I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the following 52 participating States: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Republic of North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Uzbekistan.

This year, we mark twenty years since the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000). The resolution stresses the importance of women’s full, equal and meaningful participation, including at all levels of decision‑making and leadership, in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security as well as promoting the safety of women and girls from violence in conflict and crises. This landmark resolution and all its subsequent reviews, all in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 5, are essential in furthering the critical role of women in matters of peace and security at all levels.

As the world’s largest regional security organization, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) must lead the way. With its field missions, secretariat and autonomous institutions, the OSCE offers participating States a unique network. The OSCE’s concept of comprehensive security covers all different elements of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. This provides a very suitable setting for full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security commitments on a range of levels, from the political to the very practical.

The implementation of the UNSCR 1325 and its subsequent resolutions has advanced within the OSCE, as several initiatives illustrate. Voluntary information exchange on Women, Peace and Security happens through the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security and through the inclusion of gender in discussions on Small Arms Light Weapons/Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition (SALW/SCA). Furthermore, the voluntary National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security have proven to be a useful tool to implement UNSCR 1325 for a majority of participating States.

Women mediators and the 2019 OSCE toolkit ‘Inclusion of Women and Effective Peace Processes’ demonstrate that inclusion is not only right; it is also the most effective way to achieve stability and peace. Including and empowering women not only to the armed forces but also to peace processes, including peace operations and mediation, is equally important and must become a standard practice. The full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda requires everyone, including boys and men to be engaged as positive agents for change.

Achieving sustainable peace is not possible without the full, equal and meaningful participation of women’. However, women and their efforts remain too often invisible. For this to change, the Women Peace and Security agenda needs to be inclusive of young and diverse voices, and requires responsive approaches to evolving concepts of security and needs on the ground.The OSCE Scholarship for Peace and Security contributes hereto. Cooperation with civil society remains of utmost relevance in this regard and should be reinforced, as civil society drives the Women Peace and Security agenda implementation through their crucial contribution, important views and essential perspectives.

Nonetheless, Mr. Chairperson, obstacles and challenges still persist. The 20th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 is thus a moment to call for action in areas where the OSCE is both at the forefront and one of the best equipped organisations. We need to step up our efforts to empower women’s equal, full and meaningful participation and leadership and women professionals in conflict prevention and crisis management, mediation, peace processes, policing, border management, arms control and disarmament, and in the security sector, including armed forces. To achieve this, we have to act upon our promises, which requires both political will and resources.

In order to do so, the OSCE needs to continue improving its existing commitments. Two decades after subscribing to UNSCR 1325, we should remain ambitious and make full use of the potential for further advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda, in particular within the FSC. We regret that the efforts for an FSC decision on UNSCR 1325 did not reach consensus. As the Women, Peace and Security agenda cuts across the FSC’s work, the FSC has a key part to play in delivering the full implementation of UNSCR 1325 and related resolutions in the OSCE area. We already committed to this during the OSCE ministerial in 2011. These resolutions are highly relevant. Concrete additional efforts in the OSCE, including the FSC, could include the following:

• Set up a plan of action for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, in all aspects of the FSC’s areas of work, including at all levels of decision-making and leadership;
• Consider establishing a directory of national focal points on gender equality in order to facilitate the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review of the plan of action;
• Promote the information exchange on issues pertaining to Women, Peace and Security through the Code of Conduct on Politico-military Aspects of Security;
• Facilitate gender mainstreaming, also in SALW/SCA controls and in practical assistance work;
• Encourage and support the sharing of experiences and best practices as regards the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict rehabilitation;
• Compile national practices in the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and its subsequent resolutions, with a focus on participating States’ promotion of the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in their armed and security forces.
• Encourage the active use of the 2019 toolkit ‘Inclusion of Women and Effective Peace Processes’ as practical tool for increasing the role of women in the security sector;
• Encourage the development of voluntary NAPs on Women, Peace and Security and, for those States who already have these Plans in place, continue to improve them, monitor and evaluate their implementation as well as provide sufficient budget to do so;

Although gaps remain to be bridged in order to meet the commitments we made in 2004 through the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality and all related commitments, we stand ready to live up to our promises to strive for full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda that arose from UNSCR 1325 and thus to turning our words into action.

