Germany’s push for ambitious UNSCR on sexual violence in armed conflict hits the veto power
Published: 15 April 2021 Author: Stefan Talmon
Germany identified “the women and peace and security agenda” as one of the priorities of its two-year term as a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council in 2019-2020. Its objective was to help women play a stronger role in preventing and managing conflicts, but also to better protect them against sexual violence in conflicts. In an interview published on 25 March 2019, Germany’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, stated that sexual violence against women in conflicts was often completely underestimated. He continued: “When you see how it is systematically used as an instrument of war […] the subject suddenly gains security policy relevance. We would like to draw attention to its significance.” In order to do this, Germany used its first presidency of the Security Council in April 2019, organising a so-called “signature event” on “sexual violence in conflict”. (more…)