Mr. Maurice Sadlier:

I will address three points, the first of which has to do with Afghanistan. It is concerning to see the regression there. World Vision is active on the ground and has been in Afghanistan for 30-plus years. We had hoped my colleague, Ms Asuntha Charles, the national director in Afghanistan, would be in attendance today, but she is actually taking some leave for the first time since it all backslid last year.

As actors on the ground, we will continue with quiet diplomacy and advocacy for education and women's rights, but we need engagement at the highest level as well. It must be continuous engagement. The situation is not something we as implementers on the ground can fix. It is very concerning and has significant implications.

Regarding behavioural change and legal elements, the Chairman is right. This is not just about Afghanistan. We are also working in Puntland in Somalia with three different levels of law, those being, state law, traditional law and Sharia law. It is a two-pronged approach where we work to ensure enforcement of the laws while also working on behavioural changes at community level. We are trying to engage men. People often throw their hands up in their air and ask "What about the men?" We are engaging men for the benefit of women and for all. However, progress is a slow burn and changing behaviours and mindsets takes a long time. We are doing some interesting work in South Sudan. Laws are difficult to understand, so we are ensuring people understand them and bring them into local languages. Tanzania has 70 plus languages, for example. Laws need to be transposed into local languages and popularised. We take multiple tracks to achieve change and it is a slow burn. It is easier to get legislative frameworks in place, and getting things to work on the ground takes longer.

The Chairman right about the Generation Equality Forum in that it is too early to know fully. What Ireland has done well - Ms Van Lieshout has alluded to some of it - at the Security Council and in all other forums is putting women at the centre of discussions and listening to those on the front lines. I do not necessarily mean the three of us, but women from the community and people on the front line. Ireland gives them space and uses its access to let their voices be heard, which is important.