Switzerland’s President Viola Amherd advocates for peace at UN meetings

Viola Amherd (left) spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about Switzerland's commitment to the UN, the Agenda for Peace and Switzerland's support for humanitarian demining. KEYSTONE/Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Viola Amherd, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has met with representatives of the United Nations and other countries in New York. Amherd discussed various topics with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres including the Agenda for Peace.

In addition to her appearances at the annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and at the UN Security Council, Amherd spoke with Guterres about Switzerland’s commitment to the UN, the Agenda for Peace and Switzerland’s support for humanitarian demining, as she told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. A peace conference planned by Switzerland for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine was also discussed.

Amherd also met the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; the director of the UN Women organisation, Sima Bahous; and Pramilla Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative on Sexual Violence in the Middle East conflict. There were also meetings with the vice presidents of Guatemala and Vietnam as well as with ministers from numerous countries.

Gender equality, poverty and violence

“My meetings here were dominated by difficult topics, by all the current conflicts. In view of the global situation, I think it is all the more important that conferences like this take place. That we exchange ideas and maintain dialogue in person,” said Amherd.

In her talks, a clear connection between gender equality, poverty and violence was a common theme. Amherd addressed the setbacks. “This is twice as tragic because it often goes hand in hand with violence against women,” she said. Switzerland has also not yet managed to achieve equality in all areas.

The world should not close its eyes to the fact that sexual violence is used as a weapon of war in conflicts such as in Ukraine, Gaza or Sudan, and that progress is urgently needed, said Amherd. “It is very important to document these incidents, take note of them and talk about them. I think this is the first step towards doing something about it.”

Adapted from German by DeepL/mg/amva

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