By Gina Christian
Women must be able to “exercise their leadership” and become “artisans of peace and guardians of life,” as the global community fractures and conflicts increase, the Vatican has told the United Nations.
The Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the UN shared its thoughts in a statement on 2 September during the global body’s High-Level Forum on implementing the Program of Action on a Culture of Peace.
The annual forum – which has been held since 2012, and which took place at the UN’s New York headquarters – furthers the aims of the UN General Assembly’s 1999 resolution to foster worldwide peace and nonviolence.
This year’s forum focused on the importance of women’s leadership in attaining that goal.
In its advance summary of the gathering, the office of UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock stressed that a culture of peace “means not only the absence of conflict and violence, but the presence of justice, gender equality, and inclusive decision-making.”
The summary, known as a concept note, also highlighted the need for “expanding the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in (the) political and peace process” while also “ensuring women’s access to justice.”
“In these fragmented times, the need for a sustainable culture of peace has never been more urgent,” said the concept note.
The UN Holy See mission affirmed that need in its statement, warning that “in the current international context, a culture of power is taking hold, normalising war and changing behaviour and relationships.”
With this dynamic overtaking “diplomacy based on respectful dialogue,” said the Holy See UN mission, “it is crucial to foster a culture of peace that challenges the current ‘culture of power.'”
“Women can and should play a much greater role in all these processes which are intended to heal societies fractured by violence and chaos,” the mission said in its statement.
The mission pointed to both the UN’s 1999 resolution on peace and to Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, quoting the pope’s assertion that it is “not enough to state simply that men and women have equal dignity and rights; it is necessary that this be reflected in concrete decisions, such as in laws, access to employment, education, social and political responsibilities, and the way society listens to and values women’s contributions.”
And, said the Holy See’s UN mission, “It is only by closing this gap that women will have the possibility to become artisans of peace and guardians of life, thereby enabling a ‘culture of peace’ to restore trust among nations.”
