YouSaid · the spoken record

Coveney

lines on the record: 57
first: 2021-09-09
most recent: 2022-12-15
sittings or episodes: 6
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

“But once we are in this Chamber, surely we have a shared responsibility to defend international peace and security and the hundreds of millions of vulnerable people who rely on us to do that. We must do better to live up to that responsibility.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Reform is essential, particularly reform of the veto, the use of which is self-defeating, the use of which, in my view, has no place in a twenty-first century Security Council. But reform alone will not make multilateralism work. That responsibility rests with us, the Member States, together. Member States will continue to have differing perspectives on many of the issues on the Council’s agenda, but they must, we must, find a way to work in genuine partnership and good faith, so that the Council can act with the ambition and determination that is so urgently required. Too often we see narrow self-interest taking precedence. We see Council members block crucial decisions to protect themselves and/or their allies. Council members, whether permanent or elected, have reached this table in different ways.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“As our Prime Minister said in his speech during the high-level week (see A/77/PV.9), in the Security Council, the General Assembly and the other organs, institutions and agencies that make up the United Nations, we have the spaces to discuss, negotiate, share experiences and craft solutions. We have an interlocking web of charters, treaties, norms, resolutions, international jurisprudence, political declarations and agreed statements and conclusions. Our global structures are not perfect. We know that. No structures ever are in reality. But it is not our systems or our structures, or our treaties or our charters, that are fundamentally failing us today. It is the lack of political will to implement and uphold them that is the root cause of our failures in the Security Council.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“In conclusion, I would like to offer some short reflections on our two-year term on the Security Council. Just last week, we marked the hundredth anniversary of the Irish Free State. One of its first actions was to seek membership of the then League of Nations. A hundred years on, Ireland is steadfast in its commitment to multilateralism. To sit at this table, elected by the Members of the General Assembly, is a great privilege. Those of us lucky enough to do so should be frank enough to admit that multilateralism is struggling today. We need reform. We need creative, responsive solutions to global challenges that could not even have been imagined by the drafters of the Charter of the United Nations. But most of all, we need political will.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“During our term on the Council, one of the recurring messages we heard from civil society and humanitarian partners was about the inadvertently negative impact of sanctions measures on the delivery of humanitarian assistance. We listened carefully to that message, and we responded collectively as a Council. Alongside the United States, we were proud to secure agreement, on Friday (see S/PV.9214), on resolution 2664 (2022). That landmark initiative providing humanitarian exemptions across all United Nations sanctions regimes will help to ensure that aid reaches all populations at risk, particularly in areas where terrorists are active. At a time of unprecedented global challenges, I am heartened that the Security Council took decisive action and provided a humanitarian lifeline to those experiencing conflict and terrorism.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Dealing effectively with those issues, particularly the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, requires a much more serious partnership with civil society. In addition, the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in counter-terrorism processes is critical. Empowering women and ensuring that they are at the counter- terrorism table fundamentally disrupts the status quo for the better. United Nations sanctions are one of the critical instruments employed by the Council to hold terrorists to account and to target them. But in order to have the desired effect, sanctions must be targeted and effective in the areas where we need them to be.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Those actions serve only to drive radicalization and reinforce terrorist narratives. We must also heed the calls of our African partners, who have consistently advised us on the ways that climate change can aggravate the root causes of terrorism itself. Most United Nations Member States, including the large majority of those on the Council, recognize the clear link between climate change and instability. It is staring us in the face. And it is high time that the Council act on the facts. We know that there is a wealth of experience and analysis that civil society partners can provide on the issues of counter-terrorism. Yet the avenues for civil society to engage with the Council’s counter-terrorism architecture are too limited.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Unless we address the root causes, we resign ourselves to addressing the same security challenges over and over again. Respect for human rights and the rule of law are vital in preventing the growth of radicalization and extremism, and they are both critical components of effective counter-terrorism responses. Too often, measures adopted by States to counter terrorism have been misused to repress human rights and freedoms. In October, together with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Ireland hosted an event highlighting the ways in which counter-terrorist financing measures are sometimes misused to target civil society, humanitarian actors and human rights defenders.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“Over the past two years, we have witnessed that threat evolve and, unfortunately, spread in the Sahel, in Afghanistan, with the sheltering of Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups under Taliban rule, and in Iraq and Syria, with the continuing threat there. As Ireland prepares to leave the Council, I welcome the opportunity to reflect on how our counter-terrorism efforts can have more of an impact. The most effective way to counter terrorism is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Tackling the global terrorist threat means addressing its complex and varied drivers. We know that communities affected by conflict, poverty, inequality, poor governance and human rights violations are more vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“They put themselves in harm’s way, always for the cause of peace. They operate under mandates that we decide here in this Chamber to ensure that they can do the work they need to do and that they operate as safely as possible, in terms of our obligation to manage risk. I want to offer my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the young soldier who died, and to the loved ones of all peacekeepers who have died in the course of their duty — too many this year. When I first addressed the Council after Ireland joined it almost two years ago (see S/2021/48), I stated clearly that terrorism remains one of the gravest threats to international peace and security.