Despite being the main victims of war and conflict, women are still notably underrepresented in diplomatic discussions, officials on Tuesday informed the United Nations Security Council.
On the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8, Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, called on the international community to do more to protect the lives, health and rights of women around the globe.
“We must recall that we have neither significantly changed the composition of peace tables, nor the impunity enjoyed by those who commit atrocities against women and girls,” Bahous told a UN Security Council debate on women, peace and security.
In Afghanistan, where women have been effectively excluded from public life since the Taliban retook power in August 2021, Bahous denounced what she called a “gender apartheid,” prohibiting women from attending colleges, visiting parks, and eliminating them from many jobs.
“Afghanistan is one of the most extreme examples of regression in women’s rights, but it is far from being the only one,” Bahous said.
Regarding the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Bahous stated that women and their children make up nearly 90% of the 8 million Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their country, while women and girls account for close to 70% of the millions of internally displaced people.
“Peace is the only answer, with women’s engagement in the process,” Bahous said as she urged world leaders to do right by the landmark UN Security Council Resolution passed in 2000, which highlighted the role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoed that sentiment.
“I will call attention to the violence and oppression of women and girls around the world and what they are facing — in Iran, in Afghanistan, in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia, and in so many other places around the world,” she said.
French official Marlene Schiappa, who formerly served as her country’s equality minister, said women pay the greatest price in wars and crises.
Schiappa noted that women are disproportionately impacted by sexual and gender-based violence, sometimes being specifically targeted in contemporary examples from Ukraine, Yemen, and Somalia. “Those in charge must take responsibility for their deeds.”
