By Martin Banks - 27th January 2010
We need to consciously target this
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
A major international conference in Brussels was told that Spain will use it EU presidency to "actively" promote the role of women in conflict resolution.
Spanish vice-president Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told the gathering that the presidency would launch new proposals in the coming six months aimed at the "empowerment" of women in conflict zones such as Afghanistan.
She said that nowadays 90 per cent of the victims of such conflicts were civilians and that the majority of these are women and children.
"In conflict areas, women all too often are victims of sexual abuse or forced labour. But, on the contrary, women can be agents of peace and security," she said.
Speaking at the same event on Wednesday, Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, conceded that "better use" could be made of women in Nato operations around the world.
Currently, he said, there was a shortage of trained women soldiers, interpreters and "gender specialists" in Nato armed forces.
Female representation in such positions in some national Nato forces was as high as 18 per cent while in others it was as low as three per cent, he said.
"We need to consciously target this and we also need more cooperation and coordination on the gender issue between Nato forces," he said.
Outgoing commission vice-president Margot Wallström said that sexual violence had become a "tool of modern warfare".
"It is criminal and each of us here today has a responsibility to do something about it," said the Swedish official.
"This conference will enable us to discuss the issue and identify what the EU and others can do to empower women and end such sexual violence in conflict areas."
The EU's new foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, was due to speak at the conference, organised by the EU and Nato, but had to pull out because she was in Yemen.
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