EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations, called for women's full, equal and meaningful participation in all stages of peace processes, speaking on 17 June 2026 at a UN Security Council open debate on Women, Peace and Security. Representing the EU and its Member States, Lambrinidis stressed that women's involvement is a strategic imperative for peace and security, noting that peace processes with women are 30% more likely to last. He identified three urgent challenges: shrinking space for UN-led mediation, exclusion of women from formal peace negotiations despite their community-level roles, and targeted threats against women in politics and peacebuilding.
The EU's commitment is operationalised through the EU Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and National Action Plans by Member States. Concrete measures include appointing women Special Representatives with mediation mandates in the Horn of Africa and South Caucasus, systematically including women experts in EU mediation support teams, and supporting networks such as the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks. The EU and several Member States last year joined the UN Secretary-General's Common Pledge for Women's Participation, upholding a minimum 33% target for women in all EU-supported peace process activities. This includes platforms like the Women's Advisory Platform linked to the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and the Women's Advisory Council for Middle East Peace. The EU also supports women peacebuilders in conflict-affected communities in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Palestine and Syria.
The statement acknowledged Colombia's peace process as achieving the highest-ever representation of women in modern history. Lambrinidis concluded that the EU will continue scaling up support for structured pathways ensuring women's participation to achieve gender equality and lasting peace globally. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, as well as Armenia, Monaco and San Marino aligned with the statement.
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