YouSaid · the spoken record

Amde

lines on the record: 309
first: 2018-09-13
most recent: 2022-12-14
sittings or episodes: 42
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

“In conclusion, I would like to reiterate our belief in the cause of equal representation, recognition of cultural and civilizational diversity, solidarity, good faith cooperation and respect for national sovereignty, and a credible and capable United Nations that must form the core of reformed multilateralism.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“In that context, non-State entities and extraterritorial spaces can use their capabilities to help correct inequality and the misguided foundation of the international economic order. Conversely, they can also serve as tools of exploitation, hostility and zero-sum global interaction. That, we believe, depends on whether States are able to regulate the conduct of those actors to ensure that they are a force for good. The reform of the multilateral order must put forth a clear path for the place of non-State actors and the regulation of their conduct, in full compliance with national sovereignty.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“The reform of multilateralism therefore entails ensuring the political independence, impartiality and practical capability of the United Nations to preside over global affairs. My final point has to do with non-State groupings, including commercial entities and extraterritorial spaces, which have proven consequential in international relations. Those actors influence economic and trade policies and measures, exercise control over public goods, affect the movement of wealth and distributive justice and play a growing role in questions of national and international security. Moreover, we have a fully formed cyberspace, in which a great deal of economic, political and social interplay occurs, in which States play the most nominal role.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“As an African country and a member of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, Ethiopia believes that the great majority of the community of States can and must assert our norms and unite towards maintaining our United Nations Charter-based global order. In that connection, the role of the United Nations, which ought to be at the centre of multilateralism, is indispensable. The United Nations must overcome the influence of Power blocs and groupings that are based on national and selective interests. The Organization should not appear to be partial or discredited as to its neutrality or its capability to provide a safe and trusted convening platform with respect to contentious issues.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“Although humankind faces the brunt of war and arms races as a result of that fallout, our discussions and decisions at the United Nations are not being informed by the most significant underlying causes of tensions and rivalry. As a result, multilateralism and the United Nations are viewed as rhetorical and ineffective in addressing core issues in global politics. In that context, we need arrangements between States and blocs of States to be able to prevent wars that are forming in the shadows. This is a situation in which we have no option but to rely on the goodwill of the most powerful to choose adherence to international law, and the rest of the community of States must persistently work to bring sense to the prevailing Power-oriented multilateral system.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“That gaping inequity is discrediting the United Nations and its decisions. Therefore, our reform of multilateralism must rectify those vestiges of colonialism and bring a sense of justice to the system. Secondly, the political dynamics between the most powerful countries pose the greatest of dangers to humankind. Currently, what we consider to be a world order that consists of ambiguous understanding and consensus between the powerful States is unravelling and nearing imminent disintegration. Such arrangements, which are not inclusive or transparent for the majority of the community of States, become apparent when they are violated.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“It is incumbent upon Member States to ensure that those principles are not eroded by our action or inaction. No regional groupings or alliances should be allowed to undermine our principles of sovereignty and sovereign equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, the prohibition of the use of force and the peaceful resolution of disputes. On the other hand, there are many areas in which the United Nations has already become a victim of its own success. The representation of States, especially African States, in the organs and Organization of the United Nations, remains lacking. It is high time to revisit the status quo, which is perpetuating inequality. The working methods we follow buttress the hegemony of the few and put the majority of States under undesirable guardianship.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“I would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your presidency of the Security Council during the final month of India’s non-permanent membership of the Council. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend your country for its outstanding contribution and your team for its successful work over the past two years. We also thank His Excellency the Minister for External Affairs of India for presiding over the Council during today’s open debate and the Secretary-General for his briefing this morning. We believe the topic of today’s meeting concerns important subject matter with regard to the current state of multilateralism and how we envision its betterment. The principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations are timeless.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220Resumption1 (2022) · source
