#UNGA72: Where Do We Stand On Conflict Prevention And Feminist Peace?
By Anwar Mhajne
(Visual: WILPF)
The General Debate of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA72) was held on 19-25 September 2017 under the theme, “Focusing on people — striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”. During the debate, participants delivered statements outlining their visions for sustainable development and international cooperation, including around peace and security issues. They emphasised the life or death nature of addressing climate change and nuclear proliferation, and reaffirmed their commitment to conflict prevention and equality for all through partnerships and extra-territorial accountability.
The most exciting occurrence of the High-Level Week was the signing of the world’s first legally binding treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. Despite opposition from nuclear-armed countries and their allies, 42 Member States signed the Nuclear Ban Treaty during the opening ceremony, and the number of Member States that have signed it continues to grow. Women’s historic leadership on this issue and WILPF's work on banning nuclear weapons was later recognised when the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to our coalition, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
WILPF monitored the debate for references to women, disarmament and conflict prevention, as well as references to our focus countries, and shared a report as part of our accountability work. The goal of this report is to demand accountability for the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and strengthen policy coherence across other frameworks, including the Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace Agendas.
We invite you to join us in demanding action for feminist peace. Find out what your government said in our Debate Index. Share this resource with your networks.
To read the press release, click here>>