October 31, 2020 - Ottawa - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces
The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence Anita Vandenbeld issued the following statement today in recognition of the 20th Anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security:
"Today, we join our partners and allies to recognize the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. This resolution recognized that to build lasting and durable peace around the world, women needed to be a part of the process during all stages, from prevention of conflicts, to peace-building and peacekeeping, to peace negotiations and reconstruction after the fighting ends. By ensuring women's meaningful participation in the peace process, the likelihood of long-term success increases by as much as 35%.
"Women and children are disproportionately affected by armed conflict and humanitarian crises. It is why Canada has supported UNSCR 1325 since the beginning. We know that all countries need to work together to ensure the meaningful participation of women in all aspects of global peace and security efforts. This is vital to achieving real and sustainable peace.
"Since 2000, Canada has made meaningful advances, launching a second National Action Plan (CNAP) on Women, Peace and Security to further guide this important work. The Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence work to incorporate gender perspectives through Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in our procurement, in our planning and policies, and in our operations.
"We continue to build on these efforts to ensure that women have meaningful leadership roles in all aspects of defence and security around the world. Yesterday, Canada committed to new investments to support women peacebuilders globally. In addition, Canada is creating an annual women, peace and security awards program to highlight excellence in research and civil society leadership. These investments will help further advance women's leadership in peace and security.
"We celebrate the efforts that Canada, and our partners and allies have made to increase gender equality since this resolution. However, we must collectively recognize how much more work we need to do to ensure we live up to the commitments that we made 20 years ago."
- 30 -
