone could have been more comprehensive had it moved it beyond the norms of gender sensitivity and mainstreaming to include responses to endemic gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. Another point that has been addressed by a number of speakers, this afternoon as well, is the issue of training. We see particularly that training is very important. It applies, of course, to staff at Headquarters and at the highest levels in the Organization, as well as to field personnel. As Under-Secretary-General Guehenno said this morning, awareness starts at the top. A point that has been addressed this afternoon, in particular by the United States and a number of others, is the issue of women's participation in peacekeeping operations. We believe too that an increase in the number of women participating in military, civilian and civilian aspects, including at the highest levels, would have an important effect on the atmosphere of a mission. In this regard, I would just note that Ireland has been deploying women civilian police officers and military for 20 years. It is also important to ensure that gender issues are fully addressed in the transition from peacekeeping to peace-building, so that the promotion and equality of women's rights is integrated into the whole peace- building phase. Lessons should also be drawn in due course from the experience in East Timor and elsewhere. Finally, just on the particular point of women as peace-builders - France has also referred to the importance of involving women in decision-making in Afghanistan as an example - we, through our own experience in the issue of the peace process in northern Ireland, have seen the importance of women as peace- builders in their own communities. It was in fact central to the development of the peace process in northern Ireland and in particular in creating conditions on the ground that facilitated the process leading to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. That Agreement, in affirming the commitment of the parties to the democratic process, explicitly underscores the right of women to full and equal participation in the political process. Australia and New Zealand both have referred to the positive experience of including women in decision-making at the national level in the Solomon Islands and in East Timor.

The President: I should perhaps note that for the first time that I can remember, there is a majority of women representing delegations in the Security Council. For a fleeting moment, there were nine representatives. I was wondering whether anybody would quickly put forward a resolution. The next speaker on my list is the representative of Japan. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Motomura (Japan): At the outset, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for your initiative in convening this open meeting as a follow-up to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), entitled "Women and peace and security". With the adoption of Council resolution 1325 (2000) in October 2000 and the subsequent statement by the President of the Security Council in October last year, the linkage between international peace and security and gender issues has been increasingly recognized throughout the international community. Indeed, there is a growing awareness of the negative impact that armed conflict has on women and children in particular and of the importance of women's participation in post-conflict peace processes. On the other hand, what is now needed is more detailed information and analysis of concrete examples, as well as recommendations and practical measures. My delegation, therefore, looks forward to the results of the study conducted by Ms. Angela King, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. We also look forward to the results of the assessments by the two independent experts appointed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the impact of armed conflict on women and the role of women in peace-building, as well as the report of the Secretary-General to be submitted later this year. The conclusions of these studies and reports will be crucial in terms of giving direction and providing concrete methodologies for the steady implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). Allow me to briefly describe the basic views and concrete actions taken by my Government as regards gender mainstreaming in the area of conflicts and peacekeeping. First, I would like to draw special attention to the active role Afghan women are playing the post-conflict reconstruction of their country. As Prime Minister Koizumi stated at the international conference on reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan, held in Tokyo earlier this year, one of the highest priorities of Japan's assistance for Afghanistan's reconstruction is the empowerment of women. Japan has thus sent an expert to the Ministry of Women's Affairs and has extended financial support for the establishment of women's centres in Afghanistan. Moreover, in February, Japan set up the Advisory Council on Assistance to Women in Afghanistan, taking into account the proposals of the Security Council, and is determined to continuously support the tremendous efforts the Afghan women themselves are making to restore peace in their country. Secondly, with the mandates of peacekeeping operations becoming more multidimensional, it is increasingly important that women's views are integrated into their respective activities. I am pleased to note that earlier this year the Japanese Government for the first time dispatched seven women peacekeepers to the United Nations peacekeeping operations in East Timor, where they are now engaged in coordination activities in such areas as communication and translation. In addition, an increasing number of Japanese women who are United Nations staff members are working in the civilian components of peacekeeping missions. The Government of Japan will continuously strive to increase the participation of women in peace operations in various areas. Thirdly, given the particular importance of gender mainstreaming in the field, the Japanese Government supported the recommendation of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, which was endorsed by the General Assembly, that "the work of gender focal points should have the proper back-up in the Secretariat". In this context, my delegation hopes that, as stated in General Assembly resolution 56/293 in June this year, the Secretariat will develop and clearly explain a coherent policy on gender mainstreaming in all United Nations peacekeeping activities. In October we will celebrate the second anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). My delegation hopes that the entire discussion at today's meeting will prove useful in the ongoing efforts to follow up the resolution and will be fully reflected in the report of the Secretary- General. In closing, let me assure you, Mr. President, of Japan's readiness to contribute to the goals of this important resolution in cooperation with all other interested Member States.

