YouSaid · the spoken record

Chowdhury

lines on the record: 1,172
first: 1997-03-06
most recent: 2009-08-07
sittings or episodes: 146
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

“Clear political direction by the Council, appropriate use of best practices and close consultation with troop-contributing countries while planning, changing, renewing, downsizing or terminating mandates are prerequisites for better cost management and task management. Thirdly, the United Nations must be supported in every possible way in responding to the upcoming surge and in preventing future conflicts. Mandates must be matched with the necessary enabling components, including a fully integrated mission planning capacity and pre-mandate operational, logistic and material preparedness to initiate a 30-day or 90- day rapid launch. The strategic stocks at the United Nations Logistics Base must be replenished rapidly to facilitate multiple multidimensional mission start-ups.”
2004-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4970Resumption1 (2004) · source
“The dynamics of ongoing global conflicts make it imperative that the Council also reaffirm United Nations peacekeeping operations as the effective, impartial, acceptable and less costly collective security instrument enjoying global public confidence. Secondly, the Council, having the primary responsibility for international peace and security, must continue to act promptly and effectively to respond to global conflicts without compromising the principle of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States, impartially and with the consent of the parties. Mandates must be well defined, credible and achievable, and must be supported by enabling rules of engagement and command-and- control structures.”
2004-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4970Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Bangladesh remains serenely confident that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will perform admirably in meeting the surging challenges of 2004 - given, as a sine qua non, political support, enabling resources and secure financing. In the light of that positive prognosis, may I call the Council's attention to a number of areas where adherence to the following could buttress our capability to achieve our collective goals. First, there is palpable need for a strong message to emanate from this Council for the peoples of the world reaffirming the centrality, universality and legitimacy of the United Nations as the principal multilateral institution devoted to the maintenance of global peace and security.”
2004-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4970Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Mr. President, Bangladesh applauds your leadership of the Council during the current month. Being close friends and regional neighbours, we share a modicum of the pride our Pakistani brethren must rightly feel on this occasion. Pakistan and Bangladesh, being two consistent partners in United Nations peacekeeping operations, also have a common interest in the theme of the day, for the choice of which we commend Pakistan. Let me also state that we believe that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations team and its very able steward, Jean-Marie Guehenno, deserve our highest praise for their relentless labours and for the quality of their work. Over five and half decades, United Nations peace-keeping has confronted and overcome numerous challenges and constraints.”
2004-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4970Resumption1 (2004) · source
“We believe that societal change must come from within or from positive examples derived from comparable milieus. Efforts to impose alien values will risk evoking the same sentiments as those of the Trojan priest Laocoon, who feared the Greeks even though they came bearing gifts. We must prevent today's victim from becoming tomorrow's perpetrator by inculcating a culture of peace and non-violence in the mind of every child. Bangladesh calls upon the Council and the United Nations system to lend support for the observance of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World through concrete programmes on peace education and conflict prevention. Robust pursuit of these goals will most certainly alter the future of the child for the better.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“The decade 2001 to 2010 is being observed in Bangladesh as the Decade of the Rights of the Child. Our civil societies and private sectors work shoulder to shoulder with the Government to promote the best interests of children. Our peacekeepers receive special training on child protection as they carry the message of peace to conflict-ridden societies across continents. As Ms. Carol Bellamy stated, a leading Bangladeshi non-governmental organization, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, is contributing significantly to the rehabilitation of child soldiers and girl children through involvement in non- formal education in Afghanistan. Ironically, Bangladesh, a developing nation itself, has done more than its share in spreading stability and values to conflict-ridden parts of the world, including Africa.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Children in post- conflict societies must be ensured access to trauma counselling, education and health services. The illicit flow of small arms into conflict areas must be curbed. The culture of impunity for violators of children must also be brought to an end. Bangladesh has always kept the question of the protection and development of children high on its national and international agendas. We were among the first countries to have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as its two Optional Protocols. The protection and promotion of children's rights, particularity those of the girl child, and allocations of the highest budgets for their education and health have been the priority policy thrust of our Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. We have adopted a national plan of action for children.