“We call for the Council to scale-up action against terrorism in Africa and to halt the disproportionate sacrifice of a few countries and regions in the fight against terrorism. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate Ethiopia’s commitment to implement the principles and objectives of the African Peace and Security Architecture and to play its part in the creation of a self-reliant and viable system capable of enforcing decisions for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts and supporting peacebuilding efforts.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“We expect to become self-reliant in addressing conflicts and deploying effective conflict- prevention and conflict-resolution mechanisms. The support Africa seeks today is to halt conflict from being the factor that engenders socioeconomic decline and the suffering of our populations. It is a call for joint work to break the cycle of conflict. On the issue of terrorism, we recognize and indeed support the repeated condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. However, an approach that differentiates terrorist groups based on factors other than their dangerous and criminal disposition to the country and region concerned hinders counter- terrorism cooperation. Furthermore, a tentative approach in fighting terrorism that hinges on the goodwill of certain Administrations and States have proved counterproductive.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“In addition, given that the African continent remains the only security complex excluded from decision-making power at the Security Council, support for African regional mechanisms must be viewed as part of the Charter responsibility to ensure global peace and security. Supporting African peace operations that are adopted with the full ownership and participation of African States will help the Security Council address the credibility and trust deficits it is encountering in relation to United Nations missions on the African continent. In connection with our standing call for African peace operations to have access to United Nations assessed contributions, I would like to state that this arrangement is a transitory mechanism. Africa aspires to silencing the guns and setting a development trajectory.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“The rationale and justification for this call for support is clear, and it goes beyond citing the scarcity of resources at the regional level to appealing for support for regional mechanisms. First, we should note that the African Peace and Security Architecture is established in compliance with the normative requirements of the United Nations Charter. In line with this, African peace operations, although initiated at the regional level, undergo the clearance and endorsement of the Security Council. Furthermore, the outcome of African peace operations benefits public and private interests, not only in Africa, but also for stakeholders from outside the continent. It is therefore legitimate and practical for the United Nations system to allocate the necessary resources for African peace operations.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“I would like to draw the attention of the Security Council to the African Peace and Security Architecture. The Architecture is setup with the African Peace and Security Council at its core, and with diplomatic and military components, including the African Standby Force. However, the African Peace and Security Architecture must be backed by necessary and sufficient capability and resources for it to implement decisions in the areas of conflict prevention, peacemaking, peace support operations, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. In this regard, the United Nations, and particularly the Security Council, must assume its rightful role and act responsibly to help bridge the capacity deficit.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“This requires States, inter alia, to determine “freely, in full sovereignty and complete freedom, [their] political institutions”, as set forth in the African Union Resolution on the Right of States to Decide on Their Political Options Without Foreign Interference. It is critical to note that this solemn declaration adopted in Dakar is the basis for Africa’s long-standing position against unilateral coercive measures that mostly target the security sector and undermine the ability of States to fend off internal and external security threats. It is necessary for the international community, including the Security Council, to stand in opposition to unilateral coercive measures and to address their impacts that undermine the capability of States to ensure peace and security.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“The present-day reality and the hot beds of tension we encounter in North Africa, West Africa and the Sahel, the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa, and the global political dynamics within which they are occurring, show much remains to be done and therefore compel us to do more. This situation calls primarily for even stronger leadership and inter-Africa solidarity and cooperation. Ethiopia is of the conviction that ownership and self-reliance must be embedded in the short-, medium- and long-term plans for Africa. To this end, we in Africa need to strengthen our national security institutions and foster progress in inter-Africa cooperation in the areas of institution-building, developing and training human resources, and intelligence-sharing, and we need to live up to our obligations to resolve our own challenges.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“To this end, genuine and mutually beneficial cooperation in support of national priorities and efforts to foster development and alleviate aid dependency are paramount. It is therefore necessary to avoid approaches that create undue prioritization and competition between peace and security, on the one hand, and development, on the other. In the year 1994, the African Union adopted the Declaration on a Code of Conduct for Inter-African Relations, Assembly of Heads of State and Government. This Declaration recognizes “the proliferation of hot beds of tension in Africa and the serious threat they pose to the stability, independence and credibility as well as to the development of our States”. It also outlines the commitment of AU member States to find African solutions to African problems.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“According to United Nations demographic forecasts, five of the eight countries that will contribute most to the increase in global population are in Africa. Additionally, sub-Saharan Africa will contribute more than half of the global population increase projected for 2050. If African countries are to ensure sustainable socioeconomic development, this reality will be a source of dividends for peace and prosperity. Accordingly, realization of Africa’s economic potential is the best security policy of all. We strongly believe that poverty reduction and the expansion of opportunities for the increasing population on the continent form a critical strategy to ensure human dignity, prevent conflict and sustain peace.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“I would like to congratulate China for assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of August and wish you, Mr. President, the best in the discharge of your responsibilities. I would like to thank His Excellency Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, for his valuable briefing yesterday (see S/PV.9106). I also thank the Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, Ms. Cristina Duarte, and Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, for their briefings, and I acknowledge all the speakers before me for their important contributions to this debate. Africa is the youngest continent, with more than 70 per cent of its population under the age of 30.”
