It sometimes still surprises me as to how many people in this country view international development as essentially a non- political issue - in large part this is the result of the media's often superficial coverage which mainly focuses on graphic scenes directly following a disaster, charity appeals from church leaders or the views of a small number of super-rich celebrities. But yet even the most casual analysis of why so many of the world's population continue to live in dire poverty must lead to the overwhelming conclusion that it is the lack of power - economic, social and political - which continues to hold people back from the opportunity to achieve progress for both them and their families. That's why I would argue that political action is the key to change.
One of the most glaring barriers to progress that still receives far too scant attention is the rights of women and children yet they represent the greatest number of those still living in absolute poverty today. This must not be an issue that is defined only by access to primary schooling or to niche areas such as micro-credit funding. Gender should be an issue that permeates all levels and areas of our development policy. The voices of children also need to be heard as they are often the ones that suffer most from entrenched absolute poverty but whose specific problems such as child labour or migration rarely receive the priority they deserve.
We should not accept that this is an area which should take second preference to cultural or religious traditions or be portrayed as "western driven" - the rights we seek to support are internationally agreed and long standing but we recognise in many parts of the world they still represent a threat to entrenched power structures. The extension of both women's and children's rights should be viewed not only as indicators of progress within the MDG targets but also key in areas such as security, governance, anti-corruption and democracy.
Today I would like to particularly focus on those areas of the world where women's rights are most at risk and where we are witnessing Wars against Women.
In many of the worst conflict zones such as Darfur and the DRC, violence against women has become one of the main forms of warfare - protection of women and children must be uppermost in setting the response of the international community.
Predominantly violence against women and children is enacted through, but not limited to: domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, crimes in the name of honour, femicide, trafficking and sexual harassment.
According to Plan International, between 8 and 10 per cent of people with HIV are affected by conflict, humanitarian crisis and/ or displacement. This figure rises to 14% when it is just to account for young people under the ages of 15. Rape has contributed largely to the spread of HIV, and has unfortunately become a common tactic in modern day conflicts. Rape as a tool of war and retaliation has also been documented in Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burma and other developing countries. Children are also often used as a weapon of war, where their impressionability and innocence mean they can be easily manipulated into violence and military recruitment. There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world, many of whom are girls that are increasingly bearing arms, although they are more commonly used as cooks, porters, nurses and to provide sexual services for male troops.
The incidence of sexual violence is highly correlated with the prevalence of armed conflict. Whilst it is the case that sexual violence has historically been widespread during times of warfare the world over , recent years in Africa have shown this to be particularly true. Wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Uganda (to name only a few) have been accompanied by the widespread use of rape and other sexual violence. The statistics are startling. In DRC, it is believed that over the course of the last decade, tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of women have been raped . It is estimated that over 500,000 women were raped during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 (de Brouwer 2005), while in Sierra Leone it is believed that around 9% of the female population suffered some form of sexual assault during the conflict of the 1990s .
Debate rages as to why Sexual violence rates are so high during periods of armed conflict. From the literature there appear to be two principal explanations. The first holds that, as a result of the generalised chaos and frequent social breakdown that accompany warfare, the disincentives against engaging in SGBV are reduced, if not removed, while the 'opportunity' to do so increases. In this understanding, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is not symptomatic of a systematic or premeditated strategy; rather, it reflects the fact that many individual combatants (or, indeed, groups of combatants) respond to the increased 'freedom' they have in similarly abusive fashion (Wood 2006: 321-2) . The second explanation focuses on cases where sexual violence represents a deliberate, organized, proto-military tactic designed either to kill, demoralise or remove the population in question . Where occurs, as in Rwanda in 1994 , it falls in the class of 'crimes against humanity' or even 'genocide'. In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda made the landmark decision that rape is a crime of genocide under international law.
Many women for perceived health, religious, aesthetic and sociological reasons have been subject to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). According to UNICEF website, "An estimated 70 million girls and women living today have been subjected to FGM/C in Africa and Yemen." There are numerous international efforts to reduce these forms of violence against women and children in developing countries, some initiatives are documented below.
Afghanistan experience
Very often in fragile states which drift in and out of conflict, domestic security can be virtually non-existent and legal systems are completely underdeveloped. National police forces, unlike the military, need to operate under a domestic legal system with a functioning judiciary. The faster such systems can be put in place, the greater likelihood of achieving a more permanent peace as people¿s confidence in their state to protect increases.
It is also the key issue in allowing the military be it the state¿s own forces or a regional/international army - to hand over jurisdiction of civilian affairs without undue delay. For domestic armed forces the longer the time in making the transfer the greater the risk that the military will dominate the government processes. For international forces the disadvantages of being viewed as a hostile army of occupation will increase. The international community in its responses to these crisis states needs to prepare the ground for these changes with much greater priority and at a much faster rate than has happened previously.
We need to consider carefully how we can support the preservation of fundamental human rights based on International law which we hold as having universal application within legal systems which have been previously based on traditional or sharia laws ¿ whilst we accept that states must have the space to come to their own decisions on their legal systems, we must ensure that the voices of the marginalised, particularly women, are clearly represented at every level which may have influence.
However women must not only be viewed as victims but also as equal partners when seeking solutions to achieving security and civil order. The UK government is taking a key role in developing strategy based on UN Security Council resolution 1325 which specifically calls for women to be fully involved in decision making in every conflict area in which they operate. The use of women members of the armed forces in such fragile states has been of immense value and we must continue to actively promote the recruitment of more women into our armed services as part of this response.
Women account for 70% of the world¿s poor and because they face systematic discrimination their opportunities to escape poverty are correspondingly less. It is accordingly essential that all of our development policies and not just those with a specific focus on women are based around achieving gender equality.
We need to support women in calling for improvements in their legal rights - be it compulsory birth registration; protection against domestic and sexual violence; right to land or inheritance laws - and changes within their own societies to challenge the discrimination that they face both at home and in work.
Tackling illiteracy particularly amongst girls and adult women needs to have priority if we are to provide women with better opportunities. We also need to give greater support for initiatives that encourage girls to continue their education for longer and address cultural barriers to female employment.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979, recognized gender discrimination as the root of violence against women. In 1993, at the World Conference on Human Rights, governments recognized women¿s rights as human rights, and that violence against women is an abuse of these rights.
The 2000 Millennium Declaration recognized the global potential to realize a new vision, and the dangers that threaten it, including gender-based violence. The same year, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1325, recognizing the impact of war on women and women's role in peace-building. This was strengthened in 2008 by resolution 1820, recognizing sexual violence in conflict as a security issue, demanding a security response.
Mid-way to 2015, the momentum is building. A total of 185 states have ratified the CEDAW Convention, and 90 have ratified its optional protocol, giving individuals and groups of women the right to take complaints about violations of their rights directly to the Commission and request an investigation. Most states have adopted laws and policies to eliminate gender discrimination in health and education, employment and political life and at least 89 states have some legislative provisions to address domestic violence. Rape is now a crime in almost all states, and marital rape can be prosecuted in at least 104 states.
Today it is vital to sustain this momentum. Gains can be reversed, as we witness every day. While the implementation gap narrows, new threats arise, including climate change, widespread food insecurity and a global financial crisis that is expected to push 46 million more people into extreme poverty. The crisis has intensified the struggle for resources - both across and within countries -fueling the resurgence of fear and armed conflicts and endangering progress on women's rights. Despite more commitments, including at the highest levels, the gaps on the ground are vast: violence against women continues, and impunity remains the norm, rather than the exception. We need women throughout the world to speak out now to stop the War against our fellow sisters.