Over 600mn women, girls lived in conflict-affected countries in 2022: UN

New York, Oct 25 (IANS) More than 600 million women and girls lived in conflict-affected countries in 2022, a 50 per cent increase since 2017.

Civilians around the world need greater humanitarian aid than ever before, but countries are instead increasing military spending, which topped $2.2 trillion in 2022.

That is the picture painted by the new UN Secretary-General report on women, peace, and security, issued annually coinciding with the UN Security Council Open Debate taking place on Wednesday in New York, titled "Women's participation in international peace and security: from theory to practice".

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres; UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous; President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric; Ambassador Glivania Maria de Oliveira; as well as a civil society representative were present at the event.

"These negative trends are setting back both gender equality and global peace. However, this dire picture is not inevitable. We can reverse it by investing in women's organizations in crisis settings; increasing the meaningful participation of women in mediation and peace processes; promoting parity in political and electoral processes; and using accountability tools to strengthen the protection of women in conflict-affected countries," said Sarah Hendriks, UN Women Deputy Executive Director ad interim.

The report puts a spotlight on the global security humanitarian situation, which has become more grim, with a disparate impact on women and girls.

In Afghanistan, for example, the Taliban have issued more than 50 edicts to suppress women's and girls' rights; and when fighting broke out earlier this year in Sudan, widespread sexual violence returned to Darfur, reminiscent of the conflict in the region two decades ago.

Further, the report shares a picture of decline in several countries for women to participate in decision-making on peace and security.

Events of political violence targeting women increased by 50 per cent in conflict-affected countries between 2020 and 2022.

A key recommendation presented in the report is for at least one-third of all participants in mediation and peace processes to be women, but the reality shows that women remain sidelined from the main negotiations.

While women participated in 80 per cent of UN-led or co-led peace processes, their actual numbers remained low, at only about 16 per cent of total participants -- a proportion that has decreased for two years in a row.

Women were almost completely absent from many other peace processes and political talks on situations on the agenda of the Security Council, including in Ethiopia, Kosovo, Sudan, Myanmar, and Libya.

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