YouSaid · the spoken record

Brandt

lines on the record: 84
first: 2013-06-17
most recent: 2023-11-20
sittings or episodes: 15
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

“We can act in our own organizations and countries by including women in decision-making processes and through our national action plans. When it comes to women and peace and security, the Council has shown that, if it wants to act, it can. For example, the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan now calls for the full and effective participation of women in decision-making. For the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the Council requested an increase the number of women and ensuring their meaningful participation in all aspects of the operation. As the Secretary-General pointed out, we have now significantly increased the number of female briefers, including from civil society, and on 8 March we held a Council meeting with a two-thirds majority of women around the table for the first time.”
2018-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8382 (2018) · source
“Research has shown that diverse boards with men and women at the top perform better and actually make profits go up. We therefore know there is a clear business case, but we hardly see the needle moving. We see the rationale but we do not act on it, because we have not changed who we see as leaders and whose experience and judgment we value most. The same applies to involving women in peace and security. In our eagerness to stop violence, we first make place at the table for those who picked up arms, largely men. Women, whom we know are crucial for peaceful solutions, are left out or relegated to a second or third track, despite what we know. That is why we are happy that the focus of this debate is not on why but on how we move from knowing to truly believing and then acting.”
2018-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8382 (2018) · source
“We did that because it makes perfect sense; because we know that, when women are involved, there is a better chance for lasting peace; because we know that inclusive peace is lasting peace. If we know all of that and if the rationale is so clear, why is it that women are still excluded from peace processes? Why is it that women still make up only 8 per cent of negotiators - a percentage that has hardly moved in recent years? The statistics were clearly pointed out today by the Executive Director of UN-Women. Is it because, although we know, we still have not been able to sufficiently change our mindset, to change the way we think about leadership, roles and power? Have we therefore not acted with the urgency that is needed? We see the same in the world of business.”
2018-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8382 (2018) · source
“First of all, I wish to sincerely thank the briefers for their insight and urgent advice 4 the "to-do list", as Minister Wallstrom called it. I would also like to state that the Kingdom of the Netherlands fully aligns itself with the statement to be made on behalf of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security. If we want to build lasting peace and security, we need women. It is as simple as that and makes perfect sense. All of us present here support that. After all, it was the Security Council that unanimously adopted resolution 1325 (2000), 18 years ago. Subsequently, several more resolutions were adopted, further strengthening our commitment to women and peace and security.”
2018-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8382 (2018) · source
“We hope so, of course. Fatima told out staff in the IDP camp that she has not given up hope. And neither can we. We must let her courage inspire us to work even harder. Fatima's children, and thousands of others, depend on us.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“UNICEF therefore appreciates all the more Norway's leadership on the Safe Schools Declaration, which advocates for schools to be safe and protected spaces and outlines actions to end the military use of schools. We need more such initiatives, including negotiations to release children held by armed groups, and community-based reintegration programmes to help children not only recover and reintegrate but also learn new skills to build for the future. Such efforts show children and their families that we care, that we are committed to their protection and well-being and that we cannot and will not tolerate grave violations against children in armed conflict by anyone, anywhere. We have failed Fatima. We can only imagine the heartbreak that she and her children endure daily. And we do not know if they will ever be reunited.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“Aggressive forms of recruitment for extreme violence, such as participation in executions and suicide bombings, are real and reach well beyond conflict zones. And even in places where children should be safe, they are not. Think of the attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, that killed 145 children and teachers. Or Gaza last year, where more than 260 schools were damaged or destroyed. Or the countries where Governments and non-State armed groups use schools to store weapons, detain prisoners and house soldiers. Or the continued use of explosive weapons and indiscriminate weapons, such as landmines and cluster bombs, in populated areas.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“Urgently and collectively, we must turn our attention to prevention. The best way to do that, of course, is to step up efforts to end conflict and to pursue accountability, not just as a means of addressing past wrongs but also of deterring future ones. But we must also engage those who are most affected by, for example, strengthening community protection measures by engaging local leaders and exploring the benefits of unarmed civilian protection, as well as by supporting the methods that families use to protect their children - including, in some cases, seeking safety and protection as refugees or IDPs. Even as we tackle such challenges, new threats emerge. Children are at risk for new forms of violence promoted via social media.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“When they are released, the best option is to transfer them quickly to child protection services, to trained professionals who can support them as they recover, rebuild and reintegrate, and who can address the needs of girls and children with special needs, including those with disabilities. We must commit to providing that critical support, because without it children will not get the opportunity to heal, and the risk of re-recruitment is real. While we acknowledge that progress has been made in some areas, we must remain vigilant, because where conflict has re-emerged or escalated, the risks of backsliding are real. The Special Representative of the Secretary- General just spoke about South Sudan and Yemen, where the use of children has not only continued but has increased in recent bouts of conflict.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“We cannot, and must not, stop at the release of children, however. We must also think about what happens after children are released. How can they resume normal life when they are inevitably burdened by physical wounds and psychological scars? Think of Fatima's young sons. How will they cope when they return to their mother? Think of the trauma endured by the young women and girls who have escaped from Boko Haram. Think of the more than 140 Kurdish boys abducted by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant last year. These children are victims and must be treated as such.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“We therefore welcome the Security Council's particular attention this morning to abduction as a new trigger for the listing of parties to conflict in the annexes of the Secretary-General's report. Let us also acknowledge the progress we have made together to release and reintegrate children affected by conflict. The Secretary-General and his Special Representative mentioned the "Children, Not Soldiers" campaign, which has been central to that shared progress. Combined efforts also led to the release earlier this year of more than 2,000 children by non-State armed groups, including in the Central African Republic and South Sudan. I would like to take this opportunity to thank France for organizing a debate specifically focused on child Victims of such groups earlier this year (see S/PV.7414).”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“The scale and nature of abductions is changing, however, and the Secretary-General's report gives several examples of this. Used to instil fear and terror in populations, abduction is often only the first in a series of grave violations. Sexual assault and rape, indoctrination, recruitment as child soldiers and murder often follow. Each of these offences blights the child concerned, robs her ofher childhood and threatens her ability to live a full and productive life. Each offence violates international law. It both shames us for not doing more to prevent atrocities and spurs us to act to prevent all violations of child rights and call for increased accountability. Left unaddressed, each offence can contribute to the recurring cycles of violence and conflict that shatter lives and communities and perpetuate conflict in future generations.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“She has no idea of what has happened to her sons, or whether she will ever see them again. This is frightening, devastating and increasingly common. The past year, as the Secretary General's report (S/2015/409) documents and as his Special Representative mentioned earlier, was one of the worst ever for children affected by armed conflict, not least because of the alarming rise in abductions, especially mass abductions, of children and adults in Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria. We have seen mass abductions before, and the Secretary-General has just mentioned the Lord's Resistance Army, which abducted children by night, prompting thousands to make the dangerous nightly journey to areas beyond its reach. In fact, we will have the honour to hear more on this from Ms. Eunice Apio later.”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“Ms. Brandt: Let me, at the outset, thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malaysia for organizing this debate, the Secretary-General for his leadership and Ms. Leila Zerrougui, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, for her tireless commitment to keeping children in conflict safe. In January this year, in Borno state, Nigeria, villages were attacked by armed groups. Houses and schools were burned. Fatima, a young mother, fled with her baby and two young sons. Stopped by gunmen, she was forced to answer questions about her husband and her religious beliefs. Eventually, the gunmen let her go, but ordered her to leave behind her sons, aged three and seven. She walked for weeks with her daughter until she reached a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).”
2015-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7466 (2015) · source
“They also send a message to these children's communities and, indeed, to the world, that children who experience conflict are not without hope. We cannot give up on them, and we can rebuild shattered lives and shattered societies. Because as we heal these children, we also heal divided societies by erasing the stigma that released children face and building peace and, most importantly, hope. As one released South Sudanese boy said, "I really want to go to school now. I have never been to school, and, after I finish, I want to help the people in my community f to help them get food. If I had children, I would never let them be soldiers". Together, let us make 2015 a year of progress for children like this, who have great hope for the future and the generous, humane spirit required to translate this hope into reality.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“Let me here echo the call made by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for support to these essential programmes. In the Central African Republic, over 2,800 children associated with the anti-Balaka and ex-Seleka armed groups have now been released. UNICEF is now working with the communities to reintegrate these children and assist the nearly 10,000 others still associated with these groups. Such efforts not only help these children begin the long process ofrebuilding their lives; they also send a powerful message to each and every child who has survived: "Your life matters, your future matters, you matter". They send a message to all armed groups and armed forces that the use of children in armed conflict, in any way, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“Yes, these children have experienced the worst of humanity. After all they have endured, how can we expect these children, and so many like them around the world, to overcome their suffering and be able, and willing, to build their lives anew? They need our immediate support. UNICEF and the South Sudan Government are therefore working together to care for and protect released children in interim care centres, where they receive food, clothing and health care as well as counselling and programmes to address sexual and gender-based violence. Most are now reunited with their families and will be going to school and receiving vocational training to improve their chances of finding ajob, earning a living and contributing to their families and communities.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“Yes, we are seeing some signs of success. Recently, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General just stated, about 3,000 children were released from the Cobra faction in South Sudan, and we hope that more will be released soon, as the process is still ongoing. But being released is only a first step. Imagine the struggles such children face when they return to their communities: their psychological wounds, the pain and stigmatization they live with, the mistrust in their neighbours' eyes. Consider the more than 140 Kurdish children abducted by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Aleppo last May and held for four months. Now released, they tell of horrifying abuse: beatings with water pipes and electrical cables; being forced to watch Violent Videos of battles, beatings and executions; and starvation.