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“I would like to thank our three guests today, who have just given us very thought-provoking and emotive briefings. I also want to commend India for its focus on the important issue of counter-terrorism throughout its tenure on the Security Council and congratulate it on its successes. I would like to start my statement by expressing my deep sadness at the death of an Irish peacekeeper and the injuries to three others in an incident in Lebanon yesterday. I want to thank the Indian presidency for the respect it has shown by inviting the Council to observe a minute of silence at the start of today’s meeting. Those soldiers were serving proudly as part of the 121st Infantry Battalion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The incident and the loss of life is a stark reminder that our peacekeepers serve in dangerous circumstances.”
2022-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9221 (2022) · source
“It must be held accountable for its actions through the international bodies and structures that we, together, created for that purpose. It is not solely about Ukraine. This is about the entirety of the United Nations membership — all of us and all our countries. If we do not reject Russia’s actions in the clearest and starkest terms, we allow the world to be governed by force, not through dialogue and the application of international law. The Security Council must take the lead.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“I want to repeat the demand of last week’s meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency — Russia must immediately cease all actions against the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant; the Ukrainian authorities must regain full control. The last thing that the world needs now is a nuclear accident. This conflict can, and will, end. Our collective responsibility to the Charter of the United Nations, the pacific settlement of disputes and the maintenance of international peace and security demands that it end sooner rather than later. The path to peace is clear. The country that made a deliberate decision to start this conflict must now make the decision to bring it to an end. Russia must withdraw its forces from the sovereign territory of a fellow State Member of the United Nations.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“Five months later, more mass graves are being discovered in Izyum and in other areas that until recently were under Russian occupation. Attacks by Russian forces on civilians and civilian infrastructure have further intensified since then. The devastating impact of explosive weapons in populated areas is ever- more evident, with hundreds of thousands of homes, hospitals and schools destroyed. That is why Ireland is seeking the wide endorsement by States of the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas at a high-level adoption conference in Dublin in November. Millions of civilians in Ukraine and beyond are being potentially put at risk by Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“And it is why we will work with Ukraine and other partners to examine how we can hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression. But it is also why the Council must collectively consider how it acts to protect the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations itself. No one country, no matter how big or powerful, should have the ability to veto the application of international law for its own aims. I said at the Council in April (see S/PV.9018) that, without accountability, there is no hope for sustainable peace, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere. I repeat that today. In April, I also recalled the shocking evidence I saw in Bucha of Russian forces’ disregard for international humanitarian law. That was no fabrication. The bodies that I saw tell a story.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“It is why, yesterday, Ireland filed a declaration of intervention at the International Court of Justice in Ukraine’s case against Russia. It is why we are intervening in Ukraine’s case against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights. It is why we have supported action at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council to hold Russia accountable for what it is doing. It is why, along with 40 other States parties to the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC), we referred the situation in Ukraine to the ICC Prosecutor, who is with us here today. It is why we support Ukraine’s efforts to establish a compensation and reparations mechanism.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“Just six weeks later, Russia launched an unwarranted and illegal further invasion of Ukraine — another sovereign United Nations Member State and a neighbour. Just this week, President Putin again issued threats to use nuclear weapons. Let us be absolutely clear: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the antithesis of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It is a grave violation of international law. It is an attempt to change internationally recognized borders by the use of force. No sham referendums can change that basic fact. It cannot be allowed to stand. If we fail to hold Russia accountable, we send a signal to large, powerful countries that they can prey on their neighbours with impunity. That is something that every nation on Earth should take note of.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“That happened through dialogue and through use of the systems, structures, norms and institutions that we have painstakingly built over decades to resolve differences, find solutions and deliver for our citizens. Those are the principles and institutions that all of us around this table have a solemn commitment to uphold. Let me recall another moment of hope. In January, the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon States, including Russia, declared that a nuclear war cannot be won and can never be fought. Those five leaders, including President Putin, committed to avoid military confrontations, strengthen stability and predictability, increase mutual understanding and confidence and pursue constructive dialogue with mutual respect.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“One week ago, I stood on a deck of a cargo ship in the port of Odesa, watching 46,000 tons of grain being loaded, bound for Bangladesh. That same day, the total amount of grain exported from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea Grain Initiative had reached 3 million tons. Ukrainian and United Nations staff in Odesa spoke to me of their plans to reach 4 million tonnes of grain per month. As the Secretary-General said so eloquently, those ships carry not just grain, but the rare commodity of hope. They represent something else, too: the power of multilateralism. In the midst of conflict, the United Nations and the Government of Türkiye negotiated a deal to get desperately needed grain out of Ukraine and onto the world market.”
