YouSaid · the spoken record

Brown

lines on the record: 88
first: 2008-04-16
most recent: 2022-10-21
sittings or episodes: 10
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

“Obstructions that leave the civilian population without the essentials to survive run contrary to that obligation. Finally, the flash appeal has seen unprecedented donor support. More than $2.9 billion has been received against requirements of $4.3 billion for this year. That is the second most-funded country-level appeal in United Nations history, only second to the support provided to Yemen in 2019 in the amount of $3.6 billion. The Ukraine humanitarian fund has also received significant new funding, with more than $230 million in contributions and pledges. Of that, $117 million has already been disbursed, and we have now included $20 million for local volunteer organizations. I thank the donors for their generous support. In conclusion, the people of Ukraine have shown incredible resilience in this past year.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“We are extremely concerned about the people in those territories whom we cannot reach. Regular requests continue to be made to cross the front line. Yet we are not receiving the necessary agreement from all parties. Operationally, we are ready to move with inter-agency convoys and aid personnel into non-Government controlled areas. The consequences of not delivering assistance to the estimated millions of people in those areas are dire, particularly with the winter months already upon us. We must be able to alleviate the human suffering caused by the war. International humanitarian law, which already embodies a balancing act between humanity and military necessity, clearly requires parties to allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need and through all possible routes.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“In areas in which the Government of Ukraine has regained control, particularly in rural areas, civilians who have witnessed or experienced terrible violations and ongoing hostilities are among the most at risk. Just a few weeks ago, I visited the community of Balakliya, in the newly accessible district of Izyum in the Kharkiv oblast. The majority of those who remain there are very old people and those who stayed behind to care for them and are unable to flee the area. The United Nations and our partners are working to strengthen our capacity to address the growing psychosocial needs of Ukraine. Humanitarian access to those most in need has been a consistent challenge in the conflict. Right now, one of the most significant challenges remains access to parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“However, in accessible areas of Kharkiv, Kherson and Donetsk, the threat of landmines and unexploded-ordnance contamination hinders humanitarian operations. The immediate priority for the humanitarian mine action sector must be to prevent civilian casualties from explosive ordnance and help enable the safe delivery of humanitarian relief. Thirdly, with regard to psychosocial trauma, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization estimate that almost 10 million people will need some kind of psychosocial support, owing to the trauma caused by the war. That includes women and girls suffering sexual violence and other forms of gender- based violence, children hearing warning sirens daily, families that have been separated and people just trying to survive every day.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“Despite the challenges, we are helping people. Already this year, more than 590 humanitarian partners have been delivering critical assistance and protection countrywide. Many of those at the forefront of these efforts come from national and local aid organizations, women-led organizations or are individual volunteers. We must commend their leadership, bravery and commitment. Together, we have reached more than 13 million people across the country, and we continue to explore options for reaching others where the need is greatest. Secondly, newly accessible areas mean that we can reach entirely new communities with humanitarian assistance and essential services. Aid workers are acting quickly to reach those in need, taking into consideration the security risks while upholding our commitment to stay and deliver.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“There is an increased risk of death in the months ahead because civilians may not have access to the essential services to survive. International humanitarian law is very clear: attacks must never be directed against civilians or civilian objects, and constant care must be taken to spare them. To address essential needs, we, the United Nations and the humanitarian community, have developed a specific plan for the winter months, built at the oblast level in coordination with the authorities and in close collaboration with the Government. The focus is on repairs to collective centres and homes and the provision of blankets, mattresses, clothes, food, generators for schools and much-needed thermal heating for hospitals. Work is under way. The aim is for civilians to have a safe, dignified and warm place to be over the winter months.