Press release, 30 August 2015
At the Tenth Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament in New York, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, focussed on Russia’s aggression against women in Ukraine. She invited the meeting to express solidarity with the Ukrainian woman military pilot and member of the parliament Nadiia Savchenko who was illegally captured and imprisoned in Russia.
“Especially we must express support and solidarity with more than year illegally detained Ukrainian woman military pilot and an elected member of the Ukrainian Parliament Nadiia Savchenko,” said the Speaker of Seimas to the meeting.
Furthermore, the leader of the Seimas highlighted that despite good intentions and efforts by the international community ending of violence against women in conflict settings had been impossible so far.
“Women and girls are usually the first victims of conflict. They are disproportionately affected by conflict related displacement, rights deprivation, marginalisation, abuse. They are also the prime targets of sexual violence, rape, of forced marriages. […] Recent conflicts, such as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, caused increased number of displaced persons. Accounting for about half of those displaced, women bear the physical and psychological brunt of conflict,” Loreta Graužinienė noted.
Then, the leader of the parliament touched upon the implementation of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security adopted by the UN Security Council 15 years ago. In the opinion of Loreta Graužinienė, further meaningful implementation of the resolution needed proactive partnerships among UN members and regional organisations, along with dedicated and robust national plans of action in that regard.
In her speech, the leader of the Seimas also emphasized the important role of women as active agents of change in the promotion and maintenance of peace and security.
“Sustainable peace is inseparable from gender equality. In coming years, women must play a most significant and substantive role in making the transition from the culture of violence to the culture of peace,” said Loreta Graužinienė.
According to the leader of the parliament, Lithuania is firmly committed to ensuring the promotion of the women, peace and security agenda both internally and in its relations with other countries. The country is in the final stage of finalising the Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, where it would renew its commitments to tackling the impact of conflict on women and girls and promoting the importance of women participating in decision-making.
Neringa Mikėnaitė, Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6344, mob. +370 698 42759
