YouSaid · the spoken record

Bryant

lines on the record: 32
first: 2004-06-03
most recent: 2023-10-25
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“The Secretary-General has called on us to elevate the voices of diverse women and girls, prevent gender-based violence, innovate in our programming, resource actions and support women human rights defenders. Individually and collectively heeding this call, we can deliver on our shared commitment to all four pillars of the women and peace and security agenda and in the conflicts that cost too many lives. We should embrace, not forgo, the transformative potential of the women and peace and security agenda.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9452Resumption1 (2023) · source
“Both networks are putting an end to women being sidelined from dialogues, negotiations and resolutions to conflicts in their regions. They are putting the theory into practice. Australia is also prioritizing the participation and treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force and the security sector, globally. Addressing systemic barriers is not easy, but it is a strategic imperative. For Australia, it has required bold leadership to drive cultural and behavioural change over a decade, and this work continues. Our own experience underpins our strong support for the Elsie Initiative Fund, which is driving the deployment of women to United Nations peace operations.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9452Resumption1 (2023) · source
“Globally, there has been no substantial increase in the percentage of women in peace negotiations, and violence against women human rights defenders continues to rise. With regression on gender equality and the human rights of women and girls, there is erosion of democracy and a surge in instability. Australia, working in partnership, is resisting these threats to our international rules-based system, including by the conflicts that are destabilizing our world today. Central to our efforts and to our national action plan on women and peace and security is strengthening women’s meaningful participation in conflict prevention and peace processes. One way we do this is through regional women peace mediator networks. We proudly support the Southeast Asia Women Peace Mediators and the Pacific Women Peace Mediators Network.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9452Resumption1 (2023) · source
“Australia thanks Brazil for convening today’s open debate on women and peace and security and the briefers for their interventions. The debate is a needed reminder of why we established the women and peace and security agenda. In 2023, as we witness and respond to wars, violent conflicts, political instability, economic insecurity and climate-induced crises, we again encounter the question: why are women still excluded from peace processes and decision-making? We know the theory that underpins the women and peace and security agenda. There is an extensive body of evidence on why women matter to making, keeping and building peace. In his annual report (S/2023/725), the Secretary-General has again reminded us of the devastating consequences of disregarding the women and peace and security agenda, which we are witnessing in Israel and Gaza.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9452Resumption1 (2023) · source
“Eighty-five per cent of the kids we are disarming say, "We want to go to school". They are 22 years old today, but they want to go to school. And that is why we need resources: to build schools, to build clinics, to build infrastructure, so that the partners who come in and want to sincerely work with Liberians do not also have to invest in access roads, power generators or clean water to live and work. That is why we have come to make this case. I thank Council members for giving me an audience and for all their kind and warm comments about us.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“We are all resolved that we will initiate common security measures to ensure that there will be no more cross-border armed incursions and no more trading in light weapons or heavy weapons across our borders bringing hardship to our people. I have lived in Liberia since birth. I have lived there through all of our crises. I supported the Security Council decision to impose sanctions on us because of the profanity of what our Government was doing at the time - mutilating little children, mutilating old people and pregnant women. How could anybody in his or her right mind condone such acts? It was shameful for us. Some of us were so ashamed that we found solitude in our bedrooms - we were too ashamed to even show our faces outside as Liberians. But I assure you that today it has changed.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Somebody asked a question about our relations with our neighbours. I think they are good - I think they are very good. I have been to Conakry, Guinea, four times, I think, at the last count. I have been to Cote d'Ivoire three times. I have been to Freetown twice. Since I have been here in the United States I have received a personal phone call from President Tejan Kabbah. This is thousands of miles from where we were eight months ago. The leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire were simply not talking to us. The fact that I can go into Conakry, Freetown or Abidjan and sleep at peace tells you we have come miles in our relationship. The good thing also is that we are all resolved that we want to live at peace now.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“We are immensely grateful to the Secretary-General for his support and assistance. Leadership is about inspiration, and he continues to inspire us to reject conflict and to build a better society for our people. Finally, let me assure all members of the Council that, through their support and assistance, Liberia is breaking through. A failed State is being transformed into an emerging democracy. A lawless State is being transformed into a nation that respects human values and is committed to the rule of law. A pariah State is being accepted into the comity of decent nations. And a conflict-prone State is being transformed into a nation of peace - at peace with itself, at peace with its neighbours, at peace with the international community. Liberia is counting on the Council for its continuous understanding and support.