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“The gender and protection dimensions of this crisis, while extremely sensitive, are great and need to be addressed through strengthened programming and monitoring. With each passing day, we face new dimensions to the humanitarian crisis. First, temperatures are plummeting in Ukraine as winter approaches. The destruction of civilian infrastructure has recently become more widespread. In some areas, energy-supply, telecommunications and transport infrastructure have, been devastated, affecting people’s access to water, electricity and heat and their ability to communicate. The damage to power and thermal plants means that life will be even harder for the already vulnerable, including elderly people and those with disabilities.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“That comes to only one day a week of reprieve from the sounds and the terror — let alone the physical toll — of the war. The sheer depth of the humanitarian catastrophe is staggering. Almost 18 million people — more than 40 per cent of the entire Ukrainian population — need humanitarian assistance. Some 14 million have been forced to flee their homes, including 6.2 million internally displaced and nearly 7.7 million refugees. According to UNICEF, some 5.7 million children of school age have been affected since the start of the war, including 3.6 million as a result of the closure of educational institutions. The World Health Organization says there have been over 630 verified attacks on health- care facilities, preventing the sick from having access to medicine and treatment.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“Ms. Brown: I will speak briefly about the human toll of this war, the new dimensions of the humanitarian crisis and the challenge of access to non-Government- controlled areas. Deaths and suffering of civilians, ravaged urban and rural areas and the total loss of livelihoods for millions are the impacts of the war on the civilian population of Ukraine — now in its 239th day. The people of Ukraine are under tremendous stress. Mental-health issues are emerging, which will be one of the most devastating and long-lasting legacies of this war. I was recently in Mykolaiv oblast, where the mayor told me that, since 24 February, they have had only 33 days of silence — 33 days without explosions or air-raid sirens. Let us do the math.”
2022-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9161 (2022) · source
“We should endeavour to ensure that the conventions and treaties governing children's rights are fully upheld and implemented. Finally, there are no short cuts to rehabilitation and reintegration, nor can we afford to invent any. Rehabilitation and reintegration require long-term strategies. They require resources that the most affected and needful countries sadly do not have and cannot afford to be without in consolidating the foundations of and sustaining their peace. For post-conflict countries, rehabilitation and reintegration are an important way to sustain peace and avoid the slippery slope back into conflict. When we give each other a chance to be better, and when we give children a better chance at a better life, we do not necessarily help the other person - we actually help ourselves.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“We may not be able to change what happened to our children in the past, but we can more meaningfully affect what could happen for them in the future - our future. As I conclude, permit me to emphasize that, while reintegration is a good process to help former child soldiers regain a sense of normality, our primary objective should first focus on innovative ways to mitigate the recruitment of children in armed conflicts. This should be our social and moral responsibility. We cannot afford to castigate or isolate them. They are not to be blamed for their circumstances; they must be seen as innocent victims standing in need of our support. UNICEF should be applauded for its initiatives, in close collaboration with Governments and communities, to protect and rehabilitate children affected by armed conflict.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“Therefore, a sizeable element of a post-conflict country's future - its energetic youth - lies in waste in the streets of cities, destined for a life of drugs and crime and doomed to a fate via a path they did not help to create and as such await the next opportunity to become killing machines. Having spent the formative years of their lives living by the gun and in disregard of democratic rules and norms of society, many of these child combatants are ignorant of the experience and values of living under peaceful conditions. We throw them a bucket, a cutlass and maybe $75 and ask them to reintegrate. We ask them to forget their past - the only thing they really know. Of course we can do better than this; we can support sustained reintegration processes because these stand among the best guarantees to prevent conflict and sustain peace.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“Even as we have urged them to move along in their own development, in the case of the few who make it through the reintegration programme - which in Liberia consists of three months of skills training and three years of formal education, regardless ofthe child's starting level - there is no post-process follow up. If we talk about pulling yourselfup by the bootstraps - these children, deprived of their innocence and having their mentality defiled, they have no boots, let alone straps. Although the reintegration process is essential, it is the least supported of efforts to return countries to peace, despite the fact that - again, in the case of Liberia * there is an overwhelming eagerness among child soldiers to be disarmed.