State Secretary Štiglic at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

25. 10. 2023

Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

State Secretary Sanja Štiglic participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York. She advocated for a stronger role of the Security Council in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS), and stressed the need to prevent and combat retaliation against women who inform the Security Council about certain crises and armed conflicts.

Državna sekretarka Sanja Štiglic med razpravo, zraven vsi udeleženci razprave v dvorani Varnostnega sveta — State Secretary Sanja Štiglic during the debate | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje in evropske zadeve

In her statement, State Secretary Štiglic emphasised that the normative value of the WPS agenda is crucial in the context of the growing number of women and girls living in areas of armed conflict around the world. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by such situations due to food insecurity, forced displacement, sexual and gender-based violence, human trafficking, etc. Slovenia is responding to these trends by increasing the share of development and humanitarian aid that targets the empowerment of women and girls.

"The WPS agenda can only be implemented with strong political support and partnerships with all stakeholders, including regional organisations, civil society and peacebuilders. The UN, including the Security Council, must lead by example. As a member of the Security Council, Slovenia will systematically support gender mainstreaming in the work of this body, as this agenda plays a special role in Slovenia's foreign policy," said State Secretary Štiglic, announcing that Slovenia had joined the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security, in which Security Council members work to strengthen the implementation of this agenda.

The WPS agenda was established by the UN Security Council through ten resolutions over the past 24 years, aimed at comprehensively addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and their contribution to conflict resolution. The Secretary-General's annual report on women, peace and security, as a basis for the Security Council Open Debate, highlights actions for the full, equal and effective participation of women at all levels of peace efforts which, unfortunately, have not yet yielded satisfactory results. Research shows that peace agreements that involve women in their design and implementation are more effective in ensuring a stable and lasting peace. An analysis of 18 peace agreements concluded in 2022 shows that only one third contain provisions that address women, girls and gender issues. At the same time, the report shows that sexual violence is a constant feature of many conflicts and that impunity for this crime remains a major problem.

The Security Council Open Debate was chaired by the Brazilian Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira.

During her visit to the UN Headquarters in New York, State Secretary Štiglic also met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten.