YouSaid · the spoken record

Barbut

lines on the record
10
first
2016-05-26
most recent
2016-05-26
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “It would be hugely beneficial to economic growth and income generation and would strengthen the resilience of communities that are vulnerable to climate change, improve food and water security and stabilize much of the region. We are not claiming that it is a magic bullet, but it would definitely be cheaper and more effective than investing in walls, wars and relief. It could at least begin to mitigate the political grievances, poverty and marginalization that are driving frustrated young Africans to take radical action. It should at the very least be part of our efforts to prevent conflict and consolidate peace. It is an open door, and it is up to us to walk through it.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  2. “We should invest in decent jobs based on rehabilitation of the land in every village and community on the front lines of desertification. We estimate that an average of 5,000 villages per country is needed to kick-start a new economy and a virtuous circle. In the Sahel region, rehabilitation and sustainable management of one hectare of land costs about $250 and requires nothing apart from labour. That comes to less than $3,000 per job, per year, compared with, for example, the cost associated with paying for a migrant to stay in a camp in Italy, which is about $15,000 a year. That land management-based approach has multiple advantages.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  3. “Those now being repatriated from Mediterranean shores will have to cope once again with various challenges - a lack of social support networks, constant droughts and competition for access to resources between nomadic and settled peoples. They need better and more proactive support if we are to avoid creating more instability. All the dividends of a lasting peace in the region should involve the sustainable use of land and water. Where aid is concerned, priority should be given to developing employment and income-producing economic opportunities in rural areas. The implementation of initiatives such as the Great Green Wall and the Lake Chad Initiative is expanding, but it should be happening more quickly. In order to scale them up, we must help to get the young men and women of the Sahel working again.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  4. “But to return to Alexander Graham Bell, there are open doors if we focus on the fundamentals. Given the major importance of agriculture and productive land for generating jobs and income in sub-Saharan Africa, our efforts to achieve stability and peace must focus more on land management. Natural resources cannot be a last- minute afterthought tacked on to our security strategy. We know that rural migrants generally prefer to live close to their homes. Before they get as far as leaving their own countries, more than half of all migrants move within their countries or to other neighbours. Migration to other continents is often a last resort. It means a long, hard journey under desperate conditions. Many would stay or return home if they could.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  5. “This is creating conditions of desperation for a population that is unemployed, poor and vulnerable, including as many as 41 million young people in the Sahel region alone. More generally, and according to a recent study by the British Ministry of Defence, by 2035, almost 60 million people will have migrated to North Africa and Europe as a result of the desertification of sub-Saharan Africa. In that regard, I should point out that according to an International Organization for Migration census, 100 per cent of the illegal migrants entering Europe come from arid areas. That should make us ask ourselves some questions. All the evidence points to the fact that in the past few years we have crossed a watershed on the path towards political instability, economic migration and inter-ethnic conflict.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  6. “In April, I travelled to Agadez and Dirkou, two cities in the North of the Niger. Until recently, they were major tourist attractions and centres of commerce. They are now the principal transit points for migrants, through which between 150,000 and 200,000 people pass every year. There is little infrastructure to speak of. The illegal trafficking of migrants and migration-related activities are the towns' only viable economic activity. People returning from Libya tell terrible stories of their experiences farther along the route. But there are few alternatives. The question is, how can we all tolerate so much misery and despair concentrated in one place? Land desertification and degradation are pulling the rug out from under millions of people. Those who cannot leave have a deep feeling of despair.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  7. “Thanks to bad governance, poverty and easy access to firearms, situations can quickly turn violent, as in the case of Darfur, where it is estimated that almost 300,000 people have died since 2003. That is clearly happening again in areas around Lake Chad and the Niger, where migration is increasing the pressure on transit and target regions. As has been noted, Lake Chad is a lifeline for at least 25 million people in four countries - Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and the Niger. Tensions around natural resources, especially access to land and water, are increasing. For example, the waters of Lake Chad, which support more than 300 ethnic groups, have shrunk by 90 per cent since the 19605. It is therefore no coincidence that the Lake Chad region is the cradle of Boko Haram and the home base for Al-Qaida in the Maghreb.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  8. “Climate change will promote increased desertification, with potentially devastating consequences. According to some predictions, today poor land management coupled with climate change could reduce agricultural production by 13 per cent in Burkina Faso and by almost 50 per cent in the Sudan. In the Sahel, 85 per cent of the land is already degraded to a certain extent. It is a vicious circle. Today, just when more land is needed, less land and consequently less water will be available. Land is closely linked to community identity, history and culture, of course. Today, the geopolitics of the Sahel are influenced by tensions over land and water shortages that can be easily manipulated in the service of political interests and can quickly spiral out of control.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  9. “With annual population growth rates of up to nearly 4 per cent, the population is increasing beyond the region's capacity to handle it, which will have massive consequences on the region's socioeconomic development and political stability. How will we provide enough food, energy, water, income and economic opportunity for the ballooning populations? The region's gross domestic product per capita is already very low; over 40 per cent ofthe population lives on less than $1.25 a day. For the bulk of the population, life is tough and will get tougher. It is a breeding ground for broken dreams, crime, radicalization and conflict. Most of the people - up to 80 per cent - currently rely on the natural resource base for survival. They eke out a living on land that provides them with everything - food, employment and medicine.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source

  10. “I am grateful to you, Ambassador Aboulatta, President of the Security Council, and your Spanish counterpart, Ambassador Oyarzun Marchesi, for taking the important initiative and inviting me to participate in the discussion on the Sahel region. The Scottish-born inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, said with respect to trying to crack a difficult problem, "Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open" . Likewise, it is true that the opportunity for coordinated action in the Sahel appears to be closing quickly. The enormous and pressing challenges make future security scenarios seem bleak.”

    2016-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7699 (2016) · source