Madame President,
It is a great honor for me to be the first Albanian Foreign Minister to address the Security Council as a non-permanent member of this esteemed body. But what makes this occasion really special for me and for my country, is the issue we are addressing today: women, peace and security, an issue that is the top priority of Albania’s agenda for the coming two years.
I want to thank my Norwegian colleague, the Norwegian presidency for this opportunity. I also want to thank the High Commissioner Bachelet for her remarks. We commend her personal commitment to this cause.
I am grateful to the briefers, whose perspectives from the field were particularly informative and insightful, yet heartbreaking and a cry for action.
I have worked on this agenda for a while now, as a politician, but also as an activist on women’s rights. And during all those years one thought has been with me constantly: How is it possible that women still have to fight for something as basic as equality, for the same rights as the other half of the population, men?
It is perplexing that even in our day and age, equality of rights, of representation, of education, of opportunity cannot be taken for granted if you are a woman. Or, more to the point of this debate, that the right to participate in building and maintaining peace and security cannot be taken for granted if you are a woman.
It is a sad truth of history, but it is a sad truth of our day and age too that while men do most of the actual fighting, women often bear the brunt of it. I say this not as some cliche sounding slogan. I say this as a lesson that we Albanians have learned from our very recent history. We saw this in Kosovo where women left behind to fend for their families, women left behind to pick up the pieces. Women raped, and tortured and killed as deliberate targets of a criminal campaign of ethnic cleansing.
And we see it in conflicts everywhere in the world from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Myanmar to Ethiopia to Syria or to the repression against activists in Belarus. Women activists face threats and risks, as briefers also emphasized including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and even targeted killings, not just because of the usual risks inherent in such activities in conflict zones, but also because of the fact that they are women.
And yet, I know there is resistance to women having a say in how peace is achieved. How conflicts are resolved.
30 years ago when my country began its long and difficult road towards reconstruction from decades of isolation and ruin under an extremely radical Communist regime, we made the same mistake. We denied women a role in the reconstruction, in the reconciliation, in the process of laying the foundations of our new Albania. We have paid for that mistake. But we have also learned from it.
I am proud that now gender equality is a high priority for the Albanian Government, not just in words and policy but also in actions and concrete achievements. Albania currently ranks among the top 5 gender-balanced Governments in the world, with 75% of Ministerial posts held by women. A similar percentage of senior and mid-level executive posts as well as some of the key highest public positions – including independent institutions, agencies, departments in key areas of the state – are held by women.
We have benefited. The whole country has benefited.
That is why we decided to make Women Peace and Security our top priority. It is in this spirit, that we joined Norway, the UAE, and Niger, in the Statement of Shared Commitments to make Women, Peace and Security a top priority during our respective SC Presidencies.
However, we know that participation and protection go hand in hand. That is why I would like to focus on 4 key points:
First, support and resource relevant UN entities to provide all necessary protection and support to women human rights defenders, peacebuilders and civil society representatives at risk of harm, including those that have briefed the Security Council or otherwise engaged with the UN system.
Second, create flexible funding mechanisms to act fast and respond rapidly when women leaders are faced with threats and reprisals – The launch of the Funding Window for Women Human Rights Defenders earlier today is a positive development and Albania will make a contribution to the fund.
Third, improve funding of women-led and women’s rights organizations and movements in fragile or conflict-affected countries.
Fourth, enhance accountability with regard to women, peace and security by committing to a zero-tolerance approach to reprisals against women activists and human rights defenders.
This Council has a crucial role to play in this regard. A decisive role. There can be no peace without women and it would be unforgivable to exclude half of humankind from efforts aimed at international peace and security.
I thank you for your attention!
