📋 Tender Overview
This morning, the Security Council held a briefing on the thematic issue of “women and peace and security” focusing on investing in the transformative power of intergenerational leadership on this issue. “Unless we break free from patriarchal norms, true peace and inclusive security will remain elusive,” warned the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, who welcomed the strong support for the women and peace and security agenda in the Compact for the Future.
Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo called for facilitating intergenerational dialogues, fostering inclusive peace processes and investing in young women’s leadership, and called for significant and sustained resources to support young women peacemakers. Investments in women and peace and security programmes are not an option, but a necessity to prevent conflict and achieve inclusive and sustainable peace, she said.
Noting that peace cannot be achieved through elite-led deals alone, Ms. DiCarlo said it is essential to promote inclusive and multifaceted peace processes that prioritize diverse groups of women, and advance their leadership and rights at all levels. Amid crises around the world, young women peacebuilders are demonstrating that a better world is possible. In Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai has championed girls’ right to education undeterred by an assassination attempt, while in Somalia, Ilwad Elman is working to rehabilitate child soldiers while empowering other young people to help prevent violent extremism, she said.
Following suit, a Sudanese human rights and peace activist noted that when war broke out in Sudan, women who had participated in de-escalation and dialogue processes at the local level before the war used their skills to mediate and manage tensions. Ms. Tahani Abbas called for continued support for Sudanese women on the front lines of humanitarian assistance and de-escalation. As an illustration, she referred to the role of the “Mothers of Peace” in Blue Nile State, while stressing that it was essential to ensure that the perspectives of young people, particularly young women, were taken into account in peace processes and the reconstruction of the country.
Making those voices heard is crucial as women remain underrepresented in the halls of power, especially in conflict-affected societies, the United States stressed, urging each country to have a comprehensive action plan and adequate resources to advance the women, peace and security agenda. The US delegation also considered it imperative to address the current intergenerational competition linked to the fact that too often, only one seat is reserved for women at the negotiating table. Similarly, it proposed creating partnerships between governments, the private sector and other partners, similar to the US initiative to create centers of excellence for advancing the women, peace and security agenda.
Noting that 70 per cent of the victims in Gaza were women, China called on the Security Council to exercise its responsibility by going beyond political statements and working towards a ceasefire. The Chinese delegation also indicated that its Government planned to hold an important summit next year as part of the follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. On the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000), Switzerland suggested that the Council make greater use of the normative instruments at its disposal and commit to using more women mediators and women’s contributions to peace.
This requires more than normative frameworks, warned Sierra Leone, which also called for concrete political, financial and logistical support to women’s funds and organizations. It is also essential to create, at the national and international levels, a space where women, and young women in particular, can make their voices heard, and to recognize that women and young people are not homogeneous groups. To respond to the emergency, civil society funds and organizations must be supported, said France, which said it is providing financial support to the global fund for survivors of sexual violence created by Nobel laureates Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege.
For its part, Japan recalled that in 2025, it will co-chair, with Norway, the network of focal points of the women and peace and security agenda. Mediation and peacebuilding will be central themes championed throughout the network's annual processes, with a strong emphasis on promoting intergenerational dialogue and collaboration among women peacebuilders, the Japanese delegation explained.
Generational equality, not just gender equality, must be our goal, as young people, especially young women, bring the energy and creativities that are essential to shaping sustainable peace efforts, Algeria stressed. That is why it is essential that this Council increases its support for local women’s rights organizations, recognizing their crucial role in building and sustaining peaceful communities, the United Kingdom supported.
In the view of the Russian Federation, the Security Council's approaches should be practical and take into account the cultural characteristics of countries and regions. It expressed support for any intergenerational dialogue, including in the context of peacebuilding, but considered that this was not a task for the Security Council, but rather for the Peacebuilding Commission.
“The time of women and youth has arrived,” said Ecuador, which urged the consolidation of an intergenerational fabric of women mediators and peacebuilders, in order to achieve peaceful and stable societies. The delegation also reiterated its wish to see a woman from Latin America or the Caribbean as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, seeing this as the best way to invest in the power of transformative intergenerational leadership on women and peace and security.
