Inclusion about ‘Who Holds Authority’, Deputy Secretary-General Says at High-Level Event on Power of Women to Shape Agendas, Draft Agreements, Lead Implementation

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks at the high-level event organized by the Permanent Mission of Namibia to the United Nations titled "The Power of WPS: Advancing Inclusive Decision-Making in Peace and Security", held in New York today:

Thank you to Ambassador Naanda, and the Government of Namibia for hosting us today. I also thank UN-Women, the African Union and the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact for convening this important commemoration - women at the table.

The Beijing Declaration set a global vision for women's equality and empowerment 30 years ago, and Namibia turned that vision into action at the Security Council. Under Namibia's presidency, the Council adopted a resolution that fundamentally changed how the world understands peace and security. Resolution 1325 (2000) recognized a truth that women everywhere had long known: Peace cannot be built or sustained without their leadership.

Namibia's courage in 2000 set a global standard, and the same determination that drove this agenda forward then must drive us to deliver on it now. We know this comes at an incredibly difficult moment.

Last year, global military spending was $2.7 trillion while we face a shortfall of $4.2 trillion per year to finance the sustainable development agenda, which means we spend far more on weapons than we are on preventing the conflicts that require them. So, we have to ask ourselves: Are we implementing resolution 1325 (2000), or are we here today simply to remember it?

The Windhoek+25 Declaration, adopted earlier this month, reinforced what Namibia has maintained from the start: Inclusion is not about headcount, it's about who holds authority. Women must shape agendas, draft agreements and oversee their implementation.

The Accountability Report published today tracks the progress and achievements of signatories across the five pillars of the plan of action in the Compact: financing, participation, leadership, economic security and protection. The Compact now has 240 signatories - Governments, UN entities, regional bodies, civil society and the private sector - double the number that it had four years ago. Last year, Compact partners put more than $2.1 billion into this work and reached more than 27 million women and girls.

If we look at where the implementation has been intensified - Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine - in every one of these places, women are already mediating truces, running health services and restoring community trust while formal negotiations - most of which they are not involved in - stall.

But the report also reveals fractures we cannot ignore. Fifty-eight per cent of signatories faced funding cuts last year. Nearly a quarter of Governments reported roll-backs on women's rights, and attacks on multilateralism are undermining the very systems designed to protect these gains.

This is the contradiction we face: The architecture for women's participation is expanding while the resources required to sustain it are being hollowed out. So, what do we do? The Compact identifies three priorities: Prevention, solidarity and action.

First, prevention means implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and tackling the root causes of conflict: Inequality, exclusion and impunity. It requires early warning systems that include gender analysis, so women's insights guide how we anticipate and defuse crises before they escalate.

Second, solidarity and support means standing with people and working across regions and generations. It means connecting local women's groups to national decision making and linking experienced mediators with young peacebuilders who are already reshaping their societies.

The young leaders I have met doing this work are incredible, so is their conviction and their courage is unstoppable. We need that next generation in the arena: From millennials to Gen Z and the rising Gen Alpha, youth are already reshaping how peace is built and sustained.

Third, action means requiring women in every party's delegation, with quotas required for women in leadership and in each party's delegation. It means gender parity in mediation teams and dedicated funding lines for women peacebuilders. It means covering logistics so that women can actually participate. It means supporting and protecting women peacebuilders from retaliation so they can speak freely without fear of reprisal.

All three priorities - prevention, solidarity and action - are achievable steps, and the Secretary-General has outlined exactly how to take them. Many of these require stronger political will and additional funding. Member States can endorse minimum targets for investment and women's participation. They can pilot quotas in peace processes. They can sustain funding for initiatives like the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund.

All these are choices within our reach today and the Compact is designed to help us make them. The Compact is a living instrument designed to track progress, expose gaps and hold all of us accountable to the same standards. What it cannot do is substitute for political leadership - that must come from our leaders.

Let me close with this. We will measure the success of this agenda by the number of conflicts resolved through inclusive solutions, the number of women who directly influence peace negotiations and security sector reform, and the number of survivors who access justice and reparations.

We will know it has succeeded when peacebuilding and sustainable development move hand in hand - giving women and their communities the chance to build a future of stability and opportunity. Those are the metrics that matter.

Twenty-five years ago, Namibia led the way. Today, under the leadership of Her Excellency President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah - the first elected woman President of Namibia - that legacy continues with renewed purpose and resolve. She laid down the gauntlet for all of us to act with the same courage and conviction that defined Namibia's leadership then.

We can meet that challenge and turn the promise of resolution 1325 (2000) into a living reality for every woman, for every girl in every generation. Thank you.