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“When a boy is abducted from his Village and made to fight; when a girl is taken from her family, exploited and abused; when children are targeted because of their ethnicity or religion; and when a child witnesses massacres and sees the worst of humanity, rather than the best, we are rightfully outraged. But our outrage is not enough. Our outrage must be matched by action to end and prevent all grave violations of child rights, by making abduction a trigger for the listing of parties to conflict in the Secretary- General's report on children and armed conflict, by encouraging more States to endorse the Paris Principles and by working directly with all parties to release and integrate children, and by working on measures such as age verification, screening and improved monitoring to prevent such things from happening.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“And yet, in so many countries around the world, as the Secretary-General just pointed out, 2014 was the worst year in which to be a child. This year, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of resolution 1612 (2005), which established the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, and the eighth anniversary of the Paris Principles, now endorsed by 105 States. And yet this year, the world's youngest citizens in Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, Mali and the Central African Republic are still being recruited into armed groups, used, orphaned, killed - their lives stolen, their innocence lost.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“Ms. Brandt: Let me start by thanking the Secretary- General for his leadership and support; Special Representative Leila Zerrougui for her relentless efforts to protect children in the midst of conflict and instability; France for using its leadership of the Security Council to shine a light on the continued crisis of children trapped by conflict; Malaysia, as Chair of the Security Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict; Julie Bodin of Save the Children, an essential partner for UNICEF in addressing the issue of the recruitment and use of children; and Junior Nzita Nsuami, President of Paix pour l'enfance. Last year, in 2014, the world celebrated the twenty- fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
2015-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7414 (2015) · source
“Nanette, who was recruited by the Se'le'ka rebels in the Central African Republic, said this to us: "I was released from Seleka at the start of this year to a transit centre. I was disturbed when I arrived, very nervous and worried about my future. I cried and lived folded in on myself. But, with the support of the team, I have learnt to move on and build a life. I now live with my big sister and have begun a vocational training programme". Fortunately, Nanette is now healing, standing tall and reclaiming her future. Let us give more children like her that blessed opportunity.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“In some places, however, a number of non-State armed groups are taking bold steps to end that heinous practice. In the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front convened a meeting with 30 of its commanders at which the group recommitted to protecting children. In Myanmar, the country task force has begun discussions with the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Kachin Independence Organization and hopes to engage other listed parties soon. But we need to see more - more negotiations to release children held by these groups, more efforts to changes attitudes about the role of children in conflict and more rehabilitation centres to help mend their hearts and their minds, so that they can continue their journeys towards better, more prosperous futures. Thankfully, some children have begun that journey.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is implementing its action plan and has released hundreds of children, and UNICEF will continue to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo's efforts to make its army child-free. As the Special Representative of the Secretary-General mentioned this morning, the armed forces of Chad have achieved their action plan and have been subsequently delisted, as noted in the annexes of the Secretary-General's report (S/2014/339). While we note such achievements, we also remain focused on the challenges and especially the recruitment of children by non-State armed groups. In the Central African Republic, the Sudan and South Sudan, among others, children continue to be mobilized, manning checkpoints, loading weapons, carrying guns and worse.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“UNICEF therefore calls on all Member States to support and implement the Lucens Guidelines so that schools can remain places of learning and hope where children can build strong foundations for their futures and those of their families. I should like to say a few words on the Children, Not Soldiers campaign, launched six months ago by Special Representative Zerrougui with UNICEF. We have seen some encouraging results since that time. For example, Myanmar's armed forces recently released 91 children, and of course, we hope that that will be followed by the release of all other children identified through the ongoing age verification and reporting process.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“I am, of course, thinking especially of the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted and still missing, and Ijoin the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in emphasizing that we must bring them home. We must redouble our efforts to protect all children and schools from targeted attacks. So UNICEF appreciates all the more the initiative by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack and its partners to advocate for schools as safe and protected spaces, including through the new Lucens Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, which outline actions Governments can take to end military use of schools.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“Since our last open debate on the subject (see S/PV.7129), children in Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, Gaza and the Central African Republic have suffered indescribably; they have been recruited, used, orphaned and killed. They have witnessed massacres that no child should ever see, they have endured pain from which they should have been protected, and they have been brutalized. We have seen that too often, their schools, which should be safe havens, are not, as playgrounds become battlegrounds. Governments and non-State armed groups continue to use schools to store weapons, detain prisoners and house soldiers. Teachers and students are targeted.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“Ms. Brandt: I offer special thanks to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, for her determined efforts and those of her Office to keep children in armed conflict safe; to the United States for organizing this open debate; to Luxembourg for chairing the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict; and to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for our productive partnership on child protection. It is indeed a terrible irony that in the twenty-fifth year of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a time when we should be celebrating global progress in children's welfare, we are witnessing so many atrocities against children. Efforts to keep children safe in armed conflicts are continuing, so there is some progress to report. But challenges and setbacks have taken a tragic toll on children.”