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“The United Nations has authorized and now has in place one of the largest peacekeeping forces in its history to disarm combatants as well as to keep and enforce the peace in Liberia. The United Nations co- sponsored the highly successful International Reconstruction Conference for Liberia, held on 5 and 6 February 2004. For all of that, Liberians thank the United Nations from the deepest recesses of their hearts. May I also take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his personal involvement in resolving the Liberian conflict. Despite other global crises such as those in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, he has raised the Liberian crisis to the highest level of international concern and has provided diplomatic leadership in rescuing the situation.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“And for the record, I want to make clear that, even though the United States has been generous in doing that, to date there have been no exports of diamonds to the United States in violation of the Council's sanctions. As I conclude this appeal for the lifting of sanctions, permit me to say a few words of gratitude to this body. The United Nations has been kind to Liberia in many and varying ways. It supported the Accra peace talks and developed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. That accord is currently guiding us in our transition from continuous conflict to sustainable peace and human development. The United Nations continues to provide humanitarian assistance to war-weary Liberians through its specialized agencies. Those agencies are working in collaboration with the Government and with non-governmental organizations.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“A database will be established at the Diamond Certification Centre for effective monitoring, research and planning purposes, as well as to disabuse the international community of the notion that Liberia does not have diamonds. The Government has embarked on extensive training of its mineral inspectors and mining agents, who are expected to play a vital role in monitoring the cooperative scheme. While we await the decision of the Council with regard to lifting sanctions on diamonds, we take cognizance of the decision of the United States Government to unilaterally lift sanctions on the importation of diamonds from Liberia, and to express our appreciation for that decision.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Further, in an effort to establish a viable monitoring mechanism for rough diamonds produced in Liberia, the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy is setting up a cooperative mining system within the alluvial mining subsector. The cooperatives will provide small-scale miners with financial and material support. The cooperatives will, in turn, purchase rough diamonds produced by the miners. As with timber, a percentage of revenue intake from diamond extraction will revert to these communities for development. Under this system, all production will be monitored and regulated. This will enable the Government to trace diamonds produced from the fields to the Diamond Certification Centre at the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy and through to their destination on the international market.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“In compliance with this requirement, an act entitled "An Act Amending the New Minerals and Mining Law, Part I, Title 23, LCLR, By Adding Thereto a New Chapter 40, Providing for Controls on the export, import and transit of Rough Diamonds" has been submitted to the National Transitional Legislative Assembly for enactment into law. As further assurance to the Council of our total compliance with the Kimberly Process, we have agreed with the Sanctions Review Committee that immediately, upon the lifting of sanctions on diamonds, Liberia will temporarily impose a voluntary embargo on the sale, importation and exportation of rough diamonds until it is Kimberly-certified.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“We have made tremendous progress in satisfying the demands of the Security Council. We have submitted ourselves wholeheartedly to the internationally recognized Kimberly Certification Process. The Process requires participating countries to enact legislation that clearly defines procedures aimed at promoting transparency in the production, sale, importation, transit and exportation of rough diamonds. Our cooperation in this area is known to the Council's own Panel of Experts, which, in paragraph 93 (b) of its most recent report, states that this collaboration between the Diamond High Council and the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy was closely monitored by the Panel.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“I have laid out for the Council's consideration a series of actions which we have taken and propose to take in order to meet its requirements for lifting sanctions on the export of our timber products. We would like the Council to have its experts visit Liberia within the next 90 days to validate this performance. Diamond sales are a foreign exchange earner for Liberia. Diamond production, alongside the exploitation of gold, is an economic mainstay for a substantial number of our people. Additionally, on account of Liberia's dual currency regime, in which the United States dollar serves as legal tender alongside the Liberian dollar, diamond dealers and traders from neighbouring countries prefer to do business in our markets. As such, Liberia receives collateral benefits from these transactions.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Two national parks - Sapo and Nimba - have been proclaimed and six new target areas have since been identified and protected. A conservation trust fund will be established for these and related purposes. A primary objective of this fund shall be to facilitate biodiversity research. Finally, we recognize that there are appropriate laws on the books for good governance of the forestry sector. However, these laws have not been rigidly applied in recent times, thereby creating chaos and leading to the abuse and misuse of our forest resources. Our Government shall henceforth vigorously enforce forestry laws and regulations. Additionally, in concert with our international partners, Liberia will continue to review and implement a strategy of long-term sustainable forest management.