安吉丽娜·朱莉联合国演讲

hello under-secretary-general foreign

and defense ministers your excellencies

ladies and gentlemen this is the third

UN Defense peacekeeping ministerial I

have attended but the first on my home

soil I'm very proud to speak here as an

American I'm a patriot I love my country

and I want to see it thrive I also

believe in an America that is part of an

international community countries

working together on equal footing is how

we reduce the risk of conflict it is how

we avoid the need to send men and women

of our militaries to fight and sacrifice

overseas the UN was set up for that

purpose as a way of resolving

differences peacefully supporting each

other's prosperity and extending

universal rights and freedoms it is in

all of our interests for the UN to be

made effective brought closer to the

lives of citizens and not ever misused

at a deeper level a country that

believes that all men and women are born

free and equal cannot be true to itself

if it doesn't defend those principles

for all people wherever they live

regardless their circumstances and no

matter how desperate their struggle in

fact our support should be strongest

where rights are threatened the most we

live at a time of blatant disregard for

the laws of war that forbid attacks on

civilians whether it is missile strikes

on schools or hospitals families bombed

in their homes neighborhoods gassed with

chemical weapons besieged areas deprived

of a

mass rape of women children and men we

seem incapable of upholding minimum

standards of humanity in many parts of

the world that this comes at a time when

humankind is richer and more

technologically advanced than ever

before is all the more painful 18 years

ago when I first began working with the

UN refugee agency there were just under

20 million displaced people worldwide

and the numbers were falling today there

are over 65 million people displaced and

the numbers are rising more countries

are experiencing some form of violent

conflict today than any time in the last

30 years UN peacekeepers now comprised

of the second largest group of forces

deployed overseas and are often required

to serve where there is little or no

peace to be kept against this backdrop

it is easy to dismiss our institutions

as flawed or ineffective my hope instead

is that young people in particular feel

inspired to join the effort to improve

them to join the men and women in the

arena to paraphrase President Roosevelt

who strive are striving to do deeds and

whose faces are marred by dust and sweat

and blood in that regard I want to

express my respect for men and women who

serve as peacekeepers and for those who

have been killed and injured the

protection of civilians is the primary

responsibility of governments when UN

peacekeepers are deployed it is usually

where a government is unable or

unwilling to protect civilian life

those United Nations missions often

represent the last and only hope for

millions of people facing daily threats

to their safety and their basic rights

the need for peacekeeping troops to have

the best possible training and equipment

and the highest standards of personal

conduct becomes obvious when measured

against that weighty responsibility so

that is why this meeting is so important

because it is in the hands of the

governments you represent to enable

peacekeeping to live up to its ideals

and the needs of our time so as you

discuss how to strengthen UN

peacekeepers and give peacekeepers the

capabilities they need to operate in

today's dangerous environments I ask you

to take time to consider the question

from the perspective of women around the

world there are countless examples of

women rising taking leadership taking

their destiny into their own hands

inspiring us all but women and girls are

still the majority of the victims of war

they are over half of all refugees and

the vast majority of the victims of rape

and other sexual and gender-based

violence women are at the absolute at

the center of modern conflict in the

worst possible sense but more often than

not they are still on the outside

looking in when it comes to political

politics and decisions about their

futures

if we went by the principle that those

affected by a problem should be in

charge of determining the solution then

the majority of the world's peace

negotiators foreign ministers and

diplomats would be women we all know the

reality in Afghanistan thousands of

women have recently come together in

public risking their lives to ask that

their rights and the rights of their

children be guaranteed in peace

negotiations that's so far they have

been allowed no part of their stand is

inspiring but it should not be necessary

and the international community's silent

response is alarming to say the least

there can be no peace and stability in

Afghanistan or anywhere else in the

world that involves trading away the

rights of women worse

still we see impunity for crimes

committed against women and girls during

conflict or when women human rights

defenders are attacked or killed or

imprisoned too often whether or not we

confront these human rights violations

depends not on the law and universal

standards but on how much our

governments think that their business or

political interests in that country

might be affected this is as harmful to

our long-term security and stability as

it is unacceptable on a human and moral

level

none of this is to discount the efforts

of the many men great husbands fathers

brothers and sons who have been with us

in this fight it is simply the reality

00:08:51,180 --> 00:08:55,650
of the unequal power relations abuse of

power gender bias violence and lack of

justice that keep so many women in a

subordinate and therefore vulnerable

position internationally

fearing abuse at the hands of a

peacekeeper is not protections living

with the fear that your daughter might

be raped by armed combatants is not

safety knowing that if your children are

harmed no one will be held accountable

is not a basis for peace and security

denying half a population representation

and peace negotiations or in government

is not the route to long term stability

as long as we continue to put almost

every other issue ahead of women's

rights and participation we will remain

stuck in a cycle of violence and

conflict we will have learned nothing

and our institutions will count for less

than they should from my experience a

growing number of men and women in

uniform understand this when we are at

our best doing what we are called to do

we all share the same goals the same

mandate a safer more stable world we

fight to defend our freedoms and rights

and the freedoms and rights of others I

recently met a male peacekeeper who had

just returned from deployment as a

gender advisor in the Central African

Republic and he told me that when he

started his career of service in

Afghanistan he considered women's rights

to be a soft issue

and not what war was fought for but his

experiences had made him understand that

that is exactly what should be fought

for and exactly what stabilizes a

country his ability to contribute to

this goal became a source of pride for

him he had made that jump in his

thinking and while he'd been doing a

great service to his country already he

had now added that understanding and

that sense of partnership with the women

he served there is progress the number

of cases of alleged sexual exploitation

and abuse are down although even a

single case is unacceptable the numbers

of women peacekeepers is on the rise

with African nations in particular

leading the way on this there are more

gender advisors on UN missions although

still not enough and improving the

training on the protection of civilians

is starting to come into effect but

there is still a long way to go to

demonstrate that anyone who commits

violations will not be tolerated and

will be investigated and prosecuted

without exception there is still much

more to do to increase the number of

women in the ranks of peacekeeping

missions and having met some formidable

female peacekeepers this morning I think

that this change cannot come soon enough

for the effectiveness and impact of

peacekeeping missions

and of course we cannot call for more

women to serve without making it safe

and viable for them to do so including

ensuring that they themselves are not

vulnerable to sexual harassment or abuse

new actions by your governments in all

these areas can make a huge difference

but they I believe must be accompanied

by commitments to ensure that women's

representation in peace negotiations to

be consistent in the defense of women's

rights in all places and to address the

deep-seated societal reasons for

inequality and violence against women

and above all we need to understand that

women themselves are protectors as

mothers and peacekeepers and human

rights defenders women are already

contributing to peace in theatres of war

across the world without recognition or

glory because it comes naturally to them

it's important to them and think of how

much more we could achieve with women's

equal participation in all aspects of

society not at the expense of men but

alongside men because we are all

partners in this life we humans are

capable of horrors and unspeakable

cruelty but we are also capable of

building civilizations improving laws

demanding justice we are willing to

fight for people we've never met and for

their families we fall we fail we lose

our way often when we're made to feel

afraid but in our moments of strength

and clarity we know that all people are

in fact equal

we know that while we can and should be

proud of who we are individually we're a

part of a global world and we know that

we are supposed to come together in

defense of something greater than

ourselves thank you