At UN, Pakistan advocates women's leadership in global peace initiatives

New York (Web Desk): Pakistan has urged the international community to strengthen women’s participation in efforts aimed at promoting peace and security, with women’s leadership emerging as a key focus at a High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace.

“Let’s invest in women leadership, let’s invest in peace, let’s invest in future,” Ambassador Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said while addressing the forum on Wednesday. The event was organised to mark the adoption of the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 1999.

The Pakistani envoy also praised Bangladesh for sponsoring the annual follow-up resolution, which was adopted by the 193-member General Assembly during its 80th session.

“This landmark document affirmed that peace does not merely lie in the silence of guns but, in fact, flows from the protection of human rights, celebration of plurality, and promotion of the rule of law,” Jadoon said.

Highlighting women’s significant role in advancing peace, he stressed that meaningful peace could not be achieved without ensuring women’s participation in public and political affairs.

“Fostering a robust Culture of Peace is predicated on women’s full participation in political process and their unhindered access to education and justice,” Ambassador Jadoon said.

He further underlined the importance of women’s leadership in societies emerging from conflict, saying, “A society scarred by prolonged conflict needs the healing touch of women leadership,” “Peace, indeed, is more durable when women are spearheading the negotiations; it is shaky and short-lived when they are at the fringes of the political process,” he added.

Jadoon noted that the United Nations had adopted a number of resolutions acknowledging women’s essential contribution to maintaining peace and security. These initiatives, he said, also call for sustained investment in women’s leadership as an important element of peacebuilding.

He highlighted the “meritorious” services rendered by Pakistani women in various fields, including politics, diplomacy, education, the armed forces and UN peacekeeping missions, saying their courage and determination had earned widespread recognition.

“In line with its civilizational ethos, constitutional obligations and bolstered by its firm faith in the centrality of women for a genuine peace, Pakistan shall continue to strive for an expanded role of women for peace and security,” he concluded.