YouSaid · the spoken record

Akashi

lines on the record
13
first
1997-05-21
most recent
1997-05-21
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “Joint contingency planning by the Departments of Political Affairs, Peacekeeping Operations and Humanitarian Assistance already takes place, but greater consultation and interaction with the Security Council will also help ensure better synergy and minimize the risk of different entities operating in isolation from each other. In conclusion, I wish to stress the importance of not taking a selective approach to protection issues. Whenever children and their parents are abused, it is important that their protection needs be addressed as a whole.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  2. “Fact-finding by the Security Council in crisis zones could also prove a useful means of engaging Council members in low-profile emergencies, while simultaneously contributing to an improved understanding of the realities on the ground. Earlier I referred to the importance of rapid reaction in emerging crises and the mandates which are appropriate to that task. If, as also proposed, the Security Council is familiar with concerns and perspectives emerging from the humanitarian arena, then the task of ensuring that Security Council mandates address protection needs will be that much easier.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  3. “The essential elements of such an approach include regular and structural interaction with humanitarian agencies, including United Nations and non-governmental organization actors. My office namely - that of the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator - is in a unique position to organize and facilitate such consultations. My office is also in a position to ensure that the proposals and perspectives of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, consisting of the executive heads of United Nations humanitarian agencies, political societies, and the three major consortiums of non-governmental organizations are readily available for consultation as appropriate.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  4. “There is a need either to expand it to cover all relief workers in conflict settings, or to develop additional international instruments for that purpose. Effective protection policy and action by the Council also require that core humanitarian principles be respected. When humanitarian assistance is perceived or used as a tool to achieve political objectives, however worthy, it undermines protection activities and may well jeopardize the lives of those involved. Experience from Bosnia and the Great Lakes illustrates the importance of shielding protection work from political consultations and operational concerns regarding relief programmes in conflict settings. No one will argue against the importance of a coherent and holistic approach and decisions which reflect an informed analysis of the crisis.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  5. “Security Council support for this type of arrangement could prove useful in many settings. It is also of great concern that relief workers are often targeted and killed for the specific purpose of disrupting relief operations and the lifelines these often represent. There is a danger that, as these acts become more and more commonplace, our threshold of tolerance becomes higher. The Security Council needs to take a clear stand on all such violations of humanitarian law and use its prestige and authority to hold relevant parties accountable. The 1994 international Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel covers a limited number of United Nations staff on specific peacekeeping operations.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  6. “Access to vulnerable people is denied or obstructed, and relief workers effectively find themselves in situations where the international community is unwilling to deploy peacekeeping troops. Erosion of and disrespect for fundamental humanitarian norms are of great concern to the Secretary- General. We are concerned that in many settings a culture of impunity prevails, and heinous crimes, however shocking, are perpetrated with abandon. The Security Council may wish to be more forceful in getting relevant authorities to respect the rights of victims to assistance and protection and initiating action which will hold perpetrators accountable. In this connection, it is worth noting that it has on occasion been possible to get all parties to agree to a set of principles which ensure access to all populations in need of assistance.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  7. “It is worth recalling that the chief finding of the multi-donor study on the response to the crisis in Rwanda in 1994 is that it is harmful and unhelpful to all when humanitarian operations become a substitute for political and other action needed to resolve conflicts. There must be greater appreciation of the vital but limited role of humanitarian assistance in alleviating suffering and, by extension, the effects of war. The provision of humanitarian assistance in a vacuum is tantamount to managing only the symptoms of a crisis. In such circumstances it is difficult, if not impossible, for humanitarian assistance to be effective, as relief supplies are often diverted to warring parties.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  8. “A basic condition for the effectiveness of any Security Council-initiated action is that mandates be appropriate to the task. Half-measures are likely to do more harm than good. Experience from Bosnia, Rwanda and Somalia shows that when war strategies are designed to harm civilians, the issue of protection cannot be divorced from the dynamics of the crisis and the action necessary to stop the violence. In order to resolve crises and address the protection needs of innocent civilians, long- term solutions must be sought, and Security Council- mandated missions must be given the tools necessary to deal with conflict situations. Another fundamental precondition for effective response is the importance of not operating in a policy vacuum.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  9. “Increasingly, the concept of sovereignty is fundamentally linked to the ability of States to respect and safeguard the security of their citizens. The vast majority of crises confronting the world today are essentially political in nature, notwithstanding their dramatic humanitarian implications. When confronted with emerging crises, the Security Council must be quick to respond. It must be bold, determined and imaginative in creating conditions necessary for a durable solution. This is one of the most important goals of the Security Council and represents the best support it can provide to organizations concerned with the humanitarian dimension of crises. Allowing situations to fester is harmful to the cause of protection and the well- being of endangered people, and it complicates the task of securing a viable and lasting peace.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  10. “The most compelling and problematic challenge confronting humanitarian actors in today's conflict zones is the difficultly of providing assistance in hostile environments where civilians are directly targeted and the work of relief agencies is deliberately obstructed. When people are forcibly uprooted and pushed from their homes, and the aim of warfare is to inflict maximum pain, protection requirements are quite different from what was needed in more traditional humanitarian assistance operations. As we redefine protection needs, we are in effect redefining threats to the peace. There is a growing recognition that security, first and foremost, concerns the well-being of people, and that it is not of lesser value than the security of States.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  11. “The majority of people in need of assistance are displaced in their own countries or trapped in besieged cities, and are often in need of protection from the very authorities that are responsible for their safety. Recent estimates indicate that there are 22 million to 24 million internally displaced persons worldwide, greatly outnumbering the 16 million refugees who have sought asylum or have recently been repatriated. The growing number of people who are displaced and of others who are adversely affected by warfare highlights the importance of reformulating our understanding of protection requirements and points to the timeliness of this debate today.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  12. “Some 80 per cent of the people in need of protection are women and children. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that during the last two years, 2 million children have been killed in warfare, and some 12 million have been made homeless. An estimated 42 million people worldwide were dependent on humanitarian assistance in 1995; that figure is 60 per cent higher than it was 10 years before. Such a dramatic increase in the number of people in need of assistance is compounded by the complexity and nature of contemporary crises and the difficulty of relying on traditional protection instruments to safeguard the basic rights and integrity of people endangered by conflict.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source

  13. “I cannot but congratulate you, Mr. President, on presiding over this meeting. You are an old friend and a very experienced diplomat, well-known to all of us. I am delighted to see you presiding over the meeting. I wish to express appreciation to the Security Council for putting the issue of protection for civilians in conflict on its agenda, and I welcome this opportunity of sharing with members the views of the United Nations and those of the humanitarian community. We live in a time with an unparalleled need for protection. From the humanitarian viewpoint, it often appears that we live in a world engulfed by crises that threaten a growing number of civilians. The figures speak for themselves. Today, some 90 per cent of the victims are civilians; in the First World War, only 10 per cent of victims were non-combatants.”

    1997-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3778 (1997) · source