The UN chief acknowledged the risks faced by the sector due to authoritarianism and insecurity in the open debate convened by the Security Council.
This grim backdrop gives renewed urgency to efforts to ensure women’s full and meaningful participation in peace and security.
Guterres warned of a rise in military spending on the planet while too many women’s organizations struggle to fund their vital work.
At the same time, a large number of perpetrators of sexual violence are released and peace processes exclude women, she added.
Of the 18 peace agreements reached last year, only one was signed or witnessed by a representative of a women’s group or organization, the top UN official complained.
She noted that despite the organization’s efforts, only 16 percent of negotiators or delegates in United Nations-led or co-led peace processes are women.
“We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture; “Centuries of patriarchy represent a major obstacle to gender equality and therefore to a culture of peace,” he stressed.
However, Guterres acknowledged best practices and success stories in the women’s, peace and security agenda on the planet.
Among other things, he mentioned gender parity in the peace negotiations in Colombia and the legal proceedings against perpetrators of sexual violence in Iraq, Syria and the Central African Republic.
The United Nations is committed to working with countries to advance progress in the areas of women, peace and security, she stressed.
For her part, Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, said that last year 600 million women and girls lived in conflict-affected countries, an increase of 50 percent since 2017.
In the Middle East, the scenario has become more complex for women and children on both sides of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
More than six thousand people have been murdered in Gaza, 67 percent of whom are women and children, while the number of displaced people is estimated at more than 690,000, he said.
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