Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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359. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the role of Ireland as a member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 2017-2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8025/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Ireland was elected, for the first time, to serve as a member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on Tuesday, 5 April, 2016. Our term of membership will run from 2017 to 2021.

The Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Membership of the Commission provides an opportunity for Ireland to further enhance our commitment to the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, as set out in Ireland’s 2015 statement of foreign policy, ‘The Global Island’. This is also a central objective of Ireland’s development cooperation, as outlined in “One World, One Future: Ireland’s Policy for International Development”. Ireland has been internationally recognised for the agenda-setting role it plays in eliminating discrimination and violence against women and girls, including its active contribution to formulation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our work towards the empowerment of women and girls in conflict-resolution and peace-building is pursued in Ireland’s second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, launched in January 2015, which implements United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. Ireland also played a key role in the establishment of UN Women, the UN body to promote gender equality.

As a member of the Commission on the Status of Women, Ireland has pledged to work to strengthen the voice and functioning of the Commission, support its contribution to the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote the participation of civil society in its work.