Thank you for giving me the honour of addressing your 10^th Anniversary celebration which, mindful of your raison d īetre and the sorry state of world affairs, you have decided to commemorate with a still urgent agenda in a still demanding region.

The reasons for the creation of Kvinna to Kvinna were here for everyone to see some ten years ago but in this horrific human drama there were few who turned their dismay and despair into concrete action and solidarity. Having followed your work since the very beginning, allow me to convey to you my deep admiration for what you are doing and what you stand for and my warm congratulations on your well-deserved tenth anniversary celebration.

Let me also express the same feelings towards all your dedicated soul sisters from the region and from the various solidarity organisations and movements sharing your common cause of peace and security, women īs self-reliance and a world where democracy means equal rights and responsibilities between women and men.

Felicity Hill is such a person who has meant so much for women īs rights and their protection in need. She will be followed by others whom I have had the privilege of working together or followed in their action. Felicity has spoken eloquently on Resolution 1325. Let me now add my thoughts on the subject and also share with you a UN perspective.

The world of today does not allow for abandoning the struggle you initiated ten years ago. The statistics continue to be appalling.

According to the latest report, of June 2003, from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) the world spent 784 billion dollars on arms last year, a sharp acceleration from 741 billion dollars the previous year. The U.S. accounted for almost three-quarters of that increase and for 43 % of total world military expenditure. SIPRI attributes this increase primarily to the U.S. response to September 11. American military spending for 2004 will increase from some 335 billion dollars last year to about 390 billion, rising to 400 billion dollars in 2005 according to the Pentagon. The recent war on Iraq is expected to cost the United States more than 150 billion, compared to the 1991 Gulf War, which cost about 61 billion dollars. Japan is the world īs second largest military spender but far behind the U.S., with an annual defence budget of 49 billion dollars, followed by Britain with 36 billion. Jayantha Dhanapala, former UN under secretary- general for disarmament affairs, says that the rising global military expenditure is not just diverting precious financial, material and human resources from productive to non-productive pursuits, but also jeopardising the environment and the prospects for social and economic development.

West Africa and Eastern Europe are the main providers. Mainly from former Soviet Union alone half a million young girls come to Western Europe every year.

On the war theatre things have not improved. Civilians are the main casualties of most

of today īs armed conflicts. Villages, agricultural fields, and women īs bodies have replaced traditional battlefields. Rape, forced pregnancy, prostitution, torture, genital mutilation, forms of targeted violence against women and girls have become strategic

To take the most burning issue at hand right now, Iraq, we can study the latest Human Rights Watch Report, of July 16, called "Climate of Fear: Sexual Violence and Abduction of Women and Girls in Baghdad". The report states that the failure of Iraqi and U.S.-led occupation authorities to provide public security in Iraq īs capital lies at the root of a widespread fear of rape and abduction among women and their families. It goes on to say that police officers gave low priority to allegations of sexual violence, that the police were under- resourced, and that victims of sexual violence confronted indifference and sexism from Iraqi law enforcement personnel. Dr Khulud Younis at the Alwiyah Womenīs hospital said to the New York Times, that she had seen more rape cases in the months after the war than before. The Times also writes that if an Iraqi woman wants to report a rape, she has to travel a bureaucratic odyssey. She first has to go to the police for documents that permit her to get a forensic test. Thattest is performed only at the city morgue. The police take a picture of the victim and stamp it, and then stamp her arm. "That is so no one else goes in her place and says that she was raped, that she lost her virginity", said a nurse. At the morgue, a committee of three male doctors performs a gynecological examination on the victim to determine if there was a sexual abuse. If a victim arrives after the official visiting time8.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., she has to return the next day, without washing away any physical evidence. Many victims lie out of shame or fear. "A woman īs father or brother feel that it is their duty to kill her if she has been raped. It is the tribal law. They will only get six months in prison and then they are out", said Dr. Younis.

Friends, no wonder that the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has sent a statement to the UN Security Council, claiming that the exclusion and under- representation of Iraqi women in decision-making processes and other aspects of the post-conflict period of rebuilding undermines the spirit and letter of Resolution 1325 and the UN principles of equality. The Working Group also reminds us of the fact that at least 55% of the population of Iraq are women and that the 2002 Arab Human Development Report ranked Iraq highest according to Gender Empowerment Measure.

Why then is Resolution 1325 so important?

I find no better way of answering that question than by quoting from a speech by Felicity when she spoke at the United Nations last March. "Gender", she said, "- it is not about sex, or about men and women, it is socially constructed role and behaviours that are labelled masculine and feminine that can be, and should be, deconstructed. War, she went on to say, is "a gendered " activity. After childbirth war-making has possibly been the most segregated of activities along gender lines…Armed forces and military factions are generally male institutions, while women and girls face most risks and dangers. Yet, women are generally absent from official initiatives to end conflicts and their voices are missing from decisions on priorities in peace processes. And when they do get to speak, disarmament is called for loudly."