2022-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9135 (2022) · source
“President Zelenskyy, to his credit, has continued to remain open to diplomatic solutions in the face of aggression and brutality against his people. I hear the narrative, from far too many quarters, that peace will be possible only after the battle for Donbas. I cannot accept that logic, a logic that leads directly to further death, further suffering, further displacement. The Security Council must challenge that thinking today and every day. We must demand more.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“Ireland cannot and will not remain silent while this senseless and devastating war continues, and neither should any member of the Security Council. As it was on 25 February, so it is today. This is a war of choice. It can end immediately if President Putin so decides. And yet we are instead seeing a renewed and scaled-up offensive in eastern Ukraine. This is madness, which history will judge very harshly. We have to find a way to stop this war. And the Security Council has a unique responsibility to do that. I want to call today on Russia directly — to agree to an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, commit to negotiations, respect the Charter of the United Nations. We know that some progress was made in Istanbul between the key parties. There is clearly a basis for a peace agreement.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“But the humanitarian consequences of the war are also being felt thousands of miles from Ukraine by some of the most vulnerable people on our planet. Countries across the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, but also in Latin America, are being increasingly impacted by the severe economic consequences of this conflict. The price of wheat and oil has risen by 300 per cent in Somalia, where more than 700,000 people are already displaced by drought. Wheat reserves in Palestine could be depleted in less than three weeks’ time. As the Secretary-General has said so clearly, the most vulnerable people around the globe cannot become collateral damage in yet another disaster for which they bear no responsibility.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“During my visit to Ukraine, so many people spoke to me about the urgent need for accountability in order to expose the horrors of what has happened to them, preferably in a court of law. In all situations where war crimes may have been committed, we must ensure that timely, credible investigations are undertaken, that evidence is rigorously documented and that witnesses, victims and survivors are supported. For that reason, Ireland committed an additional €3 million in funding to the International Criminal Court last week. Without accountability and truth, there is no hope for sustainable peace in Ukraine or anywhere else. Russia’s war has driven millions of Ukrainians from their homes, as we have just heard. Almost 5 million people have become refugees and more than 7 million have become displaced internally in Ukraine.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“This group of 15 countries has been entrusted with protecting the weak and the innocent and holding aggressors to account, no matter how powerful they are. The only weapons that we have are diplomacy, dialogue, facts, collective leadership and, most importantly, a shared commitment to international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Do we really have to keep repeating around this table that innocent civilians are never legitimate targets of war and that all parties to conflict must comply with international humanitarian law, including the prohibitions against indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks and the obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants? Those obligations are not optional — not least for those privileged enough to be seated around this table and who should be leading by example.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“Across Ukraine we have seen explosive weapons, including prohibited cluster munitions, being used in populated areas against civilian infrastructure. The toll of destruction on homes, hospitals and schools is testament to that. It speaks of an utter disregard by Russian forces for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians. There can be no spinning that reality away with disinformation. Ireland is a small country. We are not a member of any military alliance and we are certainly no superpower, but we fought to take a seat at this table and we have earned the right to be here. We did so because we fundamentally believe that despite all of the Council’s well-documented flaws — and there are many — it is the ultimate arbiter on matters of war and peace.