 Good afternoon and welcome to this seminar webinar. My name is Nora Owen and I'm pleased to welcome you to the fifth lecture in the 2022 Development Matters series which is supported by Irish aid. Just some housekeeping before we start. Please note that the initial address and the questions and answers will be on the record and I will ask you when either during the talk or after to submit your questions via the Q&A button at the end of your screen. I would like you to identify yourself if possible if you put in a question and maybe give the name of your organisation if you're representing an organisation and we also encourage our guests to tweet using the handle at IIEA and we also welcome those watching through YouTube. Our speaker today we are delighted to be joined by Ms Osa Regnier who is the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and thank you so much Osa for being here. Osa has been the Assistant Secretary General of the UN and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women since May 2018. Prior to this she served as Minister for Children, the elderly and gender equality of Sweden and she has an enormous extensive experience in the area of gender equality and women's empowerment having held various leadership positions in government and in NGOs and in the United Nations. She has led important processes and campaigns as a leading advocate for feminism and gender equality in Sweden and before we hear from Osa as you know the title of her address is conflict related sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies and we're very glad today to welcome his excellency Michael Gaffey from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Michael is going to say a few words about this series of lectures and then I will hand over to he will hand over to Osa so thank you very much Michael the floor is yours. Thank you Nora, thank you very much and it is a real honor for me to be speaking at this IIEA Development Matters event but especially to introduce someone as significant as Osa Regnier on a subject that is really vital and shamefully so. Addressing conflict related sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies should of course not be a priority but it is stunning really to think that in every humanitarian emergency and in every conflict that we face these days sexual violence is being used as a weapon and it is as I said a badge of shame I would say on humanity so eradicating gender-based violence is part as part of support for gender equality and achieving accountability is vital for peace building for humanitarian action for upholding human rights and supporting sustainable development and it is crucial for the for the achievement of the sustainable development goals and in fact I think it is something that we need to state over and over again that we will not achieve or make progress in the sustainable development goals without a really strong and determined focus on gender equality and on the empowerment of women and girls. This is a priority for Ireland in our aid program and in our foreign policy and I should say that we are proud that Ireland has become a leading voice on women peace and security and on addressing sexual and gender-based violence not least in our last two years in the past two years as an elected member of the Security Council but we finish our term at the end of this year and it will remain a priority for our Development and Humanitarian program and in our foreign policy. I won't go into the details but I will say that in our humanitarian spending we prioritise this issue and we know that we know from our partnerships the importance of increasing resources for the creation of safe spaces for women and girls and in particular I would highlight our partnership with the International Rescue Committee and I would also highlight the absolutely vital work that is needed to change the attitudes of men and boys and address harmful notions of masculinity. Attitudinal shifts during time of peace or relative stability can and will have a knock-on effect in reducing rates of gender-based violence during conflict so I on a more positive note I would say that the humanitarian system has never been more effective than it is today but unfortunately has never been more needed than it is today and has never faced a greater series of interlocking challenges than it does today but although needs are increasing millions more people are reached each year including more people at risk of sexual and violence and it is therefore incumbent on all of us to make sure that we continue to work together to reach those most vulnerable and most in need and I am really pleased now to invite Osiregner to deliver her remarks. Thank you very much. Good morning and thank you so much. Good morning and good afternoon I should say. Good morning from New York. I am the one who is very honoured to be with you today and I really want to thank all of you at the Institute of International and European Affairs for inviting me. I also want to thank Ireland and Irish aid for all the support to you and women and for to Ireland as a country for as a donor and partner to us but also for let's say every day discussions and interaction on these important topics not least during Ireland's time in the Security Council but really in general that Ireland as a country is very both involved and very supportive to our work so I want to express that because you're all part of that and we really benefit from that engagement. So the topic of today is of course a very unfortunately top of mind topic because so many armed conflicts are going on in the world and where women also suffer sexual violence in those conflicts and I'm thinking of course of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia which has now come up again or Sahel, Haiti as well it's a bit of another situation there but still as well as many other countries around the world. And as we also heard this violence is mostly well it is almost always committed by men and by far mostly against women but it also happens that men are victims and survivors of sexual violence in armed conflict. We also know that when it comes to this kind of violence in armed conflict it is from the side of the perpetrator quite an effective way to both violate rights and dignity of the woman which is most in the case but it also weakens whole societies and sometimes