Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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October 6, 2025 Peace and security
Peace cannot be built without the participation of women, but real change in the lives of women and girls caught up in conflict is still a long way off, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a Security Council meeting dedicated to Resolution 1325.
The Women, Peace and Security resolution was adopted 25 years ago, in October 2000. It is a landmark document that affirms the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution and calls for their equal participation in all efforts to maintain peace and security.
"We need real results"
“Too often we gather in rooms like these, full of conviction and determination, but ultimately fail to achieve real change in the lives of women and girls caught up in conflict,” the Secretary-General said.
The UN chief emphasized that over the past 25 years, women have played a key role in mediation, legislative reform, and protecting the rights of survivors of gender-based violence. More than 100 countries have adopted national plans to implement the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, and the number of women serving in UN peacekeeping missions has doubled.
He also noted that recent years have seen an increase in military spending, armed conflicts, and violence against women and girls. According to the UN, 676 million women live within 50 kilometers of war zones—a record high in decades.
The surge in sexual violence is particularly concerning: the number of reported attacks on girls increased by 35 percent last year. The Secretary-General also noted the increase in maternal mortality in conflict zones.
He specifically addressed the situation in Afghanistan, where “the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life is in full swing,” and also mentioned the critical situations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.
The Secretary-General is concerned that women-led organizations are being deprived of resources, even though they provide vital support to millions of people. According to the UN, 90 percent of such groups in conflict zones are experiencing financial difficulties, and almost half are at risk of closing within six months.
The Secretary-General called for women's participation in peace negotiations and emphasized that women's role in peacebuilding is irreplaceable.
“The world doesn’t need more reminders of this truth – it needs real results that reflect it.”
Sima Bacchus: "Opponents of equality are against the future"
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bacchus stated at a Security Council meeting that support for the principles of equality and women's participation in peacebuilding remains strong globally, despite pressure. She emphasized that even in Afghanistan, the majority of citizens—women and men—support girls' right to education.
"Even in Afghanistan, our monitoring data shows that 92 percent of Afghans – both women and men – believe that girls should have the opportunity to receive secondary education," Bacchus said.
She noted that despite the severe restrictions, Afghan women retain hope for the future.
The head of UN Women stated that the normalization of misogyny in politics and conflict is not an inevitable trend: "Some believe the growth and normalization of misogyny in politics and conflict is unstoppable. This is not the case. Those who oppose equality do not own the future—it is ours."
Photo by UN
Bacchus stressed that the situation for women and girls could get worse before it gets better, primarily due to conflict and reduced humanitarian funding.
Despite this, she emphasized that women continue to be a driving force for peace. For example, in Haiti, women achieved near-equal representation in the new electoral council, and in Chad, they doubled their presence in parliament. Syria adopted an interim constitution guaranteeing the protection of women's rights, and Ukraine implemented gender-responsive budgeting.
Sima Bacchus called on states to increase investment in women's organizations, especially at the grassroots level. She emphasized that for 25 years, the global community has focused too much on international institutions, neglecting movements within countries. The head of UN Women proposed measuring progress not by declarations, but by concrete results – the number of women at the negotiating table and access to justice.
"When women lead, peace comes," Bacchus said.
Robotic tractors and combines will help protect agricultural workers.
Olga Uskova, President of the Russian company Cognitive Pilot, a leading developer of AI-powered autonomous ground transportation systems and AI-powered service robots, also spoke at the Security Council. The company produces "artificial brains" for tractors, combine harvesters, and sprayers, enabling modern machines to perform a full range of agricultural tasks without human intervention.
According to Uskova, women in Russia have historically been actively involved in the most complex and cutting-edge scientific and technological fields. Of the 73 patents registered by Cognitive Pilot in robotics and AI, 28 belong to teams led by women.
She recounted her trip to Kigali, Rwanda, seven years ago, as well as a recent trip to Belgorod: "Some Belgorod children and their mothers are experiencing panic attacks, bedwetting, and forced to switch to distance learning," Uskova said.
"We're deploying robotic tractors and combines all over the world so that no one's parents will ever be blown up in fields by mines and war drones while growing grain. And so that the little ones of Belgorod will always smile when they greet their living parents coming home from work. So that the children of Africa will eat bread grown in Russia and no longer die of hunger or bombs," she added.
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