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“To address these fundamental concerns, our reform programmes now accentuate the environment in the operations of FDA. Primarily, we have adopted a "triple-C" policy - conservation, community and commercial - to henceforth guide us in the exploitation of our forests. This policy seeks to strike a balance between the competing interests of community development, conservation and commercialization. In this context, FDA has endorsed the initiatives of Conservation International, along with 13 non- governmental organizations, and has given these organizations unequivocal access to FDA and its operations. The Government and Conservation International are now working together to restore Liberia's forest conservation programme. A sequenced landscaping strategy to secure and expand the network of protective areas and national parks has begun.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“While the aforementioned measures are critical for improved governance of the sector, we are also committed to enhancing the regulatory capacity by progressively working towards achieving the following, in partnership with the international initiatives: the evolution of a stronger management team by engaging external experts either through request for secondment or through direct hire as technical assistance experts; the review and revision of forestry commercial levies, as well as strengthening the revenue collection system; the establishment of a web site and creation of a CD-ROM; and beginning the building of a geographic information system/remote- sensing capacity. The fifth area of concern of the international community has been the lack of appreciation for the environment, conservation and biodiversity in forestry operations.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Refresher training courses have commenced. One has been undertaken for managers and sectional heads. A second phase now under way includes refresher training for more than 200 forest rangers, sealers, protection forest guides and park wardens. Train-the-trainer courses are also being organized. We have encouraged the establishment of oversight committees and institutions for monitoring effective sustainable forest management practices, community involvement and environmental impact assessments. In this connection, we are pleased to inform the Council that the Environmental Protection Agency has been established and set up as one of the oversight and monitoring institutions.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“The Board of Directors has been reconstituted, as recommended by the Timber Sanctions Review Committee. The Board now includes the Minister of Finance, thus linking the Authority with the macroeconomic management of the Government. The Board has approved the creation of two Deputy Managing Director positions, one for protective forestry - conservation - and another for commercial forestry. They will focus, highlight and balance conservation and commercial issues. The Government has made available to the Authority an initial amount of $350,000 to commence the rehabilitation of its infrastructure. With additional assistance from the United States Office of Transition Initiatives, all five regional offices are being renovated, refurbished and equipped with short wave communication and mobile equipment.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“The primary development needs targeted for those funds are education and training, health and sanitation, and infrastructure. An oversight committee, drawn from relevant sectoral ministries and agencies, will be established to monitor utilization of those funds. The law requires concessionaires to build community infrastructures such as health facilities and schools. The Government is now considering, at the policy level, the degree of responsibility for community development on the part of concession holders, the national Government and local governments. The fourth area of concern of the international community has been the low capacity of the Forestry Development Authority to regulate the sector. On that issue, we have put in place a programme to enhance the capacity of the Authority as follows.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“In that direction, we are considering the following: establishing county-level advisory committees intended to provide a channel of communication for communities; developing village wood lots to secure fuel wood supplies for urban communities; and establishing a unit in the Forestry Development Authority responsible for developing and enhancing the flow of forest resources and benefits to the community. These efforts are an integral part of a community- friendly logging policy that we are currently developing. That policy will ensure that a percentage of the timber revenues generated goes back to meet the development needs of the local communities where the logs were felled. Those funds will serve as matching resources for the corporate social responsibility funds provided by logging concessions to assist local communities.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Additionally, the terms of reference of a European-Union-funded audit of the Authority has been commissioned by the Government to recommend new systems that will enhance financial transparency and accountability. It is expected that a more transparent budgetary process will also evolve from that undertaking. The Board of Directors has resolved to hire the services of a certified public accounting firm to develop, install and train Authority staff in the new systems to be recommended by the audit. Because Liberians are so dependent upon and interact so closely with their local forest resources, my Government is fostering a forest sector reform programme that restores the connection between forest and community.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“It centralizes the collection of all Government revenues under the authority of the Ministry of Finance and the deposit of all such revenues into the Government's account at the Central Bank of Liberia. Executive Order No. 2 has substantially increased Government revenues and control over those revenues. Further, we have opened a Government timber revenue account at the Central Bank for stumpage fees and land rental. We have opened another forestry account, also at the Central Bank, for reforestation, conservation and research fees collected within the sector. Accounts at other financial institutions have been closed. The Central Bank accounts will assist us in tracking and monitoring revenues from the sector.