Señor Presidente,

Señor Secretario General,

Excelencias,

En primer lugar me gustaría agradcer a la Presidencia de España del Consejo de Seguridad y personalmente a Usted, Señor Rajoy, por haber convocado este importante debate que nos permite reiterar y renovar nuestro compromiso con la plena, oportuna y efectiva implementación de la Resolución 1325 (trece veinticinco) del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU sobre Mujeres, Paz y Seguridad.

Mi colega, Ministro García-Margallo, en su discurso durante el debate general de la corriente Asamblea General dijo que el siglo XXI (veintiuno) sería el siglo de mujer. Comparto su opinión.

Además, creo que el 2015 (dos mil quince) es un año clave para la igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres. Hemos acordado la inclusión de un objetivo independiente sobre el género en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, así como la incorporación transversal de la perspectiva de género en todo el programa.

Este año celebramos el 15 (quince) aniversario de la Resolución 1325 (trece veinticinco) del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU sobre Mujeres, Paz y Seguridad, asì como el 20 (veinte) aniversario de la Declaración y la Plataforma de Acción de Beijing.

Estimadas señoras y señores,

This year marks fifteen years since the adoption of the UN Security Council landmark resolution 1325, establishing the basis for the women, peace and security agenda and calling for the special protection and the full and equal participation of women in all conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict peace building efforts.

Resolution 1325 as well as further six relevant resolutions adopted during the 2008 – 2013 years continue to provide main guidelines for Member-States in development of policy and measures in the abovementioned areas as well as in the field of minimizing the impact of conflicts on women and girls.

We welcome the UN SC resolution on Women Peace and Security, submitted by Spain, as an important instrument to reflect on the changes that have happened since the 2000 and introduce new perspective into the Women Peace and Security agenda. That is why my country was pleased to co-sponsor this document.]

Indeed, women tend to suffer more hardships as a direct result of economic consequences of the conflict, are at increased risk of human trafficking and being forced into sex work, and face acute effects of undermined health systems. Gender-based violence, including the systematic use of rape as well as the increase in domestic violence, has been widely recognized as a pervasive occurrence in conflict.

Ukraine reaffirms its support for the UN “zero tolerance” policy on all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers, including all civilian staff deployed to UN peacekeeping operation. Proper conduct by, and discipline over, all personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping operations are vital to their effectiveness. Ukraine as an important peacekeeping contributor welcomes the fact that the comprehensive reviews of the UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding architecture are taking place at the same time and interaction with WPS agenda review.

Ukraine strongly supports international efforts aimed at addressing the full range of human rights violations and abuses faced by women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations.

Ukraine knows first-hand how disproportionate could be an impact of armed conflicts on women. Due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine the issues covered by the resolution 1325 (2000) are of particular importance for our country.

A vast majority of internally displaced persons are women, many of whom become the sole caretakers of children and older relatives. As of today more than 1,5 mln of IDPs were forced to leave their homes as a result of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Donbas. About two thirds of adult IDPs are women.

The Government of Ukraine is undertaking a number of targeted steps in order to address the challenges that the ongoing foreign aggression places on women in Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities fully understand the specific needs of IDP families and women in particular. The Law of Ukraine on IDPs adopted on 20 October 2014 was welcomed by the international community, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This Law is aimed at ensuring the rights and freedoms of IDPs, including women, and at addressing key issues in this area, inter alia through facilitating humanitarian assistance. On 5 March 2015 Ukraine’s legislation on IDPs was amended in order to strengthen their social protection, including through addressing the issue of unemployment.

Full use of knowledge, skills and experience of Ukrainian women is vital to reaching a solution of the current crisis in and around Ukraine.

Since the very first days of Russian aggression significant volunteer movement has mobilized to support Ukraine’s military, and women are at the forefront. They are active on the frontlines, providing medical and logistical support. They prepare, collect and distribute food, clothing, sleeping bags and military supplies in the front as well as provide humanitarian assistance to displaced people.

Another example is female Member of the Parliament, Ms. Iryna Gerashchenko, who was appointed last year as Special Envoy of the President of Ukraine on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Mister President,

We would like to reiterate our commitment to ensure that global obligations on Women Peace and Security agenda are integrated into our domestic policies and laws in order to contribute to the empowerment of women, elevate the importance of women’s participation and leadership in all aspects of peace and security as well as post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.

Ukraine confirms its political will and readiness to assume following commitments and pledges in line with the main objectives of this open debate:

-  to strengthen the participation of women in political life and public decision-making;

-  to increase the women’s role in ensuring peace and security;

-  to elaborate and implement the programs on the assistance to women from vulnerable group and women who suffered from domestic violence.

The main document which will enable us to implement these pledges and many other important objectives is a National Action Plan on the implementation of the SC resolution 1325 (2000). The Government has already developed a draft of this document in close consultations with the UN and OSCE agencies as well as civil society.

The action plan is aimed at promoting women’s greater participation in military, political, economic and social life, peace process, recovery process, prevention and combating gender-based violence, reintegration of persons affected by the consequences of the on-going foreign aggression against our country.

Another important document is the National Human Rights Strategy that has been approved by the President of Ukraine just in August 2015. According to the Strategy - ensuring equal rights for women and men; combating gender-based violence, human trafficking and slavery; combating domestic violence are defined among the objectives of human rights policy of Ukraine for the next years.

Among recent steps I can also mention the Local Elections Law signed on 6 August this year. The law stipulates that in multiple-mandate constituencies at local and regional level not less than 30 percent of each party list should be represented by women or men.

Mister President,

In conclusion I would like to draw special attention to the case of Nadiya Savchenko, who represents the female face in and around Ukraine.

A political prisoner, member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Nadiya Savchenko is still being kept in custody by Russian Federation with no legal grounds and despite the fact that under the Minsk arrangements all hostages and illegally detained persons must have been released. I would like to reiterate my appeal to the international community to continue its political and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation to cease its totalitarian practice of suppressing human rights and immediately release Nadiya Savchenko and more than 30 other Ukrainian political prisoners.

Thank you for your attention.