YouSaid · the spoken record

Chambas

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282
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2003-03-18
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2023-03-30
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un-security-council

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  1. “The discussions of the Council at the two meetings underscored the importance and the role of regional organizations in breaking the cycle of violence in their respective subregions and in taking the necessary diplomatic and political measures - supported, of course, by member countries in the subregions to create conditions for peace and stability, which are essential for fighting poverty and nurturing democratic Governments. ECOWAS has taken up this challenge. We have shown no lack of political will to act and intervene in conflicts in the subregion, whether in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, as seen in the past, or now in Cote d'Ivoire. Of course, our major limitation has been the lack of financial wherewithal: the financial resources to carry through with our commitments.”

    2003-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4746 (2003) · source

  2. “Certain themes were common in the discussions at these two meetings: first, the link between instability and deepening poverty; secondly, the link between the easy availability of arms and the existence of a system of violence and instability in certain subregions, including our own; and thirdly, the link between prolonged crisis and the emergence of a network of mercenaries and unemployed youths ready for hire in various conflicts.”

    2003-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4746 (2003) · source

  3. “Mr. Chambas: Mr. President, you have been very kind to the ECOWAS secretariat. Under your presidency, this is the second time you have given the opportunity to the executive secretariat to address the Council, which we deeply appreciate. We have had the privilege of participating in two meetings organized by the Council in the past two months. Under the Guinean presidency, there was a meeting on 18 March on the proliferation of small arms and mercenaries in West Africa. Then, as you will recall, Sir, under your presidency, on 11 April, we had a meeting in this Council on regional organizations and the Security Council facing new challenges to international peace and security.”

