{"id":69120,"date":"2016-03-30T16:06:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T16:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=86f5562b373868aeee669046987a1419"},"modified":"2016-03-30T16:06:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T16:06:05","slug":"speech-if-we-want-half-of-worlds-population-to-have-a-say-in-conflict-prevention-then-let-us-begin-in-this-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=69120","title":{"rendered":"Speech: "If we want half of world\u2019s population to have a say in conflict prevention … then let us begin in this building.""},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thank you Madam President. I join others in thanking the briefers for their insights, and I welcome Palegi Eyang to the Council. We should hear the voices of women activists from civil society in this Chamber more often.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to begin with the words of another activist, the Nobel Laureate, Leymah Gbowee. In 2003, her group \u2018Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace\u2019 successfully pressed Charles Taylor to attend peace talks. Talking afterwards, she said, and I quote: \u201cWe are now taking this stand, to secure the future of our children. Because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, \u2018Mama, what was your role during the crisis?\u201d, end of quote.<\/p>\n

What was your role during the crisis?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question for so many women in Africa isn\u2019t \u2018negotiator\u2019. It isn\u2019t \u2018envoy\u2019, it isn\u2019t \u2018delegate\u2019 even, and this needs to change.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just about ending gender inequality. It\u2019s not just a women\u2019s issue. It\u2019s a peace issue. When women\u2019s voices are heard in peace processes, in negotiations, in state-building, the chances of a lasting peace increase. <\/p>\n

And if we\u2019re serious about truly resolving conflicts, about preserving peace, not just for hours, but for generations, we must heed the words of Leymah Gbowee and our briefer, Palegi Eyang. They demonstrate just how powerful community-based activism can be. Just think how powerful those women\u2019s voices could have been had they actually been in the room at key times during peace processes?<\/p>\n

So, whether in Africa or in any other part of the world, we need to make sure that women are playing the fullest role in conflict resolution. I\u2019m proud that all future UK-hosted peace-building events will ensure that women\u2019s voices are heard. If the rest of the Council follows suit, then we\u2019d send a strong message to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

To support this effort, we have to increase women\u2019s participation in politics and society. And that means delivering on the commitments we made in resolutions 1325, 1889, 2242 and so many others.<\/p>\n

Because breaking down the barriers facing women in peace talks requires breaking down barriers facing women across society. It means helping girls stay in school, improving healthcare, and yes, tackling sexual violence. At its heart, it\u2019s about ending discrimination against women. We all have a part to play. In Somalia, the United Kingdom is helping make health services available to over a million Somali women and children. We\u2019re also providing legal assistance to thousands of Somali women and will soon be supporting initiatives that boost their participation in politics too.<\/p>\n

But this issue won\u2019t be solved by one country alone. That\u2019s why the United Kingdom is contributing a million dollars to the Global Acceleration Instrument on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action. By funding the GAI, we can all offer material support that can break down these barriers. In Burundi, a network of women mediators was able to deal with 5,200 local conflicts in 2015. That\u2019s over 14 a day. Thanks to the GAI, they\u2019re now scaling up their activities. At a time when this Council has been so frustrated by the crisis in Burundi, it\u2019s heartening to see how powerful women\u2019s civil society can be in their local mediation efforts. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, however, supporting this effort requires more than just our money. When the Council visited Mali, Guinea Bissau and Senegal earlier this month, there wasn\u2019t a single female representative of this Council on the trip. And even here in New York, only two of the fifteen Security Council countries are represented by a woman at this debate. So as we call upon Africa\u2019s leaders to do more to bring women into conflict prevention and resolution, let us also heed the call ourselves.<\/p>\n

What signal does it send when the primary body for preserving international peace and security only has one woman among its fifteen permanent representatives? What message does it send to that young girl in Somalia who dreams of becoming President? Or to those who want to answer the question \u2018what was your role\u2019 with something other than \u2018survivor\u2019?<\/p>\n

If we want half of world\u2019s population to have a say in conflict prevention and resolution, then let us begin in this building. That\u2019s why the United Kingdom has been clear that we need as many credible women as possible to apply to be the next UN Secretary-General. We\u2019ve had three so far and I hope that there are more to come.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to make history; a historic moment that\u2019s long overdue. All things being equal, we hope that this will be the year that we appoint a woman to be Secretary-General of the United Nations for the first time. And when asked \u2018what was your role\u2019 she will be able to say that she was at the forefront of the UN\u2019s action to prevent conflict and resolve crises, and represent the entire world, not just half of it.<\/p>\n

Thank you Madam President.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Statement by Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of the UK Mission to the UN at the Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}