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Far more, as all will agree, needs to be done urgently to protect every child victim of conflict. The era of application in international child-protection standards must replace the era of rhetoric. The Council must ensure that parties involved in a conflict respect global standards of protection of children in conflict. The specific needs and vulnerability of children, particularly of the girl child, must be integrated into peace processes and post-conflict disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, recovery and reconstruction. We strongly support the incorporation of child protection advisers and related provisions into the mandates of United Nations peacekeeping operations. The practice of zero tolerance for violations of codes of conduct by United Nations peacekeepers and associated personnel must continue.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“As we deliberate today, some 300,000 children are still being used as child soldiers around the world. Millions remain physically disabled. Many have been gravely psychologically traumatized. Twenty million children have been uprooted from their homes due to wars. Entire generations of children are growing up permanently scarred by the brutalities of conflict. The most vulnerable are the girl children. They fall victim to sexual abuse, other violence and the deadly HIV/AIDS. Haunted by horrific memories of atrocities, the children often find little scope for healing as they witness the perpetrators getting away with impunity. The vicious cycle of their sufferings continues into the post-conflict stage as they inexorably descend into poverty, illiteracy, hunger, malnutrition, trafficking or foreign occupation.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“At the special session of the General Assembly in 2002, world leaders reiterated their determination to ensure a world fit for children. The Security Council in its successive resolutions has further consolidated international standards for the protection of children in conflict and post-conflict societies. These achievements took considerable efforts on the part of all concerned, including the United Nations and its agencies, the Member States, international civil society and parties to conflicts. The dedication of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, Mr. Olara Otunnu, in raising awareness of the protection regime deserves special mention. Bangladesh has consistently advocated bringing the Special Representative's Office under the United Nations regular budget.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Madam President, may I begin by complimenting your skilful stewardship of the Council's deliberations today and Chile's leadership during the current month. We also express our deep appreciation to Mr. Olara Otunnu and Ms. Carol Bellamy for their comprehensive briefings. During the past decade and a half, the international community has taken some significant measures to alleviate the sad plight of millions of children in armed conflict. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has provided a tool at the national and international levels for the protection and development of children worldwide. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict has strengthened these universal norms.”
2004-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4898Resumption1 (2004) · source
“Harsh language will not - cannot - enhance understanding; instead, it will act as an impediment. These must be refrained from. We urge calm and temperance in both words and deeds. It cannot be that - in those holy lands from which the three great faiths of Islam, Judaism and Christianity have emanated, as have, in the past, messages of peace and harmony - restraint and reason today are receding virtues. This trend must be halted. Those values, which are the proud heritage of the Muslim, the Jew and the Christian, must be resurrected. Nothing would give us more satisfaction or greater joy. Bangladesh will seek to contribute to that end in every possible way, in cooperation with all others within and outside the Council, to ensure the triumph of the spirit of tolerance and the rekindling of the torch of hope.”
2003-09-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4824Resumption1 (2003) · source
“We need to call a halt to the acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction. The efforts of the Quartet must be relentlessly pursued, and confidence in the efficacy of the road map must be restored. Both sides must be persuaded to return to the negotiating table. The appropriate climate must be created in order for that to happen. No compromise on Palestine can be as painful as the failure to reach one. We all recognize that these will not be easy tasks for us. For these aims to be realized, the international community must take action swiftly, and justly, so that the sufferings of the people of that region, which have been so great and have gone on for so long, cease. Inflammatory statements will not - cannot - stem the tide of anger and frustration; instead, they will only fuel negative instincts.”
2003-09-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4824Resumption1 (2003) · source
“The thin rays of hope that had appeared on the horizon now seem to have been eclipsed by the looming clouds of despair and destruction. The latest in the series of misjudgements that have exacerbated the deteriorating situation is the decision by Israel to expel President Yasser Arafat. The Government of Bangladesh issued a statement in Dhaka strongly condemning and denouncing that decision and urging its withdrawal. It also demanded the immediate pullout of Israeli forces from the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories. That Government statement also observed that the decision will create serious obstacles in implementing the road map, which among other things envisages an independent, sovereign and democratic Palestine by 2005. The Council needs to act, and needs to act soon, to prevent the escalation of horror and hatred.”
