Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY
TRT: 2.13
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2014, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations headquarters
25 APRIL 2014, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“Just a few years ago, rape in these conflicts seemed intractable and inevitable. The DRC and Somalia are now demonstrating that progress is possible. The DRC is developing new legal structures to end impunity for perpetrators. Somalia has shown commitment at the highest level to end sexual violence, including signing a joint communiqué with the United Nations.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“It is imperative that UN actors and political leaders work together to stop rights abuses before they happen. The renewed commitment of the UN to better meet the human rights responsibilities set by Member States through the Rights up Front initiative is central in this regard.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“Twenty years after the peace was made, impunity for these crimes still reigns. The truth, most likely, is that the survivors will see not justice, because the evidence is long lost and the perpetrators have long since fled the immediate scene of the crime. Yet, the irony is that those same perpetrators are not so far gone in reality. They still walk among the women and their families, occupying positions of authority and power that shield them from justice.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rhoda Misaka, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security:
“Women in the UNMISS IDP(Internally Displaced Persons)camp in Bor, which was attacked last week, are traumatized and devastated, and say they feel like they are sitting there waiting to die. I am here with you in the Security Council today, but I live in fear of what will happen next in my country, and to my family.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (25 Apr) told the Security Council that recent events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in Somalia are “demonstrating that progress is possible” in combating sexual violence in conflict zones.
Ban, addressing a Security-Council debate on “Women and peace and security: sexual violence in conflict” said that “just a few years ago, rape in these conflicts seemed intractable and inevitable” and noted that the DRC is now “developing new legal structures to end impunity for perpetrators” while Somalia “has shown commitment at the highest level to end sexual violence, including signing a joint communiqué with the United Nations.”
The Secretary-General said it was “imperative that UN actors and political leaders work together to stop rights abuses before they happen” adding that “the renewed commitment of the UN to better meet the human rights responsibilities set by Member States through the Rights up Front initiative is central in this regard.”
In November 2013, the Secretary-General launched the Rights up Front initiative to improve the UN response to complex crises situations.
Ban's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura, indicated that according to the latest report, sexual violence remains a global crime affecting women, men and children in more than 20 countries.
Bangura spoke about her recent trip to Bosnia where “20 years after the peace was made, impunity for these crimes still reigns.”
The truth, she said “most likely, is that the survivors will see not justice, because the evidence is long lost and the perpetrators have long since fled the immediate scene of the crime.” The irony, she said, “is that those same perpetrators are not so far gone in reality. They still walk among the women and their families, occupying positions of authority and power that shield them from justice.”
Rhoda Misaka, from the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, spoke about the situation in her country, South Sudan.
She said “women in the UNMISS IDP camp in Bor, which was attacked last week, are traumatized and devastated, and say they feel like they are sitting there waiting to die.”
She added; “I am here with you in the Security Council today, but I live in fear of what will happen next in my country, and to my family.”
Documenting information based on cases recorded by the UN system in 21 countries of concern, the report identifies 34 armed groups, militia and Government security forces, responsible for using rape as a tool in conflict zones.
Among its findings, the report also links sexual violence with local economies. It notes that rape is used to gain control of territories with natural resources, including minerals, which are used by groups to further fuel conflict, as well as human trafficking and illegal drug trade.
