Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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163. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will consider supporting the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Colombia, in the context of Ireland's National Action Plan and its membership of the UN Human Rights Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19097/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Ireland's National Action Plan (NAP) on UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was officially launched in November 2011. The NAP sets out how Ireland will promote and implement the objectives of the Resolution in its programme support activities, diplomatic advocacy and policy-making, across the interrelated areas of peace, security and development. A mid-term review of the NAP is currently underway which will highlight the progress that Ireland has made to date in implementation of the NAP and make recommendations for further actions to fulfil its objectives. As the Deputy may be aware, I attended the EU - CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Summit in Santiago de Chile in January. I was particularly pleased that an important outcome from the Summit was the commitment by the EU and the CELAC countries to prioritise gender in the context of our bi-regional relations and I look forward to the early implementation of the EU - CELAC Action Plan 2013-2015 in this regard.

Ireland was also one of sixty-six States which supported a Joint Statement on Women's Rights, Peace and Security at the UN Human Rights Council in 2012. The Joint Statement reaffirmed support for, and commitment to, the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and called on all States to fully realise the objectives of the resolution in their national policies. We will continue to follow this issue closely as a member of the Council for the period 2013-2015. My Department engages with a wide range of international partners in discussions on UNSCR 1325. If we were invited to do so by the Government of Colombia, I would be happy to share our experience of developing our National Action Plan, to offer advice on issues relating to implementation of UNSCR 1325 and to consider any request for other support that might be made.