New York, NY—Today, the Women’s Refugee Commission welcomes the new report by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres highlighting the critical need to include women in peace processes.

In response to the new report, Sarah Costa, Executive Director of the Women's Refugee Commission, issued the following statement:

“We welcome the Report’s attention to economic empowerment and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and appreciate the Secretary General’s recognition of initiatives to combat gender-based violence, such as the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies. We urge all actors to heed the Secretary General’s appeal to further strengthen gender-based violence prevention and response efforts, and hope this will include strong support for the new Northeast Nigeria Call to Action Road Map.

“As an organization working on the empowerment and protection of refugees with disabilities we also very much welcome the call by the Secretary General 'to increase support for initiatives led by diverse women’s organizations, including women-led disabled persons' organizations.'

“Humanitarian response will fail if we marginalize groups such as women-led disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs). It is crucial that the Women, Peace and Security agenda is implemented inclusively. The empowerment of women means empowering women with disabilities who are already doing the work. We need women led DPOs’ views, skills and expertise in humanitarian action.”