Statement by the Delegation of Brazil at the UNSC Debate on Women, Peace and Security – March 8th, 2022

Madam President,

I congratulate H.E Minister Mariam Almheiri and the presidency of the United Arab Emirates for organizing this very timely and pertinent debate. I also thank Madam Directors of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, and of UN Women, Sima Sami Bahous, as well as Moussokoro Coulibaly for their insightful presentations.

As the world celebrates the International Women´s Day, this Council must keep exploring new ways to move forward in the implementation of all pillars of the Women, Peace and Security’s agenda. Brazil has joined Niger, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Albania in the shared commitments to making Women, Peace and Security a top priority and to ensuring its implementation in concrete and tangible ways.

We believe that public-private partnerships can indeed play a very important role in boosting women's full, equal and meaningful participation in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction, enabling and empowering women to act as positive drivers of change.

According to the World Bank´s “Pathways for peace”, women´s economic inclusion, particularly in the labor force, is a rational and cost-effective conflict prevention strategy. Moreover, women grassroot efforts are an example of low-cost and local intervention that fulfills important roles, including conflict mediation. Women economic inclusion is also critical in post-conflict reconstruction and economic recovery, and it can be a major driver of lasting peace.

Nonetheless, as mentioned by Mrs. Georgieva, labor markets across the world remains divided along gender lines. Female labor force participation continues to be lower than male participation, gender wage gaps are high, and women are overrepresented in the informal sector and among the poor. In many countries, legal restrictions persist and constrain women from developing their full economic potential. Research also shows that, during conflicts, women may increase their participation in labor markets and improve overall household welfare. However, once the conflict ends, they face pressure to put up with household work, such as caring for injured male relatives or orphaned children, and to leave their paid work.

In different occasions, women briefers to this Council have called for more financing to women organizations on the ground to enable them to exercise their unique potential to support women and girls in remote conflict areas. UN Women has also reminded us that project planning and financing often neglect the specific needs of women and that, for decades, there has been chronic underinvestment in women’s empowerment, which has hampered progress in women’s rights and gender equality.

Madam President,

Brazil will continue to do its part by applying a gender-sensitive approach to international humanitarian assistance. We believe that international financing should aim at promoting gender equality as a catalyst for lasting peace; but also focus at financing initiatives to ensure women’s long-term economic security and well-being.

 In this Council, we can also work through various complementary strategies:

i) by carefully drafting and revising peacekeeping mandates so that they are more explicit in their role to promote women´s economic inclusion and empowerment, in line with Resolution 2242 (2015). Without targeted mandates, it is very unlikely that UN operations will contribute to women´s access to opportunities, resources and markets on the ground.

ii) by ensuring women voices are heard in the context of special political missions. Women can be pivotal to proposing peacebuilding activities that will result in long lasting empowerment of local women and girls. In that regard, Brazil would like to recognize DPPA´s WPS Policy and its Gender, Peace and Security Unit in its effort to ensure gender mainstreaming in all peacebuilding projects.

iii) by continuing to support the Peacebuilding Commission in its commendable efforts to promote women´s economic inclusion and participation. We praise PBC’s expertise in this regard and its decision to allocate at least 25% of the Peacebuilding Fund´s resources to projects aimed at empowering women and youth.

I recall that during the 2020 review of the PBC´s Gender Strategy, Brazil suggested that the Security Council should receive and consider advice from the PBC, including recommendations from local women leaders, prior to every renewal of peacekeeping operation’s mandate. Brazil also recommended that the PBC monitors and reports on the implementation of the WPS agenda. We are still of the view that a strengthened relation between this Council and the PBC would greatly influence the implementation of the WPS agenda as a whole.

More than 20 years after Resolution 1325 (2000), women still face the grave security and humanitarian consequences of military actions decided primarily, if not exclusively, in decision making processes to which they did not take part. Women and girls must finally be systematically and meaningfully included in the decisions that affect their daily lives.

Brazil hopes that the Security Council will continue to discuss with partners such as the IMF and the World Bank in order to assess how private partnerships can help bridge the gap in promoting women´s economic inclusion and participation in conflict-affected settings, including by investment allocation and participation in peacebuilding trust funds.