“We need to ensure that women have opportunities to play their full role in peace and security,” the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Michelle Bachelet, told a debate of the Security Council on women and peace and security.

She noted that wherever there is conflict, whether in Mali, Syria, the Middle East, or the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), “women must be part of the solution.”

Yesterday’s debate, which was originally scheduled for late October but was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy, marks the 12th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325, which called for women’s engagement in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

Meeting briefly in the wake of the storm, the Council issued a presidential statement on the issue, in which it called on the international community to give women’s civil society organizations a prominent role in the negotiation, planning and implementation of peace processes and post-conflict development programmes.

In his annual report on women, peace and security, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted measures that have improved coordination and accountability and highlights a growing number of inspiring examples of women, peace and security in action.

In countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Timor-Leste, Haiti, South Sudan, Liberia, Nepal and many others, women are leading innovative approaches to prevent conflict and violence and build peace in their communities.

Bachelet, who presented the report, highlighted what women’s groups in Mali are doing right now to contribute to non-violent solutions to the crisis in that country, which has been divided since rebels took control of the north earlier this year.

“In spite of their absence from official conflict resolution processes, women leaders in the North are using informal channels to call on the leaders of armed groups to participate in peace dialogues,” she noted.

“Just two weeks ago,” she added, “nearly 1,000 women leaders and members of civil society groups gathered in Bamako and delivered a common call for peace, expressing solidarity across ethnic and other divisions and recommended specific measures to protect women’s rights and prevent violence against women and children.”

Stressing the importance of “going the extra mile” to ensure that women can play their full role, Ms. Bachelet called on world leaders to provide determined leadership, dedicated resources and direct opportunities to enable women to contribute to the maintenance of peace and security.

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, delivering remarks on behalf of Ban, noted that the role of women’s organizations across the world in preventing violence, resolving conflict and building the foundations for peace is well known.

“Our challenge is to become more systematic in supporting and scaling up these initiatives and making the necessary links to formal peace processes,” he said.

Also highlighting the case of Mali, Eliasson noted the fact that the rights of women and girls are being curtailed in the northern part of the country shows how armed conflict affects women and men differently. “This means that women have to be part of the solution,” he said.

“Engaging women and promoting gender equality as part of our work for peace and security is a daily responsibility and an unfinished mission for all of us,” he added. “It is time for us to finally recognize the role and power of women to help us build a peaceful world.”

In his remarks to the event, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, said that UN peacekeeping missions have supported important progress in some areas, notably women’s political participation at local and national levels. In other areas, including the protection of women activists, more could be achieved.

He described how, a week ago, some 5,000 women flooded the main commercial avenue in Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, to protest the fall of the provincial city of Goma to the 23 March Movement (M23) rebel group – the most massively organized non-violent protest in the country following the fall of the eastern city.

“However, women have not been given any political leverage in the regional negotiations aimed at bringing peace to the embattled eastern part of the country,” he added.

Ladsous emphasized that the key to removing the obstacles that impede women’s full participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding is the active, systematic consultation with local actors and leaders, including women’s civil society organizations. “This is the only way to develop effective, context-specific and gender-aware solutions.”

In the lead-up to the Council’s debate, women activists and women’s organizations met with senior UN leadership in over 20 countries, facilitated by UN Women, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to discuss challenges and make their recommendations on issues relating to women and peace and security.

Thousands of Syrians crossed into Lebanon on Thursday. Reports vary between 8,500 and 30,000 people having crossed in the past 48 hours. In consultation with government authorities, UNHCR and its partners are now in the field verifying numbers and assessing the profile and needs of newly arrived Syrians, with a particular focus on vulnerable people who may need immediate assistance.

With the rapidly evolving situation, it is not possible to give a precise number for those displaced in Syria. “As of last week, it was estimated that 1 million people may have been forced to flee inside the country since the conflict began [in March last year],” UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told journalists in Geneva. “Many Syrians in general are running low on resources and are increasingly turning to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and other organizations for help.”

Thousands of mainly Iraqi refugees living in the Damascus suburb of Seida Zeinab have fled their homes due to violence and targeted threats in recent days. At least 2,000 have taken shelter in schools and parks in Jaramana district. Many Syrians have also moved there.

“I fear for the civilians caught up in the violence in Damascus, including the large Iraqi refugee population residing there,” said the High Commissioner. According to reports received by UNHCR, last week an Iraqi refugee family of seven were found dead in their apartment in Damascus, while three other refugees were killed by gunfire.

“Despite the security challenges, UNHCR staff continue to man hotlines and the Damascus, Aleppo and Al Hassekeh offices remain open. Hundreds of frightened refugees have called the hotline and outreach volunteers in the past 24 hours, reporting direct threats and fears of being caught up in the fighting,” UNHCR’s Fleming said.

In the past two days, UNHCR has distributed urgent grants to refugees who needed cash to rent apartments and to buy basic household items where possible. On Thursday, two truckloads of assistance were distributed by SARC volunteers in Damascus to Syrians and refugees, with more distributions planned in the coming days.

UNHCR Syria has more than 250 national and international staff, operating from offices in Damascus, Aleppo and al Hassakeh. There are over 88,000 registered Iraqi refugees, the majority of whom reside in Damascus, along with some 8,000 refugees from other countries. Over 13,000 Iraqis left Syria in the first half of 2012, mostly for home.

Meanwhile, UNHCR will extend the delivery of assistance to 175,000 Syrians from the current 125,000. To date, the majority of UNHCR’s assistance has been delivered by SARC volunteers to vulnerable Syrians in Damascus, Aleppo and al Hassakeh. UNHCR is also launching a project of one-time cash assistance for 25,000 Syrian families.

UNHCR and SARC have a network of 15 warehouses in country which are stocked to ensure the rapid availability of aid. UNHCR plans to expand this network further in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, UNHCR’s Fleming said that according to the refugee agency’s registration statistics, “On 18 July, 120,000 Syrian refugees sought protection in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.” She added that government estimates put the numbers much higher.

Guterres had praise for the humanitarian stand of the neighbouring countries. “I am extremely grateful Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey have maintained open borders,” he said.

Many newly arriving Syrian refugees are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, with some coming with only the clothes on their backs and few or no financial resources, following many months of unemployment. The needs of those who arrived earlier in the year are also increasing as their savings have become depleted.

At the same time, the communities supporting the refugees are increasingly feeling the strain, with the local infrastructure and resources under severe pressure, in particular water, housing, capacity of schools and health facilities.

Two weeks after the launch of the Revised Regional Response Plan for Syrian Refugees, which encompasses the needs of seven UN agencies and 36 NGO partners, the US$192 million appeal is only 26 per cent funded. The Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan, an inter-agency appeal led by the UN Office for Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA) to support affected Syrians inside their country, has only received US$38 million of the US$180 million needed.