28/04/2022 Equality and Non-Discrimination
The PACE Equality Committee has set out ways women can be better protected in conflict situations, more involved in peace negotiations, and better represented in rebuilding and healing in post-conflict situations.
Approving a draft resolution based on a report by Yevheniia Kravchuk (Ukraine, ALDE), the committee said women must be empowered to play a greater role within the highest decision-making bodies and in peace talks.
“Women have the capacities to resist, adapt, and innovate, heal and communicate – and they must also be seen as leaders,” said the committee, pointing out that women heads of state were among those who handled the Covid-19 pandemic most successfully.
“The ongoing war in Ukraine is demonstrating once again that while women and girls are among the first casualties of war, notably as victims of conflict-related sexual violence - among the most systematic and cruel acts of warfare - women are also at the political, military and humanitarian forefront,” the parliamentarians said.
“Ukrainian women parliamentarians have shown during the ongoing war that they are capable of capturing the world’s attention to the unfolding drama and of acting tirelessly to put an end to the conflict, while reflecting on how legislation and policies will contribute to peace and reconciliation after the war,” they added.
The report is due to be debated by the plenary Assembly in June.