And she gives examples of this from Liberia, eastern DR of Congo, Sierra Leone, Mali, Albania. We could add Senegal, Burundi, the Mano River, Afghanistan etc etc.

Historically speaking, Security Council Resolution 1325 passed in October 2000 was the first time the Security Council addressed the issue of women in a serious manner. Women īs issues generally come out in discussions of social affairs, development or humanitarian and human rights issues. It was also the first time that the Security Council was packed - by women. 1325 viewed women and girls not just from the point of view as victims but as active agents for peace. Since 1325 there has for instance been gender advisors in Kosovo, East Timor and DRC. In addition, NGOs have produced documents monitoring the progress and have held regional consultations.

In the 2002 Rehn- Johnson Sirleaf report for UNIFEM, "Women, War and Peace", which you all are familiar with, the two rapporteurs wrote that "1325 is a watershed political framework that makes women – and a gender perspective- relevant to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps and peace-keeping operations and reconstructing war-torn societies. It makes the pursuit of gender equality relevant to every single Security Council action, ranging from mine clearance to elections to security sector reform". But they also said: "We have concluded that the standards of protection for women affected by conflict are glaring in their inadequacy, as is the international response. Only by ending impunity for crimes against women in war can nations be rebuilt. Gender equality in this context means enabling women as full citizens: as voters, as candidates, as decision –makers".

1325 is a beginning, much overdue. As we usually say in the United Nations context: some things have been achieved, but much is left to be done. Also we need to keep in mind when directing demands at the UN, namely that the world organisation is nothing more than the collective will of the 191 member states. And we deal with matters concerning peace and security, we are of course in Security Council territory and within the realm of the almighty veto.

The DPKO is our first focus of attention when it comes to resolution 1325.

In July 2000 DPKO issued its report "Mainstreaming a Gender Perrspective in Multidimensional Peace Operations". Th report drew five conclusions from its own experience. First, that the single most important lesson learned is that lessons are not always learned. Thus, the lessons from Namibia and South Africa appear to have had little impact on Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other missions. A second lesson is that while gender balance is well understood, the meaning and importance of gender mainstreaming, the integration of a gender perspective into all activities and policies, is less well understood. A third lesson is that while abundant statements of principle and numerous guidelines about how to achieve gender balance and mainstreaming are now in place, attention and resources must now be directed to the three "Iī s": overcoming inertia; implementation and institutionalisation. In the Kosovo mission it took significant efforts to have women included in the Kosovo Transitional Council and in East Timor, the Bureau of Gender Affairs was temporarily mainstreamed out of existence. The fourth lesson is about the leadership needed to deal with the three "Iīs". Three things suggest that the DPKO must be particularly dedicated in its efforts: the military (male) tradition, the new, multi-facetted nature of peace-keeping (many actors, inadequate resources, unreliable information, need to grapple with problems immediately (DRC), etc), and the novelty for DPKO to consider the full range of the mission īs activities from a gender perspective. A final lesson is that women īs presence does make a difference. It improves access to the local population and the behaviour of male members of the mission, Their presence also increases the range of skills, approaches and perspectives within a mission, thus adding to its effectiveness.

The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has like so many others pointed to ways of improving Resolution 1325. The Resolution called for the inclusion of women īs groups, yet there is no systematic mechanism to enable this essential participation in Security Council missions. Appointing a senior gender advisor at DPKO will facilitate the inclusion of women īs expertise and experience in security policy. This would create a necessary entry point at the political level.

My own country Sweden is as you know a staunch supporter of mainstreaming a gender perspective both in principle and practice. We apply it in national politics, as you will hear from Margareta Winberg later on in the programme, and in our foreign policy. Sweden has also consistently, and successfully, worked within the EU to encourage the UN membership to strengthen the UN capacities in this field. Thus the EU has at the latest session of the C 34 committee among other things called for a focal point for gender issues to be created in the current session of this General Assembly. This demand has finally been heard and accepted. The latest news from New York is that indeed the position as a Gender Advisor and Co-ordinator "has been announced but not yet permanently appointed".

Again, it is a beginning. It is my belief that nothing substantial will happen or be lasting, unless strong NGO pressure is being constantly applied. I salute in this context the work being done by all the NGO s and refer interested parties to the excellent web site www.peacewomen.org. and the PeaceWomen E-news that is raising the visibility and maintaining the momentum of SC Resolution 1325.

Modern peace-keeping will be neither modern nor sustainable peace-keeping without the full participation of women at the decision making level and in negotiations of peace agreements at national and international level.

Thank you!