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“It now lies in ruins, with the stench of burning buildings and bodies in the air. Hundreds of family homes, shops and other civilian infrastructure have been blackened, burnt, looted, damaged and in some cases completely destroyed. Family cars stand riddled with bullets, their windshields smashed and bloodstains still evident. I have been around long enough to know the difference between truth and staged propaganda when I see it. There was nothing fabricated about what I witnessed. I stood at the edge of one of the mass graves, where the work of carefully exhuming bodies continued. At that stage, 503 civilians had been identified and just four soldiers. Those men, women and children were not combatants, yet appeared to have been deliberately killed in a brutal manner — in some cases, after being tortured.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“I would like to thank the Director General of the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees. As we meet this afternoon, we do so in the shadow of a renewed offensive by Russian forces on eastern Ukraine — in the shadow of further bloodshed, further scenes of killing, further disregard for civilian lives and continued blatant violations of the Charter of the United Nations. On Thursday of last week I travelled to Kyiv. I did so because I wanted to see for myself the situation on the ground and to express Ireland’s solidarity with Ukraine and its people. What I saw was profoundly shocking. During my visit, I went to Bucha. Until two months ago, it was a pleasant and vibrant town, a place where many of us around this table could have happily imagined living.”
2022-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9018 (2022) · source
“As Europe has been plunged into war, we are hearing a chorus call for peace. We know that sustainable peace is not possible without women. The question today is not whether, but how — how we in the Security Council can work to ensure that women play their full, equal and meaningful role in international peace and security. The tide can turn towards a more equal world if the political will is there. I believe that it is. We at this table have a responsibility to ensure that the progress of recent decades is not allowed to slide backwards. The promises of the agenda must be made a reality.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“Groups such as the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund are already doing critical work in that area. We have also seen that public-private partnerships can make a difference towards relief and recovery, as, I think, you, Madam President, just mentioned. We should work more to integrate them into our own responses. We also need to see funding to fuel women’s economic empowerment. Financing women- owned microbusinesses and providing educational scholarships can be transformative. Local women’s organizations and grass-roots women peacebuilders also play an essential role. We, the international community, must stand with them and support them. Doing so helps women to secure their rightful and active role in political, social and economic life. But we must ensure that such support comes from all of society, including national Governments.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“The International Monetary Fund’s new Fragile and Conflict-Affected States Strategy will be an important part of those efforts. Thirdly, relief and recovery in the wake of conflict is essential in building sustainable peace. Ireland knows from its own lived experience that recovery in the wake of conflict requires firm and concrete actions. The trauma and impact of violence are not simply forgotten with the onset of a ceasefire or the signing of a peace agreement. We must support women to process and recover from the pain and wounds of conflict. The provision of financial supports and pathways to justice and health services is crucial to empowering women to respond to their trauma. That includes access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and rights.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“The Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, of which Ireland and the United Arab Emirates are Board members, speaks to that imperative. Ireland supports closer cooperation among the Security Council, the Peacebuilding Commission, the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action and all other initiatives and bodies dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s rights. We fully support the work of the Peacebuilding Fund. It is a highly effective, if all too modest, instrument. We recommend the increased percentage of the Peacebuilding Fund’s investment in gender-responsive initiatives. We also welcome increasing collaboration between United Nations agencies and international financial institutions on peacebuilding activities.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“Despite that, local women peacebuilders, human rights defenders and other Afghan women continue to fight for their right to be heard and to participate, at times exposing themselves to grave peril in asserting those rights. Ireland will continue to use every opportunity to amplify the voices of Afghan women. We must heed their words, including during the current negotiations on a future mandate for the United Nations in Afghanistan, and we will play our part in ensuring that. This debate is the third on women and peace and security since October. Together with the presidency initiatives, it shows real promise that, together, we can reinforce this agenda. That is key to realizing the transformative change promised by resolution 1325 (2000). Secondly, real progress does not occur in a vacuum either. It must bring all stakeholders along.