PHNOM PENH: The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, DPM Prak Sokhonn, has emphasized the important role women play in the peacebuilding process. He made this remark during the opening ceremony of the ‘Workshop on Gender, Law and Armed Conflict: At the Intersection of International Humanitarian Law and the WPS Agenda’ on Tuesday, 6 December, at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phnom Penh.

DPM Prak Sokhonn said that he was happy to see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs collaborate with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to promote this agenda, bringing together the notion of gender in a humanitarian context and presented through the lens of the WPS angle.

Reflecting on the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits hosted by Cambodia last month, the DPM said that the Summits were a remarkable success, and despite there being tremendous challenges in every aspect of the meetings, ASEAN Leaders were still able to hold productive dialogues to address many issues and crises facing the region and the whole world.

“The WPS agenda, which highlighted the critical role that women can play in terms of peacebuilding and security, was certainly high on the list of our chairmanship as attested by the adoption of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security,” he said. “With this instrument in place, we have the prerequisite framework to mobilize at the national and regional levels concrete actions covering the pillars of women, peace and security, namely: the protection, participation, prevention, and relief and recovery.”

DPM Prak Sokhonn stated that women have played a significant role in the area of peacekeeping operations. Since 2006, more than 8,000 Cambodian Blue Helmets have served in nine different countries under the umbrella of the United Nations. Currently, 801 Cambodian troops, out of which 118 are women, are serving in South Sudan, Lebanon, Central African Republic and Mali. He added that Cambodia ranks second in ASEAN and 12th in the world in terms of the number of women peacekeepers among all troop contributing countries.

He further noted that the ASEAN Defense Ministers expressly recognized women's role when they adopted the Concept Paper on Enhancing Supporting Mechanism for ASEAN Women Peacekeepers. More recently, at the ADMM Plus in Siem Reap, Defense Ministers expressed a commitment to strengthening the meaningful participation of women in peace and security cooperation, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

“In my view, the approach we have taken on WPS is not limited nor restricted only to peace and conflict issues,” he added. “We have engaged in other dimensions, the like of human security and sustainable development. We all can appreciate the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the job prospect and well-being of women and children even during peacetime. This is an integral aspect of security as well.”

For this reason, DPM Prak Sokhonn said that Cambodia has pushed hard on promoting the important roles women play in maintaining economic security and recovery, during the country’s ASEAN Chairmanship. On that note, the DPM extended special recognition to the Minister of Women's Affairs, Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi, and the whole working team from the ministry, for successfully convening the 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit in October under the theme "Building a More Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Future: Unlocking Women's Entrepreneurship in ASEAN.”

Concluding his remarks, the DPM said that the world is now facing many political issues and humanitarian drama as a result of ongoing geopolitical rivalries and the great competition between powers. Ongoing crises and armed conflicts in many parts of the world have taken a heavy toll on people all over the world, and mostly on women and children.

“I believe that we, as responsible stakeholders of the international community, should take appropriate actions to ensure that women and children in those conflict-affected areas are safer, from all forms of violence. Safer, that is all we can realistically hope for,” said DPM Prak Sokhonn.

“If we can use International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to add legal force to the WPS protection pillar, I believe it would be a big step forward.”