2022-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9106Resumption1 (2022) · source
“There is a Government representing the will of the Ethiopian people and representing the Ethiopian State; and there is a group advancing its greedy and criminal cause through atrocities. Any attempt, including the media campaign we have been witnessing in the past few days, to launder the TPLF and diminish the horrors it has committed against the Ethiopian people will only be counterproductive. Out of our conviction in peaceful solutions to all disputes, we will keep engaging all well-meaning actors, the AU High Representative and regional leaders. In the course of this process, we hope that we will have the understanding of the Council and its membership. I assure Council members that my country will prevail, as it has in the past, in the face of all adversities.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“In line with our commitment, we entertained the offers for support and undertook to work with all of our friends to learn from their experiences and draw the available and relevant lessons and support. We accepted the High Representative of the African Union to the Horn of Africa and assisted him in his role. We believe that the regional solution is best placed to support us in getting out of the problem, That being said, our route to dialogue and a political solution will not be straightforward or easy. For now, we are focused on halting the TPLF and rescuing and reaching our public, which has suffered immensely under the group’s cruel and deceptive methods. In that regard, we remind everyone concerned that there are no two parties here.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“It is now emboldened to a level where it threatens to unseat a popularly elected Federal Government and destabilize a nation of 112 million people. Once again, we reiterate our plea to the group’s supporters — who have been providing it with communications equipment, satellite information, weapons and even fighters — to desist from that not only illegal but immoral act. Ethiopia is pained. What we have gone through at the hands of that criminal group will require intergenerational efforts to heal. For that, Ethiopia needs its children to engage in dialogue and reconcile. We have, time and again, expressed our readiness and explained our preparations for a national political dialogue. Had it not been for the bloodshed caused by the TPLF, even the political future of that group would have had a prospect of resolution through dialogue.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“As members may recall, even the Council was made to convene over false reports alleging heinous crimes, including the use of hunger as a weapon of war. Thankfully, the truth has come out and those malicious accusations have been dispelled by the report of the joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Our plea to members of the international community, States and non-State actors to refrain from providing moral and material support went unheeded. The TPLF became emboldened and numbed itself to an extent. It stopped counting the lives of the Ethiopians from Tigray whom it sacrificed on its hopeless journey.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“No ethnic or political group, despite its unfulfilled demands, has waged war against the motherland. Diversity is not Ethiopia’s problem. Our challenge is not, as some reluctantly posit, a failure to manage diversity. Diversity is Ethiopia’s asset. Our problem is a criminal group that refused to accept equality and let go of ill-gained supremacy and privilege. Unfortunately, that group garnered support from many sources: some media outlets in the West and some staff members and leaders of international organizations openly support the group. It may come as a surprise that we sometimes learn the motives and next steps of the group from statements and speeches by high-placed officials within those entities.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“The trucks we sent to Tigray with food and medical supplies are transporting weapons and youth combatants who have been frauded or forced into fighting against their brothers and sisters for no apparent public interest but for the greed-driven political agenda of a few individuals. We honour and respect the call for political dialogue. It is an approach we fully prescribe to and even applied in resolving many intra- and inter-state disputes. Inherently, our current situation is not any different. There are deep-seated political differences and grievances in our nascent democracy. We are also a diverse nation and a home to 83 languages and many groups that the headlines do not care to mention, with unaddressed legitimate quests and demands. However, no political group, despite their grievances, has raised an arm against its brethren.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“All of that is proven to be in vain, as it did not help us gain peace. Today I will not provide the Council with details on the humanitarian assistance we delivered to our people in need. As a result of the continued and now widespread criminal belligerence of the TPLF, the people of Tigray that need urgent humanitarian assistance are not having any aid delivered. The people in the Afar and Amhara regions are rendered vulnerable. Cities and towns are shelled; residents are killed on their doorsteps; citizens are being robbed of the earnings from their toil. True to its unscrupulous and cruel nature, the TPLF is causing terror and mayhem. As we speak, Ethiopians in the northern part of the country are fending for their lives and the lives of their children.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“Ethiopia will never forget those patriots and their service and sacrifice. That day will also go down as a day of infamy in Ethiopia’s proud history. In that connection, I would like to extend our thanks to the members of the Council who have stood with my country during this very trying year. In the past year, we have reversed the military threat posed by TPLF. In parallel, we have made all efforts to provide food and non-food items to people in need in Tigray; we signed a humanitarian assistance agreement with the United Nations; we spent close to 100 million Ethiopian birr for assistance and reconstruction; we declared a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrew our forces; and we implored the treasonous group to hand over the leaders of its criminal scheme and to leave its rank and file members to live in peace.”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“I thank you, Mr. President, for giving me the floor and for allowing the participation of my country in this briefing. I also congratulate you on Mexico’s presidency of the Council for the month of November. I recognize the presence of His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo, High Representative of the African Union to the Horn of Africa, and Under- Secretary-General Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo. I thank them both for their briefings. A year ago, the northern command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces was attacked from within. The unsuspecting men and women in uniform were slain in the dark hours of 4 November 2020. The long-standing service and sacrifice of the National Defence Forces was rewarded by unprecedented levels of betrayal and a treasonous attack waged by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).”