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“Shockingly, conflict-related sexual violence remains a weapon of war that is deliberately used. Survivors still struggle for justice and for their rights to be supported in post-traumatic situations. We know how quickly gains, including economic gains, can be eroded when the political tide turns. Today, we need only to look at the continuing erosion of women’s rights in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Once more, women are being forced to argue for their basic human rights: their right to work, to education, to participate in civil and public life and to even move freely around their own country, all in the face of continued violence and intimidation. In truth, the Taliban have broken their promise to protect women’s rights and have disrespected the international community’s calls to respect those rights.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“Twenty-one years on, the core of the women and peace and security agenda is seriously challenged, even at this Council table. We gather here on International Women’s Day. On this day last year, Mexico and Ireland co-hosted an Arria formula meeting on ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in United Nations-led peace processes. That meeting conveyed the clear message that women need to be directly and substantively involved in United Nations-led peace and political processes. The past year has made clear that we have yet to achieve that objective. Regrettably, equality advocates still find themselves fighting to break down the societal and structural barriers that prevent women from assuming their rightful place at the negotiating and decision-making tables.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“First, to fulfil the promise of resolution 1325 (2000), we must protect and fortify the women and peace and security agenda. Let us be clear — women’s rights are human rights. They are universal, interdependent and indivisible. Today’s debate reminds us of the gaps that remain between the aims of the agenda and the reality that we see on the ground. Those gaps widened further during the coronavirus disease pandemic and afterwards. Women have been carrying disproportionate burdens across the board, as has just been pointed out to us by our briefers, and we know that women’s economic empowerment is truly achievable only alongside their political and social empowerment as well. We must acknowledge that advancing women’s economic participation is not a panacea in itself.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“Today, on International Women’s Day, we want the women and girls of Ukraine to know that we salute their resilience and courage. The conflict is having a severe and disproportionate impact on them. We stand with them now and into the future. The international community and the Council in particular have a responsibility to act to uphold the rights of all women at risk due to conflict, wherever that conflict may be taking place. We must never forget or downplay that duty. The topic of today’s debate is an important one, and I would like to focus my intervention on three points: first, delivering on our commitments to the women and peace and security agenda; secondly, working together to realize those aims; and thirdly, strengthening the agenda’s relief and recovery pillar.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“The eyes of the world are currently on Ukraine and our thoughts are with its people, including vulnerable women and girls, who are facing trauma and hardship, huddled together in makeshift bomb shelters, trapped in cities brutalized by war or as refugees fleeing conflict and violence within Ukraine or crossing borders in their hundreds of thousands. The Russian Federation, through its decision to launch an unjustified and illegal attack, violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, has created a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe, the likes of which we have not seen for many, many decades. Ireland strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s further invasion of Ukraine and its flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the core principles of international law. We stand firmly with the people of Ukraine.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“I am pleased to join you here today, Madam, under the Emirati presidency, on International Women’s Day. We commend the United Arab Emirates, along with the Niger, Albania and Norway, for continuing the women and peace and security presidency initiative that Ireland formed with Kenya and Mexico last year. The continued focus on the women and peace and security agenda by members of the Council reaffirms its centrality to international peace and security. Cooperation among members is crucial if we are to protect and advance that agenda further. My thanks also to the briefers: Ms. Coulibaly, whose perspective from her work on the ground was illuminating, Executive Director Bahous and Managing Director Georgieva.”
