I wish to commend the initiative of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the CEDAW Committee鈥檚 Task Force on Women, Peace and Security in organizing this important panel discussion on 鈥淪trengthening synergies between CEDAW and Women, Peace and Security Resolutions鈥�. I sincerely wish I could have joined you in person.

Strengthening the linkages between CEDAW and Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security has been a priority for me for many years. As a CEDAW member, I chaired the Working Group on General Recommendation 30 on “Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post Conflict Contexts鈥� and subsequently the Task Force which was set up to oversee its implementation.

GR 30 was indeed聽 ground breaking in that it unpacked the convergence between CEDAW and the WPS agenda and positioned CEDAW as a critical accountability tool for the WPS agenda –聽 the reasoning being that, since all the areas of concern addressed in the WPS resolutions find expression in the substantive provisions of the Convention, their implementation must be premised on a model of substantive equality and cover all the rights enshrined in the Convention. Accordingly, GR 30 called for a concerted and integrated approach in order to ensure that gender equality becomes integral to conflict prevention, peacebuilding, post-conflict reconstruction and accountability.

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Since I took office as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, one of my strategic priorities for the mandate has been to address the root causes of conflict-related sexual violence, with gender inequality and discrimination as its invisible driver. For me, the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are fundamental to all efforts to prevent and address sexual violence in conflict.

By bringing a strong human rights focus to the mandate, it is imperative to enhance cooperation with human rights mechanisms. It is in that spirit that, in July 2018, I signed a Framework of Cooperation with the CEDAW Committee, marking a first collaboration between a Security Council mandated body and a human rights mechanism.

This framework is a critical tool to guide the joint efforts of my Office and the CEDAW Committee to protect women and girls from the gendered scourge of conflict and advance their rights by combating conflict-related sexual violence. It is also grounded on the premise that conflict exacerbates existing gender inequalities, placing women and girls at a heightened risk of various forms of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, by both state and non-state actors.

This Framework provides for collaboration in the following main areas:

  • Exchange of information regarding country situations under consideration by the Committee and those subject to visits and reports by the Committee and my Office.
  • Use of exceptional reports and visits to address concerns about violations of women鈥檚 human rights in conflict and post-conflict situations;
  • Effective use of platforms available within the United Nations, such as the arria formula, to advance the women, peace and security agenda though the lens of the respective mandates of the Committee and my Office;
  • Organisation of panel discussions to take stock of the state of implementation of the various frameworks governing women, peace and security in order to improve synergies between the Committee and my mandate; and
  • Undertaking joint outreach activities to promote our respective mandates.

Allow me to give you a few concrete examples of the collaboration that my Office has undertaken with the Committee since the Framework of Cooperation was signed:

Information Sharing

My Office has shared information with the Committee on several country situations where we are engaged, for the Committee鈥檚 consideration in the elaboration of the List of Issues and Questions, and to inform Concluding Observations following the examination of reports under Article 18. The information provided, based on our engagement with national authorities, civil society and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, touches on a range of areas of relevance to the Committee鈥檚 work. These include, for example:

  1. the development and implementation of action plans on conflict-related sexual violence, following the signature of Joint Communiques or Frameworks of Cooperation between Member States and my Office on behalf of the 蘑菇视频 system;
  2. challenges on justice and accountability for conflict-related sexual violence, including legal, procedural, institutional, social and operational barriers, including gender-based discrimination, and impunity for perpetrators; and
  3. the provision of comprehensive services to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

The most recent example of this collaboration is in the context of the examination by the Committee of the situation of women and girls in Northern Rakhine State under the exceptional reporting procedure. The Government鈥檚 report was submitted to the Committee while I was in Myanmar to discuss the implementation of a Joint Communiqu茅 on the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence. This allowed me to have discussions with national counterparts on the exceptional report, which were very useful in informing my main findings and recommendations. This example highlights how information sharing can lead to sustained and coordinated advocacy to advance our respective mandates.

General Recommendations

My Office also provided a public submission to the Committee鈥檚 general discussion on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration, which was held on 22 February in Geneva. The submission refers to the latest developments in the Security Council to bring closer together the trafficking and the WPS agendas. It also highlights that the use of trafficking in women and girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation or violence, including in the context of terrorism and violent extremism, is both a human rights violation and a threat to international peace and security. Recognizing that trafficking against women and girls is a form of gender-based violence, the submission provides concrete recommendations to the Committee, based on the experiences of my Office, to advocate for a global response that is gender-sensitive and human rights-based, and takes into account the vulnerabilities faced by specific groups of women and girls, including internally displaced and refugees or those belonging to diverse national, ethnic or religious minorities.

I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the Committee, especially to develop detailed guidance through General Recommendations on specific issues of common concern. An area for which such collaboration would be particularly important is children born of rape.

Joint Events

Finally, let me refer to the High-level panel discussion that the Committee and my Office will hold in the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women on 18 March. The event, which is part of a series to commemorate the 40th anniversary since the adoption of the Convention and the 10th anniversary of the mandate of my Office, will address the nexus between the Convention and my mandate in the context of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

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It is my firm conviction that strengthening synergies between CEDAW and the Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, and conflict-related sexual violence, will allow for a better understanding of the gendered impact of conflict, and a stronger, more comprehensive and more coordinated approach to the authoritative guidance we are providing to Member States to ensure full compliance with their international obligations.

I very much look forward to continue working with you towards this goal and wish you a very fruitful discussion.