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“Despite having little or no means, they gave willingly of themselves and their organizations to advance, in whatever way they could, not only the process of reintegration but also disarmament and demobilization. However, it is also true that these institutions - both local and international - lack the necessary funding and donor support for the proper reintegration of children recruited as soldiers, many of whom have been exposed to the worst forms of inhumanity and drugs. And yet, rather than being treated as Victims, they are treated as drags on the society,:ostracized and vilified, sometimes by their own families and certainly by their communities.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“Accordingly, where State institutions have clearly collapsed under the weight of ongoing armed conflict, perhaps it is time to extend the duty to protect and the duty to actually end ongoing conflicts to the regions where conflicts are taking place, as well as to other, external actors who have vested interests in the continuation of the conflicts. It is time we truly held each other duly accountable for ending conflicts as well as preventing them. Liberia knows a thing or two about child soldiers. We commend the work of Special Representative Gamba and UNICEF in this regard, as well as the work of many local local actors, including non-governmental organizations and faith-based groups.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“Liberia welcomes and supports the children and armed conflict agenda, not only as a tool to ensure that children are protected and perpetrators held accountable, but also as a moral imperative - as if we needed one - to act with singularity of purpose and unwavering determination, including here in this Chamber, to decidedly end the ongoing conflicts. It is all too obvious: where conflict exists, poor children and their families will remain at high risk of having their lives - and our future - ruined, perhaps forever. It is also true that we must act with equal commitment and decisiveness to prevent conflict and sustain peace.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“When we claim protection for the rights of children, we must do so with the provision of conducive environments to learn and grow. Important as they are, conducive environments are more than school buildings, desks and chairs. They are also about the families and societies in which they live. Do they possess the means and systems to live in peace with each other, sustainably? We have repeatedly seen that where they do not, school buildings, rather than being centres for moulding minds, are converted into military barracks, dedicated to fashioning our children into instruments of war.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“This conclusion is as true today as it was then. As we work to promote the new paradigm of preventing conflict and sustaining peace, it is also imperative that the Security Council and all Member States commit to working creatively, selflessly and aggressively to ensure the protection of children suffering as a result of current armed conflicts. They are, in truth, innocent victims of our inability to act. What is also true is that the most vulnerable to conscription are poor children, especially those who have little or no access to education, as they have a greater chance of being conscripted for service in armed forces. Hence it is important to elevate the interlinks between child protection, the rights of the child and conflict prevention in our national action plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“And yet, as we debate today, the uncomfortable truth about our future looms over this Chamber: children are still being used as weapons and soldiers of wars. Their future - our future - is being blighted. The innocence of their childhood is being stolen and the process of their growth is perhaps forever violated. We agree with the Secretary-General that this is unacceptable. We acknowledge the reported progress in a number of countries, but the general trend continues to pose a threat to our collective future. Too many of the world's children, by no fault of their own, are being left too far behind. Twenty years ago, the report prepared by Graca Machel on the impact of armed conflict on children concluded that "the most effective way to protect children is to prevent the outbreak of armed conflicts" (A/51/306, para. 253).”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“My delegation thanks you, Madam President, for convening this open debate on children and armed conflict; welcomes the report of the Secretary-General (S/2018/465) and thanks the other speakers and contributors for their valuable insights. We have joined other members in support of strengthening the children and armed conflict agenda through co-sponsoring resolution 2427 (2018), because Liberia believes in the connection between conflict prevention and the protection of children. Earlier this morning, at the opening of a high- level political forum on sustainable development at the Economic and Social Council, Professor Jeffrey Sachs rightly reminded us that the children are our future - there can be no future without them.”