it is not only sexual violence but actually sexual violence that leads to killings and murder and that also makes if the woman in question has small children they are less likely to survive etc so this is really a weapon in the sense that you can weaken whole societies through this form of violence and especially when it is used as a weapon let's say. So the United Nations documented almost 3,300 cases of conflict related sexual violence which since we know it is very under reported for many reasons and I'll go into them to them we think that these 3,300 cases are just a small fraction of those that actually happened. In 2021 last year the Secretary General reported in his annual report on conflict related sexual violence that parties to conflict that we have we've seen these crimes in where perpetrators of these crimes remained active in the Central African Republic in DRC, in Iraq, in Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria. We as I mentioned before we also see and have reports about conflict related sexual violence in other crisis settings in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Afghanistan and as always it is really important to try to as early as possible document and investigate these crimes. I also want to say from the outset that here we talk about women as victor victims or more importantly survivors and whatever we do should be informed by survivors' demands and experiences and claims. Women are however also leaders and we do know that when we support women as leaders that is actually also part of the solution to peace in general when women are allowed so to speak to be the leaders that they are and have the right to be that actually helps communities stay together and it also helps sustain peace in communities. To come back to however these crimes and the situation around them we know that a giant problem is impunity. The special rapporteur on sexual violence in conflict said recently that conflict related sexual violence is war's oldest most silenced and least condemned crime. We know that impunity remains the rule and justice and impunity remains the rule and justice is the rare exception. We also know that services for survivors are scarce. We also know that the psychosocial needs that many of the survivors have are mostly unmet especially in humanitarian settings. We know as well that the stigma that survivors suffer is so intense sometimes that some of them choose to remain with their abusers instead of returning to their communities or their loved ones. We also know to come back to men's responsibility and the patriarchies that most of us live in and we also know that many of the armed conflicts actually can happen in very male dominated regions and areas and we know that when decision since decision making in these areas is often is largely male dominated and especially in the peace and security arena where peace talks if they occur unfortunately still seldom include women. We know that these crimes still go unattended many times. So therefore obviously we need to strengthen our efforts to understand how to address conflict related sexual violence in a broader way and again not only to protect women's and girls' rights although that's the most important thing because they have the rights these rights and it's about their lives but we also know as I said that it helps achieve durable peace and to keep societies together. We also know that despite the scale of the problem we know how today to prevent conflict related sexual violence it's not a natural disaster it's not an inevitable consequence of conflict we can prevent it and to talk about it like today is one way of doing that and to raise knowledge and awareness. So we need to understand that conflict related sexual violence entails what it entails and what the main causes and consequences are. It's crucial to understand that although conflict marks an abrupt disruption from peacetime and social political and economic systems and norms often result in unparalleled levels of violence and viciousness conflict related sexual violence does not occur in a void. Conflict sexual related sexual violence occurs within the structures of patriarchy as I said before male dominance in societies and gender inequality which are also present in peacetime and it manifests itself as an exacerbated often utilitarian systematic and brutal form of gender based violence. Also we know that in war or conflict time the violence from men towards women live with in civilian settings also increase. Accordingly when we talk about conflict related sexual violence we do refer to rape sexual slavery forced prostitution forced pregnancy forced abortion and forced sterilization forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence that is comparably grave and that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict which also entails related trafficking in person for the purpose of sexual violence or exploitation. So conflict related sexual violence is very complex obviously and it arises from multiple and many different forms of rude causes but the most prominent one obviously is gender inequality and the lower value of women and the the power that men have in their hands in these societies to start with. So to tackle these rude causes it is really important to address conflict related sexual violence early on and also in peacetime so prevention like everyday prevention is the best way of protecting and addressing gender inequality because it really is a rude cause. Data shows for example that states that have higher levels of gender equality at the outset are less likely to resort to the use of this kind of violence. Promoting gender equality in daily life let's say is therefore key to prevent both conflict and conflict related sexual violence. So what can we do this is not easy it's part of what you and women does on a daily basis. Obviously we need to promote women's social and economic empowerment and in fact when we ask women in conflict zones in Ukraine, Libya that we asked them recently in service what they and also in Afghanistan actually what they themselves need the most they say my own income and my own rights thereafter they can deal with violence they can deal with other issues but to promote women's own income through paid work and economic empowerment is really important. Also to ensure women's access to services and gender