S/RES/1960 (2010)
Welcoming the progress made in rendering operational the team of experts to
assist national authorities to strengthen the rule of law in accordance with resolution
1888 (2009); reaffirming the importance of deploying it rapidly to situations of
particular concern with respect to sexual violence in armed conflict, working
through the United Nations presence on the ground and with the consent of the host
government and in this regard, appreciating the voluntary contributions to support
its work,
Recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure
the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction
as provided for by international law,
Reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians,
Recalling that international humanitarian law affords general protection to
women and children as part of the civilian population during armed conflicts and
special protection due to the fact that they can be placed particularly at risk,
Reaffirming that ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or
recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against
civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses, drawing
attention to the full range of justice and reconciliation mechanisms to be considered,
including national, international and “mixed” criminal courts and tribunals and truth
and reconciliation commissions, and noting that such mechanisms can promote not
only individual responsibility for serious crimes, but also peace, truth, reconciliation
and the rights of the victims,
Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals,
Reaffirming the importance for States, with the support of the international
community, to increase access to health care, psychosocial support, legal assistance,
and socio-economic reintegration services for victims of sexual violence, in
particular in rural areas, and taking into account the specific needs of persons with
disabilities,
Welcoming the proposals, conclusions and recommendations included in the
report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (A/64/19) on the need
for adequate capabilities and clear and appropriate guidelines to enable
peacekeeping missions to carry out all their mandated tasks, including prevention of
and response to sexual violence; stressing the importance of ensuring engagement
by senior mission leadership on protection of civilians, including the prevention of
and response to instances of sexual violence in armed conflict, with a view to
ensuring that all mission components and all levels of the chain of command are
properly informed of and involved in the mission’s mandate and their relevant
responsibilities; welcoming progress made by the Secretary-General in developing
operational tools for the implementation of protection of civilians mandates; and
encouraging troop- and police-contributing countries to make full use of and
provide feedback on these important materials,
Recognizing the efforts of the Secretary-General to address the
underrepresentation of women in formal peace processes, the lack of mediators and
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