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At a Security Council open debate on women and peace and security, which focused on effective justice for crimes of sexual violence in conflict, on 24 June, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Neris Germanas stressed the need for the Security Council to develop a more robust monitoring and reporting system and to support the early establishment of national reparation programmes.

“To tackle impunity, sustained comprehensive efforts are needed at the national level to guarantee the prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence and support for the survivors,” said the Foreign Vice-Minister.

Germanas drew attention also to the importance of the National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Adopted in December 2011, the Lithuanian National Action Plan contains a variety of measures for women’s empowerment through education, networking, and skills development. It has direct links with Lithuania’s development cooperation programmes which focus also on gender equality. The Foreign Vice-Minister stressed that Lithuania strongly supported the inclusion of gender-based violence and violence against women and children into the mandatory assessment criteria guiding arms exports that were laid down in the Arms Trade Treaty.

The Vice-Minister Germanas called on the Security Council to struggle against impunity using all tools at its disposal in a more systematic way, including the setting up of commissions of inquiry, targeted sanctions, and its power of referral to the International Criminal Court.

Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court recognized sexual violence in conflict as a crime against humanity. The UN Security Council Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1960 recognize that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes. In September 2012, the UN Secretary General appointed Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura as his new Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Lithuania is the only country belonging to the Eastern European group that runs for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2014-2015. The United Nations Security Council election will be held in October 2013.