responsive justice extremely important as well as to support the development of gender responsive rule of law institutions which actually function and most importantly to protect and promote women's leadership through legislation and with resources including through the adoption and financing of national action plans on women peace and security according to the Security Council resolution 1325 and we know that they actually have an impact when they are there and when there is a budget that goes with them. So these are examples of the kind of action that you and women include close cooperation with women's civil society organizations, national governments and UN partners do undertake in both development settings as well as humanitarian settings conflict effect in conflict affected countries and and those also that have been affected by climate change where we often see both disasters and conflicts which are triggered by climate change. These are the kinds of action we are also trying to promote through something called the women peace security and humanitarian action compact and this was launched last year at the generation equality forum in Paris and this compact and other prevention efforts by the United Nations include for example systematic training of peacekeepers to detect deter and respond to sexual violence. It is about supporting communities in the establishment of local protection committees and early warning mechanisms. It's about the negotiation and support to the implementation of joint communiques and frameworks of cooperation with national governments on the response to conflict the prevention and response of a conflict related sexual violence and it is also the engagement with non-state armed groups in who commit sexual violence for example in the context such as the Central African Republic, Mali and South Sudan. So these are some of the efforts which are led by the SRSG on sexual violence, the special representative of sexual violence as well as the UN department of peacekeeping operation and it's supported by UN women and the UN system as a whole. Also to say something on Ukraine because we all have the Ukraine situation on our minds. The special reputator on sexual violence signed a framework of cooperation with the governments of Ukraine on behalf of the United Nations and UN women will be the implement one of the implementing partners and in that agreement they agreed that the UN will provide technical support to the government on prevention and response. Also to work together with local women civil society partners to support to strengthen them and to provide legal assistance to survivors throughout the country, very important and also to work with the partners on strengthening the capacities of the security sector to prevent and respond. And again it's really important to promote justice and accountability which addresses both prevention and response. We have also sent experts to the Human Rights Council mandated investigations of the sexual violence and as you know there's already been reports from them. So it is very important to ensure access to survivor-centered justice and reparations for victims in these contexts and there we have the best chance to interact and to mend the deep roots and to support women to come back to a dignified life that they themselves can design. So UN women has deployed for the last 10 years more than 100 experts on justice for sexual violence in conflict and we also work in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, DRC, Mali and Ukraine etc. Colombia is another country where UN women is very active and I'm sure you know that in the peace agreement there it actually has very clear language on gender equality and sexual violence related matters. So this is a whole of UN effort and we also always need our partners like yourselves in this and obviously as I said the services that the survivors need and ask for is immediate medical care including sexual and reproductive health care in humanitarian settings, psychosocial support and other activities that connect survivors to for them to be able to focus on healing, on empowerment and recovery. They again in very early need offers on social economic and livelihood support and as well again legal aid and legal advice that really accompanies them. We also have to conclude something that is called the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund which is also funded by some of the member states which we have been able to use lately both in Ukraine and Afghanistan for example where we can channel rapid and flexible funding to women's organizations who respond to crisis and who in their turn defend women's rights in conflict. This has shown to be a very effective tool and I want to point out that women's organizations in the world are really doing a tremendous job to protect and defend other women but many of them experience shrinking space including threats against themselves doing this work. They're also heavily underfunded in most of these settings. So I want to conclude by just saying that we are very honored and humbled to be working together with you and to be in these kinds of spaces and to discuss these enormously important issues that unfortunately are high on the agenda right now and we need to as part of the daily gender equality work really address in an age appropriate and respectful but still clear way the contributions that men and boys can make to gender equality and how men and boys can also contribute to a better world with more of justice for women and girls. Thank you so much. Thank you very much indeed Osa and it is such a frightening topic that you've raised with us when you look at the list that you listed was it isn't just sexual violence it's rape it's sexual slavery it's prostitution, sterilization, enforced sterilization, enforced early marriages and forced abortions. I mean I wonder at this stage we've known for years that sexual violence forms part of I suppose what goes on in a conflict situation and that it is used as I suppose a weapon of war. What success have you had in talking to the leaders of the countries where this is going on I mean these are their soldiers these are these they're their troops and they are their women and girls who are being treated like this is there is there any kind of dialogue going on with the leaders of some of these countries you listed in