2021-11-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8899 (2021) · source
“I hear the Secretary-General loud and clear. I fully understand and acknowledge the support that he has given to our people, and my Government as well. We know where his heart is. He has approached the issue concerning us with candidness and candour, and we highly respect that. As to the asks, I will definitely communicate with the appropriate authorities, and we will do so, of course, expeditiously. As I made clear in my statement earlier, this is an issue that has to be dealt within Ethiopia and the United Nations. Whatever documents are available will be submitted to the Office of the Secretary-General. The meeting rose at 4.35 p.m.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“We assure the Council that we will facilitate the visa requests. No one should doubt the Ethiopian tradition of hospitality. What we are asking for is respect, dignity, honesty and open and candid discussion. As we have in the past, we will always extend our hand to all those who treat us with dignity and equality. That is the story of Ethiopian life since the time of the League of Nations.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“The United Nations has been an invaluable development and humanitarian partner for Ethiopia for many years. I want to underscore the great value that we attach to the support of the Organization during this difficult time. We also believe that the majority of the United Nations staff with whom we have the privilege of working have the requisite integrity and decency. I would like to reassure the Council that the new Ethiopian Government, established with the popular will and mandate of the Ethiopian people to herald peace and prosperity, stands ready to work with the international community to address long-standing and current challenges. We welcome and value initiatives by leaders of our region and the African Union and the support of Secretary-General António Guterres towards sustaining peace and stability in Ethiopia.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“In that connection, we request that, first and foremost, the United Nations deploy new staff who are aware of, and will adhere to, their professional code of conduct. The overwhelming majority of United Nations staff fulfil that requirement and would distance themselves from political mercenaryism. The Government of Ethiopia stands ready to assist the expeditious deployment of the replacements. More important, we request the United Nations to review all the reports, statements and assessments that were produced with regard to the situation in Ethiopia in the past year. The reports and the data and information that they contain must be verified. Such an audit is necessary for us to build and sustain trust and advance the exemplary cooperation between the Ethiopian Government and the United Nations.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“Apart from the selfish interests of individuals, we have evidence that the entire endeavour was created by a higher and more sophisticated motivation that seeks to undermine the Ethiopian State and rescue the TPLF. Ethiopia deeply resents that experience. Expulsion was not our primary course of action. On multiple occasions, we explained our concerns to United Nations officials. On 8 July, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia wrote a letter to the Secretariat explaining, in great detail, the misconduct by United Nations staff that required corrective measures. We also summoned some of those individuals and warned them to halt their misconduct. Nevertheless, the transgressions continued unabated. We believe that United Nations agencies and their honourable roles are undermined by those few individuals.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“They openly conducted activism in support of the TPLF — a group proscribed as terrorist — and made political statements to instigate violence and inflame the conscience of the Ethiopian public. They assisted in the syphoning of food, medicine, communication equipment and all other essential supplies and equipment and its transfer to the TPLF. Right before their expulsion, they were facilitating the deportation of ethnically segregated groups of Ethiopian migrants from Saudi Arabia and their resettlement in third countries in Africa for training and preparation before joining the TPLF in combat. In effect, a parallel United Nations operation that completely side-lined the United Nations country office was created.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“In addition, they exposed the safe house before international media and invited interviewers and interrogators to safe houses to intimidate victims and elicit testimonies. That is happening in a city where close to 13,000 detainees and prisoners were released with absolute impunity and thousands of armed youths are roaming the streets, already creating terror for residents. Those individuals recorded a United Nations staff meeting and gave a copy to the TPLF for the sake of providing it with material it could use to back up its false allegations. Those individuals openly celebrated and made other United Nations staff cheer for the so- called victory of the TPLF and the withdrawal of the National Defense Force from Tigray.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“About two weeks ago, they reported that 12 individuals had died of hunger in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, while the organization running the IDP camp — itself an international organization — came out and stated that the allegations were simply false. They implored United Nations agencies to conduct investigations outside of their mandate to meet the instructions of the TPLF to generate exhibits matching the false allegations released in the media and to supposedly substantiate a case before the International Criminal Court. They did not even show mercy to victims of gender- based violence. First, in violation of the protection protocols for safe houses for victims of gender-based violence, they invited TPLF armed men and militia to the safe houses.