2003-09-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4824Resumption1 (2003) · source
“It would be remiss of me, Mr. President, were I to begin without commending the delegation of the United Kingdom for the remarkable leadership that it has brought to the Council's proceedings during these trying times. Syria is also to be praised for the role that it played during its presidency last month. My delegation is in accord with the statement to be made later by the Ambassador of Malaysia, which holds the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement. Bangladesh is deeply concerned about the evolving situation in the Middle East, which, with each passing day, is sharpening the pains of Palestine. The spiralling violence and bloodletting are, to say the least, very disturbing. However, a source of greater dismay is the fact that an end to the impasse is nowhere in sight. The road map to peace appears to lie in tatters.”
2003-09-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4824Resumption1 (2003) · source
“It must be brought to a close. The Congo must be put back on the track of peace and progress as soon as possible. The international community has a responsibility in that regard. Our commitment to universal values demands that it be discharged.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“It is our hope, though, that the Council will act promptly in consonance with the Secretary-General's recommendations to raise troop ceilings under MONUC and to provide a more robust mandate. These sentiments have rightly found resonance in many statements made here today. It is also important that the second task force, in its full-strength enhanced brigade formation, be in place on the ground as soon as possible. That failing, there could be a security vacuum following the departure of the IEMF. That is something no one wants; it cannot, and must not, be allowed to occur We are encouraged by the contents of the draft resolution at hand. In our View, its adoption will make a tremendous difference in helping to stabilize the situation in Bunia and beyond. The tragedy in the Congo has gone on for far too long.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“The deployment is well under way. In this connection, I must pay tribute to Under-Secretary-General Guehenno and his team for the excellent cooperation and coordination between his Department and us, which have rendered this intricate procedure so smooth. The Bangladesh troops will relieve the IEMF by 1 September, as the Council has stipulated. We are fully aware that the military threat assessment is higher in that area of operation than in most others we have faced. Nonetheless, the Bangladesh army has a rich tradition that dates back long into history. We are confident of delivering in the Congo. Indeed, if required, we are prepared to make further contributions in terms of men and material.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“Bangladesh, whose birth was preceded by a protracted war, is today a country in the midst of a most positive transformation. A democratic polity dedicated to development and a vibrant civil society have spawned many innovative ideas, raising vast numbers of the populace out of poverty every year. We are anxious to share our experiences with societies of comparable milieu. We believe that, just as we have done, Africa has the potential, with some external help, to lift itself up by its own bootstraps. But development requires that conflicts must first cease. Bangladesh is therefore prepared to contribute, to the best of its modest capability, to that process in Africa, which includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To that end, we have committed one mechanized infantry battalion of 1,050 troops to MONUC's second task force.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“We are heartened by those measures and we reiterate our call on all Congolese parties to work together with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and others. That is essential to bringing peace and stability to that troubled land. Bangladesh welcomes the important contribution made by the United States to the trust fund for the Ituri interim administration. We are pleased that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has included the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bunia in particular, as a very deserving case in the international humanitarian appeal for refugees in Africa. We commend MONUC for its strategy paper on Bunia and Ituri, which provides a phased timeline to address the range of future challenges in that region.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“An acute humanitarian crisis has thereby been created. The gross violations of human rights that have been perpetrated there with impunity are odious. They undermine all the universal values that we hold so dear. Bangladesh, along with others, is profoundly concerned. The Council is to be commended for its timely action in authorizing the Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF). France deserves the highest praise for having led it so effectively. We applaud the European Union for its active participation. Operation Artemis has been able to restore a modicum of calm. Certain positive political developments to which Mr. Ngongi has referred point to an emerging silver lining. They include the formation of the Transitional Government and the national army.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“Bangladesh congratulates you most warmly, Mr. President, on your skilful conduct of the presidency of the Council. Plaudits are also owed to Ambassador Sergey Lavrov for Russia's astute leadership of this forum during the month of June. The presence here today of Mr. Javier Solana, Mr. Jean-Marie Guehenno and Mr. Amos Namanga Ngongi lends special significance to these proceedings. I thank them for their important briefings. We also congratulate Ambassador Swing on his appointment, and we wish him every success. The recent waves of violence in eastern Congo have deeply shocked the international community. Despite the Council's many calls, the fragile peace continues to remain threatened. The conflict, apart from wreaking havoc in the form of death and destruction, has displaced an enormous number of people from their homes.”