several countries so I know some of them probably difficult but there are countries that you feel you should be able to talk to just would you fill that in first please. Well thank you very much yes obviously this can be done on different levels and as you say it is difficult in depending on the situation in the country and also the the character of the de facto authority or the government and or if there even is a government but I mean in the countries where we work even women is present in 80 different countries and part of our daily work is to engage with the government's own gender equality and that almost always includes violence against women in different forms so in the best of cases we already have that dialogue and those channels so to speak open then I know for the women themselves the justice piece is extremely important so it is you know whatever we can do to facilitate that through investigations through strengthening the judicial systems you know as part of the prevention and so on is also really important and I actually do see in the world and we can we just had the open debate in the security council now two weeks ago or even last week where I am impressed every year by the fact that member states literally line up to speak into you know the late night hours because there are so many who want to talk about sexual violence so nowadays this is really a topic that governments are very aware of and most of them also feel they have to engage if you say what I mean on some level the problem we have however is that that engagement and the increased awareness all good things are not reflected enough in action so what we need is systems for implementation it is for governments to actually say yes this is as important as other atrocities happening during this war or this conflict and we need for governments and donors to invest invest in this work either as donors or as governments in the countries and that is lacking to a large extent and that's why we also don't really see women as part of peace those who sign peace agreements or even those who sit around the table when peace is discussed and I think unfortunately that to a too large extent the mindset that those who cause the violence are the only legitimate partners to discuss how to stop the violence and what will happen after that although we have evidence that women's presence actually makes a difference so there are different ways to do that but it takes a long time and it's it's a complicated I mean I'm just going to the most recent award that's on in Ukraine and we've heard already that there are there's evidence of sexual violence in in that war as well but one of the problems that comes across is that it takes so long and so much research to actually bring cases and I just wondered in the Ukraine situation is there much evidence of child trafficking and there is evidence obviously of sexual abuse rape but I just wondered getting in at the start of this war which is which is the most recent one is it possible to get to grips with preventing the traffic and we have instance here in Ireland of one case that's being examined where a child doesn't seem to be the child of the man that she's with so I just wondered is there early intervention that you can make in somewhere like Ukraine? Yes I think that this this from the outset I think this time different actors with responsibilities were more aware than ever and I think that helped to to a large extent I think that the European Union and the and the United Nations tried really to work together and to raise awareness however in the beginning of a war and that was the case in Ukraine as well it's very chaotic and but the issue was certainly top of mind from the beginning there are also several instances where we that women can turn to and campaigns online and in other ways to reach women and also hopefully children in these situations so that they know about their rights and where they can go in countries of recipient countries although many are of course also still within Ukraine. We had a seminar during women together with OSSC the EU the UN and civil society and I think that's the way to go forward to compare really who is doing what and how how can we also prosecute these cases so that is ongoing work but you might have seen the report on the 23rd of September I think it was from the first report from the investigators from the Human Rights Council and even for me and for us who work with this on an everyday basis it's very difficult reading because it is just it's it's just horrendous what happens and whether for example our evidence of rape both of four year olds and 82 year olds and very little respect of life and dignity and rights. On the trafficking piece we also kind of stated that we need to continue to follow this because it also becomes after a certain time like as you described perhaps it after several months it comes out in other forms like Ukrainian women, blonde Ukrainian women escorts and happy faces online for as if it it weren't trafficking it's it's something much more glamorous in the eyes of the buyer of this or I would say exploiters because who doesn't know why women leave Ukraine but I think that we learn a lot as we go from Ukraine because it is happening now and it's in social media both the parts that empower women and those who make women victims and we also have on early on investigators in the country so it's a little bit too early I think to say what can what is actually the success successful methods but at least I think the international community has really been aware and on it from the outset sorry for long answer. No that's okay I mean I think what you're saying the message you're giving is that it's up to each of the countries that are taking in refugees from Ukraine to be be aware that this is a problem and might be a problem with trafficking. I see Keane Fitzgerald one of our re senior researchers in the institute I think you have answered he says could you comment further on the gendered components of Russia's war and the role of the UN well I think you've answered that really you're very well aware of it. I have another question here Osa from Valerie Hughes and just to read Valerie's question she says allegations of widespread sexual abuse and exploitation in on the part of government controlled Syria by the Syrian Arab red crescent employees was highlighted at a recent