2018-07-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8305 (2018) · source
“In its purest and most exalted form, that is why our United Nations exists. We know that we are a confluence of competing interests and power, but even as we compete we must never forget that the essence of the United Nations is that we will be united for peace, security and human development. The meeting rose at 7.50 pm.”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“We must do it, for the wailing mothers and dying children for whom there may be no tomorrow, and for the humanitarian and health- care workers who, despite the rising risks to their own lives, continue to offer hope in desolation, surrounded by a rising tide of hopelessness. We know that for all of these people - whose faces we may never see and voices we may never hear and yet to whom we are all inextricably connected by the common thread of our humanity - we could stop the endless debates and laudable speeches and, instead, collectively recommit to acting as we know we should. Of course, we cannot be all things to all people. But this, too, is who we are - humankind's best chance to afford all a right to life, to care for their families, and to live in peace, security and human decency.”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“Should we perhaps also extend the duty to protect civilians in an armed conflict to the region of the conflict, as well as to other external supporters who have a vested interest in the continuation of the conflict? Is it really too difficult for us to commit to a code of conduct governing how we wield the enormous powers of the Security Council to better protect civilians in armed conflicts? Liberia could not agree more with the Secretary- General that the most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of armed conflicts. That is why we support the new paradigm of preventing conflict and sustaining peace. However, we must also commit to working creatively, selflessly and aggressively to end ongoing conflicts. We can do this.”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“We fail the common values of our humanity. And yes, we fail ourselves. Of course, we have adopted numerous resolutions calling for the protection of civilians and humanitarian and health personnel, as well as for compliance with the obligation to distinguish between civilian populations and combatants. Yet the atrocities that shock our collective consciences have continued. Are the resolutions so ineffective? Or might it be that we who are adopting them are not really committed to their implementation? Where a State's institutions have clearly collapsed under the weight of the destruction attendant on armed conflict, is it still reasonable to lay the burden of the protection of civilians on such a State and those crumbled institutions?”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“The Secretary-General is right. This is unconscionable. So too is our continued inability to act. When here in the Security Council we fail to equitably and fairly apply the applicable, agreed-on tools of international humanitarian law, not because they do not adequately address the problem of protecting civilians in armed conflict, but because we have vested interests in one side or the other; when we are unable to set our sights high enough to see how such conflicts lower the standards of our humanity; when we cannot move beyond our narrow self-interests to agree to help those who need our help the most, the victims and unwilling participants in these conflicts, not only do we fail the innocent women and children, doctors, nurses and other health-care and humanitarian workers, we also fail the United Nations and all that it should truly represent.”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“Since I have the special privilege of being the last speaker today, I would like, if I may, to thank everyone here for their patience and time throughout what has been a truly long day. My delegation would also like to thank the Polish presidency for convening today's open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, welcome the report of the Secretary-General (S/2018/462) and thank the other speakers and contributors for their insights. Reflecting on what we have gleaned from those important contributions, we are compelled to confront an uncomfortable truth. Even as we debate, the protection of civilians in armed conflict around the world is anything but ensured, with increasing acts of violence and brutality being perpetrated against civilians and causing unimaginable human suffering, deprivation and carnage.”
2018-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8264 (2018) · source
“We urge continued partnership with the international community, the Peacebuilding Commission and the various agencies of the United Nations towards sustaining our peace. Liberia and Liberians are ready for this. We are ready to draw on the gains already made to build a society that is tolerant of our differences and respectful of the rights of all of its citizens. Once again, we are ready to present the United Nations with an important story of success - this time, with peacebuilding, just as we have with peacekeeping.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“The election, re-election and subsequent leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected President, have inspired Liberian women and girls, more than half of the Liberian population, broken their silence and steered them away from exclusion in the national decision-making processes of the country. We know that we must continue to inspire and engage them, including our youthful population. Quite simply, Liberia will never be the same. We continue to change for the better. We still have a long way to go to be the society that we know we can be, but we are pleased with the growing recognition, including in the report that Liberia has come a long way.