hello under-secretary-general foreign
and defense ministers your excellencies
ladies and gentlemen this is the third
UN Defense peacekeeping ministerial I
have attended but the first on my home
soil I'm very proud to speak here as an
American I'm a patriot I love my country
and I want to see it thrive I also
believe in an America that is part of an
international community countries
working together on equal footing is how
we reduce the risk of conflict it is how
we avoid the need to send men and women
of our militaries to fight and sacrifice
overseas the UN was set up for that
purpose as a way of resolving
differences peacefully supporting each
other's prosperity and extending
universal rights and freedoms it is in
all of our interests for the UN to be
made effective brought closer to the
lives of citizens and not ever misused
at a deeper level a country that
believes that all men and women are born
free and equal cannot be true to itself
if it doesn't defend those principles
for all people wherever they live
regardless their circumstances and no
matter how desperate their struggle in
fact our support should be strongest
where rights are threatened the most we
live at a time of blatant disregard for
the laws of war that forbid attacks on
civilians whether it is missile strikes
on schools or hospitals families bombed
in their homes neighborhoods gassed with
chemical weapons besieged areas deprived
of a
mass rape of women children and men we
seem incapable of upholding minimum
standards of humanity in many parts of
the world that this comes at a time when
humankind is richer and more
technologically advanced than ever
before is all the more painful 18 years
ago when I first began working with the
UN refugee agency there were just under
20 million displaced people worldwide
and the numbers were falling today there
are over 65 million people displaced and
the numbers are rising more countries
are experiencing some form of violent
conflict today than any time in the last
30 years UN peacekeepers now comprised
of the second largest group of forces
deployed overseas and are often required
to serve where there is little or no
peace to be kept against this backdrop
it is easy to dismiss our institutions
as flawed or ineffective my hope instead
is that young people in particular feel
inspired to join the effort to improve
them to join the men and women in the
arena to paraphrase President Roosevelt
who strive are striving to do deeds and
whose faces are marred by dust and sweat
and blood in that regard I want to
express my respect for men and women who
serve as peacekeepers and for those who
have been killed and injured the
protection of civilians is the primary
responsibility of governments when UN
peacekeepers are deployed it is usually
where a government is unable or
unwilling to protect civilian life
those United Nations missions often
represent the last and only hope for
millions of people facing daily threats
to their safety and their basic rights
the need for peacekeeping troops to have
the best possible training and equipment
and the highest standards of personal
conduct becomes obvious when measured
against that weighty responsibility so
that is why this meeting is so important
because it is in the hands of the
governments you represent to enable
peacekeeping to live up to its ideals
and the needs of our time so as you
discuss how to strengthen UN
peacekeepers and give peacekeepers the
capabilities they need to operate in
today's dangerous environments I ask you
to take time to consider the question
from the perspective of women around the
world there are countless examples of
women rising taking leadership taking
their destiny into their own hands
inspiring us all but women and girls are
still the majority of the victims of war
they are over half of all refugees and
the vast majority of the victims of rape
and other sexual and gender-based
violence women are at the absolute at
the center of modern conflict in the
worst possible sense but more often than
not they are still on the outside
looking in when it comes to political
politics and decisions about their
futures
if we went by the principle that those
affected by a problem should be in
charge of determining the solution then
the majority of the world's peace
negotiators foreign ministers and
diplomats would be women we all know the
reality in Afghanistan thousands of
women have recently come together in
public risking their lives to ask that
their rights and the rights of their
children be guaranteed in peace
negotiations that's so far they have
been allowed no part of their stand is
inspiring but it should not be necessary
and the international community's silent
response is alarming to say the least
there can be no peace and stability in
Afghanistan or anywhere else in the
world that involves trading away the
rights of women worse
still we see impunity for crimes
committed against women and girls during
conflict or when women human rights
defenders are attacked or killed or
imprisoned too often whether or not we
confront these human rights violations
depends not on the law and universal
standards but on how much our
governments think that their business or
political interests in that country
might be affected this is as harmful to
our long-term security and stability as
it is unacceptable on a human and moral
level
none of this is to discount the efforts
of the many men great husbands fathers
brothers and sons who have been with us
in this fight it is simply the reality
00:08:51,180 --> 00:08:55,650
of the unequal power relations abuse of
power gender bias violence and lack of
justice that keep so many women in a
subordinate and therefore vulnerable
position internationally
fearing abuse at the hands of a
peacekeeper is not protections living
with the fear that your daughter might
be raped by armed combatants is not
safety knowing that if your children are
harmed no one will be held accountable
is not a basis for peace and security
denying half a population representation
and peace negotiations or in government
is not the route to long term stability
as long as we continue to put almost
every other issue ahead of women's
rights and participation we will remain
stuck in a cycle of violence and
conflict we will have learned nothing
and our institutions will count for less
than they should from my experience a
growing number of men and women in
uniform understand this when we are at
our best doing what we are called to do
we all share the same goals the same
mandate a safer more stable world we
fight to defend our freedoms and rights
and the freedoms and rights of others I
recently met a male peacekeeper who had
just returned from deployment as a
gender advisor in the Central African
Republic and he told me that when he
started his career of service in
Afghanistan he considered women's rights
to be a soft issue
and not what war was fought for but his
experiences had made him understand that
that is exactly what should be fought
for and exactly what stabilizes a
country his ability to contribute to
this goal became a source of pride for
him he had made that jump in his
thinking and while he'd been doing a
great service to his country already he
had now added that understanding and
that sense of partnership with the women
he served there is progress the number
of cases of alleged sexual exploitation
and abuse are down although even a
single case is unacceptable the numbers
of women peacekeepers is on the rise
with African nations in particular
leading the way on this there are more
gender advisors on UN missions although
still not enough and improving the
training on the protection of civilians
is starting to come into effect but
there is still a long way to go to
demonstrate that anyone who commits
violations will not be tolerated and
will be investigated and prosecuted
without exception there is still much
more to do to increase the number of
women in the ranks of peacekeeping
missions and having met some formidable
female peacekeepers this morning I think
that this change cannot come soon enough
for the effectiveness and impact of
peacekeeping missions
and of course we cannot call for more
women to serve without making it safe
and viable for them to do so including
ensuring that they themselves are not
vulnerable to sexual harassment or abuse
new actions by your governments in all
these areas can make a huge difference
but they I believe must be accompanied
by commitments to ensure that women's
representation in peace negotiations to
be consistent in the defense of women's
rights in all places and to address the
deep-seated societal reasons for
inequality and violence against women
and above all we need to understand that
women themselves are protectors as
mothers and peacekeepers and human
rights defenders women are already
contributing to peace in theatres of war
across the world without recognition or
glory because it comes naturally to them
it's important to them and think of how
much more we could achieve with women's
equal participation in all aspects of
society not at the expense of men but
alongside men because we are all
partners in this life we humans are
capable of horrors and unspeakable
cruelty but we are also capable of
building civilizations improving laws
demanding justice we are willing to
fight for people we've never met and for
their families we fall we fail we lose
our way often when we're made to feel
afraid but in our moments of strength
and clarity we know that all people are
in fact equal
we know that while we can and should be
proud of who we are individually we're a
part of a global world and we know that
we are supposed to come together in
defense of something greater than
ourselves thank you