The President: The next speaker on my list is the representative of Liechtenstein. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Wenaweser (Liechtenstein): This open debate is yet another expression of your personal commitment, Mr. President, as well as that of your delegation, to gender issues on the United Nations agenda. We would like to thank you for that. We are also grateful to those who have made presentations this morning, and particularly to Ms. Angela King, the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. As many others, we welcomed resolution 1325 (2000) as a landmark achievement of the Security Council and believe that it has already made a significant difference in work on the ground. There is therefore good momentum, and this debate is an opportunity to move the process forward. An approach based on participation seems crucial to us in order to advance work in the broad area of women and armed conflict. It is essential to realize that women are players and participants in armed conflicts - not merely victims - and that they must be treated as such. Their roles range from providers and heads of households to peacemakers, and, indeed, they can also be combatants and agents of Violence. It is therefore obvious that women must be included in all stages of peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace- building. Women's role in post-conflict peace-building is particularly of the essence, and we continue to look forward to the establishment of a peace-building unit within the Department of Political Affairs, which could have a great impact in this respect. We remain committed to financially supporting such a peace- building unit, not least against this background. When the necessity to include women in all these processes seems clear, the conclusion follows logically that the United Nations has to do its own part in this respect. Women must be given leadership positions, in particular as special representatives and envoys of the Secretary-General. This is the best way not only to illustrate the commitment of the Organization itself, but also to bring about catalytic effect: to create awareness among the people concerned in a manner leading to the stronger involvement of women at all levels. The promise made in resolution 1325 (2000) has not yet been fulfilled. My delegation has been active on this particular issue for several years now, and again, we are very grateful for the contribution you yourself have made, Mr. President, in this respect. Involving women as participants must go hand in hand with addressing their special needs and vulnerability. Clearly, women are more vulnerable to the effects of armed conflict than men. Very often, an already existing culture of violence and discrimination against women is exacerbated in times of armed conflict. Protection of women in such times must therefore begin during times of peace. But in addition to these systemic elements, it is also the changed and changing character of armed conflicts that puts women at special risk. The systematic and deliberate targeting of civilian populations has become a recurrent pattern in recent armed conflicts, and women are disproportionately affected by forced displacement, landmines, sexual violence and - as a particular consequence thereof - HIV/AIDS. The full observance of international law, in particular refugee and international humanitarian law is therefore crucial. As far as the progressive development of international law is concerned, strides have been made over the past few years, in particular in the area of sexual violence, through the work of the ad hoc tribunals established by the Security Council and, of course, in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has just entered into force. On the other hand, we have also witnessed attempts to undermine international legal standards and are therefore challenged to uphold and defend the existing gains made. Its full implementation would indeed go a long way to providing the necessary protection to women. This debate is one more step in a long process. Resolution 1325 (2000) gives us a very solid basis to work with, and we look forward to the specific recommendations of the Secretary-General and the Special Adviser. We hope that they will be concrete and action-oriented and offer us valuable guidance, especially in the area of institutional capacity-building, which can be the starting point for mainstreaming a gender perspective in all aspects of peace operations.

