YouSaid · the spoken record

De Mistura

lines on the record: 707
first: 2008-01-21
most recent: 2018-12-20
sittings or episodes: 34
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

“Mr. de Mistura: If I may, I will take the liberty to also respond on behalf of my friend, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, in saying that everything we heard has helped us a lot. The Security Council's support of and guidance to the Afghan Government and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan are crucial. We need it and we need to hear it, because the next months are going to be even more challenging in view of the two areas on which we will be focusing in particular. I wish to thank the Council members on behalf, if I may, of His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs and myself.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Yesterday, the Government of Afghanistan took a very significant initial step, and UNAMA, in accordance with its mandate, will do all that it can to support it. The next few months will be critical, first, in looking at the follow-up to the election, and secondly, in seeing how transition can become a concrete, well- organized and fair approach in the eyes of the Afghans and the international community. Transition does not mean exit; it means transition, and the Government of Afghanistan will continue to receive all possible support from all of us with a view to bringing about what we are all hoping to see, namely, a peace and reconciliation initiative. I will stop there, Mr. President, with your permission.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“I intend to work with the Government before the next meeting of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, to be held at the end of November, to ensure that the Board, without having to create new bodies or new institutions, can be revitalized and be a follow-up to the actual Kabul follow-up conference. Of course, all of that will go forward only if it is moving towards a consolidated peace and reintegration programme within a complementary, structured political process that leads to a future Afghanistan reconciled on the basis of mutual respect. There is a unanimous consensus in the international community that there is no military solution for Afghanistan. In the end, the solution can and should be political and Afghan, a solution that can only be supplemented with broader regional support and a solution that we can all work towards.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“We should focus on identifying the priorities that the Kabul Conference said that we need to tackle first, and concentrate our collective effort behind them. The Government has sent a signal regarding the priorities they seek to pursue: the rollout of national priority programmes and public finance management reform. We need to support that agenda, and we plan to work on it. Thirdly, we, the international community, need to keep our own part of the bargain by aligning resources - or realigning resources - behind the Government priorities. The United Nations is committed in Kabul to a "one-UN" approach, so that we too contribute to the realigning and not just help in the realigning of other partners. Fourthly, we must continue to strive to be more results-oriented, as the Afghan people are asking of us and the Afghan Government.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“I have had the opportunity on other occasions here to say how closely we have been working together and how important it is that we are working in that way in order to avoid any type of confusion and to ensure that the Afghans feel that we, on the international side, are all together in supporting the Afghan lead. Today, I would like to highlight some of key conditions that are essential for the so-called road map on our side in the Kabul process. The Kabul process cannot be just a technocratic exercise. All partners need to engage politically behind the agenda. We know that we can count on President Karzai's leadership in this. Secondly, we need to avoid new agendas or competing initiatives.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“We heard this, and yesterday we heard President Karzai elaborating on launching the high-level peace commission, with more than 67 members from all sides of Afghan society. We will focus on supporting that, on the basis of the mandate given to us by the Security Council, and on the Kabul process. At the same time we will watch with interest, and potentially with substantive support, the transition, which is probably going to be discussed at the Lisbon summit and then in Kabul. I am glad to acknowledge the presence here of our colleague and friend, Mark Sedwill, who is the Senior Civilian Representative of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“It will focus, most likely, on the electoral legal framework; the 10-55499 sustainability of the electoral calendar, because we cannot have an election every three months; the long- term status of the Electoral Complaints Commission, which is only ad hoc, making it very fragile compared to the Independent Electoral Commission; a single nationwide electoral roll, because, as the Council knows, we do not have that; and, the mother of all issues, building the capacity of both electoral commissions. So what is coming up on the radar? Well, the year began, as the Council knows, with setting a series of stepping stones. The first was the Istanbul conference. Then we had the London Conference, followed by the Consultative Peace Jirga, then the Kabul Conference and now the elections. What is next? Well, a broader political process.