YouSaid · the spoken record

Cleland

lines on the record: 28
first: 2022-12-14
most recent: 2023-12-07
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“That collaborative approach will also allow for addressing underlying issues such as corruption and weak governance, thereby reducing vulnerabilities that criminals exploit. I would like to conclude with the words of my compatriot, Mr. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General. He once said: “We may come from different corners of the world, our skins may vary in colour, our languages may be different, but our destinies are tied together.” Mr. Annan’s profound statement still resonates today and reminds us of our collective responsibility as global citizens to disrupt those criminal networks and build a safer, more secure world for all.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“That inclusive approach is essential for safeguarding both those who have fallen victim to transnational organized crime and those who are susceptible to becoming victims. Fourthly, international and regional cooperation is crucial in addressing the cross-border challenges posed by transnational organized crime. Strengthening information-sharing mechanisms, facilitating mutual legal assistance and conducting joint operations and investigations among law enforcement agencies and judicial systems are key to dismantling criminal networks. By enhancing intelligence-sharing, bolstering law enforcement capabilities and fostering international cooperation, we can effectively disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal networks.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“Thirdly, in addressing transnational organized crime, it is imperative to be gender-sensitive and to recognize the distinct impact of the consequences of such illicit activities on women and girls, who are very often the main victims. By adopting a comprehensive and gender-sensitive approach, we can help to provide accessible and effective support services tailored to the specific needs of that vulnerable group, especially in response to trafficking, sexual exploitation and gender- based violence. That approach should also empower young people, including young women, to prevent such crimes and promote community resilience. Empowering women and young people and promoting their active participation in law enforcement and judicial systems would also help to strengthen national responses and address the root causes of those crimes.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“Secondly, technological advancements have provided both opportunities and challenges in the fight against criminal networks. While criminals exploit technology to engage in cybercrime, money laundering and drug trafficking on a transnational scale, States, united by their common resolve, can turn the tide by harnessing the same technology to detect, investigate and prosecute such unlawful activities. By pooling our resources together and leveraging technology, we can stay a step ahead of criminals through a strengthening of cyberdefences, the responsible use of artificial intelligence for data analysis and predictive policing, and the promotion of digital literacy to prevent and reduce online crimes.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“In making Ghana’s contribution to today’s debate, I would like to highlight four main points. First, in recognition of its convening power, the Council should seek to deepen the guidance it provides to the broader United Nations system on the evolving threat and the required coordinated actions necessary to address the phenomenon. That would require, besides such high-level debates, setting out the Council’s thinking on the challenges and the way forward, encouragement for the provision of technical assistance to States in need, the enforcement of compliance with sanctions regimes and the facilitation of international cooperation. The Council can certainly foster collaboration, advance international norms and help mobilize the necessary resources to combat that threat.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“We cannot continue to allow whole populations to be held to ransom, such as in Haiti; we cannot maintain ignorance of the effects that illicit trade in natural resources has had in destabilizing States in the Great Lakes region; and we cannot refuse to act in reversing the cocktail of illicit cross-border activities that continues to fund violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel, as well as in the Horn of Africa. As a Council, our responsibility, I believe, is to identify the gaps that allow such crimes to thrive and to galvanize global, regional and national actions in closing them, so as to safeguard the peace, enhance security and, through the upholding of the rule of law, create a conducive environment for sustainable development and global prosperity.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“In its evolving form and through its links with terrorism, violent extremism and maritime piracy, it poses an even more formidable menace to international peace and security through its cross-border impact. In several parts of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean, we have witnessed the disastrous consequences that the looting of natural resources, the kidnapping of people, the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and the illicit narcotic trade have had on the capacity of States to maintain their stability and sustain the peace. We therefore welcome today’s open debate as an opportunity for the Council to reinforce concerted and collaborative global action to effectively address that pressing challenge for a safer and more secure world.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“Ghana would like to thank you, Mr. President, and your delegation, Ecuador, for choosing to highlight, during your presidency of the Security Council this month, the significant and growing threat that transnational organized crime poses to global peace and security. We are grateful for the statement of the Secretary- General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, and extend our appreciation for the briefings by Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Professor Melani Cammett, Director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. As the concept note for today’s meeting (S/2023/933, annex) rightfully emphasizes, transnational organized crime, covering a wide array of illicit activities, is, by itself, a threat to the stability and development of any society.”
