EU Statement – UN Security Council: Open debate on Women, Peace and Security
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Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia, as well as Andorra, Monaco, and San Marino align themselves with this statement.
The EU thanks Greece for organising this crucial debate, and the distinguished briefers for their remarks.
We are deeply concerned by the acute challenges highlighted in this year’s report, including the increase in conflict-related sexual violence, the rise in attacks against civilians, and the finding that one in five women and girls globally live in conflict-affected settings. Behind these figures are millions of lives uprooted and at risk in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan and in many other places. In Ukraine, Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression continues to have a devastating impact on women and girls.
We are also concerned that women are excluded from peace processes in many contexts, and that those speaking up often face coordinated harassment, hate speech and intimidation. In addition, many women’s rights organisations are beyond the breaking point, leaving millions without life-saving services.
These disturbing trends are embedded in a wider pushback against gender equality and a coordinated and well-funded effort to undermine long-standing international norms and the multilateral system that upholds them. Gendered disinformation campaigns are deployed to destabilise societies. This backlash is not only an attack on the rights of women and girls – it is a threat to human rights, democracy, as well as peace and stability.
Mr. President,
In this light, the European Union has three key messages today.
First, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is not only a human rights issue but also a security imperative.
Second, the Women, Peace and Security agenda is a central component to resolving today’s pressing security challenges. It strengthens our collective capacity to prevent and resolve conflict, ensure lasting peace, strengthen stability, prosperity and build more resilient societies.
Third, commitments must translate into effective implementation. Women must be able to participate fully, equally and meaningfully and exercise leadership in decision-making, and at all stages of peace processes. A gender perspective must be mainstreamed across our peace and security policies and actions. The Security Council must lead by example by upholding the WPS framework and systematically integrating it into its decisions and mandates.
The EU also calls for preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence, ensuring a survivor-centred approach and accountability for perpetrators. The International Criminal Court plays a crucial role in this regard, and we also welcome the creation of the CRSV Prosecution Network earlier this year.
Mr. President,
The European Union remains a reliable partner in these endeavours. We will continue to stand up for gender equality and the rights of all women and girls, especially when these rights are under pressure. And we will continue to support the WPS Agenda as a key enabler in this regard.
We are embedding WPS into every strand of our external action, including our Common Foreign and Security Policy, as well as Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations. We have placed WPS among the commitments of the twelve security and defence partnerships established with third countries.
In addition, we have started the process of updating the EU WPS Action Plan, to make our foreign policy responses more systematic and result-oriented, and ensure that the plan responds to the evolving mediation landscape and emerging security threats, such as cyber and hybrid threats, foreign information manipulation and interference and climate change.
Furthermore, the EU will continue to support women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in decision-making and in all stages of peace processes. The EU has supported women peacebuilders, women-led and civil society organisations to advance mediation, conflict prevention and inclusive governance in conflict-affected communities across the world. For example, in Eastern DRC, local early-warning mechanisms established by women-led networks have reported critical information on activities of armed groups, allowing security forces to intervene and prevent attacks against communities.
Moreover, the EU more than tripled its annual support to women’s rights organisations starting in 2021, reaching almost 300 million euros altogether in the past five years. Through its Human Rights Defenders Mechanism “ProtectDefenders.eu”, the EU assisted more than ten thousand human rights defenders in 2025 alone, including women human rights defenders.
Mr President,
The WPS agenda is a political and a security imperative. It is key to prevent wars and armed conflict, to end those ongoing, to build peace that lasts, and to secure justice for survivors.
Today, more than ever, this agenda needs to be reinforced, politically and financially. The European Union remains committed to deliver on exactly that, in partnership with the UN, Member States and civil society.
I thank you.
- North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.