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“UNAMA will work with the Government, with the electoral institutions and all relevant Afghan and international partners, in particular the European Union (EU). The representative of the European Union, Vygaudas Usackas - with whom, as the Council knows, we are working extremely closely - has already indicated publicly the interest of the EU in having a leading role in supporting the process of the electoral reform agenda with the Afghan Government. We will be supporting that ourselves.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“We should note that the positive improvements over last year's elections - from which we all, including the United Nations, have all drawn key lessons, by being careful in making any type of declaration about the outcome before it is clarified - make us cautious but supportive of the steps ahead in ensuring the integrity of the process and accountability to the Afghan people. The final comments will come at the end of the month. Once the elections have been successfully concluded in one form or another, hopefully, the real discussion regarding the future of the electoral system and long-term electoral reform needs to be initiated. We already know that. Many here are already keen on that, and so are the Afghan people.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Again, the secret will be whether the electoral commissions will be able to stand in a credible way. We are ready to sustain and support them, but that is an Afghan responsibility. Regarding conclusions on the election, on our side we should allow the requisite time for the process, which is until 30 October - 8 October for the preliminary outcome and 30 October for the final outcome, more or less, based on the hard work that they will have to do now. We must not make premature judgments.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“We pushed, we tried to support the electoral mechanism to go forward, and we tried to encourage the Afghan people to feel that it was worth taking a risk because democracy was moving forward, but now we are being cautious, because we need to see what the outcome is. Despite some retail fraud and, certainly, many problems, the outcome will very much depend on whether the Independent Electoral Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission will have the stamina, the courage, the neutrality and the determination to actually go over the 3,900 complaints received thus far and be able to say which are right and which are wrong, and take that decision before 30 October. There are and there will be 2,000 losers - there are 2,521 candidates and 249 posts - and those losers are, unavoidably, already complaining.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Having said that, the elections this time had a major security element, reassuring us that at least they would be much more monitored than in the past. We had 397,000 national observers, and they were observing the interests of each candidate on their own. They represented, in that sense, quite an impressive capacity, wanting to make sure that there would be no massive fraud, at least. The sensitive materials were also moved quite safely, in spite of the Taliban having twice threatened to disrupt that. However, this is just the beginning of the process. That is why, on the Council's behalf, in Afghanistan and outside, we are now being cautious.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Despite significant challenges, the polling materials arrived on time in most places, and 5,510 polling centres opened, of the 5,897 that had been announced on 18 August. Another major improvement was the security arrangements for the design, use and movement of sensitive materials, including ink. I think that Minister for Foreign Affairs Rassoul and I can still testify with our fingers that the ink that we used, at least, was quite indelible, and after 10 days I am still looking forward to getting rid of it. We publicly put our fingers in some bleaching products, and it is still there. That does not mean that in some places there was not some faking, but the ink that was provided on a massive scale for the election was quite good.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“According to everyone, the Independent Electoral Commission has demonstrated a significant improvement compared to last year's presidential election, despite immense security and logistical challenges. In contrast to last year, the location of all polling centres was announced publicly a month before polling day. The Council will remember that last year, during the presidential elections, the list of polling centres was publicized two days before voting, and that was the biggest reason why there was so much concern about fraud. This time it was publicized a month beforehand. That was probably the biggest mitigating measure that could have been taken to avoid massive and systemic fraud.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“The overall deterioration of the security situation from last year to this was in any case greater, so that also has to be taken into consideration. About 1.6 million of the 4.3 million ballots cast to date - we have to see how many voters that means i were in female polling stations, again an indicator of a direction that we should all welcome. This is the point. According to all of us, frankly, it is too early to give an overall assessment of the elections, except for the fact that they took place and 4.3 million Afghans had the courage to go, and that according to many people the systems were better. But the outcome remains to be seen, and that is why we are being cautious about it. We also need to see how even or uneven the actual turnout was over all the provinces and in the 3 country.