YouSaid · the spoken record

Amal Mudallali

lines on the record: 186
first: 2020-04-23
most recent: 2021-10-21
sittings or episodes: 24
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Enhanced coordination and dialogue among host countries, the population and the leadership of peacekeeping missions are paramount to the safety of mission personnel and to their ability to perform their duties to protect civilians, thereby helping them to attain the main basic right to be safe and to live in peace. That entails granting peacekeeping missions the necessary means, human and financial, to perform their mandate, with the necessary predeployment training to carry it out, especially if it includes human rights elements. Moreover, the full backing and support of the Security Council members for peacekeeping missions are indispensable to the implementation of their mandates.”
2020-07-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/674 (2020) · source
“It is important to recognize the added value of peacekeeping and what we bring to the societies and nations that are destabilized.” As a country hosting a peacekeeping mission, we can testify to the impact of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in terms of human rights. Present in Lebanon since 1978, over the decades UNIFIL has contributed to the protection of countless civilian lives that otherwise would have been lost. Outreach by UNIFIL personnel to the local population has proved useful and impactful, particularly through quick-impact projects that provide better access to basic services for the local population. States bear the primary responsibility for ensuring respect for human rights for their citizens, but peacekeepers have a role to play in protecting human rights.”
2020-07-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/674 (2020) · source
“We thank Germany and Ms. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, German Federal Minister of Defence, for holding this debate at a time when human rights are under great pressure, multilateralism is facing its most serious challenge and peace is under threat everywhere in the world — making peacekeeping a necessity. Whether clearly stipulated in their mandate or not, peace operations protect and promote human rights every day. As Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary- General for Peace Operations, has explained: “We should not forget that our peacekeepers — civilian, police, men and women, military personnel — are saving lives every day. They are protecting civilians ...”
2020-07-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/674 (2020) · source
“More cooperation is needed, because it is in the national and security interests of everyone to address this crisis globally. That no one is safe until everyone is safe is truer than ever. This is one of the most challenging times for the United Nations. Its credibility — our credibility — has already been tested. It will continue to be tested through our ability to draw the lessons by planning better and building comprehensive responses that encompass the various dimensions of a pandemic.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“As the members of the Council already know, my country, which is heavily indebted, has been hosting the highest number of refugees and displaced persons per capita in the world. Lebanon is in need of multilateralism now more than ever because it is only through support from the international community and by working together that we and all countries under the stress of the pandemic can recover. With the support of the international community, Lebanon will continue to play its role as a source of peace and security not only for its people but for the whole region. It is absolutely essential that we all swim together, because, as this pandemic has demonstrated, if we do not, we will all drown together. Member States, regional organizations and the United Nations need to be better prepared for future crises of this scale.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The pandemic will not disappear if people are silenced; it is only people’s ability to fight it that will be curtailed. That is why Lebanon, as well as the overwhelming majority of countries, has supported the call by the Secretary-General for a global ceasefire during the COVID-19 pandemic. Misinformation has spread and hit almost as hard as COVID-19, creating havoc and threatening security and stability in many parts of the world. Lebanon has co-sponsored a Latvian initiative on combating the infodemic and supports the Secretary-General’s initiative to promote trusted and accurate information regarding this crisis. In Lebanon, the COVID-19 outbreak has further exacerbated the economic and financial crisis, as well as the humanitarian one.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The world has learned during this pandemic that, if our house is not in order and humans are vulnerable, there is no peace or security on our planet and no immunity from viruses or lethal pandemics. It has also shown a need to reinvigorate the social contract between the governed and Governments, with more transparency and trust necessary between the two. Pandemics should not lead to a setback in the preservation of fundamental rights or be used to advance political agendas that are in complete violation of international law. It has also taught us that pandemics cannot be fought by curbing liberties, igniting conflicts or settling them through force instead of international legality, employing security or military options or rolling back gains in freedoms.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“I wish to congratulate Germany on its assumption of the presidency of the Security Council this month and to thank France for its presidency in June. I would also like to thank Germany and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas for organizing this debate on the topic of pandemics and security. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has spared no one and has acted as a catalyst in many countries and regions of the world, aggravating their situation and, thus, threatening peace and security. Pandemics of this scale have shown that the need to address root causes is real and urgent, and not just some abstract concept. Without seriously addressing social injustice, inequalities and poverty, prolonged unresolved conflicts, foreign occupation and dire humanitarian situations can only be exacerbated.