The President: I thank the representative of Liechtenstein for the kind words addressed to me. The last speaker on my list is the representative of Grenada. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Stanislaus (Grenada): In my 12 years at the United Nations, this is the first time that I avail myself of the opportunity to address this body. Although I have spoken many times in other United Nations forums, I do so today because the item on the Council's agenda - women, peace and security - is near and dear to my heart as I approach my fiftieth wedding anniversary. I begin with the premise that the family is the basis of society and that good family life is inextricably intertwined with and interwoven into good national life, which by extension can promote good international life. From time immemorial, much of the peace and harmony of the human family, especially in conflict resolution therein, devolves upon the woman of the house in her natural milieu as peacemaker. Here lies a glorious opportunity to involve women in peacemaking, peace-building and peacekeeping at the highest level, nationally and internationally. The age-old saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world remains only a good adage unless women are brought into the mainstream of decision-making at the highest political, educational, social, economic, cultural and other levels. Then, and only then, will the world give credence and substance to the ancient Chinese proverb that women hold up half the sky. The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995, drew up the Beijing Declaration and Programme of Action. It contains 12 subject areas, 6 of which are analysed in the United Nations publication entitled "The World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics". This was issued just before the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in June 2000, entitled "Women 2000: Gender, Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century". The intent was to show the progress as well as the disparities between women and men worldwide in health, human rights, political decision-making, work, education and families. Due to time constraints, my delegation will touch briefly on three subject areas, namely, human rights, political decision-making and work. While progress has been made, we cannot fail to see that we are still a long way from attaining the proclaimed goal of women's rights as human rights, as was discussed in the Millennium Report, or of equal rights of men and women affirmed in the Charter, or of everyone, without discrimination, having the right to equal pay for equal work, as emphasized in article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, gender imbalance is nowhere more noticeable than in the workplace, where on average women earn at least 30 per cent less than men for equal work. Moreover, in the home, where a woman's domestic role as spouse and mother is so vital to the well-being of society, her work is always undervalued and underpaid. Unpaid domestic work everywhere is seen as a woman's responsibility. Is it not incongruous that more than 50 years after the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the political landscape is still dominated by men? Yet all international instruments and all national legislatures enshrine the principle of equality between men and women. Men have a responsibility therefore to help remove the patriarchal dominance in society and to allow the private virtues of women to go public. Indeed, men of quality should never feel threatened by women for equality. Gender equality is predicated upon education of girls and boys so that they can be empowered throughout their life in today's globalizing world to enter the gender mainstream of equal opportunity. The report of the sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, published on 25 March 2002, tells how far we are from attaining this goal. Given the opportunity for education, women and girls do as well as men and boys. Some even think that women and girls do better. In 1916, psychologist George Stratton of the University of Southern California described what he considered - what he considered, remember, not what I consider - the inherent superiority of the female brain in seeing the whole picture. Writing on feminism and psychology in Century Magazine, he expressed the hope that women would dispel masculine illusions when they took their rightful place in society. Men, he said, tend to fix on cogs instead of flesh and blood. Beginning with a generous wonder at nature, men end up with fascination for the tool, the scientific instrument. They establish governments to give order to life and then end up coveting the functions of government more than life. The masculine genius for organization, Stratton said, needs women's sense of the heart of things, not the trappings. I cannot end without recalling from Greek mythology the resourcefulness, the common sense and the power of women. In Lysistrata, a masterpiece of comedy written in 411 BC, Aristophanes tells of how, during the silly and unnecessary Peloponnesian war between the city-state of Athens and Sparta, the women ended the military madness and exposed the absurdity and futility of war by seizing, first, the Acropolis, which contained the Treasury, then refusing to have intimate relations with the returning men soldiers. Taken together, their actions of seizure and sex strike brought peace and development in a century very far away and removed from the twenty-first century. Finally, we men serve as the link between home, where lessons are first taught and learned, and the wider world, where they are applied in pursuit of peace and security. An ancient Chinese philosopher captured the contribution of women to peace and security best when he said: "If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world." What a beautiful tribute to womanhood. And on this score, I want to greet, salute and thank Ms. Angela King and Ms. Noeleen Heyzer and, of course, Mr. Guehenno, for their presentations today.

