YouSaid · the spoken record

Kevin Rudd

lines on the record
13
first
2021-04-30
most recent
2021-04-30
sittings or episodes
1
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un-security-council

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  1. “The protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population is at the centre of the role of the United Nations system and its members in promoting respect for human rights, sustainable development and peace.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  2. “That is the bare minimum, but it would yield maximum results for the protection of essential infrastructure and for mitigating humanitarian and development impacts in the long run. Should the Council decide to adopt an overarching decision addressing the holistic protection of such objects, it should ensure that this decision remains consistent with international law. Further, it should safeguard a space for humanitarian actors to operate without constraints in all its future decisions, including as they relate to counter-terrorism and sanctions. The Council should also recall that natural resources are shared and can be powerful instruments for cooperation.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  3. “This reconstruction will require coordination between the humanitarian and development sectors, including through the Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration. A cross-pillar approach is necessary to strengthen resilience. The United Nations, however, cannot successfully promote the protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population or support reconstruction without the political will and efforts of its Member States. I know all too well that as Ministers this task is particularly incumbent on all of you. The Security Council and its members must take the lead in respecting and ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, including by upholding their obligation to protect objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  4. “Indeed, States must investigate attacks against civilian objects, medical and humanitarian actors and, when necessary, prosecute and secure compensation for affected populations. Unfortunately, too often, parties to conflict fail to open any investigations. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye. Finally, the United Nations should continue working with international, regional and national partners to coordinate a holistic approach to rehabilitation and reconstruction. United Nations agencies, funds and programmes can help build a comprehensive picture of the direct and indirect of disruptions to essential human infrastructure and natural resources, including their gender dimensions and environmental impacts. This can provide the blueprint for recovery and reconstruction.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  5. “Thirdly, the Secretariat — at the request of the Security Council — could consider systematically monitoring attacks against all types of essential infrastructure. To that end, it could consider fostering synergies and expanding the scope of existing mechanisms, including those for monitoring attacks on medical facilities, humanitarian workers and schools. Having a repository of data on attacks against all essential infrastructure would enable the States Members of the United Nations to learn from failures in military operations and to document atrocities. Those are all necessary steps for enhancing prevention and protection in the long run and, eventually, holding perpetrators accountable.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  6. “United Nations peace operations and country teams could support the adoption of national strategies for the protection of civilians, which ought to include the protection of vital civilian objects and the facilitation of humanitarian activities. When possible, prevention should include efforts to foster cooperation around natural resources, especially water diplomacy, in order to turn those natural resources from sources of tension into instruments for peace. The Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire was an important step in that regard. Secondly, the United Nations itself should ensure that it protects civilian infrastructure, starting by proactively complying with the human rights due diligence policy and ensuring that United Nations peace operations demonstrate human-rights readiness.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  7. “The United Nations system, in particular the Secretariat, has an important role to play in promoting the protection of vital infrastructure and ensuring a cross- pillar approach between humanitarian, development and peace actors. There are four areas in particular where the United Nations can take action. The first is prevention. The Secretary-General should use his good offices to engage with all parties to armed conflict, including non-State armed groups, to call for restraint and promote compliance with the laws of war, reminding them that the rule of precaution in attacks requires fighters to spare civilian infrastructure and the natural environment.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  8. “In the long term, attacks on vital infrastructure render the Sustainable Development Goals unattainable for millions. The resulting destruction and prolonged deprivation also raise the prospects for renewed cycles of violence, thereby generating grievances among affected populations and accentuating feelings of exclusion. Membership in armed groups sometimes provide the best opportunities for securing a livelihood. This situation creates optimal conditions for recruitment into armed groups and the perpetuation of armed violence. Ultimately, attacks against vital infrastructure and natural resources trigger a vicious cycle as they undermine the fulfilment of basic human rights, sustainable development and peace.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  9. “Such destruction causes food and water shortages, increases prices and exposes the population, especially children, to preventable disease and the risk of malnutrition. It also forces children out of school and generates massive displacement. That impact is still being felt in many places as natural resources and the means of subsistence are depleted and public services suffer. Those effects are compounded by climate change and environmental degradation, as well as by public health emergencies, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Humanitarian crises turn into development crises, with an urgent need for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure. But in places like Afghanistan and Syria, protracted armed violence constrains the scope for rebuilding.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  10. “This a problem that concerns all parties to armed conflict, and we all have a responsibility to protect objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. The targeting of vital infrastructure and natural resources impacts us all — men, women, boys and girls. Most immediately and directly, it disrupts access to essential goods and services. Since the beginning of the year, the World Health Organization has recorded more than 160 attacks against health care — more than one attack per day. In Yemen, more than 40 attacks between 2018 and 2020 damaged water infrastructure, including some managed by humanitarian organizations, thereby restricting water supplies for up to 185,000 households.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  11. “Examples of this include the repeated attacks on medical facilities and water infrastructure in Yemen and the central Sahel, the theft of cattle and destruction of sanitation projects in South Sudan, the cutting off of water supplies in Somalia, the detonation of electricity pylons in Afghanistan, the scorching of farmers’ fields in Iraq and Mozambique, attacks against humanitarian actors in northern Nigeria and the Niger and cyberattacks against hospitals. Attacks on essential civilian infrastructure are not confined, however, to a single context or perpetrator. They occur in international and national conflicts, in urban and rural settings, and both intentionally and unintentionally.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  12. “The Council has recalled on several occasions the obligation to protect essential civilian infrastructure, including most recently with the adoption of resolution 2565 (2021), on access to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines. Nonetheless, both deliberate and inadvertent attacks against vital human infrastructure and the natural environment remain a daily reality. That is a shocking indictment of us all, and it is important that the Security Council — as the leading organ for international peace and security — remains seized of it.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source

  13. “I thank you for inviting the International Peace Institute to brief the Security Council on this crucial issue. The International Peace Institute was founded more than 50 years ago in partnership with Secretary-General U Thant and has contributed closely to this matter — both here in New York but also in the field. I also want to acknowledge the leadership of Viet Nam in convening this debate today. Let me be clear — targeting objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population is prohibited by international law. It is an offence to humanity and an insult to the aspirations of the United Nations and the commitment of its members to peace, development and human rights.”

    2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source