2023-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9497 (2023) · source
“In our national strategy for the prevention and suppression of terrorism, special attention has been placed on the protection of human rights, and all measures taken to combat terrorism fully comply with our national Constitution, which has some of the highest standards of human rights, as well as with our obligations under international law, in particular human rights law, refugee law and international humanitarian law. Let me conclude by reiterating Ghana’s commitment to working with all States Members of the United Nations in efforts to prevent and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Although much work remains, our determination to overcome our differences is what would ultimately yield the desired outcomes.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“In that regard, we urge sustained international support for regional mechanisms such as the Accra Initiative, which facilitates intelligence- and information-sharing on questions of terrorism, transnational organized crime and violent extremism, in relation to the expansionist agenda of terrorist groups from the Sahel region. Finally, we believe in the complementary and mutually reinforcing nature of counter-terrorism measures and the protection of human rights, as envisaged by the fourth pillar.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“We have also undertaken a wide array of measures for institutional development and to safeguard vulnerable communities, critical national infrastructure, mobility corridors and public places and cyberspace, corresponding to the second pillar of the Strategy. Within the context of the third pillar of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, we continue cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the United Nations and believe in strong partnerships for regional-led counter- insurgency operations, as well as cross-regional intelligence-sharing in order to halt cross-border collaboration among terrorist groups.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“We equally encourage enhanced budgetary support for UNOCT and call for sustained funding for the implementation of the Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy. Before concluding, let me briefly share some elements of Ghana’s implementation of the Strategy, with a strong focus on prevention as the primary objective that needs to be pursued in addressing terrorism. Ghana has adopted a whole-of-society approach by involving the private sector and civil society organizations in addressing the underlying motivations for terrorism, while also taking a gender- sensitive approach to combating terrorism. That is helping to reduce the vulnerability of youth groups to radicalization and recruitment through the opening up of further opportunities for them to fulfil their legitimate aspirations.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Terrorist groups engage in illicit trade in natural resources, raise revenue from illegal taxes imposed in territories they control and use the dark web to raise and move funding. Our aim must be to dry up those sources of funding for their nefarious activities. To do so, countries affected by terrorists and their networks must be adequately supported with the funding needed to undertake operations to monitor the movement of money in and out of their borders and to regain control of the territories controlled by terrorists. Member States on the front lines of terrorism therefore require greater international solidarity, especially in these difficult times, when three years of multiple crises have diminished the capacity to counter terrorism.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Despite the continuing absence of a definition of terrorism, the international community cannot afford a lack of unity in its actions to counter the threat posed by terrorist groups. We believe that, to successfully detect, disrupt and deter terrorist acts, we need a shared vision, a common understanding and equal commitment to implement counter-terrorism frameworks, particularly through proactive national initiatives and improved international collaboration. Such a goal requires the Council and the wider international community to adopt a zero-excuse and zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the treatment of terrorist groups. There should be no differentiation between terrorist groups, as differential treatment would only undermine efforts to combat terrorism in a balanced manner.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“And it strikes at the heart of our efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as the attacks compound the development challenges facing the communities worst affected by terrorism. In order to respond to the daunting challenges posed by terrorism and violent extremism, our collective response must match the gravity of the threat to all our countries. The transnational character of terrorism warrants our global approach and coordinated action. In that context, Ghana reaffirms its commitment to the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the implementation of all four pillars of the Strategy in the ongoing war against international terrorism. We will continue to work with all Member States in that regard. Against that backdrop, I wish make several key points.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“It represents a huge burden on our fragile security architecture, as it converges with existing security threats to expose weaknesses in national, regional and global mechanisms to protect our people. And it affects nations, regions and our international community in profound ways, setting back our progress as a civilization. The urgency to act becomes more pressing by the day, as emboldened terrorists now seek to gain access to maritime resources, more endowed territory and highly urbanized and more developed terrain. The nature and gravity of the threat to international peace and security and to international commerce and investments needs no further elaboration.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“We once again thank Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov and Acting Executive Director Weixiong Chen for setting the stage for what promises to be an open and frank discussion on a matter that must be at the top of the Council’s agenda. We acknowledge the efforts of the Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) in assisting Member States in implementing the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and encourage further collaboration between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Member States in the face of the rising threat of terrorism. Terrorism represents the most significant evolution of the threats to international peace and security, which the Council is mandated to address.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Ghana conveys its deep condolences to Ireland on the unfortunate loss of lives of peacekeepers while serving a worthy cause for humankind. We are also grateful to the two briefers — Mr. Voronkov and Mr. Weixiong Chen — for providing excellent contexts for our discussions. Finally, we commend Ms. Kulthe on her bravery and courage to share her story with the international community. Ghana commends India’s choice of the theme for this Security Council debate. I believe that this discussion will engender a renewed sense of urgency among States and give added impetus to existing efforts to address the menacing activities of terrorists.