webinar organized by the Middle East East Institute in Washington on the occasion of the publication of a report this week on UN procurement operation in Syria fairly long question might you have could you highlight what the UN is doing to address these allegations given the level of impunity of the Assad regime highlighted in the report and Valerie is a friend of the Syrian community in Ireland Valerie is a regular contributor to our institute and raises this issue at every opportunity she can so I just wondered if you have any information on that. Yeah she should and I mean to start with the situation in Syria which is really dire as we know I think unfortunately has come a bit out of the spotlight because there's so much of other crises going on and it's really important for that we raise it and talk about it also now with the crisis in in or the women protests in Iran so thank you for that question you and women does have a presence but but not the biggest I should say in relation to that conflict but perhaps if Valerie Valerie is very welcome to contact me offline and we can give her the information on what we're doing in that particular case I think that that yeah we'd be happy to do that. Thank you very much and Valerie you can take note of that I have another question here from Gerald Ahern he says I have commanded UN and EU forces in Africa my experience and observations on the aims of UN women is often impeded by the lack of knowledge and corporate experience of deployed UN women's personnel on the centres of influence within military forces and how within those forces their essential message can cascade down through the ranks of the military so he's calling into question whether there's enough knowledge being deployed by UN women about I suppose army systems have you any comment on that? Yeah no thank you for that question it's a very supportive one and there are different efforts to to discuss and to increase awareness obviously in these missions UN women is growing a lot which I'm happy about but we again we are not the biggest UN agency so sometimes especially in very complicated areas it is difficult for us to so to speak be everywhere I think that the secretary general has really called called out the peace keep but well at all levels and all or leadership within the UN when it comes to both parity and to to prioritise sexual violence against women and different well to improve the situation for women in armed conflict and to address atrocities and crimes committed against them and I do see that leadership is increasingly becoming female I think that happened that helps and that is also good for you and women personnel to have those allies they can also be men but it is important to have presence of women in these settings and so I can just say you know we really wanted to try to do what we can but sometimes we are because of our size not the most forceful perhaps UN agency although we really do try try and it should be an effort for the whole of the UN yes thank you I mean I'm aware that more women are getting involved in in armies and in military forces and that that has to help however I'm following on from Gerald Herron's question in my work as a chair of the oversight committee on women peace and security we have been briefed on training that isn't happening with all the UN troops that are going around the world and that are taking part in in peace missions and sadly and there are instances of where UN personnel themselves are guilty of sexual violence to women are you satisfied that you have the ear of the heads of the army training schools as it were to get that kind of message across mostly to the men who are in the army troops well I you know I really think from where I sit and when when I travel to the countries where you are women works also conflict settings that the message from the secretary general and UN leadership that there is zero tolerance and it is very strong however these are very big operations and it is it is really the also responsibility you know on all levels to transmit that message so I am absolutely convinced that the secretary general's message on this has gone to leadership throughout the UN whether it actually functions the way it should I cannot guarantee but it sure is certainly certainly should and I think that when if UN personnel or peacekeepers commit these crimes it has to be reported right away and it has to be dealt with very firmly because not only is that a atrocity in itself it it actually really goes back to the whole legitimacy of the United Nations and I think that UN leadership is very aware of that so so that is a big issue I can only say it's being discussed very much is there's been I don't know how many trainings discussions also people responsible to implement this this zero tolerance policy but we also know with these issues especially in settings where women have lower status lower value and perhaps also when peacekeepers come from countries where these messages are not so frequent it is extra important that leadership discusses this and just tells what is you know the message and the rules here are you satisfied also that that where evidence of UN personnel being involved in these crimes that their leadership take them out of the system I mean we've heard of stories of those men staying where they are there and they're not sanctioned or taken home and put in front of their courts would that be right in that assessment? I think that things have shifted enormously I think for example that the Me Too movement in 2017 where these issues really came up on the table and that also brought some of these situations into to the spotlight and I think also that it became very clear how first of all devastating this is for the person who suffers these crimes but it also became clear how this as I said again how much this is related to the United Nations legitimacy in general so I really do heartfelt believe that the way of dealing with perpetrators has improved enormously since during let's say the last five six years and not least because media has put spotlight on these occasions and also because brave survivors came forward and actually really jeopardized their their own careers perhaps as crazy as it sounds and whistleblowers both came forward and were also eventually listened to I think that has changed very very much the mentality and as far as I know