YouSaid · the spoken record

Crighton

lines on the record
15
first
1998-12-23
most recent
1999-02-22
sittings or episodes
2
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un-security-council

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  1. “In a statement to the Security Council in a similar open debate on post-conflict peace-building held last December, my delegation spoke of the need to take a more integrated, holistic approach to the United Nations role in responding to conflict. The protection of civilians affected by conflict is an important element of this, both as conflict continues and at the post-conflict peace- building stage. Canada's initiative in convening this debate will greatly assist the Council, and all Member States, in considering how to deal with this troubling issue. To this end, my delegation welcomes the statement by the President of the Council of 12 February 1999 and the request to the Secretary-General to prepare a report with specific recommendations for the Council on measures to improve the physical and legal protection of civilians in conflict.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  2. “In this regard the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have made an important contribution. The establishment of the International Criminal Court, with which Australia has been closely associated, is a major step forward. My delegation agrees with many of the constructive suggestions that have been made so far in this debate. Arms embargoes aimed at limiting conflict must be better implemented. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons poses a particular threat to civilian populations in conflict situations, and practical steps can be taken to address this problem. Landmines exact an appalling human price, and international cooperation to ban their use and to remove the millions of mines that still threaten civilian populations must continue.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  3. “The optional protocol aims to strengthen the existing international standard contained in article 38 of the Convention by raising the minimum age limits for recruitment into armed forces and participation in armed conflict. Work on strengthening the international legal framework is important. That must go hand in hand with efforts to strengthen the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law. Ms. Bellamy and Mr. Otunnu, among others, spoke of the need to improve education about the obligations of soldiers under international law. Many countries, including Australia, do this as an integral part of the training of our soldiers and our peacekeepers, and we support efforts to extend that education. It is vital that we have effective institutions to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  4. “A number of valuable suggestions about what the Council and the United Nations can do to strengthen the protection of civilians in conflict were made during the debate on 12 February. I am sure that a lot more will be made today, and we look forward to hearing them. The role of international human rights and humanitarian law is central. In particular, we should make every effort to further strengthen those protections already provided for in international law, not only in relation to civilian women and children but also where, for example, children may themselves become involved in armed conflict. In this area, Australia strongly supports the development of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  5. “But at the same time, as a number of speakers in the earlier Council discussion highlighted, breakdown in civil order and human suffering can be both a consequence and a cause of conflict, and to this extent it is very much an issue for this Council. Organizations like the ICRC, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF and the United Nations itself have made a major contribution over many years to assisting and protecting civilians in conflict and post-conflict situations. International humanitarian personnel must be allowed to continue their work without threat or hindrance. Deliberate obstruction of humanitarian workers, and incidents like the recent shooting down of two planes carrying United Nations personnel in Angola, must not be allowed to go unpunished.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  6. “This year is also the fiftieth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. Yet the sad fact is that ever larger numbers of civilians are being affected by conflict across the globe. Conflict today is characterized by increased targeting of non-combatant groups, increasing involvement of non-State actors and a widening gulf between the principle and the observance of humanitarian norms and laws. The effect of this is to make civilian groups, particularly women and children, even more vulnerable to assault, abuse and displacement. This presents the United Nations and the international community as a whole with a complex and difficult challenge, which must be addressed at a number of levels. Many elements of our response will be beyond the specific responsibilities of the Security Council.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  7. “On behalf of the Australian delegation, I wish to thank you, Mr. President, and the delegation of Canada for bringing this important question to the forefront of the Security Council's agenda. We also very much welcome the fact that the decision was made to discuss this in an open meeting of the Council. The briefings provided to the Council on 12 February by the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict highlighted the horrific toll that war has taken on civilian populations, and particularly on women and children. Of course, this is not a new problem. Nor is it a diminishing problem. Last year we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