The President: I think that the representative of Grenada, more gracefully than anyone today, has put men in their place. I should like to make a few points in my capacity as representative of the United Kingdom, while subscribing also to the statement made by Denmark earlier on behalf of the European Union. I think that the three presentations that started off our debate today have given us a huge amount of stimulation, followed by a useful and very thought- provoking debate covering a wide range of issues relating to women and conflict and peacekeeping. Conflict has changed, and so we must change. The United Kingdom recognizes the enormous value of resolution 1325 (2000) and related gender initiatives in raising the profile of gender as an issue of real relevance to conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peace-building. But we are concerned here today with implementation. Rather like Australia, I do not believe that the Council needs more norm-setting in this area. We need implementation. We felt that there were two fundamental reasons for holding this debate with the objective of building on resolution 1325 (2000) and not just reiterating it. The first was to raise the probability that impunity will be denied to, and good practice will deter, those who commit or plan to commit violence against women in an area of conflict. The adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) is, I think, illustrative and only a starting point in that area. The second reason for this debate was to recognize and to reflect in peacekeeping practice the huge contribution which women can make to conflict prevention and negotiation and to post-conflict peace- building. I pay tribute to the United Nations as a whole for the progress it has made to date in mainstreaming gender throughout the Organization. For example, we welcome recent indications from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations' Lessons Learned Unit that the presence of women in peacekeeping operations has improved the effectiveness of those missions by improving the levels of access to the local population and increasing the range of skills, approaches and perspectives in missions. We welcome this progress so far, but we have to recognize it for what it is - merely the start of a much wider effort. Every part of the United Nations system that engages with the broad range of issues in the resolution, from conflict prevention to post-conflict peace-building - including the Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the funds and programmes - must give appropriate attention to gender perspectives. It is now readily accepted that gender mainstreaming is a crucial strategy in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Effective management of conflict, especially its prevention is, alongside that, an aspect of the Goals' focus. Integrating gender perspectives into conflict prevention work will make the impact of that work all the more effective. It is therefore important that Member States throughout all United Nations bodies express their political commitment to, and offer direction and guidance on, gender mainstreaming. We have seen some excellent examples of this during the recent substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, with its first consideration of gender mainstreaming under a dedicated agenda sub-item. And may I congratulate the Economic and Social Council on having adopted yesterday a resolution that takes forward gender mainstreaming in that Council and its subsidiary bodies. It is good to see the Councils match each other in these respects. The Security Council should aim, as the Economic and Social Council has done in its resolution, to identify best practice and encourage its promulgation. I also commend the important and valuable contribution made by non-governmental organizations in this field, both in their cooperation with the United Nations and Member States and in their independent and often very courageous activities in conflict zones. We all know that much remains to be done. We have hardly scratched the surface of the real problems on the ground in conflict areas. We hope that this meeting will help sustain and build on the momentum created by resolution 1325 (2000) and provide for further progress in this field through the ideas presented in this debate, in the response of the Secretariat and in that of the relevant agencies and Governments to those ideas. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I will now give the floor to our original speakers and ask them to pick up any remaining comments and questions to which they wish to respond. I give the floor to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

Mr. Guehenno: Let me first say how grateful we are for this debate and for the support that has been expressed by many delegations for the efforts of the Department to mainstream gender and to strengthen the capacity of the Department to do precisely that. This morning the Ambassador of Canada noted that I was discussing the five missions where we have made, I think, significant progress, and he wanted to know more about the other missions. I think that I have to be very candid. If we have made such progress in five missions, it is because indeed there we had senior gender advisors who could take proactive action and really move the process forward. When we do not have such advisory - and that is the case of the 10 other peacekeeping missions - what we can do is indeed much more limited. This is all the more so as there is not yet at Headquarters the senior advisor for gender mainstreaming who could make sure that the missions that have not had the benefit of gender advisors could benefit from the successes in those missions that do have them. In those missions where we do not have such support, what we have done is to strengthen, through regional training, the capacity of our people to demonstrate the right behaviour and the right sensitivity. What we can do is to make sure that on such issues as discipline, the standards of the United Nations are upheld, that the code of conduct is interpreted in the strictest possible fashion, that disciplinary action follows when there is misconduct and that criminal prosecution follows when there is criminal conduct. All that needs to be done. But all that, I would say, addresses just one side of the issue. I think it was the Ambassador of Colombia, this morning, who was noting that women and girls in conflict are not just victims. They can also be actors. Strengthening discipline and having a good code of conduct addresses only the Victim side of the issue. It does not address the positive side of really empowering women so that we have greater success in our peace processes. To achieve that, you need to think through, in each specific peace operation, how you are going to integrate the gender dimension. That does not come automatically, as we have heard from many speakers throughout the day. That is why it is so important not just to have the right discipline, the right code of conduct, the right gender training, but to also have in the mission, as I was saying this morning, someone at the senior level who can think through all the implications of taking into consideration the gender dimensions, so that we can be more successful.

