Ambassador Lisa Carty
US Representative to the Economic and Social Council
New York, New York
7 August 2024

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to Sierra Leone for your leadership on this issue. Thank you to Executive Director Bahous and Deputy Secretary-General Pobee, and especially to Ms. Khair for bringing your valuable insights into the situation in Sudan to the room today.

Dear colleagues, as mission transitions increase, the international community must plan consciously for these volatile times and support communities. Part of planning consciously for mission transitions must include mainstreaming gender-sensitive approaches in all policies and programs and putting the needs of women and girls at the top of the priority list. This also means ensuring that resources are aligned with our priorities and that women and girls-related tasks are adequately funded.

Today I will focus on three interrelated issues that are essential to safeguarding the rights of women and girls during and after transitions.

First, civil society engagement must be a priority. Local women- and survivor-led groups must be regularly consulted and their views meaningfully incorporated into UN and host governments’ transition planning. Civil society actors should be our first partners in delivering key WPS activities as missions are scaled back.

For example, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the most dangerous places in the world for women and girls, MONUSCO and the DRC authorities need to better integrate civil society recommendations into transition planning for subsequent phases of troop withdrawal in North Kivu and Ituri.

Second, we encourage Heads of Mission to assess the security impacts of climate change from a gender perspective during the transition period and to share this knowledge with the host government, the UN country team and other entities tasked with addressing the root causes of conflict after the mission has left.

The United States advocates for the inclusion of climate advisors in missions to identify priority mitigation actions and to engage community members, particularly women and girls, in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Careful planning and partnerships with climate consultants and local organizations can support local ownership and peacebuilding efforts at critical moments such as drawdowns.

Third, missions, host governments and the international community must work to prevent gender-based violence – including conflict-related sexual violence – after missions depart and support victims and survivors.

CRSV must be actively prevented. For this reason, the United States is a major donor to the Office of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and we regularly coordinate with bilateral and multilateral partners in our efforts to prevent and combat CRSV.

Continuing and supporting monitoring mechanisms is critical to preventing CRSV. Monitoring mechanisms can help hold local authorities and international actors accountable for the safety and rights of women and girls. In addition, effective monitoring provides valuable data that supports and inspires international action.

At the same time, monitoring mechanisms must be specifically tailored to the needs of women and actively consider the scenarios caused by the withdrawal. The voices of women and girls must be taken into account when they are designed.

In conclusion, we can do more to support women and girls in transition situations. We must actively engage and promote civil society organizations, especially those led by women and girls. We must understand and take action on the impact of climate change on peace and security. And we must remain focused on ending CRSV; no level of violence is acceptable. These are moral obligations that we must collectively fulfil in critical transition situations.

I thank you.

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From the United States Mission to the United Nations | August 7, 2024 | Topics: Highlights, Remarks, and Highlights