2014-09-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7259 (2014) · source
“That means making sure that children are, first and foremost, safe in their families and secure in their communities. We have failed many children, but the story of one 15-year-old boy, a former child soldier in the Central African Republic, should inspire us. Upon learning that his family had held a funeral for him after he was abducted, he was determined to tell his parents he was alive. He joined a centre for child soldiers and prepared to return to his village and reclaim his life. "Better late than never," he said. It would be better still if he had not been robbed of his childhood in the first place. Let his courage and example inspire us to reach more children like him. With the Council's help, we can all work towards that noble goal.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source
“My call today is that those plans be fully implemented, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General Zerrougui just pointed out, because commitments do not save children's lives, concrete actions do. Such actions include releasing children from armed groups, raising awareness in communities to report violations and tracing children and reuniting them with their families. This year, country task forces developed ways to accelerate the implementation of action plans by setting benchmarks, holding regular dialogues between the United Nations and parties and addressing bottlenecks to progress. But there is still much work to be done. As we monitor grave violations against children in armed conflict, we must especially focus on prevention.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source
“We are encouraged by the leadership of countries such as the Philippines, which have restricted the use of schools by their armed forces and continue to strengthen their laws and guidelines. We hope that others will follow those examples. We must preserve schools as places of learning and safe havens for children. Those two trends highlight the critical role of the children-and-armed conflict agenda. Encouraging parties to conflict to comply with international child-rights norms and standards is crucial if we are to safeguard the lives and futures of children. That must also remain our focus as we address the issue of persistent perpetrators on the list. We do that through action plans and country task forces. Action plans are critical to commit parties to conflict to halting the violation of children's rights.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source
“They deprive children of access to essential basic services, such as schools and hospitals, and, in the absence of immediate medical care, injuries can turn into life-long disabilities. We therefore urge all parties to conflict to adopt different tactics and rules of engagement. We urge that they neither position their troops among civilians nor target each other in the middle of villages, towns and cities. We urge that they adopt rules to guide how and where explosive weapons can be used. The second trend has to do with the use of schools in military operations. UNICEF is deeply concerned about that. It poses grave risks to children and educators. It robs children of the opportunity to learn and it violates their right to education.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source
“Childhoods were lost, families shattered and lives changed irreparably. Some conflicts experienced a lull, and we dared to hope for peace, only to watch them reignite. Other conflicts, such as in Syria, had an impact across borders and regions. With each outbreak of war, children suffer grave violations of their rights. Allow me to highlight two alarming trends. The first trend relates to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Armed conflicts frequently occur in urban settings. When explosive weapons such as artillery, mortars, rockets, improvised explosive devices and aircraft bombs are used in those areas, they kill or injure large numbers of children. Those attacks not only have a long-term emotional and psychological impact on children, but also destroy vital social infrastructure such as roads and power supplies.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source
“UNICEF welcomes the Secretary-General's report (S/2013/245) and this opportunity to brief the Council. Allow me, first, to thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Leila Zerrougui for her tireless efforts and those of her Office to protect children in armed conflict. I also thank the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for our fruitful collaboration on child protection. Our thanks also go to Luxembourg for chairing the Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict since January. We welcome the presence of the representative of Save the Children, one of our main partners in child protection. Sadly, in 2012, armed conflicts intensified in both reach and brutality. Civilians, especially children, were targeted, traumatized, maimed and killed.”
2013-06-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6980 (2013) · source