The Federation Council Speaker made this statement in Geneva during the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, which is taking place on the eve of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko
Matvienko
Valentina Representative of the executive authority of the city of St Petersburg
delivered her
remarks at the session titled “The women, peace and security agenda 25 years
on: Persisting challenges and the way forward” during the 15th
Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. The event was organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
In her opening remarks, IPU President Tulia Ackson noted the special significance of the summit, reflecting current global trends: “Women are increasingly heading state institutions and being involved in shaping policy. In 1995, only 10 percent of parliamentary chambers in various countries were led by women; now this figure stands at 23.7 percent. The trend is obvious and irreversible. The current summit is a unique platform that allows women leaders to come together.”
Valentina Matvienko noted the relevance of the agenda proposed for the Summit: “We used to refer to the time when the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on women in international conflicts as a post-war era. Our days are anxiously depicted as pre-war. This is what those who disregard the will and voice of the people say. Our voice matters, because women make up half of human civilisation. They say that the face of war is not the face of a woman. This means that peace should definitely have the face of a woman,” the Speaker said.
“Having endured two world wars, humankind cannot afford paralysis of will. Some politicians are already seriously discussing how to survive a nuclear apocalypse, instead of seeking ways to prevent it and avert the worst scenario,” she added.
The Federation Council Speaker recalled that, according to UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women and children constitute the overwhelming majority of victims of armed conflicts. According to her, the number of conflicts has doubled in the past 10 years. “It is time to resolutely stand up for peace, for our own sake and for the sake of our children. The resolution calls for ensuring the effective participation of women in preventing, managing and settling conflicts. Has this been achieved in practice? Alas, no,” Valentina Matvienko noted.
She urged her foreign colleagues to reaffirm this call for dialogue rather than an arms race in the summit’s outcome document. “Cooperation in lieu of sanctions. Indivisible security, instead of expanding military alliances. Respect for each nation’s chosen path of development, instead of lecturing others or staging interventions,” she said.
“The time has come for those who will help humanity find the right path to peace, where the security of each nation is a condition for the security of all. Russian women are ready to contribute to these joint efforts,” the Speaker said.
Valentina Matvienko responded to the provocative statements made by Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Markéta Pekarová Adamová: “I urge you to always be honest, tell each other the truth, be guided by facts in your assessments and not blindly reproduce the anti-Russia rhetoric that is being spread as part of the information war declared against Russia.”
She stressed that the conflict in Ukraine arose in 2014 following a bloody anti-constitutional coup which involved several Western countries. “After this, the Nazis came to power and banned the Russian language. For eight years since 2014, Russia has been calling for peace and a diplomatic solution to the internal Ukrainian conflict within the framework of the Minsk Agreements at all international venues. Instead, for eight years, the Kiev regime has been shelling the peaceful regions of Donbass and Novorossiya, killing women, children and the elderly, with 14,000 lives lost during this time.”
Valentina Matvienko invited her foreign colleagues to visit Donbass and see the Alley of Angels, which is dedicated to the memory of the murdered children: “Russia had no other choice by to intervene to stop this bloodshed and the massacre of civilians,” she said, adding that 27 July is observed in Russia as the Day of Remembrance of Children Victims of the War in Donbass.
The 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament is taking place ahead of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
The delegation of the Federation Council includes Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev,
Kosachev
Konstantin Representative of the executive authority of the Republic of Mari El
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Lilia Gumerova
Gumerova
Lilia Representative of the executive authority of the Republic of Bashkortostan
, and First Deputy Chair
of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov.
Denisov
Andrey Representative of the executive authority of the Saratov Region