2003-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4790 (2003) · source
“The lifting yesterday of the sanctions against the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA) bears witness to what a determined and unified Council can achieve. In the case of Liberia, results are yet to be evidenced. In the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, expert panel reports on the illegal exploitation of the country's natural resources - both cause and consequence of the protracted war - await concrete measures. For real change to occur in these situations, there needs to be political commitment, the commitment of the major players, including regional Powers, and, of course, of all of us, the international community.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“They must be applied in this case also. The Security Council must ensure it. It is appropriate that the Secretary-General's report should include, as it indeed does, commercial exploitation of conflicts in the context of protection. The arms bazaar, of which Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias warned us a decade ago, has flourished in every conflict zone in the past decade. The Council imposed sanctions and prohibitions, albeit without any effective implementation or monitoring mechanism. There have recently been some welcome changes. Effective implementation of sanctions on conflict diamonds crippled both Jonas Savimbi and Foday Sankoh. The Angola monitoring mechanism has yielded decisive results.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The Secretary-General's report cites international terrorism as a major threat in the context of protection. Unresolved conflicts and the early withdrawal or failure of peace-building efforts have proved extremely dangerous. Abandoned, Afghanistan became a theatre of proxy wars. It also became a bastion of international terrorists. The Security Council remained stymied for too long with regard to addressing the crisis. We are all aware of the horrendous, resulting tragedies. In the Middle East, civilian casualties are daily news, as are the killings in occupied Palestine and the toll of suicide bombings. The Secretary-General speaks of punitive measures directed at civilians, the denial of humanitarian access and a mounting humanitarian crisis. International law, including international humanitarian law, has universal validity.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“When the Council authorized a peacekeeping mission, it was with only a limited observation mandate and limited strength, while foreign forces fought deep inside the Congolese territory and the rebel militias continued to wreak havoc on civilian lives. We welcome the Council's resolve to pursue peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the Great Lakes region. Bangladesh remains committed to making a further contribution to the United Nations Mission there. We have always argued in favour of strong United Nations involvement in the resolution of conflict. We continue to believe that the responsibility of the United Nations, especially with respect to maintaining peace and security, should not be constrained by lack of troops or by budgetary considerations.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“A failure of democratic decision-making? A failure to assume responsibility? The Council must be well aware that the answers lie in a combination of all these. The ultimate success in Sierra Leone demonstrates the validity of arguments in favour of the Council's determination, the adequacy of the peacekeeping mandate, physical involvement of the major Powers or a directly concerned permanent member. On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council has been slow to assume a substantial role and responsibility, in the full knowledge of the consequences of the war and the magnitude of human suffering.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Let me roll the map out on the table. This map of failure of protection, of failure of prevention - Somalia, Srebrenica, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We have reports on at least two of them - Srebrenica and Rwanda - and we are aware of the findings and recommendations. The question the Security Council would be invited to ask itself is what went wrong in each of those cases? The conclusion of the Carlsson report is clear. Rwanda was a preventable genocide. It required a reinforcement of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). The Security Council, instead, reduced the Mission's size from 2,500 to 270, following the assassination of 10 peacekeepers. Srebrenica presents a similar scenario. Was it a failure to appreciate the imminent catastrophe? Or a failure of analysis?”