    1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980 (1999) · source

  8. “We see more dialogue of this kind as a valuable and perhaps essential part of the process of modernization of the institutions of the United Nations, and as a vital aspect of maintaining the credibility and effectiveness of the United Nations as a whole.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  9. “In Australia's own region, in the Asia-Pacific area, the United Nations Political Office in Bougainville is a very good current example of a small mission operating in support of a local and regional peace process. In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my Government's appreciation that this debate is taking place, and we thank you, Sir, for organizing it. It is a welcome response to the increasingly strong calls from the wider membership for greater openness and transparency in the way the Council works. We understand and we accept that the Council cannot always debate issues in this way. We acknowledge that there are times when the need for speed, decisiveness and confidentiality are paramount. But it is equally true that there are many issues on which the Council can benefit from exposure to the views of the wider membership.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  10. “Rather, we see it as a challenge to the Organization as a whole and to the membership. The challenge is to develop what others have appropriately called a strategic framework, to give coherence to all the activities of the United Nations. I stress, however, that the United Nations cannot do it alone. The United Nations contribution will be only as effective as the support it gets from the local parties and populations themselves. Without their full participation and cooperation, political and practical, the United Nations role and effectiveness will be heavily circumscribed. There is an important role here for regional organizations, which have the most direct interest in seeing tensions relieved, problems resolved and reconstruction begun.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  11. “It is also true that the distinction between peacekeeping and peace-building is blurred, and the transition from one to the next is not simply like passing the baton in a relay. In practice there must be a substantial peace-building element to peacekeeping. Traditional peacekeepers can now be called on to perform a multifunctional role, for example assisting in the organization and conduct of elections or helping to meet urgent social, economic and institutional development needs. In each case the needs will be different, and in each case the United Nations must be able to respond flexibly and realistically. We do not see this as redefining or reinterpreting the role of the Security Council, or giving it responsibilities that are rightly within the competence of other parts of the Organization.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  12. “A fragmented approach - dealing with peacemaking, peacekeeping, economic development, humanitarian assistance, refugees, institution-building and so on as though they were unconnected - will not work. The pieces need to be pulled together. In practice, of course, this is no easy task. Creating the right political circumstances alone is demanding. It requires a high level of cooperation between the parties concerned. It requires a shared understanding about national goals and priorities. It requires a significant commitment of resources. It requires strong political and practical commitment from the full membership. And it requires a high level of cooperation and coordination between the various arms of the United Nations and other international agencies.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  13. “Maintaining peace and security requires that we address them, because failure to deal with the underlying causes of conflict will only ensure that peace will not be sustainable. Social and economic development goals are, to state the obvious, an equally important and central part of United Nations activities. But all too often the tendency has been to see them as something different, activities apart - as, perhaps, a competing part of the United Nations agenda rather than as an integral part of its role in the maintenance of peace and security. The experience of the United Nations over the last 50 years, particularly in intra-State conflicts, demonstrates that a more integrated, holistic approach is critical to our efforts to maintain international peace and security.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  14. “Conventionally it is seen as the range of cooperative activities undertaken by the international community when a dispute is emerging or a conflict has erupted. These activities can range from preventive diplomacy to peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict peace-building. It can also require peace enforcement. We also know that other factors bear upon the maintenance of international peace and security. Poverty, ethnic differences, abuses of human rights, breakdowns in governance and access to fundamental freedoms, among others, are as much causes of dispute and conflict as more traditional ones such as territorial claims, ideology or access to natural resources.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source

  15. “I am grateful, Mr. President, for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The maintenance of international peace and security is, of course, a core function of the United Nations. Primary responsibility for this function has been entrusted to the Security Council. It is a solemn responsibility, but it is not solely the responsibility of the Council. It is one shared by all Members of the United Nations. It is in this light - and in View of our strong wish for greater openness and transparency in the working methods of the Council - that Australia particularly appreciates the initiative to convene this formal meeting to discuss an issue that is of direct concern to all of us. The maintenance of international peace and security encompasses many things.”

    1998-12-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3954Resumption1 (1998) · source