those who are found out to having committed these kinds of crimes are let go immediately and dealt with according to the to the manuals and the rules and regulations that we have. Yes thank you very much and I have a question here from Keelan O'Sullivan who's our climate and development researcher in the institute and going back to something we touched on earlier and she asked how can those documenting and reporting on CRSV such as UN women find the right balance between investigating effectively and safely and engaging with the survivors without re-traumatizing them again that must be a very difficult area of work to be done. Yeah just thank you for that question and we have experts on that and also on the methodologies and as you point out that is really really important to try to both separate you know counseling and treatment for the woman in question and the other one for justice and for example to try to find ways of effectively asking questions as few times as possible for example and as I said to provide counseling and support in proper manners so we have experts who are really good at doing this and it's something that is top of mind for them and and if it's helpful I'm happy to provide more information on how that is done. Done yes thank you very much I have another question here from Keelan if it's Gerald. Sexual violence in particular conflict settings can often result in trauma that can reach across generations in particular where children are born of these crimes and you've already hinted that where that happens very often people are stigmatized and can't go back to their communities. How can support be provided for survivors that accounts for the potential for multi-generational trauma? I've read in some of the of the writing on this whole issue that sometimes impregnating women to try and what they call clean out their system is another weapon and therefore those children and those women are completely ostracized they can't go back home so I just wonder what kind of areas can you actually take action in? Yeah yeah from you and women's side and also together with other human agencies like UNICEF and UNFPA where we have different roles in this. This is a well-known situation and I think all of us who've been to conflict settings or for example northern Nigeria where terrorists are also committing terrible crimes against women and children and sexual violence you would see women and even girls because they're often very young and they would sit there and they have their toddler or newborn on their laps but as far away from their bondage as possible still on their laps and I mean that's a heartbreaking thing to see for both of them and as you said it is sometimes for different reasons not possible for them to go back to their communities so for us it is important to go through what kind of support can this girl or woman benefit from the most what does she want obviously and what can we provide and how can is it possible to have reintegration or is it possible to support her with livelihood so what is the best way for her and I think that in humanitarian work and also in development because I mean these situations can occur also from civilian violence against women if you see what I mean then I think we have underestimated psychosocial support for the longest time and it's also not that's funded that you know as often as it should but I see that that is more and more part of what we are doing and need to do so I think we are very aware of this and it depends of course is this a camp situation refugee camp situation is it in a terrorist zone is it in a village so it it it kind of all depends sometimes women's groups local women's groups are there to support and reach out that's not uncommon then we can support them etc etc yeah yes it's it's a frightening situation I just want to return to something osa and COVID-19 did that cause an added problem for this kind of violence and activity and and did it diminish some of the advances that perhaps had been made in gender equality in some of the communities I just wondered how do any comments about the effect of COVID-19 around the world because we've heard in media reports and that that it did have an effect no it certainly did it went the world went backwards on gender equality and we had already before the outbreak of COVID measured the Beijing conference conference that was held in 1995 so we measured what happened 25 years later and then saw that sorry we saw that the world in general was severely off track in relation to the commitments from 1995 in terms of gender equality we also measured the 1325 resolution plus 20 and saw the same thing that we still saw legislation we saw more of reforms and more of talking if you see what I mean talking is good but it's not enough because what countries had not done enough was to fund and create systems for implementation and that was before COVID already so when COVID hit it was already very fragile when it comes to gender equality institutions let's say and and implementation and during COVID we measured for example that violence from the side of men towards women who they live or lived with increased quite drastically in all countries that we could measure and unfortunately we've also seen that in many cases the levels have remained higher perhaps lower than during lockdowns but they have remained higher than before COVID and you also know that in many countries women were forced so to speak to leave the labor market and stay at home to do schooling or other things without having any say and so in general there are many reasons for that but also women were also socioeconomically harder hit by COVID so it is really important that the world tries to invest in this and build stronger societies in terms of gender equality and I think that you know I guess many of us certainly understand why governments feel they need to support Ukraine right now for example and and beef up their own defense and so on I mean that's for member states to decide but we are worried that we do see a trend again where we know that investments in socioeconomic systems and gender equality is much needed but we fear that instead the money goes elsewhere for example into increased expenditure for defense and weapons and other priorities which are not related to gender equality and thus might not help to keep societies together and to implement rights