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The report of the Secretary-General before us - the third on the subject - presents a multi-faceted policy agenda. They fall into three areas: humanitarian access, separation of civilians and armed elements and the rule of law, justice and reconciliation. A roadmap proposed for protection comprises, inter alia, a legal framework, organizational capacities, prevention, implementation of sanctions and prohibitions, inclusion of protection in peacekeeping mandates and ending the commercial exploitation of conflicts. The Security Council will have our support in elaborating the policy framework, as well as an agenda for action. To be effective, such an agenda would, however, need to be more than an ensemble of palliatives. Addressing the consequences is important. More important, perhaps, is the need to focus on the causes.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The international humanitarian laws were grossly and systematically violated. There were genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity. There have been cases of ethnic cleansing, mass murder, mutilation, abduction and unlawful detention. Children have been recruited forcefully, drugged, dehumanized and used as killing machines. Women and girls have been subjected to humiliation of all kinds. Rape has been used as a weapon of war. The kind of protection due to be provided was clearly not available. It is not too much to ask, therefore, that protection of civilians remains high on the Council's agenda. The legal framework for protection has been progressively established by the Council in its resolutions and presidential statements since 1999.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Madame Foreign Minister, congratulations are owed to you and to Colombia upon your assumption of the presidency of the Council. It was Bangladesh's privilege to work closely with Colombia, in general, and with my good friend Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso, in particular, during our own membership on the Council last year. We appreciate your invitation to take part in the open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The United Nations was established to save people from the scourge of war. The responsibility to accord such protection lies with all of us. But the onus, under the Charter, lies indisputably with the Security Council. In the past decade, armed conflicts claimed more than 2.5 million civilian lives. Some 31 million were displaced. The basic norms of our civilization were assailed.”
2002-12-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4660Resumption1 (2002) · source
“We see those as a forward movement, not just in gender equality - though also that - but mainly in the forging of a harmonious cooperation between the sexes to advance the interests of this Organization and the aspirations common to all humankind.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Amartya Sen has warned, "When a nation allows a lower status for its women in any sphere of human activity, it does so at its own peril". In consonance with Bangladesh's positive attitude towards the effective mainstreaming of gender in all walks of life and as part of our commitment to strengthening the role of women in peace and security, we have begun to associate women with United Nations peace operations across a broad spectrum of missions. Bangladesh is a member of the Group of Friends of resolution 1325 (2000), formed at the initiative of Canada. We remain engaged in the implementation of that resolution. We look forward to a positive decision on the Secretary-General's recommendations.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Finally, efforts are needed to achieve greater representation of women in formal peace negotiations. We have seen the positive contribution of women to the inter-Congolese dialogue that set an example. The experience of gender advisers and gender units in United Nations missions in East Timor, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone have amply vindicated our conviction about the role of women in peace and security. Not only in peacekeeping missions, but also at the grassroots and community levels, women have organized resistance to militarization and have created space for dialogue and moderation. By bringing their experience to the peace table, women can inject into the peace process a practical understanding of the various challenges confronted by women in times of conflict.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“There have been allegations of violence against women, including rape, as weapons of war. Thirdly, the Council should consider, where appropriate, the establishment of gender advisers or units in multidimensional peacekeeping operations. Fourthly, to facilitate greater contact with women's groups and networks, a database of gender specialists, as well as of women's groups and networks, in countries and regions in conflict has to be established. Fifthly, it is heartening to learn that some progress has already been achieved in incorporating gender perspectives into peacekeeping operations - the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, to cite a few.