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Specifically, 24 of the 30 concessionaires have been cleared and will be recertified to recommence operations following their settlement of financial obligations to the Authority and the Government. Additionally, six of the concessionaires have not been cleared due to past gross irregularities and are slated for further investigation and/or legal revocation. The third concern of the international community was that timber revenues were not being used for the benefit of the Liberian people. That relates to the issue of accountability. Since our incumbency, we have taken measures to ensure that our resources are utilized for the benefit of all our people. We currently have in place Executive Order No. 2.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“All concessions whose acreage was increased within the period 1997 to 2003 should be reduced to their original size, as contracted with the Forestry Development Authority prior to 1997. Concession areas illegally taken away from others between 1997 and 2003 should be given back to their rightful owners. New concession areas illegally occupied between 1997 and 2003 without satisfaction of then-existing requirements should be withdrawn. All concessionaires indebted to the Government and the Authority should be made to settle their obligations. All concessions should be given a definite time frame in which they can come into conformity with new guidelines and regulations; those who fail to do so will have their concessions revoked through legal process.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“It was the opinion of some members of the international community that concession rights may, in fact, have been granted to fly-by-night investors doing business not in the interests of Liberia but in the interests of the ruling elite and international criminal elements. On this critical issue, 30 concession agreements have been examined. The first review was undertaken by the Forestry Development Authority, mainly to catalogue the legal and operating status of the 30 companies involved in the sector in 2003. The second review involved more stakeholders, including environmentalists and conservationists as well as journalists and other international organizations. Five recommendations from that review have been made to the Board and have been endorsed. They are the following.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“United Nations forces are being deployed throughout the country - they have a visible presence at all sea ports and airports and they are patrolling our borders to ensure that weapons do not re-enter our country. The Transitional Government is committed to the rule of law, human rights and social justice. This Government is not in the business of suppressing its own people. Despite provocation from detractors, we have remained focused on the major issues of disarmament and reconstruction. We have no political prisoners and no prisoners of conscience. The media is enjoying unprecedented freedom. Ours is indeed a Government of peace, reconstruction and national renewal. The second concern of the Security Council was the lack of transparency in the awarding of concession agreements.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“That sector used to provide over 7,000 jobs, contribute 20 per cent of Government revenues and account for approximately 50 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings. The sanctions on timber continue to hurt us. Sanctions were imposed on Liberian timber for five direct and indirect reasons. The primary reason was that timber resources were being used by the erstwhile Government to purchase arms for the purposes of fuelling conflict within the subregion and of suppressing its own people. On this issue, we are pleased to report that the war is over and Liberia is now at peace with its neighbours. Rather than purchasing arms, the Transitional Government is currently disarming combatants. Our mission in this respect is to make our society gun-free and to live in harmony with our sister countries of the subregion.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“Liberia makes a passionate appeal to the Council today to lift the sanctions on timber and diamonds. We make this appeal while appreciating the motivation for the imposition of the sanctions and in a spirit of full cooperation with the international community in order to address the concerns of the Security Council. We also make this appeal because the sanctions contribute to the perception that Liberia is very unsafe and dangerous. There is a surcharge on everything imported into Liberia, thus raising the cost of living for my people. That has adverse implications for an orderly transition from conflict to peace. The forestry sector holds the greatest short-term promise for job creation and the fostering of economic recovery.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“First, there is the need to rehabilitate ex-combatants, many of whom are lacking in economic survival skills. Following various processes of medical care and counselling, they will be helped to acquire new skills through training. Secondly, there is a need to reintegrate them into local communities. An entry point in this regard is the creation of jobs to provide work for them. Here, Liberia remembers the lessons of history: ex-combatants who are not meaningfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into society run the risk of being re-recruited into violent crime and conflict. Our evolving fragile democracy simply cannot afford that. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to revive our economy and create jobs in support of the reintegration of ex-combatants and the internally displaced. This brings me to the issue of the lifting of sanctions.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source
“I was here in February to present to the international community the Results- Focused Transitional Framework - a composite of the efforts that the Transitional Government of Liberia had exerted in an attempt to resurrect a totally collapsed State. We were encouraged by the overwhelming response of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the World Bank and a number of bilateral partners, as measured by the pledges for $522 million. Those pledges are being transformed into action on the ground to produce tangible results for the people of Liberia. I am here today for one primary reason: to plead with the Council to lift the sanctions on my country. As we disarm and demobilize our conflict's combatants, there are two critical needs associated with the process.”
2004-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4981 (2004) · source