Ms. King (Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women): There were a couple of questions from France about how my office and the Division for the Advancement of Women could help women in Afghanistan and in other areas. Following the Council's great interest in restructuring and revitalizing peace operations - and I particularly refer to the Brahimi Report - there was a gender specialist on the first integrated management task force from my office. Strangely enough, as it turned out, the same individual is now the gender advisor in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), working directly with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG). She works very closely also with the agency gender specialist, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and all the others. Furthermore, she is putting together an integrated framework plan for the implementation of gender-sensitive policies in Afghanistan. She also works together with the inter-agency network within the Ministry of Women's Affairs and with government officials. There are other ways, including workshops on conflict prevention, which have been held in several regions, Morocco, Ghana, Addis Ababa, and elsewhere. This is just relating to my office. But there are several other conflict-resolution and capacity-building mechanisms working throughout the system. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and others have had similar workshops. There are also workshops on building national machinery for women, which have been very useful, and on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), legal literacy, and the rights of women under peacekeeping operations. We also celebrated the International Women's Day, which was devoted for the very first time this year to the women of Afghanistan. The representative of Mexico raised the issue of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG), and I just want to point out that whereas there has been considerable progress since the passage of resolution 1325 (2000), we still have only one female SRSG out of about 46, and three female deputy SRSG's out of about 12. The figures may be not exact, but that is roughly the estimate. So we have quite a long way to go. We are, moreover, particularly looking at the missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in Georgia, because there we feel that there is a critical mass of women. In Georgia, not only is the SRSG a woman, as Mr. Guehenno said, but so is her deputy. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is a deputy who is a woman, there is a general advisor at the senior level, there is also going to be shortly a woman as the head of the humanitarian pillar. The latter is a very gender-sensitive woman, and not all women are gender-sensitive. There is also a Junior Professional Officer (JPO), who is coming out of the office of the focal point for women in New York. So it is interesting for the Council to also look at those missions where we are witnessing the beginning of critical masses of women at the top, to see if that makes a difference ultimately. Mr. President, I want to say that I thank you very much, along with the Members of this Council, for the very interesting and rich debate we have had and for the suggestions. I wish also to thank you on behalf of the Inter-agency Task Force for rounding out and refining many of the recommendations that have been put to you, and for giving us clear guidance on where you wish us to go. I would also like to thank the representative of China, who mentioned the inter-agency action plan for the follow-up of resolution 1325 (2000), and we certainly hope that by October we will be getting back to you on how that inter-agency action plan has been implemented. I would just like to close by asking you to look at two areas. One is, how do you get the good intentions and the wonderful things that have been said here today to operate at ground level? And I want to bring to your attention a case in Liberia of gender perspectives on early warning. Some women saw some very unusual night activity going on in a particular part of Liberia. Because their men folk were away, they went to look to see what was going on. They witnessed the stockpiling of weapons. They immediately reported this to the Minister for Women's Affairs, who happened to be a woman. She brought the incident to the attention of the Cabinet. She was immediately silenced and told that it was none of her concern. In fact, they asked to know what were those women doing at that time of night. They concluded that these were obviously prostitutes. That was the end of the lesson, but in fact there was a weapons build-up that led to conflict. The second area that I would really like to bring to your attention - and we have had some wonderful inclinations or premonitions from members of this Council that this would be the case - is that we have heard from Cameroon that there is a full intention in October to deal with gender issues. We have heard also from Colombia that in December gender issues will be looked at. We would like each and every one, Mr. President, of the members of this Council to follow your good example, and others before you who have seen fit to deal with gender issues in the months under your review.