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“When there is a global financial and food crisis, as we are currently experiencing, we have to expect that further down the road there will be greater manifestations of sociopolitical instability, a diminished capacity for conflict management and further conflicts. In conclusion, Ghana therefore believes that a holistic renewal of multilateralism characterized by the inclusion of new concepts across the pillars of the work of the United Nations is essential if we are to get far closer to seeing multilateralism work for all rather than just a few. Time is not on our side, and we need to act now.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“The emerging threats, and our clearer understanding of the impact of other crises on peace and security, also imply that a reformed multilateralism will have to embrace an integrated approach to peace and security that accommodates the nexus linking climate change, global public health emergencies and financial meltdowns. Furthermore, a renewed multilateral system should take into consideration a number of the international development institutions and processes outside the United Nations, including the Bretton Woods institutions, which are failing to respond adequately to the pressing needs of the peoples of the world, especially the developing world.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“Resolving those challenges requires a shared responsibility and a common understanding. We therefore believe that the General Assembly, which is the most representative organ of the United Nations, should be made to find new space in the reform agenda. We also believe that the regional arrangements envisaged under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations regarding the effective collaborators of the collective security mechanism should be worked with more closely than ever before. For instance, we cannot arrive at any legitimate solution to the problem of terrorism on the African continent without the collaboration of institutions such as the African Union and regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“We also welcome the Secretary-General’s report on Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), including on the New Agenda for Peace, and believe that a good- faith engagement by Member States on those proposals could help bring about a new orientation in the nature and focus of the peace architecture. It will be important for a reformed Security Council to aspire to operate differently. We must therefore refrain from putting old wine in new wineskins, and vice versa. There were many assumptions underpinning the multilateral system that no longer hold today. In seeking new orientations for a reformed multilateralism, we should therefore be cognizant of the assumptions we establish as bases for reforms. In that regard, we need to acknowledge that the challenges of today are beyond the reach of a few powerful countries to resolve.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“The historical injustice to the 54 Member States of Africa — a continent with a population of more than 1.3 billion people and a combined economy in excess of $3.5 trillion — must be prioritized. Like all the permanent members of the Council, Africa, even while under colonial domination, played a major role in ensuring the successful end of the Second World War, in terms of both resources and lives sacrificed. We were encouraged by the positive statements in that regard by several world leaders at the high-level week of the General Assembly, and we urge that the process of reform must produce real changes to the structure and practices of the Council across the five clusters of reform under discussion in the intergovernmental negotiation process in an effort to make it innovative in its approach.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“In recalling the convergence of that global aspiration, we also reiterate the call by President Akufo-Addo to the Council a few weeks ago on the need to “revisit the vexed issue of reform of the United Nations system, particularly the Security Council, and to do so on the basis of the African Common Position on United Nations reform, as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus, if the authority of the Council, which, in recent times, appears to have been devalued because of its anachronistic structure, is indeed to be restored.” (S/PV.9188, p.10) Ghana believes that the conversations around reform of the Security Council must necessarily be underpinned by the imperatives of the arguments of Africa, the only continent without permanent membership on the Council.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“While reforms are not an end in themselves, they are often necessary catalysts for calibrating a better approach to collectively realizing the objectives we seek. It is therefore not surprising that over the three decades of frustrating discussions on Security Council reform, there have been several calls for global solidarity to ensure that this noble institution is reformed as soon as possible. The most notable recent call in that regard was made by our Heads of State and Government in the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventy- fifth Anniversary of the United Nations, asking us to instil new life into the process of Council reform under the aegis of the intergovernmental negotiation process.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“Today we are witnesses to complex, interacting and mutually reinforcing crises, including stark geopolitical differences, the escalating risks of the use of nuclear weapons, increasing numbers of asymmetrical and transnational conflicts, widespread and systematic violations of human rights, debilitating pandemics and the adverse effects of climate change on food systems, livelihoods and the general management of societies. The challenges of the present era underpin the need for comprehensive and integrated reform of all the pillars of the multilateral system, especially the peace and security architecture and the development and financial systems. We would indeed be remiss if we lost sight of the fact that inadequacies in one pillar will certainly have consequences for the overall effective functioning of the multilateral system.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“That system was anchored on the absolute prohibition of the unjustified use of force and the quest to realize the aspirations of a more interdependent world. When we look at history, we see the coordinated efforts that have been made over the years to maintain international peace and security, promote the international rule of law and prevent a calamitous world war. We can conclude only that the founders were right in their ambitions and largely justified in their tireless efforts in San Francisco. However, we are also not oblivious to the fact that the nature and frequency of global crises in the post-1945 era have evolved.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source
“I begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, as Minister of External Affairs of India, and the delegation of India on your country’s presidency of the Security Council for the month of December. We welcome the focus of today’s open debate and support its intention to reinforce discussions on the kind of orientation required to realize the much-anticipated reform of the multilateral system. We thank the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, for the depth and clarity of his statement. We also thank Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, President of the General Assembly, for his insightful remarks. Seventy-seven years ago, the founding fathers of the United Nations bequeathed to us a multilateral system that was designed to ensure global peace and stability.”
2022-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9220 (2022) · source