    2003-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4746 (2003) · source

  4. “I trust that the Council will help us to avoid a sad end to an otherwise happy story of subregional efforts to maintain peace and security in both Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  5. “ECOWAS, working with the International Contact Group on Liberia, has embarked on a new initiative to bring the Government of Liberia and the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) into direct talks for a ceasefire. At their meeting of April 7 in Abidjan, ECOWAS ministers for foreign affairs also called for the immediate convening of an all-Liberian round table involving the Government of Liberia, LURD and all registered political parties, to agree on a comprehensive framework for durable peace and to create conditions for credible, free and fair elections, due later this year. ECOWAS would like the Security Council to consider an appropriate monitoring mechanism for the ceasefire. The sad saga of Liberia should now be brought to a close.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  6. “A stable and prosperous Cote d'Ivoire has always been a catalyst for peace, stability and prosperity for all of West Africa. The Security Council, working closely with ECOWAS, can and should provide the necessary support to sustain the operations of the ECOWAS mission in Cote d'Ivoire and thereby avoid the otherwise imminent collapse of the mission, which would have dire consequences for the peace and security of the entire subregion. Regarding Liberia, we would like simply to state that continuing instability in that country poses a threat to the neighbouring countries of the Mano River Union, in particular Sierra Leone, as well as to Cote d'Ivoire, as events in the western part of that country now demonstrate.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  7. “ECOWAS would like to work with the Security Council to maintain the force in place so as to enable it support the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire, which is evolving satisfactorily albeit slowly. ECOWAS member States will be unable to keep their troops in Cote d'Ivoire at their own expense, given the precarious financial situation in contributing countries. Should States retain their troops in Cote d'Ivoire without adequate financial provision, there will be high risk of problems being fomented as a result of a botched peacekeeping operation, which has happened in a number of African countries in the past. The ECOWAS peace mission has so far demonstrated that it can consolidate the peace already achieved on the political front and help return Cote d'Ivoire to its well-deserved position of stability and prosperity.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  8. “Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States have provided essential material, logistical, transportation and financial assistance to support the deployment of the ECOWAS force. However, the pressing concern now is the fact that the force will run out of funding - even for its present composition and mission - by the end of April 2003. Indeed, this pressing and rather threatening issue was the primary concern of the tenth meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, held on 7 April 2003 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. That Council of foreign ministers decided at that meeting to send a delegation of five ministers, from Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal, to United Nations Headquarters to take this matter up with the Security Council and the Secretary-General.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  9. “Resolution 1464 (2003) also endorsed the ECOWAS force and authorized its mission, in accordance with both Chapter VI and Chapter VII of the Charter. By mid-March 2003, the ECOWAS force was fully deployed at a strength of 1,288. That force is working very closely in Cote d'Ivoire with French troops, who have been a stabilizing factor since the outbreak of the cr1s1s. The formation of the Government of National Reconciliation, with additional personal security requirements for its members, the imperative of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and of border patrols with neighbouring countries to interdict the flow of arms, now mean that there is a need to expand the ECOWAS force to 3,209.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  10. “ECOWAS diplomatic efforts resulted in ceasefire agreements between the Government of Cote d'Ivoire and the three rebel movements - the Mouvement Patriotique de la C6te d'lvoire, the Mouvement Populaire Ivoirien du Grand Quest and the Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix - and paved the way for the Linas-Marcoussis Round Table negotiations and the resulting agreement. The Linas- Marcoussis Agreement was subsequently endorsed by ECOWAS heads of State, providing the framework for returning Cote d'Ivoire to durable peace and stability, as well as by this body in its resolution 1464 (2003) of 4 February 2003. To supplement and support ECOWAS diplomatic efforts, the heads of State also agreed to deploy to Cote d'Ivoire a force of military observers to supervise the ceasefire and assist the peace process as required.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  11. “ECOWAS has also adopted a Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance to encourage member States to build up a culture of democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and transparent governance as the basis for a stable polity. It is in the area of conflict resolution and management that there is a clear and pressing need for collaboration between ECOWAS and the United Nations, particularly the Security Council. The cases of Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia are illustrative in this regard. Since the outbreak of the crisis in Cote d'lvoire, ECOWAS and its member States have been actively engaged in seeking and supporting a peaceful resolution to this potent threat to the peace and stability of our subregion.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  12. “ECOWAS has responded to the spate of conflicts in our subregion - the Mano River Union countries, Guinea-Bissau and now, regrettably, C6te d'Ivoire, which had hitherto been one of the more stable and prosperous countries in Africa - within the context of the ECOWAS Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, adopted by member States in December 1999. The Mechanism provides for preventive measures such as observation bureaux to provide early-warning signals, a Council of Elders to engage in preventive diplomatic missions, and the monitoring of elections, which, when poorly or fraudulently managed, often lead to crisis.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  13. “These conflicts have weakened already fragile State institutions, causing the deterioration of human capacity and the erosion of previous developmental gains. A notable common denominator in conflict-prone situations is the increasing marginalization of a large part of the population - predominantly youthful, largely uneducated and unemployed people, who then become readily available as recruits by unscrupulous warlords or factional leaders in a subregion with an excessive supply of small arms.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  14. “We find the topic of this meeting, "The Security Council and regional organizations: facing the new challenges to international peace and security", to be most appropriate, for we believe that the Security Council should be collaborating more and more closely with regional organizations in facing certain new challenges to international peace and security. Certainly, in the West African subregion, we very much welcome such a collaborative working relationship with the Security Council and, if I might say so, with other organs of the United Nations. It is for this reason that we were pleased with the establishment last year in Dakar, Senegal, of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa. A major challenge facing the West African subregion in the last decade or so has been the spate of conflicts.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  15. “Mr. Chambas: I would like to join previous speakers in congratulating you, Mr. Minister, and your country on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. We have every confidence that, under Mexico's presidency, the Council will continue to play a central role in the maintenance of international peace and security in a troubled world. I also congratulate your predecessor on having presided over the Council with such dignity during a tumultuous month. In addition, I should like to express our appreciation to you, Mr. President, for the opportunity granted the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to participate in this all-important high-level meeting of the Security Council.”