Thank you for that kind introduction.

And a warm welcome to everyone joining us virtually this afternoon to hear our announcing the winner of the government’s Home of 2030 competition.

Clever, forward-thinking and innovative design will be at the forefront of the housing sector’s recovery from COVID-19.

And there is therefore no place more fitting in which to announce the winner of our design competition than this year’s Homes UK Conference.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped guide this competition to completion including Homes England, BEIS, DHSC as well as BRE, RIBA, the Design Council and of course MOBIE. 

The Home of 2030 competition was born out of this government’s ambition to tackle the grand challenges of our time, helping our country adapt for an ageing society whilst fighting climate change and boldly pursuing our 2050 Net Zero commitments.

It sought to bring together designers, architects, developers – the greatest minds from across the sector, with entrants each submitting their cutting-edge designs for new low carbon homes.

But this is not just about energy efficiency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply brought into focus how vital our homes, our neighbourhoods, and our local green spaces are to our physical and mental well-being.

This was reinforced by the Design Council’s “Public Vision for the Home of 2030” report, which was published earlier this year.

The report serves not only to inspire those who design and deliver housing, but also challenge long-held assumptions about what is important to us in our individual homes in a post-Covid world. 

It recognises the need to create well-designed, spacious, generously equipped homes that meet the changing needs of residents.

That is what underpins our Home of 2030 competition, but it is also the guiding principle behind our planning reforms.

Our Planning for the future white paper encourages developers to not just build greener, more beautiful homes but also to create greener, more beautiful neighbourhoods.

Neighbourhoods which offer tree lined streets, parks, playing fields and open green spaces with a rich biodiversity.

And in return we are saying to builders who invest in this kind of place-making design which is in keeping with the local aesthetic and built to last, that we will create a fast-track for beauty which sees their development green lighted much more quickly than at present.

We also want to support the housing industry in building the more sustainable, energy-efficient and greener homes of tomorrow.  

Housing accounts for around 15% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

It is clear that we need to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of both new and existing homes if we are serious about fulfilling our Net Zero commitments.   

That is why we are implementing the Future Homes Standard.

And we expect that homes built to this new standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75 to 80% lower than those built to current regulations. These homes will be future-proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency.

All homes built under the Future Homes Standard will be ‘zero carbon ready’.

That means no costly retrofitting work will be necessary for them to become zero-carbon as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.

Last month, the Prime Minister set out his 10 Point Plan on Climate Change, ensuring that when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, our country remains a trailblazer for other countries to follow.

Our Home of 2030 competition supports us in realising that vision for a cleaner, greener Britain – changing the way we heat our homes, improving insulation and adopting new technologies.

And the willingness of groups across all ages, young and old, to engage with this project, from the in-depth research carried out by the Design Council, to the young people’s competition run by MOBIE, shows just how much industry support there is for making these homes of the future a reality.  

Each of the 200+ entries have had to highlight how their designs would meet the challenges of the next decade.

They had to demonstrate how their proposed homes are deliverable and scalable but also:

How they are age friendly and inclusive…

How they are going to yield a low environmental impact and…

Supporting healthy living.

A panel of judges made up of industry experts, led by Peter Freeman, the new chair of Homes England, selected 6 outstanding finalists.    And, since August, they have been hard at work developing their initial design concepts into detailed proposals. 

I know that assembling their teams, engaging with cutting-edge ideas and applying their concepts to a real-world site hasn’t been easy.

I would like to acknowledge the teams from HLM Architects, Igloo, Outpost, Openstudio, Positive Collective and Studio OPEN for their ingenuity and perseverance.

The overall standard of the finalists’ entries was extremely high – making the selection of just one winner very difficult…

But two entries did really capture the judges’ imagination.

One showed how good design can deliver the excellent performance and flexibility of scale demanded for the home of the future. This design also presented a visually and socially vibrant, inclusive community, ensuring the needs of all residents could be met. 

