New York/ Information Office/ 15 October 2015/ Qatar confirmed its commitment to promote gender equality and protection of women's human rights in conflict and post conflict and said it will continue its support to initiatives related to establishing justice and taking into account humanitarian considerations and the rule of law. This came in a statement made by HE the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al -Thani at the formal meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss item on women, peace and security. HE Sheikha Alia said that the past two years witnessed a rise in the pace of violence against women in conflict situations, which constitute flagrant violations of human rights, whether by terrorist groups or authoritarian regimes, including sexual slavery , forced marriage to intimidate the population , displaced them and depriving women and girls of their basic rights to a dignified life. Therefore, the talk about women, peace and security requires the activation of the mechanisms agreed upon by the international community to empower women and to intensify efforts to implement international instruments for protecting women from violence during armed conflicts, she said. HE Sheikha Alia added that the parties involved in the commission of such gross violations of human rights against women and girls in conflict situations remain without accountability, which requires the Council to continue to use all means , including bringing the perpetrators of these crimes before the International Criminal Justice and not allowed them with impunity. She praised the joint mechanism between UN Women and the initiative of Justice Rapid Response (JRR) with regard to the sexual and other forms of gender-based violence (SGBV) for its support to the international community to achieve justice and accountability in this regard. Due to the importance of this issue, Qatar has contributed to the mechanism by criminal experts and hosted a number of workshops to support its activity, she added. HE Ambassador Sheikha Alia noted that Qatar has taken many initiatives and actions in the field of women's empowerment in order to do their full part in various walks of life, including their role in the efforts aimed at conflicts prevention and their resolution, peace-building and confront extremism and terrorism. In confirmation of this trend, she said that Qatar's delegation , in collaboration with a number of permanent delegations of Italy, Thailand and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC ) on the sidelines of the current session of the UN General Assembly, on the Post-2015held a high-ranking general debate on women and criminal justice within the framework of the development plan on the Post-2015 and a high participation of Member States , United Nations organizations , experts and specialists.