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“And, while there were no high-profile incidents, quite a number of security incidents did occur. They were not sufficient, however, to disrupt the elections overall. The proof is that almost 4.3 million votes were cast. Of course, we will now need to see how many actual voters were part of that, but this is quite an achievement compared to the previous and current environment. While the consolidation of the figures on security is still going on, election day security incidents were estimated at about 490, compared to 290 in the previous election. That represents a big difference, but the impact of those incidents was basically comparable, if not less. Again, the proof is that people went to vote. The incidents' intensity was lower.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Of the 249 sitting Members of Parliament, 229 sought re-election, demonstrating their own interest, and also, to a certain degree, their confidence in the democratic system in Afghanistan. Of the 2,521 candidates, there were many new entrants and many new, young faces. Of course, it remains to be seen where they are at the end of this process. We must not forget that one of the main achievements of these elections is the fact that they actually took place. Afghanistan is still a country in a very tense conflict. The fact that an election took place at all, not least in such a short time after the previous one and during a comparatively more volatile period - because security has not improved; in fact the contrary is true - is an accomplishment in itself.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“The campaign period for the elections ran from 23 June to 15 September, and frankly - we were discussing this just this morning - it was characterized by a very big change from in the events of 2005. People were showing their faces, people were campaigning, and women were present. There was an active and very creative style of campaigning in these elections. More than 2,500 candidates - actually, 2,521 - stood for re-eIection, including almost 400 women - 398, to be precise. Of those, only one withdrew during the campaign, while two men did. That also shows the 10-55499 level of courage and determination they displayed in wanting to be part of this democratic process, as complicated and, sometimes, as difficult as it might be.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“That was the bottom line of the Conference: trying to identify priorities with which we could all realign our own priorities. Secondly, it has begun to roll out the 21 national priority programmes agreed on at the Conference. Thirdly, the Government has made an immediate start to public finance management reforms, which are a concern to everyone, including a review of 14 line ministries, led by the Ministry of Finance. Fourthly, the Government has indicated that it will make a start on tackling the anti-corruption agenda agreed at the Conference, which also includes the creation of a joint monitoring and evaluation committee by the end of this month. Let us now look at one issue that has been front and centre for us over the past few months - the elections.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“While that speech set a broad governing agenda, the Conference added details to that agenda by elaborating a series of joint commitments. These commitments include the development of a framework, clear timelines, benchmarks for national priority programmes, progress towards the Afghan security lead, improvement in governance and, of course, the very serious and important issue of tackling corruption. Since the Conference, the Government has taken a number of important steps in terms of technical planning. First, it has indicated its intention - and we confirm that this is taking place - to continue, through the cluster approach - that is, various ministries working together with the international community - to pursue agreed priorities.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“The substantive preparations undertaken, and which addressed a lot of varied issues, involved extensive cooperation between ministries and required a high level of engagement on the part of the international community with the Afghan authorities and with civil society. The Government of Afghanistan, including its own Afghan National Security Forces - and I am glad to see that our friend the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan is here with us to hear it publicly - should 10-55499 be commended, because everyone who attended the Conference was impressed with the way it was organized and how it unfolded. It required a lot of logistical, organizational and substantive preparations. The Conference was a key moment in the Kabul process, as we call it now, that began with President Karzai's second inaugural speech.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“Mr. De Mistura: I thank you, Sir, for giving us the opportunity on behalf of the whole United Nations system in Afghanistan to give the Council a brief update. Much has happened, as is often the case in Afghanistan, during these past few months. Since my last briefing (see S/PV.6351), some key events have taken place. I would like to review some of those events, which preceded the recent and highly anticipated parliamentary elections, in order not to lose sight of the progress that is being made in Afghanistan. Let me begin with something the Council is very familiar with, since many of us attended it at the time - the Kabul Conference. The Conference, which was held on 20 July, did indeed reinforce the Government's commitment to assuming greater control of its own future. That was the message we got from the Conference.”
