Algeria Calls For Action to Protect Women and Children in Gaza and Lebanon
Algeria called on the international community to take action to protect women and children in Gaza and Lebanon, reiterating its call for an “immediate” and “permanent” ceasefire in the Strip and Lebanon, which are subjected to unprecedented Zionist aggression.
Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Amar Bendjama, explained to the UN Security Council: “Words fail to describe the daily horrors and atrocities that Palestinians, especially women, are suffering (…), we renew our call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza as well as in Lebanon to ensure guaranteeing the protection of all civilians, especially the most vulnerable and women, under international law.”
Bendjama continued, during his intervention in the general debate held at the UN Security Council under the title “Women, Peace and Security”, that “the international community is required to take action to protect women and children affected by armed conflicts”.
He also asserted that the (Zionist) aggression in Gaza has inflicted very severe suffering on women, with the accompanying flagrant violations of their rights as women and as human beings, as out of the 42,000 Palestinians who were martyred in Gaza (…), there are 14,000 children and more than 10,000 women.”
Bendjama spoke in general about a certain number of measures that must be taken to ensure better protection for women during conflicts and to give them the possibility to play an effective role in resolving those conflicts, where he recommended, in the first place, that the international community take measures that would enhance accountability and impose sanctions on “actors that disregard international humanitarian law and women’s rights in conflict areas”.
He confirmed the need to “adopt a collaborative approach involving all relevant actors, such as the United Nations, regional organizations and civil society to enhance the role of women in peace and security through partnerships and cooperation.”
Among the points addressed by the Algerian representative to the United Nations is “promoting gender equality policies and developing comprehensive national programmes that allow for the empowerment and protection of women, especially in the digital age and during armed conflicts.”