蘑菇视频

Excellencies,

I commend the Government of France for hosting this fourth Ministerial Conference on feminist foreign policy – which coincides with the 25 years of resolution 1325 – a milestone in the recognition by the highest body tasked with maintaining international peace and security, that peace is inextricably linked with gender equality and women鈥檚 leadership.

A quarter century later, it is only fitting that we 鈥渃ommemorate鈥�, rather than 鈥渃elebrate鈥� this milestone, given today鈥檚 grim realities. Though there have been successes in implementation, the world has changed since October 2000. The nature of conflict and even our understanding of 鈥減eace鈥� and 鈥渟ecurity鈥� have evolved. This ever-changing reality poses major dilemmas for the four pillars of Security Council resolution 1325. The WPS Agenda is not a finished project but an evolving framework. Upholding feminist principles requires not only defending past gains but also reimagining what peace, security, and justice can mean in a rapidly changing world. Today, more than ever, feminist foreign policies must complement the WPS agenda, to reclaim its potential for structural transformation.

In 2009, the Security Council unanimously created a mandate to confront the scourge of wartime sexual violence, marking a historic recognition that sexual violence is preventable, not inevitable – a crime of war, not collateral damage. Six subsequent resolutions established a robust normative framework affirming that there could be no security without women鈥檚 security. This is the heart of feminist foreign policy: placing women鈥檚 and girls鈥� rights, safety, and agency at the center of every decision about peace and security.

We meet amid great global turbulence with conflicts raging; impunity escalating and inequalities widening. The world faces the highest number of conflicts since World War II, with over 130 million forcibly displaced, and 676 million women living near deadly conflicts. Militarization and authoritarianism are on the march, while women鈥檚 rights are being turned back.

In 2024 alone, more than 4,600 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were documented – a 25 percent rise from 2023, which itself rose by 50 percent from the year before. Sexual violence against children increased by 35 percent. This year鈥檚 report highlights worsening brutality, with rapes followed by executions, sexual violence linked to food insecurity; proliferation of small arms fueling atrocities and security vacuums following 蘑菇视频 mission drawdowns, risking a reversal of progress in protection and survivor support. Yet, as needs rise, shelters are shuttering, medical supplies for rape victims are running out, clinics are closing their doors, and women鈥檚 organizations are going from underfunded to unfunded. Instead of defending transformative progress, we are defunding lifesaving programmes. We are told there is no money for lifesaving aid and that it is a question of competing priorities. Yet. global military spending has reached 2.7 trillion dollars.

Excellencies,

What do we tell the women and girls in Sudan, where sexual violence is once again being used to terrorize and displace communities, with devastating reports of women in Darfur committing suicide rather than facing the near certainty of rape by armed men? Or the women in eastern DRC, displaced multiple times, facing acute food insecurity, who, out of sheer desperation are selling their bodies for less than a dollar to buy food?

What is it that takes precedence over the safety and rights of civilians? What future do we expect to build on the broken bodies and broken dreams of abused women and girls? Thousands of survivors are losing access to medical care, psychosocial support, shelter, and legal redress. The price tag will be more chaos, displacement, broken promises, resentment and extremism, fanning the flames of hostility and fueling the next wave of warfare, wiping out decades of development gains.

Excellencies,

We do not have the luxury of looking away. We do not have the luxury of reciting words of condemnation and moving on, when survivors lack support to move on with their lives.

We must act decisively and boldly.

First, preserve and strengthen the normative framework on sexual violence in conflict.

Second, ensure survivors of sexual violence in conflict have a meaningful voice in peace and transitional justice processes.

Third, match rhetoric with resources that are robust, flexible, and sustained, especially for women鈥檚 organizations in conflict-affected countries.

Fourth and finally, feminist foreign policy must be accompanied by funding commitments and targets.

By harnessing the complementarity between FFPs and WPS, we can empower women to not only survive the conflict but shape the peace. As Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie observed: 鈥�Feminism is dreaming of how the world could be better鈥�. Indeed, the feminist movement has proven to be one of the most visionary forces on the planet. In this era of intersecting misogyny and militarism, it may be humanity鈥檚 last, best hope for transformation.

Thank you.