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“They categorized the situation in Tigray under level 5 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, based on data collected from a region with a population of 6 million by a single Food and Agriculture Organization staff member and interpreted by two United Nations staff members who were Ethiopian and open TPLF supporters based in Rome. They assisted in the fabrication of false allegations submitted to the Security Council as a white paper. The white paper contained unfounded allegations, including the use of hunger as a weapon, and proffered the need to apply resolution 2417 (2018). The former Head of OCHA was made to report to the Council that 152 Ethiopians had died due to the food shortage, while such an incident had never occurred. They made up data and went to the extent of disinforming this global security organ.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“Those individuals executed the conspiracy created by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its members to generate an image of extreme casualty that warrants so-called humanitarian intervention and rescues the criminal group. To use their own words, they were looking to create a Darfur- like situation. Suddenly and overnight, they created 1 million victims of a health disaster. While the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the country reported that 2.8 million people were in need of emergency health assistance, the main OCHA office was made to report 3.8 million, only because that level of inflation of misery was needed to elevate the crisis to a level 3.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“In the presence of deceit, coercion and vested interest, they will preserve their independence and, in the existence of considerations that may appear to be reasonable bases for decisions, United Nations staff will be guided by humanity only. The United Nations staff that Ethiopia expelled side-lined their oaths, the rules of professional conduct and the principles of humanitarian assistance. Let me cite a few examples, which we selected with great care and caution from that multitude of transgressions. Needless to say, the misconduct of a few individuals does not speak to the professional and able United Nations team in Ethiopia, or anywhere else. Rather, it speaks to the serious ethical dilemma that has existed in the humanitarian operation in Ethiopia for the past eleven months.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“Secondly, staff members shall not use their office or knowledge gained from their official functions for private gain, financial or otherwise, or for the private gain of any third party, including family, friends and those they favour. Thirdly, staff members shall not communicate to any Government, entity, person or any other source any information known to them by reason of their official position. Those cardinal principles, for the safeguard of which United Nations staff enter a solemn oath and swear on their conscience, mean that, in the presence of contradicting views, competing interests, political pressures and all forms of temptation, United Nations staff will remain neutral.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter provides that all staff members employed by the United Nations must have the “highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity.” In the context of humanitarian operations, integrity entails adhering to the principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity and independence. It also requires respect for the laws and police power of the host State. Furthermore, they must respect the United Nations code of conduct, which provides the following, inter alia. First, United Nations staff shall neither seek nor accept instructions from any Government or any other source external to the Organization.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“3) The most fundamental element of the sovereignty of States has to do with their prerogative to determine who enters, remains in and exits their territory. When we appeal for support from, or to work with, the United Nations or other humanitarian operators, we do not forgo that fundamental right. Therefore, the Government will continue exercising its due right and responsibility on monitoring and screening all humanitarian operators in Ethiopia. Any suggestion to the contrary is unacceptable. As to the legality of the decision, leaving the details aside, the United Nations itself can be quoted for arguing that decisions regarding personae non gratae apply to the United Nations as well. When it comes to the obligations of United Nations staff, the rules are unequivocal.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“We truly hoped Council members would have the insight to leave this matter to the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations. At the outset, I would like to register our position that the Government of Ethiopia is not under any legal obligation to provide justifications or explanations for its decisions. We are obliged to make reference to the basic norms of the United Nations and its humanitarian operations. The General Assembly resolution on the guiding principles for humanitarian assistance provides that, “[t]he sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of States must be fully respected in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.” (General Assembly resolution 46/182, annex, para.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“I congratulate Kenya on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of October. Mr. President, I would like to convey Ethiopia’s best wishes to you in the discharge of your responsibilities. I also wish to thank the Secretary-General. I do not want to hide my surprise at the convening of today’s Security Council meeting. We find it incomprehensible that this body would be discussing the decision of a sovereign State, which was exercised within the domain of international law and its sovereign prerogative. There have been several instances where Governments had expelled United Nations staff and other diplomatic envoys for so many disclosed and undisclosed reasons. Did the Council ever meet to challenge such a decision? To the best of our recollection, I think not.”