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“That is even more profound for countries such as ours, emerging from protracted conflicts that were driven by the chilling effects of exclusions. The slow pace is therefore not a consequence of the lack of political will; it is the recognition of the need to meaningfully strive to always bring the majority of the people along in the change process and to link reforms with institutional capacities, most of which are non-existent, in order to enforce the change. Consequently, we have seen that as the fiscal space has unfortunately constricted around us, so too has the pace of the reforms decelerated. Notwithstanding, Liberians are growing in confidence that we are on a more assured path to consolidating our peace.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“We know that we must continue to be transparent in the management of our resources and accountable to each other, including in confronting the darkness of our tragic past and therefrom forever inscribe its valuable lessons on the national consciousness. We know we must continue to reform not only the things that are easy, but also the ones that are difficult and necessary, including laws concerning rights to land, local Government and domestic violence, because they pronounce upon our overall ability to sustain our peace. Those are all various forms of development and fruition. Of course, we Wish the pace were faster, but we must also heed one of the stand-out lessons from our tragic past, which is that it is best to lead where others follow.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“Especially in that light, the report broadly confirms that we have not, as yet, begun to run as we know we can. But the truth is also that Liberians are no longer standing still, weighed down by a dehumanizing sense of hopelessness or the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead in sustaining our peace. We know that a more just, equitable and inclusive society is the pillar required to strengthen the peace and security architecture whose foundations we were enabled to establish. We know that change is hard, but change we must to realize the benefits of the enormous potential in human and other natural resources with which we have been blessed.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“The difference is yet to be committed. That brings me to the final point. Despite the many challenges that lie ahead, Liberians are still growing in confidence about the future of our country. Indeed, arriving at where we are has been a long, costly and arduous journey. We pay special homage to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice - voluntarily and involuntarily - to get us here and we are grateful to the United Nations, its various specialized agencies, as well as our multilateral, regional and bilateral partners for their continued support and accompaniment. We also reserve special thanks for the people of Liberia for their continued resilience and steadfast belief both in the ongoing transformation of Liberia and in a future of togetherness, security and peace.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“Let me therefore assure the Council that for the Liberian Government and people, to achieve that important undertaking there is no lack of political will. However, as we are beginning to see, political will may not necessarily be enough. The report of the Secretary-General is comprehensive, including in its description of the depressing state of the Liberian economy. That is why, despite the various austerity measures currently being implemented, the Liberian Government is growing concerned about a $17.5 million funding gap for the implementation of the activities of the National Elections Commission. So far, out of the $45 million requested by the National Elections Commission, the Liberian Government has committed to the payment of $20 million and the international community has committed about $8 million.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“We intend to continue along that path in order to resolve the attending irregularities, improve upon the imperfections and deepen public confidence, not only in the usefulness of democratic elections, but also in the sustainable values of democratic transitions and governance. That is why the National Elections Commission and other relevant stakeholders are working to resolve irregularities that may have arisen from the recent registration of qualified voters. Liberians know that we win - all of us will be winners - if, once again, this ground-breaking election proves to inspire public confidence in the electoral process and if the outcomes are based on the free, fair, credible and transparent exercise of the public's rights and duties as responsible citizens.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“At home, many still wish that the election was about a choice of the best ideas in continuing to build a future of continued peace and development, and that, rather than the quantity of political parties, the ongoing competition would be flavoured by the quality of the political discourse. Imperfect as it currently is, we seem to be getting better with each attempt at institutionalizing the process of democratic change. It must also be noted that the mere exercise of the choice to freely and fairly elect the leaders of our country, with a sense of growing regularity and confidence in both the electoral processes and associated outcomes, meaningfully contributes to deepening a new culture of peace, lends itself to democratic governance and expressions, empowers ordinary citizens and keeps the elected leaders duly accountable.