Ms. Heyzer: First of all, I would like to say a very big thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership in this area, and also a big thank you to all members of the Security Council. We appreciate all the comments that you have made on the whole area of women, peace and security, and all the support that you have given me for my work at the ground level. We definitely welcome the opportunity to strengthen our collaboration, especially at the field level. In this regard, I would like to acknowledge the progress that has been made, especially in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) on the ground. In fact, our experience has been that DPKO, in the areas where it has gender advisors, has been able to leverage the support of women by drawing on the strength of UNIFEM. Therefore, a very good example has been in East Timor, where we both participated in the training of women, and got women elected on a platform to deal with violence against women, and also of support to the police in order to protect women. So we were extremely pleased with that kind of work at the ground level. This discussion has been an excellent basis for the preparation of our October session, and the report of the Secretary-General and the independent assessments will touch on many new areas of action that have been identified. There is a huge expectation. As many Council members have noted, Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) is a living document, something women will pay attention to and build upon. The women's movement has celebrated the kind of thoughtfulness and receptivity the Security Council has given to this whole area of work. I will be in touch with them to convey the messages discussed here. We look forward to many of the initiatives discussed by Chile and Colombia on small arms. I also would like to share with you the fact that the Minister for Women's Affairs from Afghanistan will be here tomorrow to visit us, and there will be a signing of a memorandum of understanding with UNIFEM. The leadership of Afghan women shows strongly how the United Nations system has been working together. A specific strength of UNIFEM. is working with women to prepare them for the peace table and train them to participate in the reconstruction of their countries. This is true from the Congo to the Manu River. The strength of the Women's Fund is in building women's capacity and the different kinds of leadership that will bring women to the peace table. In Afghanistan, UNIFEM. was very central to pulling together an agenda on women that was discussed at the Loya Jirga. I would like to stress the link between the Secretary-General's report and the independent assessment. There is a division of labour between Ms. King and the work of UNIFEM. All of us participate in Ms. King's inter-agency task force. The division of labour is such that the independent expert assessment captures the voices of women at the ground level, and also the work in new areas that would not be captured by a desk review. That is the connection, but we hope both studies will become part of the Secretary- General's report. I would like to end by saying UNIFEM. is a small fund, but we have invested $14 million in the area of women, peace and security. This investment has gone into four areas of work. One is early warning and prevention, using women's groups on the ground to help us. The second area is protection and assistance, in strong partnership with different agencies such as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNICEF and women's groups. The third and largest area of women's work and the work of UNIFEM. has been in the area of peace-building, getting women from the ground and communities to the peace table. The fourth is gender justice, especially in post-conflict peace-building. As we move forward, we all realize that this area is actually the first step. We look forward to a long-term partnership with the members of the Security Council, so that implementation will make the kind of transformation necessary to ensure peace and security in women's lives.

The President: I thank Ms. Heyzer very much for those final remarks and for her enthusiastic participation with us today in an important event for the whole gender issue. Let me sum up briefly some points we will put in writing as a consequence of this debate, on the responsibility of the presidency. I think it has been a rich and timely debate and I hope it will assist the Secretariat in the preparation of the Secretary-General's report, which we look forward to in October. There is a great deal there, much of which you already thought of. But in order to get the Security Council on board, this is an important set of guidance for you. I warmly thank all those who participated, especially those who did not just come today to make a national statement, but to interact with other speakers, pick up ideas and move them forward. The salient points I think we should bear as a Security Council emerge as the following. First, there is a need to ensure the integration of gender perspective throughout the United Nations, both in the field and at Headquarters. Second is a need to ensure that all peacekeeping mandates, peace agreements and informal understandings include a relevant gender perspective. Third is the importance of involving women at all stages and all levels in peacekeeping operations, peace processes, humanitarian operations and post-conflict reconstruction. Liechtenstein brought out most clearly the message that participation in itself is a very important part of addressing gender. Fourthly, there is the importance of gender training for United Nations peacekeeping personnel. The European Union statement pointed to the revision of existing guidelines and standard operating procedures, but there is a DPKO manual which addresses these points which should be kept up to date, implemented and therefore read and understood by all those take part in peacekeeping operations. Fifth - I think all those who mentioned it were unanimous - is the importance of the appointment of a senior gender adviser in DPKO. Norway, the Russian Federation and many others pointed to this. Sixthly, we must ensure that women are fully included in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes. We have not yet sufficiently sorted out DDR in the Council, and there is a gender element to that which is very important. Seventh, we need to ensure that all peacekeeping operations include professional gender advisers and that they consult with community leaders, local NGOs, and wider sections of the community, including experienced women peacemakers and women's groups. In that context Canada made an important point. When SRSGs and representatives of peacekeeping operations come to the Council, they should be addressed and questioned on the area of gender perspective in their operations. As Canada said, specificity is credibility. That is an important message. Next, there is the desirability of drawing up codes of conduct governing the behaviour of peacekeeping personnel, including provisions to ensure the safety and dignity of women and girls. Additionally, the desirability, in itself, of more female SRSGs, and then the potential usefulness of the establishment in the Secretariat of a centralized database of gender specialists and experienced women peacemakers. This is not mentioned often, but I think we should pick up on that. Perhaps the Secretariat could think about it further. Nobody mentioned Security Council missions, but we do meet with gender groups when we go on missions, and I think that should be a natural part of a mission, to ensure that gender issues are fully taken into consideration. Finally, do not forget that regional organizations can play their own role in all of this. Nigeria mentioned ECOWAS specifically in this respect, and ECOWAS has thought about this. But I think all regional organizations in the peacekeeping and peace and security context should be aware of the need for a gender perspective. My final word is on men. If, in the Security Council's perception, it were the case that men were the victims of bad treatment because of their gender, then we would take up their issue. This is not a discriminatory exercise. It is because women are Victims because of their gender that we are taking up this issue in the context of conflict. If men deserve the same treatment, they will get it from the Security Council. We will, as I mentioned, issue a note to sum up where I think we got to in this debate. I understand the representative of Syria would like to make some final remarks.

