By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Reuters) - The world has recognized that violence against women during conflicts affects nations' security and stability, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

The council was due to adopt a U.S.-sponsored resolution later in the day denouncing rape and other sexual violence as a tactic of war and calling for measures by governments, warring factions and the United Nations to try to halt it.

Chairing the debate on behalf of the United States, Rice noted there had long been dispute about whether the issue was a security issue and hence something the Security Council was authorized to address.

"I am proud that today we respond to that lingering question with a resounding 'yes'," she said. "This world body now acknowledges that sexual violence in conflict zones is indeed a security concern.

"We affirm that sexual violence profoundly affects not only the health and safety of women but the economic and social stability of their nations."

The United States, this month's council president, chose sexual violence for its so-called thematic debate. As well as Rice, several government ministers represented their countries instead of the ambassadors who usually take part.

Rights activists say rape is no longer simply a by-product of war and has become a deliberate tactic designed to demoralize and intimidate communities. They cite wars in former Yugoslavia, Sudan's Darfur region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as examples.

Rice also named Myanmar, where she said soldiers regularly raped women and girls as young as eight years old.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council violence against women had "reached unspeakable and pandemic proportions in some societies attempting to recover from conflict."

The resolution under debate says sexual violence is in some cases "a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group."

It calls on parties to conflict to take immediate measures to protect civilians from sexual violence, says such crimes should be excluded from amnesty after conflicts, and says the council will consider special measures against parties that commit them when imposing or renewing sanctions.

The resolution also called on Ban to submit a special report on the issue next year and tighten up procedures for stopping abuses by U.N. peacekeepers, who have been accused of sexual offenses in several countries.

Ban said he was "profoundly committed to a zero-tolerance policy" and planned to strengthen disciplinary procedures by holding not just individuals but their supervisors accountable.

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