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“With regard to the situation of militants inside Palestinian camps in general and children in particular, the Lebanese army prioritizes the humanitarian situation, as well as the interests of civilians and children, and focuses on spreading awareness and providing facilities to governmental and non-governmental humanitarian organizations working in the camps and in the field. I thank the President again for organizing this important debate and assure him of Lebanon’s firm commitment to do more and to work with our partners, especially the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, to further advance the children and armed conflict agenda.”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“In parallel, the Higher Council for Children, in partnership with various stakeholders and civil society organizations, is carrying out a number of activities with the aim of raising awareness and disseminating information about the involvement of children in armed conflict. Furthermore, Lebanon is working towards the adoption of national strategies on counter-terrorism and cybersecurity, which will encompass online recruitment. The General Directorate of General Security has launched several awareness campaigns to educate people, and children in particular, on how to protect themselves against online recruitment attempts by terrorist groups.”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“Since the solution to that problem should be comprehensive in its approach, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Higher Council for Children have been cooperating with international partners, including UNICEF, and the relevant ministries and institutions — the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Lebanese Armed Forces, the internal security forces and the General Directorate of General Security. The plan aims at providing a legal review that will lead to the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which Lebanon signed in 2002. It will also establish coordination, awareness-raising and capacity-building mechanisms and will propose rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“In this respect, let me underline that the Higher Council for Children, a governmental institution under the Ministry of Social Affairs of Lebanon, is currently working on updating and streamlining the national action plan to prevent and protect children associated with armed violence in Lebanon. The action plan was adopted in 2014 in the light of the Secretary-General’s latest annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2014/339).”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“Lebanon, alongside 168 countries, signed the joint statement “Protect our Children” in response to the Secretary-General’s call on countries to prioritize children’s education, food, health and safety amid the pandemic. In the statement, we reiterated our firm commitment to leave no one behind and no child behind. Lebanon believes that children should be allowed to be children and should never be recruited in conflicts or used as soldiers, because they are not soldiers and should never be exploited as such. Accordingly, Lebanon has been working on concrete steps to build a better, safer and more secure future for children.”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“Allow me at the outset to congratulate France on assuming the presidency of the Council for this month and to thank it for organizing this important and timely debate, at a time when the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to sweeping across the globe, severely impacting people, including children. I also would like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba de Potgieter, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Henrietta Fore, for their comprehensive briefings, as well as for their leadership in their respective fields. Lebanon is proud to have joined the statement supporting the Secretary- General’s appeal for a global ceasefire amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
2020-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/594 (2020) · source
“However, it also showed how vulnerable humans are and that protecting them should be the highest responsibility today and tomorrow.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“National policy frameworks that are consistent with regional and international strategies can help in that regard and could be developed through an inclusive approach, with the participation of the Government, the United Nations, civil society, youth and women representatives. Security Council and regional organizations could support States in the implementation of such frameworks. As stressed by the Secretary-General in paragraph 67 of his report, “The most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of armed conflict.” It also brought into better focus the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire. He rightly pointed out that the pandemic has shown the folly of war.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“The same could be said of the situation in the occupied Palestinian State, where Palestinian generations have grown up living under the constant violations of their rights by the occupying Power, in total breach of its obligations under international law, hence the importance of ensuring respect of the relevant Security Council resolutions and the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect Palestinian civilians and guarantee their rights. In the absence of specific legislation and standards regarding the use of new technologies and weapons in a context of armed conflict, we believe that the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution should apply. Prevention must continue to be at the core of our efforts, and we must continue to address the root causes of conflicts.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“Even the environment was not spared, with the destruction of the Jiyeh power plant, which resulted in a massive oil spill on Lebanese shores and beyond. And yet all those crimes against the civilian population, against the environment and against the territorial integrity of a country were committed without any accountability or remedy in sight. Accountability is fundamental to putting an end to impunity and to giving victims the justice that they deserve. Accountability mechanisms must be put in place and supported by the Security Council, without double standards.