2010-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6394 (2010) · source
“That is why the issue of security becomes important - and remains important - but our resilience becomes even more important.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The combination of these will be the challenge that we are going to face during this critical, crucial period, which will be important for Afghanistan and for all of us. I would like also, on behalf of each of my colleagues, and certainly on behalf of the Secretary- General, to thank the Council for the trust and confidence it has placed in me and my team in Afghanistan. We need that trust and confidence when things get rough - and they are likely to be rough before they get better. That having been said, the feeling that I am having - perhaps because I am overly optimistic by nature and by professional need - is that the Afghans will find a way. This year is the year when they will be indicating to us in which direction they will go.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“I thank you, Sir, for giving me the floor a second time. (spoke in English) First of all, I thank the Council for all the comments. We have taken careful note of the many good and constructive pieces of advice we have heard. I have three brief points. The first one is that security is a concern, and participants have been kind enough to remind us of what happened yesterday. In fact, some of us who were together in J alalabad on the field trip will remember that there was even yesterday an incident at the airport. This is a clear reminder that security is an area in which I myself, on behalf of the Council, will constantly have to square the circle between being proactive, being present, being everywhere and at the same time staying alive.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“I thank you, Sir, but I would like to apply the principle that we have spoken of today - the priority should go to our Afghan colleague. (spoke in English) I will speak after him, with your permission.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The message from myself and my colleagues who have been volunteering to come to Kabul is that this is the time for all of us to be resilient, creative and respectful of Afghan priorities. At the end of the day, only the Afghans will find their own solutions. This is the time to have these three qualities. We need the Council's help if we are to continue to have them. Lastly, I want to again thank you, Sir, for having come to Kabul. You have no idea how timely your visit was, what a strong boost it was to the morale of my colleagues and what a strong impression it conveyed to the Afghan people that the international community does care, is interested, is committed, and that this is the time that we will not leave them alone.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“In that sense, I would like to reassure the Council, and I feel pleased to say, that this is moving in the right direction, while each of us is maintaining - naturally and as the Council expects us to - our independence, neutrality and impartiality, but also our respect of the mandate that the Council has given us. At the end of the day, the goal is the same: the stabilization of Afghanistan and respect for its culture, traditions, sovereignty and religion. That is what we are supposed to do these days, even more than in the past, in view of the growing feeling of the Afghans and the Afghan Government that they should be taking their own future into their own hands. This year, especially in the coming months - and when I come back, I hope to be able to brief the 5 Council again on this - we will need to be resilient.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“Members of the Council can ask them. We have a feeling of constructive, common work. We have the right chemistry. We have different mandates, and we should. One would expect us to have that. We sometimes represent different countries as well. We go beyond that in the United Nations, representing many countries that are not in NATO or in the European Union. And we also have slightly different priorities in our focus, and that should be the case. But the goal is the same, and coordination and common messaging to avoid contradictions at a time when we cannot afford contradictions are taking place.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“That is why we are so keen to have the Council's support on the issue of the financial package that is being discussed, not only for Afghanistan but also for Iraq, in order to enable our colleagues to feel that they are not being treated worse than those who are in a more secure environment. We also need support in pushing for the excellent solution that the Dutch Government, through the Dutch embassy, is offering to the United Nations in order to have secure accommodations there. We are working on all that. The next point is partnership. The Council will ask, and it is right to ask, how we are doing with the International Security Assistance Force and the European Union - in other words, the two civilian representatives who were appointed at more or less the same time that I was. The short answer is, excellent.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“In that sense, "Afghan" means with the support and the capacity-building of our 21 regional and provincial offices. By the way, as the Council knows, we have, at the moment, 742 international colleagues on the ground; 940 posts are filled by international staff and 6,000 by national staff. So we are not reducing. Our position is to simply be careful in squaring the circle between security - we had an attack yesterday and there have been attacks in the past, as the Council knows, as in October when we lost five colleagues - and being present, being proactive, 10-42978 increasing quality when we cannot increase the quantity, focusing on 3+1 areas and not all over, and at the same time, having security in our accommodations. The attack on 28 October was on sleeping accommodations.