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Mr. President, Let me begin by expressing our appreciation to the Spanish Presidency for convening this open debate. We commend the Secretary-General’s dedication to promoting the cause of women. I thank Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka and her team for their dedicated work. I also thank Ms. Julienne Lusenge and Yanar Mohammed for sharing their experiences with the Council today. Lithuania aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the European Union. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of resolution 1325, which called for a stronger women‘s participation in peace processes, greater protection from violations of their human rights, improved access to justice and measures to address discrimination. Today we have to reassess what remains to be done to make our commitments real.

There have been a number of visible achievements over the past fifteen years.  Let me mention a few of them. Thanks to the Justice Rapid Response instrument there are more trained investigators of sexual and gender based violence. Increasing adoption of national action plans illustrates a growing commitment by member states to implement Women, Peace and Security agenda. Six out of 16 peacekeeping missions are led by women and all multidimensional peacekeeping operations have gender units.

However, much more needs to be done as a real commitment to the women, peace and security agenda continues to suffer from implementation gaps. I would like to underline some of them.

First, much too often, mediation and peace processes remain male-dominated. While women are disproportionately affected by conflict, the critical role of women in negotiating, keeping, and building peace in their communities is often overlooked. In Syria, women's voices remain a minority in attempts at peace talks. In Mali, only five out of a 100 participants in negotiations that led to the Accord for Peace and Reconciliation were women.

What can be done? Education is essential in empowering women with knowledge, skills and self-confidence. Unfortunately, in many conflicts attacks on schools and a freedom of thought are a common reality.

Furthermore, development of quota systems could in some cases give a positive impetus for increased women’s involvement. Inclusion of women into Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference was instrumental in achieving a commitment that 30 percent of places in the parliament must be reserved to women. In Afghanistan, a quota system ensured that 28 percent of seats in the Parliament now belong to women and gives them an opportunity to influence major political decisions.

Lithuania has adopted measures to increase women‘s representation in all levels of governance. Consistent and systematic long-term implementation of gender equality policies and concrete measures, coordination of actions and synergies of all relevant stakeholders led to a number of concrete results. Women’s education rate stands at 90 percent. Two of the country’s highest posts – that of the President and the Speaker of the Parliament – are currently held by women. Female staff amounts to 70 percent in public administration.

Our Government will remain a strong advocate for women’s representation at all levels of governance, especially in the countries recovering from conflicts. Lithuania welcomes the Secretary-General‘s commitment to earmarking at least 15 percent of all UN peace building spending for programmes that further promote women‘s empowerment and gender equality.

Second, the spread of terrorism and violent extremism has had a horrendous impact on the lives of women and girls. While images and stories of Yezidi women being enslaved by Dae'sh or girls forced to become suicide bombers by Boko Haram capture our emotions, we need to go beyond the perception of women as victims of terrorism. Seeing women as a driving force in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism is crucial. In September, the Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee, chaired by Lithuania, held the first open briefing on the subject with practitioners from the field.  Furthermore, as the Global Study research demonstrates, countries with relative gender equality are less prone to violent extremism than those where the human rights of women are not protected. Therefore, all UN counter terrorism strategies must be linked with civil assistance and human rights programmes aimed at shaping a different social environment averting from extremism and radicalization and tackling the root causes of terrorism.

Third, the sexual abuse continues to cast a shameful shadow over UN peacekeeping despite all efforts by the Secretariat and Member States.  We must act consistently in implementing the zero-tolerance policy with a particular focus on prevention, including pre-deployment training and integration of gender advisory staff in all UN peacekeeping missions. An adequate vetting of personnel would further prevent individuals with a history of abusive conduct or sexual exploitation from serving.

Lithuania ensures that all its personnel deployed to the peacekeeping missions receive mandatory training on gender mainstreaming and prevention. We are also committed to ensuring adequate response in the event sexual exploitation or abuse takes place bringing the perpetrators to account. We will pursue expanding the involvement of women in peace operations both in the civilian and military fields.

Last but not least, as emphasized in the recent report by the Secretary’s General, women’s access to justice remains a considerable challenge.  We will not achieve women empowerment or gender equality if perpetrators of violence against women and girls remain unpunished. National capacities to tackle cases of violence against women, including sexual violence and rape, must be strengthened. The international community has to support the capacity building of member states as they seek to build independent, impartial and strong judicial institutions.

Lithuania remains committed to supporting national and international accountability mechanisms for the investigation of sexual and gender based violence and to ensuring that victims are provided with an adequate support and redress for the harm they have suffered. The International Criminal Court continues to be an important mechanism in combating sexual and gender based violence in conflict and should be used vigorously to pursue accountability. 

Mr. President,

There can be no peace if half of the world’s population is left behind. Women are often at the forefront of positive changes. This Council has an obligation to act to make sure that this priceless potential is not wasted. In this regard we welcome the adoption of the resolution 2242 that will improve implementation of Women, Peace and Security agenda on the ground.

I thank you.