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“When we in Lebanon speak about the protection of civilians, we do so from our long experience with wars and invasions. Lebanese civilians have paid the heavy price of years of blatant violations of international law, with countless indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by the Israeli forces. The shelling of a United Nations compound in the village of Qana in 1996 resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Lebanese civilians — including children — and injuries to hundreds more, including United Nations peacekeepers. Ten years later, in 2006, Qana was once again bombed by the Israeli forces, which resulted, again, in the deaths of children and civilians. Millions of cluster bombs were dropped on Lebanese territory.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“Compliance with existing international legal instruments, particularly international humanitarian law, international human rights law and Security Council resolutions, remains a crucial way to ensure the protection of civilians. The Security Council should therefore ensure that those instruments are implemented and respected. It can do so through greater coordination with the relevant regional organizations and concerned Member States. But this is not a matter of legality and international law only; it is a moral issue and goes to the heart of what makes us human and decent. Ethics and morality have to be integral to human behaviour, especially during conﬂict. We need to insert morality into the language of protection and of the prevention and resolution of conﬂicts.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“Lebanon commends Estonia for having organized this open debate. The high- level participation therein testifies to the centrality of this item on the agenda of the Security Council and of the United Nations in general. The topic is timely because even a pandemic could not stop conflicts around the world or stop civilian suffering. The Security Council should prioritize this agenda and make it central to all peace and security issues under its consideration, since the number of civilian deaths, injuries and trauma as a result of armed conflict continues to be staggering, as illustrated in the latest report of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians in armed conflict (S/2020/366).”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“On the prevention front, we believe that more visiting missions of the Council could take place, with the possibility of having a particular outcome. In this transitional period, improved and continued communication between the Security Council and the wider membership remains necessary to keep us from creating a virtual wall.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“Still, it must be understood that it cannot permanently replace in-person meetings, and these should apply only during extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances. One of the concerns we express is that multilingualism — a cornerstone of the work of our Organization — has not been fully guaranteed, through interpretation, for instance, or the timely translation of documents. The Council can improve the efficiency of its work by enhancing meaningful communication and the involvement of concerned countries in the decision-making process. This type of involvement is conducive to better and fairer implementation of Security Council resolutions, thereby improving the efficiency of the Council. We continue to call for a more analytical content of the Security Council report to the General Assembly, and to improve its timeliness.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“It is important to acknowledge the important work done by the Security Council members and the Secretariat to rapidly adapt the work of the Council to this unforeseen situation, while trying to uphold some of the key principles steering their activities. The Council has been able to adapt its work essentially through improved technology platforms, namely, video-teleconference, which offers the opportunity to widen the net of people who are invited from outside to brief the Council. Online meetings have made it possible to continue the functioning of the Council and the Organization. The Council could consider developing specific working methods for the virtual work of the Security Council on the basis of the three letters contained in documents S/2020/372 of 7 May 2020, S/2020/253 of 27 March 2020 and S/2020/273 of 2 April 2020.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“The informal retreat on the working methods of the Security Council, organized by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the State of Kuwait in January of this year, was a much welcome initiative. It offered interesting ideas and food for thought in helping to improve the working methods of the Security Council. We also commend both countries for providing a summary of the discussions held at this retreat, which ultimately enables the wider membership and other stakeholders to reflect on the discussions. As rightly highlighted in the concept note (S/2020/374, annex), transparency and efficiency should go hand in hand, a fortiori under these extraordinary circumstances.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“We wish to congratulate Estonia on its assumption of the presidency and wish your delegation, Mr. President, the best of luck in fulfilling its duties. We pay tribute to the Dominican Republic for its leadership in its first-ever virtual presidency of the Council in the month of April. The current and prolonged circumstances give this debate on working methods a higher significance. Lebanon thanks the briefers for their insights. Let us express our support to Ambassador Inga Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in her capacity as the new Chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and other Procedural Questions.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“Unfortunately, the Middle East under the threat of COVID-19 looks much the same as it looked before this grave menace to all of humankind arose. If such a pandemic cannot change the region and usher in an era of human dignity, an end to occupation and peace for its peoples, then I am not sure what would be able to bring about change.