Mr. Mekdad (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): Allow me to express our great satisfaction at the manner in which you have presided over this meeting, as well as for the final remarks you just made and the accurate summation you gave of this meeting's deliberations, a meeting we described as very important at the very beginning of our first statement. I should like to comment briefly on the statement made by Ambassador Negroponte with regard to my statement this morning, in which I took up the suffering of Syrian and Palestinian women under Israeli occupation. The entire world - and in particular people who have suffered occupation - is familiar with the suffering of women, especially under occupation. We have always hoped that armed women would not participate with the Israeli Defence Forces in acts of repression against Arab women under occupation. Nevertheless, I should like to stress that there can be no comparison between an occupying Power and a people languishing under occupation, enduring occupation and fighting to rid itself of occupation. The entire world knows that Syria - for well- known historical and geographic reasons and because of the expulsion of large numbers of Palestinians - has had to host many Palestinian refugees since 1948. Those Palestinian refugees, like all other human beings in the world, have the right to express their views, to have their own aspirations and to return to the land where they once lived but from which they were expelled. I believe that is clearly stated in United Nations resolutions. We in Syria have stressed, and we now reiterate, that the groups in Syria are not armed. There are information officers in Syria, not training camps. There are camps of refugees who have been uprooted from their land by Israel and whose return Israel refuses to allow, as it refuses to comply with General Assembly resolution 194 (III). With regard to the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001) and the responsibility of States - in particular Security Council members - you know full well, Mr. President, as Chairman of the Counter- Terrorism Committee, that Syria was one of the first countries to respond to that resolution. It is the duty of Council members to defend international peace and security. We believe that it is a fundamental responsibility of those members - in particular the permanent five - to ensure the implementation of Council resolutions. No one denies that 28 resolutions adopted by the Council concern one of the parties that I mentioned in my statement: the aggressor party that has refused to heed any of those 28 resolutions. In no way can that aggressor be compared to the victim. Furthermore, if they really want peace and security to prevail in the Middle East region and truly want a better life for all women in the Middle East, all United Nations Member States, including Security Council members and in particular permanent members of the Council - and here, I would stress Ambassador Negroponte's statement - have the duty not to provide weapons of destruction to Israel, especially the sophisticated weapons used by Israel to kill innocent people, and they ought not to provide to Israel hundreds of millions of dollars that are then used to carry out occupation. I do not believe, Mr. President, that I departed from the agenda item.

The President: I give the floor to the representative of the United States.

Mr. Rosenblatt (United States): I regret that this meeting should end on a note of discord. Let me just say that I certainly agree with what was just said about the importance and usefulness of this meeting. But I must also say that we stand by the observation that Ambassador Negroponte made earlier concerning the lack of balance in addressing the effect on women of one particular conflict, along with the statement of concern regarding what is in fact a case of non- implementation, on the part of one Government represented here, of provisions of an important Security Council resolution: resolution 1373 (2001).

The President: There are no further speakers left on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The meeting rose at 4.40 p.m.