Brussels - New York: Europe and the Arabs
Kaya Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy coordinator, praised Morocco's leadership in advancing the women, peace, and security agenda. This came in her opening remarks at the high-level meeting on women, peace, and security on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. A European statement was distributed in Brussels, which included the text of the European official's remarks, which read: "Let me begin by thanking the Kingdom of Morocco for its leadership in advancing the women, peace, and security agenda.
Let me also join you in celebrating the extension of your national action plan on Security Council Resolution 1325.
You will find no one more enthusiastically supporting your work in advancing the women, peace, and security agenda than the European Union.
That is why Europe and Morocco can work together as we do. We recently met in Casablanca to discuss how to empower women working in the field of counterterrorism. We share the same goal of ensuring women's participation in security sector reform as decision-makers, not just as beneficiaries. It was important to bring together police, prosecutors, intelligence services, and civil society to better understand the obstacles.
I would also like I commend the leadership of today's co-organizers:
Guatemala, through its judicial reforms to address violence against women;
Ghana, for its outstanding record of contributing peacekeepers;
the Philippines, for its inclusion of women in peace and security, both within the peacebuilding framework and in its education system;
and France, through its feminist foreign policy and advocacy efforts in the Security Council.
The European Union aims to ensure women's full participation in defense and security policies at all stages. This is part of the security and defense agreements we have concluded with eight countries, for example.
One key reason is that women face a whole range of different challenges in conflicts.
In wars, women have suffered the devastating consequences of Russia's war of aggression. They gave birth to alarm bells. They were victims of conflict-related sexual violence.
Women's organizations are often the first responders. That's why it is the European Union's policy to strengthen them. We do this worldwide, providing nearly €28 million last year to women's rights organizations in fragile and conflict settings.
Another reason is that women are leaders, not victims. Only. In Ukraine, for example, women serve in the armed forces, provide humanitarian aid, support displaced families, and represent an influential voice in civil society. Therefore, women must be present at the peace table. We need women's perspectives to guide the path of transitional justice, reconciliation, and reconstruction. Without them, there will be no lasting peace.
Dear Friends,
Let me conclude as I began by thanking Morocco for organizing this event and for bringing us together around this important topic. I thank the co-sponsors and all participants for the commitment I see around the table.
I believe we all agree that this agenda needs to be pushed forward and better integrated into Security Council discussions.
At a time of increasing international conflicts since World War II, we must not let the work on women, peace, and security go to waste.
On the contrary. Our focus on strengthening the role of women in peace and security should be sharp.
Let me add a personal note. Whenever I participate in such events, I see women discussing issues Women.
The problem is that when we talk about victims, the majority, the overwhelming majority, and I've attended many events here, and I can say that women are not the majority.
When we talk about peace and security, or women in conflict, it's women who discuss it, whether in Parliament or elsewhere. But these are the sisters, wives, and daughters of men.
So, as long as men don't take this issue seriously, we won't see any change.
As our colleague from Mali said, men start wars.
We certainly need more women in politics, but we also need more men to engage with women's concerns.