2022-03-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8989 (2022) · source
“There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I thank everyone for their contributions. I suspect that the Council has much more work to do in the context of Afghanistan. The meeting rose at 5.40 p.m.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“I thank the representative of Kazakhstan very much for that suggestion in particular. I am sure that it will be followed up on. I now give the floor to the representative of Pakistan.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“Their testimonies will stay with every person in the Chamber and serve, I hope, as a reminder of the Council’s responsibilities. We all have an obligation to act together and not to fail the people of Afghanistan. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“It is essential that we act with clarity, determination and, perhaps most importantly, unity. At this time of uncertainty, United Nations operations in Afghanistan are more essential than they have ever been. UNAMA’s mandate expires on 17 September. Ireland is actively engaging with fellow Council members to ensure that UNAMA’s vital activities continue and to allow them to work on next steps. This is surely a moment for the Council to stand united. That unity will be vital to achieve consensus on a mandate that supports a peaceful, equal and inclusive future for all Afghans. That unity will be vital if we are to influence the decisions of Taliban leaders currently deciding on the future of their own country. In the Chamber today, we heard from Ms. Lyons, Ms. Frogh and Ms. Yousafzai about the reality of what the Afghan people face.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“I repeat the demand of the Council that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any country, shelter or train terrorists or plan and finance a terrorist attack. The Taliban must unequivocally break ties with all international terrorist organizations or continue to face censure and isolation. The fundamental responsibility of the Council is to the maintenance of international peace and security and to uphold the Charter of the United Nations. If we are not attempting to do that, we need to ask ourselves a serious question in terms of what the role of the Council really is. The adoption of resolution 2593 (2021) last week was a positive first step, clearly demonstrating the expectations of the international community and a statement of unity and intent of the Council, but the Council can and must do more.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“Those who have seized power now bear the ultimate responsibility to ensure the safety, security and human rights of the Afghan people. Any new Administration must adhere to Afghanistan’s obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, refugee law and human rights law. I call on the members of the Council to send an unequivocal message that those who violate international laws and perpetrate human rights violations must and will be held accountable by the international community. The events of 26 August left us in no doubt that terrorism remains a present danger in Afghanistan. I want to express, from this chair, the deep sympathies of the Irish people to the families of those killed and injured in the horrifying attack at Kabul airport. Afghanistan must never again become a haven for international terrorism.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“The rights of women and girls to full and equal access to education, health care and freedom of movement in their own country and to participate fully in public life are universal rights. They are not rights that are reserved only for women and girls from certain countries, ethnicities or religious traditions. They are rights that belong equally to all 7 billion people of the world’s population. Quite simply, women and girls in Afghanistan must be treated as equal citizens. It has been said time and again around this table that only an inclusive negotiated political settlement offers a sustainable future for all Afghan people. Frankly, we have seen no evidence of that in the approach of the Taliban so far. What they have said and what they have done seem to mean two very different things.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“A Government that does not harness the full strength, talent and diversity of the Afghan people and that does not allow for the right to peaceful protest and free and independent media cannot lay the groundwork for a peaceful and secure Afghanistan into the future. We know from our own experience in Ireland that the full, equal and meaningful participation of women is a prerequisite for sustainable peace and political stability. Ireland urges the Council to place clear priority on women’s involvement in the processes that shape their future. We owe that much to the women peacebuilders, many of whom have given everything and are risking their lives for peace.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“In order to ensure such access and the right of Afghans and foreign citizens to safely leave Afghanistan, it is vital that the Kabul airport and Afghanistan’s land borders be fully open and operational. The international community has a responsibility to continue to support humanitarian relief efforts. Ireland will play its part, including by participating at the high-level meeting on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan on 13 September, as we build on our announcement last month of emergency funding to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in recognition of our responsibility to Afghan refugees and host countries. Afghanistan also faces a governance crisis. Participation in political and civic life is the right of all Afghans — women, men, young people, minorities and civil society.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“I am sure that she never thought that she would see that country take the backward step like the one we have seen in recent weeks. We meet today at a pivotal point for Afghanistan — a country facing a serious humanitarian and human rights crisis. The world has watched in horror the violence and chaos in recent weeks. Millions of Afghans urgently require support, including those recently displaced by conflict, violence and intimidation — and they are in the millions. Collectively, we can avert a humanitarian tragedy in Afghanistan, but it will take an enormous effort. I urge the Taliban to facilitate full, safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations and all of their personnel, regardless of gender. They should be able to carry out their life-saving and life-sustaining work without interference.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“I thank Ms. Yousafzai for her briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence of Ireland. First, I would like to thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Deborah Lyons, and the exceptional United Nations country and United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) teams for their essential work and commitment to the Afghan people. I also thank Wazhma Frogh for powerfully detailing how violence and intimidation are impacting the people of her country, destroying lives, inciting fear and exacerbating existing challenges, especially for women and girls. I thank Malala Yousafzai for clearly reminding us of what is at stake for future generations of Afghan children, particularly girls.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source
“I thank Ms. Lyons for her work and her briefing. I would ask her to pass on the thanks of the Security Council to all the United Nations staff who continue to work in very challenging and uncertain conditions across Afghanistan and in Kabul in particular. I now give the floor to Ms. Frogh.”
2021-09-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8853 (2021) · source