T

he international community must continue to present greater opportunities for women in the field of international peace and security as they play an increasingly important role in conflict prevention, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“Women are agents of peace, tolerance and prosperity,” she said in a recorded statement late on Thursday in New York, after a UNSC session on the potential of national action plans for advancing the agenda of women, peace and security under UNSC Resolution 1325.

While gender awareness was increasing globally, including in the Middle East and North Africa, whatever progress there was had not occurred evenly, Retno said.

According to Foreign Ministry estimates, only a quarter of all strategic positions in the Indonesian Cabinet were held by women, while in her own department over the past 15 years, only half of Indonesia’s new diplomats were women.

“In some parts of the world, women still face major challenges as a result of ongoing conflict, violence and regional instability. Often women and children must bear the burden of a greater conflict,” Retno said.

In order to strengthen women’s role in peace and security, she added that every country should establish national action plans as a starting point for joint efforts by all stakeholders, saying once the plans were in place, partnerships with relevant parties were key to increasing the state’s capacity to implement them.

As a representative of ASEAN on the Security Council, Retno pledged to host a workshop that would enhance the peace negotiation skills for ASEAN women diplomats later this year.

Indonesia had earlier pledged to increase the number of women peacekeepers deployed on UN missions, citing their natural ability to win the hearts and minds of local communities.

“Investing in women equals investing in peace,” Retno said.

As of December last year, 77 Indonesian female peacekeepers were serving in various UN peacekeeping missions worldwide, out of a total of 3,062 active Indonesian peacekeepers.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who presided over the UNSC meeting, announced a plan to put forward a resolution that would strengthen the UN special representative’s mandate, as well as support initiatives that document crimes against women.

“Those responsible must be brought to justice because failure to do so leads to a culture of impunity,” Maas said, according to a readout from the German Foreign Ministry’s website.

“These and other measures will be the focus of an open debate in the Security Council in April.”

The meeting, organized by Germany, Peru and the United Kingdom with Indonesian support, took on the format of the “Arria-Formula”, which is an informal discussion that allows members of the Security Council to advance their views more freely, interactively and openly, by presenting views of non-council member countries and various academic and civil society experts.