    2003-04-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4739 (2003) · source

  16. “I think the example of Mali that was cited here, where this kind of decentralization has taken place, obviously needs to be encouraged and promoted, so that people should be sensitized down to the local grass-roots level as to what it is that needs to be done to curtail the activities of mercenaries and to reduce the spread - if not totally eliminate- these weapons which continue to be a threat to the peace and stability of West Africa.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  17. “By this, I mean the Moratorium that they have agreed to - that these laws from the subregional level and at the various national levels are incorporated into national laws, that the various security agencies, armed forces, police and other security apparatus become an active part of the implementation of the Moratorium. At the national level, the laws have to move on to provincial or regional levels, and down to the local levels.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  18. “Mr. Chambas: I will talk about the national commissions, and Mr. Sall will address the issues regarding the technical difficulties, the implementation and some of the requirements for more effective implementation. A major part of the problem, of course, is the lack of information on or ignorance about this particular problem that plagues our subregion. The role of national commissions is, among other things, of course, to bring greater awareness to the various countries and their populations and to sensitize our peoples to the dangers of small arms and mercenaries. As we have been informed, 13 of our member States now indeed have national commissions, and the role of these commissions will be to begin work effectively to, first of all, ensure that member States incorporate the Moratorium in their laws.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  19. “I look forward to fruitful and interactive discussions at this forum and once again wish you a successful tenure as President of the United Nations Security Council.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  20. “To this end, the ECOWAS heads of State, at their meeting in January this year, recognizing the gravity of the proliferation of small arms, its linkage to the continuing instability across our subregion and the activities of mercenaries and cross-border crimes, recommended the establishment of a small arms unit within the ECOWAS secretariat to strengthen our capacity to reduce, manage and eliminate small arms and to enhance human security as a means of facilitating the harmonious development of our countries. I am appealing to the Security Council and the international community at large to support effective implementation of the Moratorium and to facilitate the establishment of a well-resourced small arms unit of the ECOWAS secretariat.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  21. “We seize this opportunity to thank the United Nations and the Governments of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands for the technical and financial support extended for the implementation of the Moratorium. ECOWAS remains engaged with the international community over the twin devils of our time, small arms and mercenary activities. We call upon the international community to implement the letter and spirit of the United Nations Programme of Action and provide necessary resources to enable the ECOWAS secretariat to implement the ECOWAS Moratorium in all its ramifications. Our community is committed towards ensuring widespread peace and security in the subregion.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  22. “I must not fail to mention that political will for the continuation of the Moratorium has never wavered, as member States of ECOWAS renewed it in October 2001 for another three years. There is yet again a strong indication that the Moratorium will eventually become a permanent strategy for the control of the movement of small arms within our subregion. May I also use this opportunity to remind members of Security Council resolution 1209 (1998), which commended ECOWAS on the adoption of the Moratorium. The UNDP, as I have indicated, has supported ECOWAS, through PCASED, in backstopping the Moratorium since March 1999.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  23. “An important aspect of the Code is article 8, which concerns the establishment of a peacekeeping arms register in all peacekeeping operations within West Africa. Indeed, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its regional Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED), is in the process of establishing with us this register next month in Cote d'Ivoire with the peacekeeping force that has been deployed there. The register is to keep a check on the nature and quantity of small arms used in the ECOWAS mission in Cote d'Ivoire. The implementation of the ECOWAS Moratorium has been subjected to several evaluation exercises. The last major evaluation of its implementation - its general compliance with and effectiveness in member States - was carried out between September and December 2002.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  24. “Its imposition is a voluntary act backed by the joint political will of our heads of State and Government to deal with small arms proliferation. The Moratorium requires member States to put in place effective measures to: first, control the import, export and manufacture of light weapons; secondly, register and control the movement and use of legitimate arms stocks; thirdly, detect and destroy all illicit and surplus weapons; and fourthly, permit exemptions to the Moratorium only in accordance with strict criteria. The Moratorium has led to the establishment of focal points or national commissions in member States for the control of small arms, as recommended by the Code of Conduct, adopted by the heads of State in December 1999, for the implementation of this Moratorium.