ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has urged the UN Security Council to ensure women’s systematic, safe, and meaningful participation in peace processes, saying lasting peace cannot be achieved without their leadership, said a statement on the X account of Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN on Thursday.
According to the statement, speaking at the Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, titled “Peace Is Decided with Women: Emerging from Conflict through Women’s Participation,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the agenda remains one of the Council’s most transformative commitments, but also one of its most unfinished promises.
"He said women continue to suffer the gravest consequences of conflict, displacement, foreign occupation, poverty, and sexual violence, while remaining underrepresented in peace negotiations, political transitions, and reconstruction efforts," the statement added.
Ambassador Asim said that peace built without women rests on fragile ground.
He added that women’s participation is not only a matter of fairness, but also of effectiveness, as peace agreements involving women are more responsive to community needs and more durable over time.
Pakistan’s contribution to peacekeeping
The statement further said that "Highlighting Pakistan’s contribution, he said Pakistani women have served with distinction in diplomacy, peacekeeping, politics, public service, law enforcement, civil society, and humanitarian response.
He also praised Pakistani women peacekeepers for their professionalism and courage in UN missions."
The ambassador outlined key priorities, including women’s inclusion at senior levels in mediation teams and negotiation delegations, stronger protections for women peacebuilders, human rights defenders, journalists, and community leaders, and predictable funding for their participation in peacebuilding and recovery.
He stressed that post-conflict reconstruction must prioritize women’s access to education, health care, documentation, justice, land, livelihoods, and political participation.
Ambassador Asim also called on the Council to address root causes denying women peace and security, including prolonged conflicts, foreign occupation, poverty, discrimination, and impunity.
"Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in all efforts for peace, security, and development," the statement concluded.
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