Delivered By: Myan Tantawy, Political Coordinator
Mr. President,
I would like to begin by commending Panama for its leadership of the Security Council this month and convening this important debate.
I also thank Ms. Ahmed for her powerful remarks this morning, and Special Representative Patten for her briefing on the Secretary-General’s report.
We align with the statement delivered by Kuwait on behalf of the GCC, as well as the statement delivered by Canada on behalf of the Group of Friends for WPS.
The report’s findings are a stark reminder that conflict-related sexual violence is not just a tragic byproduct of war, but rather a deliberate, brutal, and unlawful weapon of war.
The United Arab Emirates unequivocally condemns these heinous crimes, and all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.
With an alarming increase in the atrocities globally, there are three areas that demand our urgent attention and decisive action:
First, we must prioritize the provision of holistic support in conflict settings for survivors of CRSV.
A critical component of this should be the establishment and maintenance of one-stop centers that house medical, psycho-social, legal, and protective services all under one roof.
This approach ensures that survivors receive support that prioritizes their recovery and their safety – especially those uprooted by conflict.
Second, we need to leverage the power of emerging technologies to strengthen monitoring, reporting and, in turn, accountability.
Conflict settings require innovative approaches, and tools that leverage AI offer an opportunity to improve our capacity to track and document crimes of CRSV.
They can analyze vast quantities of data to identify incidents in real time and detect emerging patterns, as well as provide emergency and long-term digital support to survivors.
However, as we deploy such technology, we must do so responsibly and in close collaboration with survivors. Any use of these tools should be rooted in respecting the dignity of survivors – to ensure that they are empowered and not exploited.
Third, the Security Council must ensure that CRSV is explicitly included as a stand-alone designation criterion in all relevant sanctions regimes.
This will strengthen our ability to deter perpetrators and will assist in holding them accountable.
Mr. President,
With the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda and the milestone commemoration of the Beijing Declaration fast approaching, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to ending all forms violence against women and girls.
We must accelerate our efforts, we must innovate our approaches, and we make sure that our commitment becomes our reality.
Thank you.