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“It is also high time for the Council to demand that the illegal decade-long blockade of Gaza be lifted so it can fight the COVID-19 threat without being under siege or lacking much-needed medical supplies and equipment. The international community needs to stand by the Palestinian people now more than ever so as to overcome the current ordeal by renewing material and moral support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), especially since the investigation into its administration found no evidence to support allegations of corruption. I take this opportunity to wish the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Mr. Philippe Lazzarini, success in his new assignment.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“We need not remind everyone of the illegality of such actions, which violate not only relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the most recent of which is resolution 2334 (2016), but also the Fourth Geneva Convention, which, specifically in article 56, requires Israel as the occupying Power to ensure and maintain “medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics”, including in Hebron. There is a great risk that the virus will spread into densely Palestinian areas, which will overburden the health infrastructure there.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“The latest example of this is the approval by Israeli authorities of the confiscation of Palestinian land near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city of Hebron, which was a move rightfully described by Hanan Ashrawi as reflecting “an abject disregard for the status of Hebron’s old city as a World Heritage site that must be protected from all acts of aggression, alteration, and destruction”. The approval came a few hours after the formation of an Israeli Unity Government, whose plan is to annex and permanently occupy the West Bank.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continues to do a commendable job in implementing its mandate in its area of operations and in assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces to preserve peace in the south of the country. I also wish to pay tribute to UNIFIL for its ongoing efforts aimed at assisting Lebanon in curbing the spread of COVID-19. In occupied Palestine, COVID-19 has not distracted Israel from pursuing its aggressive policies designed to block all attempts to make progress on the establishment of a Palestinian State by dismantling any basis for such a State’s viability.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“Its violations of resolution 1701 (2006) have long been documented in letters addressed to the Security Council. I would nevertheless remind the Council that at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, at a time when people are preoccupied with containing the virus in Lebanon, they have still had to endure hundreds of Israeli violations. In February, March and up to 13 April of this year, there were 140 sea violations, 142 land violations and 162 airspace violations. In some of these violations, Israeli war planes breached and used Lebanese airspace to attack a third country, Syria. The Security Council has not condemned these violations of Lebanese sovereignty. Furthermore, Lebanon has expected the United Nations to have something to say about Israeli disregard for the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“The Lebanese response to COVID-19 has been robust and efficient, but the virus is cruel, and no country can be safe until the whole world is safe. Yet it seems that irresponsible behaviour is persistent in the Middle East. Not even a pandemic like the one we are suffering from now can change such behaviour. Instead of heeding the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire and for focusing the world’s energies on fighting the virus, Israel maintains its usual policies of flouting international law and United Nations resolutions insofar as Lebanon and the Middle East are concerned. In the south of Lebanon, Israeli violations of my country’s territorial sovereignty continue unabated. COVID-19 has not appeared to distract Israel from its daily utter disregard of international law, in particular resolution 1701 (2006).”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“Moreover, I cannot but express my profound gratitude to front-line workers, especially health workers, who deserve to be considered major pillars of all our societies around the world. No region is immune from this pandemic, including the Middle East, which is already facing a multitude of challenges and crises. The pandemic has wrought havoc in the world economy and sent financial markets into a tailspin. The turmoil that has hit oil markets has added to the uncertainties. Like every other country around the world, Lebanon is enduring a difficult economic situation, whose impact on its people and economy it is trying to mitigate. While continuing its unflagging efforts aimed at implementing its agenda for economic reform, Lebanon has also been working to contain the spread of the virus.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“Even when we are facing a common enemy that “does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith”, as the Secretary-General put it, not only do conflicts persist but they provide an opening in many places around the world, especially in the Middle East, for opportunistic attempts to use this difficult moment to make political and military gains. Before I turn to the Middle East, however, I wish to express my strong solidarity with those who have been affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and those who have suffered the loss of loved ones. I would also like to express my greatest support for and solidarity with the poorest countries on the planet, which are suffering from two pandemics at once: poverty and economic hardship, on the one hand, and the COVID-19 pandemic, on the other.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source
“First of all, I would like to thank China on its leadership of the Security Council in March and to congratulate the Dominican Republic on its assumption of the presidency for April. I would also like to thank the Dominican Republic for convening this video-teleconference on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, and for making it possible for non-members of the Council to participate. The world is facing a historic challenge — one that is testing everything, including our humanity. At such a difficult moment, we are meeting to discuss conflicts and crises that are human-made. I wish we were meeting to celebrate the silencing of guns, which the Secretary-General called for in his appeal for a global ceasefire.”
2020-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/341 (2020) · source