2021-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8875 (2021) · source
“At the same time, we respectfully assert our sovereign integrity as an ancient, independent African country that is constantly striving to overcome its challenges. In that regard, I would like to underscore how harmful the saviour mentality that seeks to undermine the sovereign right and responsibility of States for their own security and the well-being of their people has proved to be in many instances. We can only hope that the right lessons are learned. Evidently, Ethiopia is not a country that allows others to delegate the shape of its future. As the international community has witnessed, undue foreign pressure and interference is not appreciated by a single soul in my country. After-the-fact regret and the admission of failure in foreign policy will not help. Therefore, we call on everyone concerned to work with us.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“Regarding some of the unsubstantiated assertions we heard today, we call upon the members of the Council to be cautious regarding the so-called facts and misinformation that have dominated the scene. There is no discrimination based on any grounds, including ethnicity, religion or any other reason. We are not people of fewer morals; we are people of values. We have survived for centuries through social cohesion. We built unity while honouring differences. Ethiopian reform is all about how to strengthen our unity and live in harmony. The reform is not about learning to die on the hill of ethnic divisions, as has been professed, propagated and implemented by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front for more than 30 years. I would like to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to all those who have stood with us in our times of need.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“Our plea to all and our sincere wish is for help to realize peace, including by putting pressure on that lawless group to stop its criminal advances, abandon preparations for combat and abide by the laws of the country. The group must also irrefutably delink itself from internal and external sponsors and affiliates. As for the international community, we ask that it remove the actual or perceived support emanating from its side, off of which the group feeds. All it has to do is comply with the requirements set by the Government and free the people of Tigray from its egotistical grip. In the absence of compliance with the country’s laws, the Government of Ethiopia will apply any means necessary to ensure law and order.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“Those essential services cannot be reconnected so long as the group that to date has killed 33 infrastructure operators and engineers, looted and diverted aid and confiscated humanitarian convoys continues to persist on its destructive path of war. Our goal is peace. Unfortunately, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front is standing between Ethiopia and peace. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front is not the victim, but the culprit. The people of Ethiopia, especially those in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions, are living in underserved and insufferable conditions. We are startled that all those who appeared to call for peace and pressure on the Government to suspend its law- enforcement operation later on tolerated and ratified, through their reticence, the expansion of violence and mayhem by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“We will continue to deliver on our obligation, using all means and allocating all available resources. In that regard, first, the Government of Ethiopia is committed to hastening the clearance of humanitarian convoys. In fact, we are committed to reducing the number of checkpoints and fast-tracking scanning processes. We are working with partners to introduce modern scanning technology. Secondly, we will continue to consider requests for humanitarian flights. The World Food Programme and the National Disaster Risk Management Commission are administering their humanitarian flights unimpeded. Thirdly, we will continue to provide cash and manage it in a predictable and sustainable manner for all humanitarian agencies. Similarly, the resumption of public services requires peace and the rule of law in Tigray.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“With absolute disregard for the well-being of people and in greedy pursuit of whatever is there to be acquired by creating mayhem for the very people it purports to stand for, the TPLF has blocked humanitarian aid. The group has also engaged in the formalization of fronts between internal and external actors bent on destabilizing the great nation of Ethiopia. In that regard, we see clear coordination between those internal treasonous elements and external actors, from near and far, that have opened a multidimensional offensive aimed at obstructing Ethiopia’s right to use its natural resources. As to humanitarian assistance, the Government of Ethiopia is fully cognizant of its obligation to its citizens. The sensationalization and politicization of our situation does not inform our response.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source
“The Government’s commitment for peace was disregarded by the TPLF, which called the ceasefire a joke, as well as members of the international community that tolerated, enabled and condoned the group in following its destructive path. The repeated plea for a ceasefire was ignored, and we now have Ethiopian children in Tigray subjected to forced recruitment to serve as cannon fodder. We are also seeing the distribution of aid predicated on the condition that parents give away their children to fight in war. Not only farmers in the Tigray region but also others in the adjacent Afar and Amhara regions are currently unable to farm their land, exposing them to the indignity of receiving aid to sustain their family. Hundreds of thousands in the Afar and Amhara regions have been displaced and have sustained irreparable damage to their well-being.”
2021-08-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8843 (2021) · source