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Acknowledgement is further owed to the contribution of Noeleen Heyzer and the Inter-agency Task Force on Women, Peace and Security in connection with the process. Bangladesh hopes that the Security Council will examine those proposals with a View to approving them. The Secretary-General should have the necessary mandate for their early implementation. We also place emphasis on a few specific areas. First, the Security Council must demand of all parties to armed conflict that they comply fully with international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls. The legal obligation must also extend to women and girls under occupation in Palestine and in other occupied Arab territories. Secondly, the Security Council must add its voice to ensuring that there is no impunity for gender-based crimes.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Eighth, it is important to promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes while addressing armed or other conflicts. Two years later, those premises remain valid. We worked further on those objectives with fellow Council members. The outcome was the landmark resolution 1325 (2000), with Namibia taking the lead. That resolution provided the legislative mandate for immediate attention and for defining further actions. I wish now to refer to the report of the Secretary- General, which we deeply appreciate; in particular, the proposed set of 21 actions. We are also in considerable debt to Angela King, Carolyn Hannan and others for the very substantive inputs they provided in defining the tasks.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Third, while entire communities suffer the consequences of armed conflict, women and girls are particularly affected. Fourth, women constitute the majority of the world's refugees and internally displaced persons. Fifth, although women have begun to play an important role in conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peace building, they are still underrepresented in decision-making in regard to conflict. Sixth, if women are to play an equal part in security and in the maintenance of peace, they must be empowered politically and economically and represented adequately at all levels of decision-making, both at the pre-conflict stage and during hostilities, as well as at the point of peacekeeping, peace-building, reconciliation and reconstruction. Seventh, there must be no impunity for war crimes against women and girls.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“We applaud you, Sir, for organizing this open debate on so important a topic. We also thank the Secretary-General for according it importance through his presence yesterday and his opening remarks. Bangladesh deemed it a privilege to have been the delegation to propose in the Council, during its presidency in March 2000, that a statement be issued on women, peace and security. The presidential statement contained in press release SC/6816 of 8 March 2000 recognized some of the following premises. First, peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men. Second, the equal access and full participation of women in power structures and their full involvement in all efforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts are essential for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.”
2002-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4635Resumption1 (2002) · source
“On the specific issue at hand, we welcome Iraq's decision to allow the return of weapons inspectors. The inspectors should have total and unfettered access in the course of the discharge of their assigned responsibilities. No impediment must be placed on the work of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. Furthermore, Iraq must comply with all relevant Security Council resolutions on this issue. However, in the ultimate analysis, every possible effort should be made to avert war. Wars cause death and destruction. They disrupt economies and they exacerbate human suffering. These views, as this debate amply demonstrates, are evidently shared by a preponderant majority of the membership of the United Nations. They must be heard, listened to and heeded.”
2002-10-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4625Resumption2 (2002) · source
“We felicitate you, Sir, upon your assumption of the Council presidency. We express our confidence in your ability to bring our deliberations to fruition. We also commend Ambassador Tafrov's leadership last month. Bangladesh maintains a strong preference for the peaceful settlement of disputes. We have consistently made this point in the past, including on the floor of this Council. As always, Bangladesh believes in diplomatic and political solutions to international disputes. These must be achieved through constructive discussions. While we acknowledge the need for the enforcement of Security Council resolutions, such enforcement actions should be based on the norms and mores of international law and backed by the United Nations. The objective of any enforcement action should indeed be the need to enhance security, peace and stability.”