The other showed the way forward for a fully digitalized manufacturing process for housing – delivering a bespoke appearance and diversity of aesthetic, based on a platform accessible to everyone. 

In the end, after much deliberation, the judges decided that it was a fair tie.

And so I am pleased to announce that the joint winners of the Home of 2030 Professional Design Competition are Igloo with PlusHome and Openstudio with Connector Housing. 

Their designs truly show the way housing in this country can be reimagined and, for that, I would like to sincerely congratulate both winners of these worthy awards.

The exciting journey for them is not yet over.

Each of our 6 fantastic finalists will now be introduced to a Homes England developer panel, giving them the opportunity to take forward and build their innovative, future designs. 

In the ‘Professional’ element of the competition, we have seen some of the best and brightest of the industry come forward with their solutions to the biggest challenges faced by the sector today.

But, in the Young Person’s challenge, we have also seen the imaginative, capable and inventive designs of those yet to enter the industry.

That is the Home of 2030’s lasting legacy.

It has inspired a new generation to continue innovating and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in green design…

And it has brought us one step closer to building the homes of tomorrow.

Thank you, well done to the winners, and thank you to everyone for taking part.

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the following 37 participating States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Iceland, Malta, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, as well as my own country Finland.

For the past several months, we have witnessed serious and ongoing violations and abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus since the fraudulent Presidential election of 9 August 2020. Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur Professor Wolfgang Benedek’s report provided us with a large number of evidence-based accounts of peaceful protesters who were violently attacked and tortured by the authorities, simply for insisting on free and fair elections and a better, democratic future for their country.

According to credible reports, the number of arrests of peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights defenders is estimated at 30,000 since the Presidential election. The number of politically motivated criminal cases is reaching 900. The list of political prisoners continues to grow and contains more than 100 names. There is no indication that the authorities are investigating the thousands of well-documented reports of police brutality and torture filed since mid-August or the killings of protesters. We condemn the use of force against Belarusians exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

As the report by the OSCE Rapporteur states, it appears that no professional or social group in Belarus has been spared by the Belarusian authorities’ efforts to suppress peaceful dissent. Pressure on the medical, academic, and media communities has been especially harsh. Critics of the government and opposition figures have faced forced expulsion.

Respect for human rights and human dignity have been at the heart of this organization since the Helsinki Final Act was signed forty-five years ago. At this meeting, many Ministers have addressed the situation in Belarus, which is in clear violation of OSCE principles and commitments on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and democratic principles of government. The OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security recognizes that respect for human rights within States is essential to lasting peace, prosperity and cooperation among States. Upholding respect for human rights in the OSCE area is the responsibility of all participating States. As reaffirmed at the 2010 Astana Summit, commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned.

For the sake of the people of Belarus, we highlight as particularly noteworthy the following recommendations from the Moscow Mechanism report. The report recommends that Belarusian authorities should:

• Cancel the results of the presidential elections of 9 August 2020 due to irregularities at all stages of the process
• Organize new genuine presidential elections based on international standards, inviting OSCE/ODIHR observation as well as other international and domestic observers
• Bring the electoral law into conformity with international standards as recommended by OSCE/ODIHR and the United Nations
• Immediately cease all violence, in particular torture and ill-treatment against peaceful protestors and opponents
• Immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners held for political reasons
• Ensure that the standards of fair trial are respected
• Ensure the freedom of peaceful assembly in line with international standards
• Ensure the safety of all journalists and provide an enabling environment for the work of journalists and the media
• Refrain from interference with the access to the Internet, and terminate censorship and blocking of webpages
• Ensure that an independent and impartial body promptly investigates all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence, disappearance and killing by security forces.

We urge Belarus to engage in dialogue within the OSCE and lend our full support to the current and incoming OSCE Chairs and their efforts to facilitate a national dialogue in Belarus. We stand ready to support and facilitate an inclusive national dialogue in order to resolve the present crisis in a sustainable way, safeguarding Belarus’s sovereignty and independence, as well as its safe, democratic and prosperous future.

Mr. Chairperson, I would be grateful if you could attach this statement to the journal of today’s meeting.