PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION
WOMEN LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AGENDA AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
STATEMENT BY LATVIA
Mr Chair, Excellencies, Colleagues,
Latvia welcomes this meeting on Promoting Women, Peace and Security agenda in Central Asia. Latvia has been actively contributing to these efforts in Central Asia for many years, and we concur with you Mr Chair on the importance of discussing this topic in the Peacebuilding Commission. We thank all the participants today for the rich exchange of views, highlighting the central role women play in the peacebuilding efforts in Central Asia, including in the context of climate change.
We share the view that promoting rights of women and girls, as well as ensuring full representation of women in political, social and economic life at national and local level is key element of building sustainable peace. Seeing women in leadership positions and politics should be a norm rather than an exception. The same applies to business, science, military and all other sectors. Women’s leadership and meaningful engagement is also important in efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, because women and girls are also the ones disproportionately affected by impacts of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters. We recognize that efforts to achieve empowerment of women have to be locally owned and driven. At the same time, international support, including through exchange of best practice can play crucial role to bolster these efforts and lead to successful results.
We are encouraged by the expanding efforts to promote role of women in Central Asia, in particular, by launching the Women Leaders’ Caucus of Central Asia (CAWLC), which helps connect the representatives from countries across the region, as well as international stakeholders such as UNDP and UNRCCA. As a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and its Bureau, we welcome the regional consultations with active participation of the Women Leaders’ Caucus, which took place in the run-up to the 66th Session of the CSW. Furthermore, from January 2023 Latvia will assume its position in the Executive Board of UN Women. In this role we will advocate for active regional dialogue by the UN Women, including with the stakeholders in Central Asia.
At the same time, Latvia also continues bilateral cooperation, aimed at promoting the role of women, including in the context of climate change. Currently, the Centre “MARTA”, a Latvian NGO is implementing activities in Uzbekistan to promote access to public services for women and other population groups in vulnerable situations in regions. This project serves as an example of multilateralism and coordinated engagement, as the Latvian activities contribute to the EU funded and UNDP led multi-stakeholder efforts. Previously, the Centre “Marta” has been implementing projects aimed at strengthening women's participation in the democratic process and public administration in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. These projects have been focused on boosting practical skills such as public presentation, political lobbying and fact-checking, which enable more effective representation of women’s interests at local and national level.
We see it equally important to advance career opportunities for women in business. Therefore, Latvia has also been supporting initiatives aimed at improving digital skills of women and girls in Central Asia. Latvian organization “Riga Tech Girls” is currently involved in a project in Uzbekistan offering a mentorship programme for women who want to start or have started a business in the field of technology. By acquiring skills to successfully compete in the rapidly growing ICT field, women and girls become much more resilient to adverse implications of climate change on their socio-economic opportunities.
While addressing negative effects of climate change on women and girls in Central Asia, it is important to maintain focus also on other factors, which pose threat to women’s rights and empowerment. Organized crime and all its aspects are also known to have disproportionate adverse effect on women and girls. For years State border guard of Latvia has been involved in implementation of Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA), which is another joint effort funded by the EU. One of the current objectives of this programme is to improve living conditions in border areas through local economic development with a focus on human rights, gender equality and vulnerable groups such as women, children, and victims of human trafficking.
To conclude, let me assure you of Latvia’s continued support to advancing WPS agenda in Central Asia. We believe that by joining forces of the local stakeholders and the international community, including the PBC, we will collectively succeed in removing the remaining barriers to women’s meaningful participation in political, social, and economic life in Central Asia.
I thank you.