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“We are proud to acknowledge that our West African subregion is expanding the space for democratic governance and the peaceful transition of power. Given the shared history and sociology of our region, in the same way in which it has been relatively easy to experience the spread of conflict and misery across our borders, peace and a renewed commitment to democratic governance - notwithstanding the obvious challenges - are now overtaking the subregional space of the Economic Community of West African States. Consequently, a successful holding of peaceful, democratic elections in Liberia will continue to pave the way for other important successes in expanding the democratic space across the West African subregion, as well as significantly impacting the consolidation of regional peace and security.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“Having concluded the inclusive development of a peacebuilding plan consistent with resolution 2333 (2016), Liberia is seeking continued partnerships and support to sustain its peace and continue the needed reforms as the peacekeeping mission comes to a successful end. That brings me to the second point. It was 73 years ago when a living President last democratically transferred power to another in Liberia. The inauguration in January 2018 of a new Liberian Administration will mark only the second time that that will have happened since 1847 - the year Liberia became independent. That historic significance is not lost on Liberians and further motivates our will to succeed. Lest we forget, beyond that historic significance, there are other important consequences linked to a successful holding of peaceful, democratic elections in Liberia.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“After nearly 14 years since the first peacekeeping boots landed on the bloody soil of my country, there is today no doubt that the peacekeeping mission can be credited with enabling and catalysing Liberia's ongoing political and economic transformation. Notwithstanding the present challenges, where there formerly was pervasive hopelessness when the troops arrived, ours has come to be a more hopeful society. Where death and destruction once stalked our streets, a renewed commitment to democratic governance and the popular desire to rebuild the broken nation now drive the discourse and motivate a break with our tragic past.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“I am honoured to address this meeting of the Security Council on behalf of the Government and the people of Liberia, and thank the Secretary-General for his thirty-third progress report (S/20l7/510) on the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). I also thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Zarif and Ambassador Skoog for their comments and statements, and thank the Ambassador of the brotherly State of Senegal. Allow me, Sir, to draw your kind attention to three points. The first is that the United Nations Mission in Liberia is a successful peacekeeping operation. Today, as the report confirms, Liberia is relatively secure and stable. From previous levels of up to 15,000 men and women, the United Nations Mission in Liberia will complete its mission and undergo a final drawdown in April 2018.”
2017-06-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7984 (2017) · source
“The ECOWAS Authority also renews calls for broader international support of its ongoing efforts to bring lasting peace to the sisterly Republic of Guinea-Bissau.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“President Conde will schedule a meeting of the PAIGC in Conakry, to be convened as soon as possible. The challenge that the Government of Guinea-Bissau now faces is obtaining the Parliament's endorsement of its development plan. If that effort fails, the newly appointed Prime Minister would have to resign. The situation is a source of growing tension between the Speaker of the Parliament and the Executive Branch. Meanwhile, the Authority calls on all parties and stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau to remain engaged, to support ongoing peace efforts and to collaborate on promoting the passage of the development agenda, which will trigger the release of the donor funding required to meet the needs of the people of Guinea- Bissau.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“In mid-November 2016, Mr. Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo was appointed Prime Minister by President Jose Mario Vaz. The appointment, however, was not unanimously accepted because Mr. Embalo was not a consensus candidate. That has resulted in the current setback. In the continuing efforts to find an amicable and peaceful resolution to the crisis, Guinea-Bissau has been placed high on the ECOWAS agenda. At a recent meeting on the margins of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, the Commission discussed ways to continue the mediation efforts, including through continued support for the mediator, President Alpha Conde of Guinea. The President of Sierra Leone, Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, was designated to assist President Conde in the mediation, as the latter had also assumed the Chairmanship of the African Union.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“The outcome of the mission was the signing of a final communique focusing on the following six points in tandem with the Conakry Agreement: first of all, the stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to the Conakry Agreement; secondly, the stakeholders were encouraged to accelerate the reintegration of the 15 dissident Members of Parliament into the Partido Africano da Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde (PAIGC), in compliance with the Conakry Agreement; thirdly, the President of the Republic, without further delay, was to appoint a consensual Prime Minister who had the confidence of the President; fourthly, an all-inclusive Government was to be formed, taking into account the parliamentary representations of the political parties; fifthly, parliamentary sessions were to be convened as soon as possible; and sixthly, a national dialogue round table was to be organized in order to discuss the stability pact, which was meant to articulate key constitutional and institutional reforms before the 2018 legislative elections, as stated in the Conakry Agreement.