UN Security Council Urges Global Shift “Women, Peace and Security”
NEW YORK, NY (July 8, 2026) — The United Nations Security Council convened its 10,190th meeting under the presidency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for a high-level open debate titled “Women, Peace, and Security: Honouring the Promise of International Law to Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.”
Seventeen years after the Security Council first recognized sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security, more than 70 global delegations gathered to review the UN Secretary-General’s annual report and confront the reality that these crimes remain widespread and systematic.
Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefed the Council, emphasizing that political condemnation is no longer enough. The debate underscored the critical need for a transition toward concrete enforcement, national accountability frameworks, and targeted sanctions against perpetrators.
“Justice must be measured not just by convictions, but by the tangible support delivered to those who survive,” stated delegations during the multi-part session. The debate highlighted a comprehensive, survivor-centric approach to justice that integrates legal reparations with long-term mental health, medical, and psychosocial care.
The session also celebrated operational successes, citing the DRC’s recent systemic risk mitigation efforts and cooperation with UN Women’s Protection Advisers, which successfully drove down sexual violence cases linked to local police forces. However, briefers and member states universally warned that true security cannot be achieved until women are fully integrated into the peacebuilding and political reconstruction processes meant to reshape their post-conflict societies.
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