蘑菇视频

Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to join this important discussion on the Addendum to update General Recommendation no. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict, and post-conflict situations. I thank the CEDAW Committee, the Organisation internationale de la francophonie, and other key partners for convening this timely event.

My mandate, as Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, was created by the United Nations Security Council in 2009 in response to a brutal reality of modern war: namely, the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, terror, torture, and political repression. Like bullets, bombs and blades, sexual violence attacks the lives and livelihoods of innocent civilians in a manner that is not collateral, but calculated.

In establishing this mandate, the Security Council affirmed that sexual violence, even in the midst of war, is preventable, not inevitable. In the implementation of my mandate, I greatly value the partnership with the CEDAW Committee, pursuant to a Framework of Cooperation we signed in 2018 to address the underlying root causes and invisible drivers of sexual violence, such as gender inequality and discrimination. These concerns have been increasingly integrated into the Committee鈥檚 Concluding Observations over the past 15 years.

My mandate was built on the foundational resolution on Women, Peace and Security, resolution 1325. As we mark its quarter-century anniversary this month, we are compelled to reflect on new and emerging threats to women鈥檚 peace and security. Indeed, the Addendum under discussion is a response to the changing nature of conflict and crisis in the 15 years since the advent of General Recommendation 30 (2013), which I helped to frame as a member of the CEDAW Committee and Chair of the Working Group.

As we heard last week, during the milestone Security Council Open Debate on WPS, we are living through a time of great global turbulence, marked by mounting humanitarian needs amid diminishing humanitarian resources. Today, 676 million women live within 50 kilometers of a deadly conflict. Today, my mandate has expanded to cover 21 situations of concern where patterns of conflict-related sexual violence have been documented. In our latest report, covering the year 2024, the 蘑菇视频 verified 4,600 cases, reflecting an 87 percent increase over the past two years. More than 90 percent of the victims were women and girls, as has consistently been the case in every report since the inception of the mandate.

A rise in the level of brutality has also been observed, with rapes being increasingly followed by lethal violence, to silence the victims before their information can become evidence. We know there can be no security without women鈥檚 security, yet we are witnessing a rollback and reversal of gender equality gains. We speak of prevention, while military spending continues to soar, reaching a record-breaking 2.7 trillion. We speak of protection, yet sexual violence persists with impunity and reprisals against women鈥檚 rights defenders are on the rise. We speak of participation, yet history is full of invisible women: the corridors of power, councils of war, and negotiating tables are haunted by their absence. We speak of relief and recovery, as women鈥檚 frontline organizations face catastrophic cuts, with half facing closures within the next six months. Patriarchal power structures are investing more in the machinery of warfare than the architecture of peace. The return on that investment can only be further division, destruction and death.

Against that backdrop, General Recommendation 30 interprets the obligations of States Parties to CEDAW to apply across contexts of fragility, conflict and post-conflict, recognizing that social upheavals exacerbate inequality, intensify gender-based violence, and impede access to essential services.

In the 15 years since its adoption, our collective understanding of conflict drivers and dynamics has deepened. Even as entrenched wars march on, and chronic gaps persist, new threats and forms of harm have surfaced. The proposed Addendum therefore aims to update, expand and sharpen the authoritative guidance reflected in GR 30. For instance, it will enable conflict-related sexual violence to be more effectively integrated into periodic CEDAW reporting, as well as exceptional reports, helping to close critical gaps in terms of information and action.

The Addendum reflects the evolution of normative standards in the Security Council since 2013, for instance the adoption of resolution 2467 of 2019, which called for a survivor-centered approach, as well as evolving human rights jurisprudence. It has the potential to bring into focus a more diverse range of perpetrators implicated in war crimes against women, including State actors, non-State actors, criminal and trafficking networks, violent extremist groups, militias and mercenaries. It strengthens obligations in terms of structural prevention, including through gender-responsive security sector reform, preventive diplomacy, and the activation of early-warning systems. Above all, it will strengthen national implementation, including through legislative reform and the integration of women鈥檚 rights into transitional justice, emphasizing the importance of reparations and the preservation of survivor narratives as part of historical memory. This signals that survivors鈥� recovery is central, not incidental, to conflict recovery.

This initiative comes at a time when impunity and implementation gaps are widening. It comes at a time when emerging technology is being weaponized, civic space is shrinking, poverty and food insecurity are increasingly feminized, and the existential threat of climate change is ever-more acute. It comes at a time when conflicts and coups are turning back the clock on women鈥檚 rights.

It is precisely because of these challenges that the Addendum cannot come soon enough, as a normative anchor for holding parties accountable. Robust international norms have a powerful restraining influence on the behavior of belligerents. By increasing the scope and credibility of consequences, they have a deterrent effect. At this pivotal moment, we need to build on progress, not rest on, or reverse, it. In that respect, CEDAW and the WPS agenda are not two tracks, but rather one road, leading to equality, stability and peace.

In conclusion, I urge States to support the Addendum and encourage survivors and civil society organizations to meaningfully engage in the process, to ensure that it reflects diverse lived realities. Adoption will be the start, not the end, of this process, which should spur States to match rhetoric with resolve and resources. By harnessing the normative and diplomatic tools at our disposal, we can empower women to not only survive the conflict, but shape the peace.

Over the past eight years, my work has taken me to some of the poorest, most perilous, places on earth, where I have met brave, resilient women who are waging peace, even in the midst of war. From Afghanistan, to Haiti, Ukraine, Sudan and the DRC, we must silence the guns and amplify the voices of these women. As Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recently 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 鈥� not as a cloak of victimhood, but as a banner of freedom.

Thank you.