Joint Nordic Statement at UNSC Arria-formula meeting on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Check Against Delivery

Foreign Minister, Excellences, distinguished delegates,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries – Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and my own country, Denmark.

We thank Albania, the United Kingdom and the United States for convening this meeting, as well as the briefers for their important remarks.

Your excellency,

The backdrop for today’s discussion is the persisting and deepening pattern of sexual violence committed with impunity by both State and non-State actors, as a tactic of war, as a tool to punish, intimidate and terrorize communities. As put forward in the SG’s recent report, we continue to witness this pattern including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Libya, Myanmar and South Sudan, and in Ukraine, where the violence is committed, overwhelmingly, by Russian military personnel.

Conflict-related sexual violence can and must be prevented and countered. We must investigate all cases, prosecute perpetrators through appropriate judicial mechanisms, and guarantee access to justice.

We already have a robust normative and legal framework to address CRSV and other forms of violence committed against civilians in armed conflicts. What is urgently needed is political will and funding in order to accelerate implementation. 

The Nordic countries would like to highlight three important areas of further action as next steps in the implementation.

Firstly, it is imperative that Member States undertake efforts in strengthening rule of law institutions, national legislation and policies to effectively enhance accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. In this regard, we draw attention to the work of the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict and its Team of Experts, which provides crucial assistance to national authorities in their efforts to combat CRSV, as presented today. We also positively note the handbook for UN Field Missions on Preventing and Responding to CRSV developed by the Department of Peace Operations.

Secondly; An alarming 70% of the parties listed in the annex of the SG’s annual report are persistent perpetrators and have appeared on the SG’s list for five or more years now. This cannot go on. All UN sanctions regimes must explicitly include sexual and gender-based violence as a designation criterion, and Security Council sanctions committees must list perpetrators when there is repeated evidence of CRSV.

Thirdly; There can be zero tolerance for reprisals or threats of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, against women, girls and women human rights defenders advocating for gender equality and defending human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights. We must push back on the persistent targeting of civil society and women-led and feminist organizations, and stand firm against any attempt to hinder the full, equal and meaningful participation of all women and girls in peace and security efforts.

Your Excellency,

Women and girls continue to be among the vast majority of the victims and survivors of this this crime, but boys, men and LGBTQI+ persons are also affected. We must ensure a holistic understanding to effectively address this global scourge. Our humanitarian responses must be gender-transformative and put survivors’ needs front and centre, and our interventions must build on and further strengthen partnerships, including through adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacebuilding, and flexible funding for local women-led and women-focused as well as LGBTQI+-organizations.

I thank you.