New York - The minister of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, informed the United Nations Security Council in New York on Tuesday that the Member States of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) have approved and implemented a National Action Plan "Women, Peace and Security.
Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, who was speaking on behalf of the CPLP at the Security Council's Ministerial Open Debate on "Women, Peace and Security: Towards the 25th Anniversary of Resolution 1325", said it was necessary to find ways to support local women's organisations, as they are often in the first line of response to challenges and can make an effective impact on the ground.
The Angolan governor assured that the CPLP will continue to stimulate the sending of more women to Peacekeeping Missions so that, not only them, but all blue helmets continue to work for the effective implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Women Peace and Security.
"We also underline the ambition to promote, meet and enforce the challenges that are posed for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls", the minister said.
For the CPLP, resolution 1325 adopted by the Security Council demonstrates the sensitivity of the international community on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls and the importance of their participation in peacemaking processes.
The minister regretted the setbacks registered against gender equality, restricting the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by women and girls, whether civil, cultural, economic, political or social rights.
"We share the concern of the Secretary-General, who in his most recent report on the matter, where he correctly noted that we are experiencing a reversal of generational gains in women's rights and that it is up to us, the international community, and this Council, to reverse this scenario", the minister said.
The CPLP statement highlights that its member states have given priority to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, both under its Action Plan for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and through the CPLP Defence Component Action Plan for the Implementation of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for the period 2021-2023, adopted at the 20th Meeting of CPLP Defence Ministers in 2021.
The CPLP Action Plan for the Implementation of Resolution 1325 focuses on three objectives, namely the promotion of women's participation in conflict prevention, negotiation and resolution, in decision-making processes, as well as their participation in the Armed Forces of CPLP Member States, the prevention and protection against all forms of conflict-related violence, in particular sexual and gender-based violence, within peace missions and the integration of a gender perspective in all phases of peace-building processes.
The CPLP action on this matter intends to create complementarities and synergies with the implementation, by its member states, of their respective National Plans on Women, Peace and Security, seeking to ensure the participation of civil society and valuing the contributions of organs of the CPLP institutional structure, as is the case of its Strategic Analysis Centre.
During her speech, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto said that the CPLP welcomes the fact that two of its member states, Brazil and Mozambique, are on the Security Council of the United Nations, after the recent presences of Angola and Equatorial Guinea, and said she hopes this contribution continue with candidacy of Portugal for the 2027-2028 period.
The Security Council Ministerial Open Debate was chaired by the minister of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique, Verónica Nataniel.
Angola spoke at the Security Council on behalf of the CPLP, at the invitation of Mozambique, the country that chairs the Council in March.
Meeting of CPLP Ministers
The minister of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women chaired on Wednesday a working breakfast with her CPLP counterparts participating in the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, held at the UN headquarters in New York.
The strengthening of cooperation between the CPLP countries in matters of gender, science and innovation was at the centre of the conversation, which also focused on the need for greater dissemination and promotion of the Portuguese language.
Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto took the opportunity to express solidarity with the countries of the community facing natural disasters such as Mozambique and Brazil, as well as Equatorial Guinea which is struggling with a Marburg outbreak.