so that's another reason that it's good to highlight this and have dialogues around that and remind yes I mean there's another comment here about the collapse of the Islamic state and the women and children who are in the detention camps yes we've heard we've heard awful stories but I hope that maybe the humanitarian organizations who are working around maybe not inside the camps but in a lot of the periphery areas of the camps can lessen some of the danger zones we've heard of stories of women being afraid to go to the use the toilets and not letting their children out at night and things like that because they are areas where they will be attacked I mean the UN women must have some role in in talking to the people who run those camps to try and lessen every opportunity there is for sexual violence yes no absolutely we do as part of the UN system we certainly do and but that's also a very complicated and protracted situation and where many of these women have not been able to return to to their countries as you know and but we are working together with the the rest of the human system to address this situation as well as we can yeah thank you very much I just just wanted to just raise one maybe very brief issue maybe you could just talk to me for a minute about Afghanistan it's kind of because of Ukraine yeah sort of gone off the agenda and Ireland has taken in people from Afghanistan particularly women and and children who are in particular particularly in in certain careers had very good jobs and now they are in danger is there any kind of dialogue going on with the Taliban with regard to the role they have with women I mean the closed schools there's there's terrible hunger but there's also sexual violence so just maybe as a as a last question I might ask you have you anything you wanted to share with us about Afghanistan no absolutely that's one of the biggest programs that we have obviously and the situation is extremely difficult for women's rights because the Taliban have deprived women of their rights and and for example not reinstalled education for girls all over the country or in big parts of the country they haven't so I want to also thank Ireland for its leadership in relation to the new Yunama resolution the resolution that leads the UN work in the country because it has strong gender equality language and that's not just language it really helps to to to prioritize within that mission it now has a new a new head of mission and we have been engaging both before the General Assembly and during the open debate and the Security Council and also in other times with Afghan women who are either in the diaspora or in the country and they are very adamant as so many member states to not legitimize acknowledge in any way give some kind of power to the Taliban that they shouldn't have what the UN needs to do however is for the for for women and men but it's you need different things to be able to to access humanitarian services you need to go to the to the regions and and they are discussed with local Taliban to just negotiate the opening for example of shelters for families or shelters for women and so on so UN women's work in Afghanistan is to a large extent about supporting women's organizations and women's leaders who are there try to help women's livelihoods when possible and also try to reopen shelters and centers that we had for women before the Taliban took over and it functions in some parts of the country and in some parts it does not so but we're working really hard there and we're very grateful for for Ireland's support and that's a long-term job and I agree with you it's unfortunate that it has become a bit quiet around Afghanistan because the problems are actually very severe. Just finally could I just say from Pauline Conroy who's a former ambassador she she says there hasn't been much mention of the conflict related GBV in T-gray in the T-gray war in Ethiopia I have read about it and it is just horrendous what's going on there. It is yes no it certainly is and there was a report that came came out from the the group in the Human Rights Council I forget their name now on Human Rights in Ethiopia and T-gray they came up with the report just the other day and as you say we've also read before through the special representative on sexual violence in our conflict it is it is it's terrible what is happening there and human women has an office which is also pretty good size for us in Ethiopia so again we try to respond to that with the rest of the system but it is also difficult to even get into T-gray as we know but we that is certainly a priority for us and something that just before I went in here I had new new messages from colleagues in Ethiopia on this situation since we know that that the attacks and violence has restarted unfortunately and but we also know that there are intense from the African Union side of peace talks and for us it's important to influence and support the women's rights perspective of those talks. Yeah well thank you very much Osa unfortunately there are more questions but we're running out of time now I mean we really could nearly go through each of those individual countries you listed and and here the the horrors of what's going on but I want to thank you most sincerely for your expertise and for your presentation today it's frightening and for those of us who have the the the joy of living in a safe country mostly where we don't get attacked and we we aren't in conflict and you have given us a lot of food for thought so I want to thank you most sincerely and wish you continued success you have here and there given us little glimmers of improvements and hopes that things are happening and I want to thank Keel and O'Sullivan who helped prepare for this meeting today to lork and looked after the the IT section of it and to all of our viewers today thank you for your questions thank you for your interest and thank you of course to Ambassador Michael Gaffey for for being here with us and I wish you all a very good afternoon and thank you again Osa thank you no thanks thanks so much to all of you it was an honor to be here as I said and really if there are concrete unanswered questions it's absolutely okay and invited to send those per mail and then our experts can get in touch so thank you thank you very much indeed and good afternoon to you and good afternoon to our all audience