VietNamNet Bridge – Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations has delivered a key-note speech on April 25 at a UN Security Council (UNSC) open discussion on women, peace and security.

The discussion focused on sexual violence in armed conflicts.

Delegates from many countries and international organizations argued that although the UN and international organizations have taken various measures aimed at protesting sexual violence in armed conflicts, this situation still occurs in many places, adversely affecting peace and international security.

Sexual violence is an egregious violation of human rights and a crime against humanity, requiring greater efforts to get to the root of the problem, they emphasized.

Discussion also covered measures, initiatives and efforts at both national and international levels, including the role of the UN peacekeeping force to address sexual violence issues.

In his speech, on behalf of the 10 ASEAN member countries, ambassador Le Hoai Trung affirmed that sexual violence during and after the armed conflicts continues to influence and threaten the lives of women and girls in many parts of the world.

ASEAN strongly condemns all forms of violence against women, especially sexual violence. Thus, ASEAN welcomed the measures that the UN Security Council has launched to prevent these kinds of atrocities, including Resolution 1325 as well as the relevant resolutions and declarations of the UNSC President.

Such measures together with the efforts of the UN and the international community have helped raise awareness about the profound impact of sexual violence during and after armed conflicts.

The awareness also plays an important role in preventing sexual violence and protect victims, Trung noted.

Ambassador Trung said so far, all ASEAN member countries have joined the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women and supported all the UNSC President‘s resolutions and declarations concerning women , peace and security , including sexual violence in armed conflicts.

At the regional level, the regional grouping has established an ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights and an ASEAN Commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children.

Initiatives such as "Stop violence against women" and seminars on women, peace and security in ASEAN are also seen as important measures to help raise awareness of the regional people about this issue, he concluded.

Source: VOV