Mrs. President,
I would like to thank Japan, as co-organizer and co-sponsor of this meeting, and all the speakers for their contributions. This discussion at the beginning of the year comes at a good time to support the preparations and reflections for the Summit of the future. Women's empowerment plays a central role in this process. It goes without saying: women must play a central role in these discussions.
As the Secretary-General emphasizes in his New Agenda for Peace, effective conflict prevention requires comprehensive approaches. He also reaffirms what is enshrined in the twin resolutions on peacebuilding: it is the responsibility of member states to build and sustain peace at national level. The Secretary-General proposes a concrete tool to this end: the development of national and regional prevention strategies.
Switzerland supports this recommendation. We would like to respond to the questions you, Mrs. President, posed for this meeting by reflecting on good practices and a specific tool from which we can draw inspiration to move forward: national action plans – or one plan – on the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda.
First and foremost, the development of national action plans for the implementation of Resolution 1325 has proven to be an effective means of translating international political commitments into national action. Since 2006, 107 countries have adopted such plans. In this context, Switzerland supports inclusive dialogue processes in countries such as Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines. It is also involved at national level, including in the Swiss Women in Peace Processes network. The development of these national action plans provides the blueprint for a truly global approach, both vertical and horizontal. In our own experience, this process brings together a wide range of governmental actors who collaborate on both the design and implementation of the national plan. In most countries, civil society is at the origin of the agenda and plays a crucial role. These national action plans are concrete tools that work, and which member states should build on, without duplicating existing structures.
Secondly, we also need to learn from the challenges posed by national action plans. Although many countries publish progress reports on a voluntary basis, there is no formal, institutionalized reporting structure. However, states have developed innovative tools to promote coordination, experience sharing and accountability through voluntary peer-reviews. One innovative effort has been to link the Women, Peace and Security agenda to the reporting mechanism of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. At the multilateral level, the network of WPS focal points plays a crucial role in supporting the implementation of the WPS agenda and the exchange of information.
Thirdly, and more generally, we believe that the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) can play a key role in facilitating exchanges and assessing practices between states. As recommended in the New Agenda for Peace, the creation of a mechanism within the PBC to mobilize political and financial support for the implementation of national prevention strategies could fill an important gap. The PBC has a unique potential in the field of prevention, as it brings together different players from governments, civil society, the private sector and financial institutions. By serving as a platform for the exchange of experience and expertise, the PBC could support states in their national efforts to prevent conflict and violence.
As we move towards the revision of the peacebuilding architecture for 2025, and prepare for the Summit of the Future, let's be more concrete and not consider existing successes as exceptions, but use them as sources of inspiration.
Thank you.