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  25. “In the Sudan, over 2 million have been killed since 1982; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, another 2 million have also reportedly been killed since 1996. In West Africa, nearly half a million people have died in the last decade from the misuse of small arms, or these "tools of death", as the International Action Network (IANSA) describes them. As a result of numerous conflicts, death and destruction, West African leaders initiated a "security first" approach to ending conflicts. This led to the adoption in 1998 of a Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons. This is a bold and ambitious step in the management of licit and illicit small arms. The Moratorium is a confidence- building mechanism.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  26. “ECOWAS heads of State and Government have committed themselves to ensuring that individual States take all necessary measures to disallow the use of their territories as a base for rebel or mercenary activities. After the end of the cold war, the West African region, with a population of 250 million people, is indeed saturated with all types of small arms and light weapons. These weapons, which are easy to use due to advancements in technology and easy to move about because of our porous borders, need greater attention from the international community. Small arms, which are defined as weapons of mass destruction by some experts, are aggravating local, communal, national and regional conflicts. All over Africa, small arms proliferation has led to the death of millions of people.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  27. “The conflicts in Liberia, in Sierra Leone, in Guinea-Bissau to some extent and now, we see, in Cote d'Ivoire have been fought between Government and rebel factions. These rebel factions have been found to be involved in virtually all the conflicts in the Mano River Union States. They have taken on the semblance of mercenaries who have no loyalty to any particular authority and who are always available for hire; but then their motives are sometimes not easily discernible, since they can resort to random plundering and destruction of property, as we now see in the western part of C6te d'Ivoire. Whatever may be the nature and type of mercenary activity that is confronted, there is a need for global action targeted at eliminating the practice and usefulness of mercenaries.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  28. “At every opportunity, West African leaders have joined in the condemnation of the use in internal conflicts of foreign soldiers who are available only for hire in internal conflicts. In the 1990s, mercenary activities increased, all of them in contravention of the Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa, adopted by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), later the African Union (AU), and of resolutions of the United Nations that clearly condemn the hire and use of mercenaries in every form. Strangely enough, in our subregion, a unique type of mercenary is emerging that is not the usual type. Over the past decade, the Mano River Union States have been besieged by rebel activities.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  29. “In many parts of Africa, the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms - their number is estimated to be as high as 100 million - has posed a major threat to development, to political and economic stability, to civil liberties and to human lives. The growing number, intensity and duration of conflicts in Africa - most particularly in the Great Lakes region and in the Mano River Union basin - are a result of bad governance, economic failure and the easy availability of arms and mercenaries. It is estimated that there are 8 million small arms within West Africa, and scores of mercenary activities continue to take place. Mercenary activities are deplored the world over and have been consistently condemned by our global Organization.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  30. “First, Guinea is the West African country that has carried the greatest burden of the consequences of internal conflicts of its neighbours, and the issue of refugees is but one aspect of this phenomenon. Secondly, it is this same West African country that suffered a bloody mercenary attack as far back as 1970. Indeed, other West African States were later to suffer a similar fate. Consequently, our subregion became noted for its instability, characterized by the proliferation of small arms and by the phenomenon of mercenaries. The primary objective of the Economic Community of West African States is to ensure economic integration and development in West Africa. However, the inextricable link between development and peace and stability has meant an increasingly greater role for ECOWAS in conflict management and prevention.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  31. “I wish to thank the organizers of this consultative meeting, the Security Council and the Republic of Guinea for inviting me to share the concerns and the experiences of ECOWAS in the campaign against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and the growing activities of mercenaries and mercenary companies - which others call private military companies - that have deeply affected the political stability of Africa, in particular West Africa. It is not surprising that a Guinean presidency of the Security Council has decided to include among its peace and security concerns the theme "Proliferation of small arms and light weapons and use of mercenaries: threats to peace and security in West Africa". As I understand, there are at least two reasons for this.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source

  32. “On behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of this body of the United Nations at this critical time, when the Security Council is faced with the challenge of taking decisions that will ensure lasting peace and international security. I am confident that, with your wealth of experience, coupled with the famed traditional African wisdom, you will steer the proceedings of the Council in a fair and judicious manner.”

    2003-03-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4720 (2003) · source