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STORY: UN / CULTURE OF PEACE
TRT: O2:16
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 02 SEPTEMBER 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters
02 SEPTEMBER 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council Chamber
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly, United Nations:
“Including women at every stage of the peace process is not just a “nice to have”. It is not doing a favour to women. It is not even simply a matter of fairness. It is fundamentally a question of whether peace succeeds. Research has shown that when women participate meaningfully in peace processes, the probability of an agreement lasting at least two years increases by 20 percent and the probability of conflict returning is reduced by 37 percent.”
4. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council Chamber
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly, United Nations:
“Yet there remains a profound gap between what we know and what we are doing. At a time when the number of armed conflicts is at a record high, too many negotiating tables still exclude the women that hold the keys to unlocking peace. Frankly speaking, you only have to look at the most recent photos or media coverage of the latest peace negotiations, where there are hardly any women in the room.”
6. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council Chamber
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support, United Nations:
“Building a culture of peace means building a global constituency for peace. Much of the strength of that constituency will depend on how we support, empower and mentor the next generation of women leaders. This requires looking at the Women, Peace and Security and Youth, Peace and Security agendas together.”
8. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council Chamber
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support, United Nations:
“Let us pursue our commitments to women's leadership and youth leadership in tandem, not in parallel – so that young women are recognized and supported as leaders for peace today, not just tomorrow. Our task is clear: to ensure that women’s leadership at all levels is recognized, protected, resourced, and shaping the decisions of our collective future.”
11. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council Chamber
President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock said that including women at every stage of the peace process is “fundamentally a question of whether peace succeeds.”
Today (2 Sep), at the High-level forum on the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace under the theme “Women’s Leadership to promote a Culture of Peace” Baerbock said, “Including women at every stage of the peace process is not just a “nice to have”. It is not doing a favour to women. It is not even simply a matter of fairness. It is fundamentally a question of whether peace succeeds. Research has shown that when women participate meaningfully in peace processes, the probability of an agreement lasting at least two years increases by 20 percent and the probability of conflict returning is reduced by 37 percent.”
“Yet,” she highlighted, “there remains a profound gap between what we know and what we are doing. At a time when the number of armed conflicts is at a record high, too many negotiating tables still exclude the women that hold the keys to unlocking peace. Frankly speaking, you only have to look at the most recent photos or media coverage of the latest peace negotiations, where there are hardly any women in the room.”
Elizabeth Spehar, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support, said, “Building a culture of peace means building a global constituency for peace. Much of the strength of that constituency will depend on how we support, empower and mentor the next generation of women leaders. This requires looking at the Women, Peace and Security and Youth, Peace and Security agendas together.”
She also said, “Let us pursue our commitments to women's leadership and youth leadership in tandem, not in parallel – so that young women are recognized and supported as leaders for peace today, not just tomorrow. Our task is clear: to ensure that women’s leadership at all levels is recognized, protected, resourced, and shaping the decisions of our collective future.”
This High-Level Forum will provide an opportunity to review the implementation of the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and discuss the role of women’s leadership at all levels, to promote a culture of peace and non-violence.
The Forum also aims to share good practices and prevailing challenges for the promotion of women’s leadership for a Culture of Peace, including international commitments, such as the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goal 16.
