Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to accept this award from the New York City Bar Association on behalf of the United Nations鈥� mandate on sexual violence in conflict.
As Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and as a woman lawyer myself, it is all the more special coming from the bar association of the host City of the United Nations, which has done so much to welcome me during my tenure in office and to advance the rule of law for women and girls both locally and globally. I view this not simply as an award for past work, but as a challenge to do more to support every survivor of sexual violence in conflict, and to prevent and end this scourge once and for all.
We gather here on International Women鈥檚 Day at a time when both multilateralism and the rule of law are under profound threat. When the 鈥榤ight makes right鈥� logic of war replaces the rule of law, it is women and girls who suffer most. 聽I have recently returned from Lviv, in Ukraine, where experts gathered one year after the full-scale invasion of that country to discuss justice in the context of an active warzone where the United Nations has verified incidents and patterns of sexual violence committed against women and girls, ranging in age from just 4 to over 80 years old. My message was clear: there can be no impunity for sexual violence in conflict regardless of the rank or affiliation of the perpetrator.
Over the past year, my mandate has been active in numerous conflict and post-conflict contexts supporting efforts to advance accountability. In the nation of Guinea in West Africa, we saw the opening of a domestic trial for a former head of State for sexual violence committed against over 100 women and girls during an attack on peaceful demonstrators who gathered in a stadium in the capital, Conakry, on 28 September 2009. That trial took thirteen years to begin, but no survivor lost their thirst for justice. My mandate, through my Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, has supported the relevant authorities from the commencement of the trial, and will remain engaged even beyond its conclusion, to support the victims and witnesses. The public broadcast of this trial has riveted the nation, sending a powerful message to perpetrators everywhere that sexual violence will be prosecuted, and that women are the holders of rights that will be respected and enforced. Over the past year, beyond Ukraine and Guinea, my mandate has deployed to the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, South Sudan, and the Sudan to strengthen institutional safeguards against impunity for wartime sexual violence. In the DRC, we are working with the Government to establish a national reparations fund for victims of sexual violence to help rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods. . At the end of this month, I will visit Colombia, at the invitation of the Government, to support the transitional justice process and implementation of the gender provisions of Colombia鈥檚 landmark peace agreement. My mandate is also engaged in Iraq, Nigeria, and elsewhere to pursue accountability for conflict-related sexual violence, including in the context of counterterrorism trials.
Ladies and gentlemen, the geographical scope of the annual Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, compiled by my Office, continues to expand. This year, it will cover more than twenty country situations where sexual violence is used as a tactic of war, torture, terror, and political repression. As 蘑菇视频 Secretary-General Guterres has stated, 鈥渢he world is too small for so many hot spots.鈥� Accordingly, my mandate cannot simply be reactive. That is why, in September of last year, I launched a Framework for the Prevention of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, 聽which aims to address the structural drivers of sexual violence, such as gender discrimination, as well as to guide operations in the field. There have also been important legal and policy developments here in the United States to enhance the global fight against conflict-related sexual violence. In November 2022, U.S. President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum to Promote Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence that directs the United States executive branch to support survivors through 鈥渁ll available measures 鈥� including legal, policy, diplomatic, and financial tools鈥� to deter sexual violence in conflict, as well as increasing support to my Office. The United States Congress also enacted, on a bipartisan basis, the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act at the end of 2022, which provides a basis for the prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes who enter the United States, regardless of their nationality or that of the victim. I count on the members of the bar associations assembled here to ensure that these laws and policies are fully realized to ensure that survivors receive the support and access to justice they deserve, and that perpetrators have no safe haven or hiding place.
蘑菇视频 Charter was drafted to 鈥渟ave succeeding generations from the scourge of war鈥� and to 鈥渆nsure the equal rights of men and women.鈥� In accepting this award, I commit to redoubling my efforts to ensure that every woman and girl is saved from conflict鈥檚 most intimate and enduring atrocity, the scourge of wartime rape, and has equal access to justice.
Thank you.