2002-10-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4625Resumption2 (2002) · source
“We should take action to implement the recommendations, some of which have been also endorsed in Security Council resolutions. In a globalizing world, interdependence is no longer an abstract mantra. Asia is not that far from Africa, nor is any other continent. In April 1998, in the report that we have just cited, the Secretary-General stated, "... African leaders have failed the peoples of Africa; the international community has failed them; the United Nations has failed them." (5/1998/318, para. 5) Those words were more a wake-up call than an admonition. Four years have elapsed since then. Let this interactive meeting be an impetus to reversing this state of affairs.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“The Working Group could indeed perform a most useful role and add value to the Council's work by acting as a conduit between it and the world beyond. It should - and we are certain that it will - spur the Council to lead rather than to react. We are confident that the prodigious qualities of Ambassador Koonjul will make that possible. It is our hope that the Group will help focus on action rather than on rhetoric, and also that it will assist in throwing a spotlight on the root causes of conflict. In addressing Africa's conflict, we need not reinvent the wheel. Rather, we should revisit the Secretary-General's April 1998 report (S/l998/318) on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“In recent years, the Council has been engaging increasingly in interaction with think tanks, as well as with non-governmental organizations. While on the Council, Bangladesh found such encounters involving seminars, symposia and other formal meetings to be extremely useful. A seminar on a regional approach held under the Colombian presidency was also appreciated. We thought such exchanges contributed usefully to decision-making in the Council. Fourthly, with regard to cooperation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Secretary- General has established a forum that has proved useful, the annual high-level meeting with regional organizations. The ad hoc Working Group should take care that it does not duplicate that work.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“Before embarking on such an exercise, it would perhaps be pertinent to determine whether anything has been going wrong. One needs to find out if the Secretariat, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council have identified any lack of cooperation, unnecessary duplication, encroachment or inattention. Thirdly, concerning the examination of regional and cross-country conflict issues, ample research and studies have already been carried out on that matter. In addition, there are the reports of the Inter-Agency Task Force. Should the Council need further input, it could consider studies published by think tanks such as the International Crisis Group (ICG), the Carnegie Foundation, the Institute for Policy Analysis (IPA) and other regional and research centres.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“Monitoring effective follow-up is also a Secretariat competence. The Secretary-General has in place the necessary instruments - Special Representatives, Representatives and Officers - and, when necessary, sends special missions such as inter-agency teams. The reports submitted by the Secretary-General, the briefings provided by the Secretariat, the monthly working luncheons, the annual retreats and other meetings should provide the Council with the necessary information, analysis and recommendations for Council action. There is, therefore, a need for the Group to be innovative in discharging this task and to avoid duplication. Secondly, with respect to enhancing cooperation and coordination with the Economic and Social Council, we note that the Working Group plans to meet with the Economic and Social Council bureau on that question.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo has not been favoured with such action. The country's resources are still being plundered. The Council-mandated expert panel has reported its findings and conclusions. The nexus between conflict and plunder has been exposed and names have been named, yet the tragedy continues unabated. I should like to make a few comments on the ad hoc Working Group's mandate. First, with regard to monitoring the implementation of Council decisions, we are of the view that the Working Group should take care to avoid duplicating the work of the Secretariat, that of the regional and subregional offices of the United Nations and that of the Special Representatives and Representatives of the Secretary-General. In our understanding, it is the Secretariat's responsibility to ensure the implementation of Council decisions.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“Its existence should not mean that the Council can become complacent or that it can relinquish any of its primary responsibilities. Africa's problems are all too real. That is so evident as to require no further study or analysis. Let me cite an example: the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the past few years, the Council has, under Chapter VII, been asking foreign forces to withdraw from the country's territory. Most of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's allies have withdrawn, but at least one of its adversaries is maintaining some 40,000 troops 2,000 kilometres inside the country. Here, as in the Middle East, the Council has failed to secure compliance with its mandatory resolutions. The international community acted elsewhere to restore the sovereignty of fellow Member States subjected to military aggression.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“There is instability in Liberia, and threats of spillover into neighbouring countries are real. Somalia has yet to find stability within and peace with its neighbours. Sudan has remained entangled in a civil war for two decades. Guinea-Bissau and the Central African Republic are tottering in post-conflict peace-building. Western Sahara languishes in an apparently intractable dispute. Each of these issues is dealt with as an individual item by the Council, and rightly so. All of them have unique historical legacies, dimensions and factors. All of them require specific responses, and, if the conflicts are not resolved, the Council must share a part of the responsibility. The Working Group should not become a "back burner" for unresolved conflicts.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source
“We also welcome the participation of Ambassador Amadou Kebe and Mr. Ibrahima Fall and thank them for their thought-provoking statements. Sadly, Africa remains a conflict-ridden continent. A dozen African countries are experiencing active conflict, and many others are showing signs of instability. That reality persists despite numerous resolutions and statements, sanctions and special missions. The Council has been spending about three quarters of its time on African issues. While it has not had the kind of success for which we had hoped, a modicum of progress has been made. Peace has been restored in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Angola, but the quest for peace in the Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda remains elusive. West Africa remains fragile.”
2002-05-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4538 (2002) · source