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“Marcel de Souza; the Minister of State of Guinea, Mr. Youssouf Kiridi Bangoura, representing President Alpha Conde; the ECOWAS Mediator, along with other officials of ECOWAS; the African Union; the United Nations; and the European Union, among others. That meeting was to provide the opportunity to make progress towards resolving the crisis.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government recognizes that the current political stalemate undermines Guinea- Bissau's socioeconomic development and is a threat to peace and stability in the country and, by extension, the subregion. We must urgently ensure adherence to the Conakry Agreement and accelerate its implementation. Permit me to give a retrospective account of reconciliatory engagements since the signing of the Conakry Agreement. In furtherance of the implementation of the Agreement, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government tasked President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Chairperson of ECOWAS, to follow up with all stakeholders on their commitments. In light of that mandate, she led a presidential mission to Guinea-Bissau on 5 November 2016, consisting of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“Let me, at the outset, thank you, Mr. President, for having convened this debate and for the international attention it affords to ongoing efforts to resolve the current roadblock to the search for sustainable peace in Guinea-Bissau. On behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), permit me to thank the Secretary-General and his representative for his report (S/2017/111). The Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS remains engaged and seized of finding a lasting solution to the political impasse in Guinea- Bissau. The failure to implement the Conakry Agreement of 14 October 2016, signed by all stakeholders, and the contentious, non-consensual appointment of the Prime Minister remain issues of grave concern for the advancement of peace efforts.”
2017-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7883 (2017) · source
“Even so, Liberia cannot afford another major shock to our recovery. We simply cannot afford to ignore the possibility, however remote, of another risk to our ongoing recovery efforts. One more year is all that we believe we will need to deter the looming risk: one more year to afford a new Administration of the Liberian Government the security it would need to continue the recovery and reform processes without the baggage of an inherited sense of insecurity. We are really at the end of a long walk together through UNMIL. We know it has been difficult, but it has been worthwhile. It has lifted spirits, rekindled hope and brought a country back from the depths of its own self-destruction. That may not have been the mandate per se, but no one can deny that this United Nations Mission has been successful.”
2016-12-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7824 (2016) · source
“Again, we are grateful to the Security Council, the other agencies of the United Nations as well as our many bilateral and multilateral partners for their continued support. We know that, because of their priceless investments in Liberia's peace and security, today Liberians are increasingly hopeful and imbued with a growing desire and a more realistic impulse, at home and across the diaspora, to be the builders of our future and the masters of our destiny. We know we were brought to our knees by the prolonged tragedies of self-implosion. But no nation has been more desperate to recover. Again, we were recently ravaged by Ebola, and are currently shackled by an economy under severe stress. But the resiliency of our Liberian character - our will to overcome - must never be taken for granted.”
2016-12-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7824 (2016) · source
“And the truth also is that the lack of resources, or the growing need in other parts of the world for the resources of UNMIL, must necessarily compel all of us - the Liberian Government and the Security Council - to bring this successful Mission to an end in a way that may not require a return to the Security Council, nor will the Security Council perceive a reason to redeploy peacekeeping resources to Liberia in the foreseeable future. In that regard, the potential risks, especially pertaining to the conduct of unprecedented elections, to which the recent assessment report (S/2016/968) of the Secretary-General refers and the Peace Building Commission alludes, should be avoided. Whatever decision the Council takes, the truth is that today Liberia is a better country - a more peaceful and secure nation. We intend to keep it that way.”
2016-12-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7824 (2016) · source
“Our security institutions are demonstrating signs of increasing readiness to stand up as UNMIL stands down. To have UNMIL, such a confidence brand, walk with Liberia for only one more year through this last mile is an added guarantee and priceless insurance, which completes the United Nations Mission of keeping the peace not only by the separation of belligerents, but, importantly, also through a more meaningful transformation of Liberia from a failed State to a thriving democracy. Indeed resources are finite. And yes, there are growing needs in other parts of the world, including on the African continent, for the resources of UNMIL. We continue to consider the situation seriously and take the needed steps within the limits of our means to be removed from a dependence on UNMIL.”
2016-12-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7824 (2016) · source