Madame President
I begin by thanking the UAE for convening today’s open debate. Malta aligns herself with the statements delivered by the European Union and the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security, and would like to make a few additional remarks in her national capacity.
At the outset, we express our full solidarity with Ukraine and its people in these dark times and condemn the loss of life and human suffering caused by Russia’s unprovoked aggression, which is also placing women and girls at increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Malta welcomes the actions being taken by women’s organisations and other civil society representatives in support of humanitarian efforts and echoes the UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous’s appeal to ensure women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in the decision-making processes and humanitarian response, including civil society representatives.
Madame President
International Women’s Day should not be a symbolic day: it should be the way we live. Men and women can do far more to stand up for women than celebrating this day. Malta firmly believes that including women in peace and security brings better outcomes. Having women at the peace table strengthens accountability for implementation. Women’s participation also makes peace more durable and is essential to address the disproportionate impact of conflicts on women and girls in all their diversity.
As evident not just in Ukraine, but also in Afghanistan, Syria, Ethiopia, and Myanmar, women are also often the most impacted by crises resulting from conflicts, and pay a higher price of the devastation, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, increased gender discrimination and violence. They remain largely excluded from participating in peace processes, despite overwhelming evidence that women’s involvement in both peacebuilding and mediation leads to more lasting and positive peace.
Meanwhile, Malta acknowledges the critical role women have and are playing in the COVID-19 response efforts and the importance of inclusive decision-making to sustainable and effective responses, as well as the differentiated social and economic impact of the pandemic on women. In this regard we call for increased emphasis to be put on providing women with skills to become gainfully employed and participate more actively in their societies. Amending laws in communities that do not yet allow women to inherit and own land would like wise be a step in the right direction.
Finally, we encourage efforts to enable women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in all aspects of peace processes and their implementation. This is a key priority for Malta, who as promoter of effective multilateralism, places gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the implementation of the WPS agenda at the centre of our partnerships with multilateral and regional partners.
Madame President
Important strides have been made since the adoption of resolution 1325, and we continue to stress that the four pillars of the WPS agenda should not be discussed in silos. Malta reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.
I thank you