Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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382. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the role Ireland will play as a member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 2017 to 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24064/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Ireland will, for the first time, serve as a member of the Commission from 2017 to 2021. Our membership of the Commission provides an opportunity for Ireland to further enhance our commitment to the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This commitment is set out in our statement of foreign policy, ‘The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World’ and is also a central objective of ‘One World, One Future: Ireland’s Policy for International Development’. It is implemented through the mainstreaming of gender equality across our foreign policy, including our policy for international development, as well as providing direct support to programmes aimed at achieving women’s empowerment.

The negotiations on the 2030 Agenda, which Ireland had the honour of co-facilitating, have resulted in a broad consensus across the entire UN membership on the critical importance of empowering women and girls for sustainable development. Ireland’s work towards the empowerment of women and girls in conflict-resolution and peace-building is pursued through our second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, launched in January 2015, which implements United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. We have also played a key role in the establishment of UN Women, the UN body to promote gender equality. Through our engagement at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, Ireland also works to promote gender equality, to combat all forms of discrimination against women and prevent gender-based violence.

As a member of the Commission on the Status of Women, Ireland will continue to strengthen our international engagement in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment. We have 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. We will also continue to support and contribute to the EU’s engagement at the Commission.