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“We have a mechanism called the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, which is meeting on 8 July. Everyone is part of it. I am co-chairing it on behalf of the Secretary-General. That mechanism needs to be revitalized. Secondly, the next opportunity for aid coherence is the Kabul Conference. If we come to the Kabul Conference with the type of contract that we have just mentioned - that is, the opportunity for realignment between bilateral and Afghan priorities - the United Nations has the capacity and the duty to assist on that issue. That becomes, by itself, a new form of aid coherence. Last but not least, there is the possibility of the so-called transition, that is, the movement from military to civilian, particularly with regard to the provincial reconstruction teams, and from civilian to Afghan.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“One example is, of course, the issue of drugs, which affects many countries, such as Russia, Iran, Pakistan and, frankly, all of us, once it gets to the countries that are far away. There are also the issues, for instance, of transport or energy. They are all opportunities for a regional dialogue that may then also enhance the political engagement that we all need. Aid coherence is part of our mandate, but it is also part of a major necessity. The good news is that there are no major contradictions. We have done a lot of studying of that issue on the spot. There is no excessive, shocking overlap between bilateral and multilateral at the moment. What is needed is more help to the Afghan authorities to do what they should have the right to do, that is, undertake the aid coherence approach themselves.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“These initiatives include the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan initiative, the Shanghai initiative, the Dubai process, which is being proactively supported by Canada, and for our part, on the basis of the mandate the Council has given us, the Silk Road initiative. It has a very charming name, but in fact goes beyond charm. It is meant to engage countries that are not necessarily geographically linked to Afghanistan but have historical or political links. It is aimed at ensuring 10-42978 that, finally, when this difficult time comes to an end, they will all be part of it. We are also working on the economic side of it because sometimes that leads to a lot of dialogue.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“On regional issues, there is agreement by everyone that no substantive, continuous, sustainable stabilization of Afghanistan can or will take place unless we have a constant constructive engagement by all regional players, stakeholders and beyond. That is why I myself, with the permission of the Secretary- General, have been traveling to several regional countries - Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and elsewhere - in order to make sure that we are able to hear their concerns and, in a way, facilitate their constructive engagement in the right direction. There are other very useful initiatives, and they are to some degree led by countries like Turkey, which has been very active, as the Council knows. We heard the latest relevant information recently when we were in Istanbul and Ankara.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“One example was the Hezb-i-Islami visit to Kabul, where the United Nations, in coordination with the presidency, did receive the Hezb-i-Islami team in order to make them feel that, when they move into a dialogue-type of conversation instead of fighting, the international community does recognize that fact and is ready to facilitate it. We are of course looking forward to confidence- building measures, in which we can play a role, and we are. Also, His Excellency the Ambassador of Austria is actively involved in the issue of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) and was able to hold quite a few discussions while he was in Kabul. I will leave it to him to make any relevant comments on the elements of important confidence-building issues regarding future dialogue.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“But I can certainly tell the Council that, at the moment, the decisions of the Chair of the Electoral Commission and the members of the other commissions are reassuring to everyone, including those Afghans who felt that the elections could have been heading in the wrong direction. We will cross that bridge when we get there, and I may require the support and assistance of the Council if we get into difficulties. But at the moment, it is so far so good. Dialogue is the second area of priority for our own focus. As you know, this is, again, Afghan-led and should be Afghan-led. But the United Nations has the capacity in assisting those types of discussions that may take place or are taking place.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“An example of that pertains to the vetting process. Some members of the Council who were in Kabul were part of the intense moments relating to the vetting, where the vetting committee, which is a purely Afghan body led by the Ministers of the Interior and Defence and the National Directorate of Security, were unable to come up with any people to be vetted and excluded from the elections. I am glad to be able to tell the Council that the latest information indicates that we are very close to 40 - we had been down to zero - representing different provinces. A decision is now imminent. If that proves to be the case, it will be a substantive improvement on the impression we had previously, which suggested the vetting was not conclusive in any way. We will face difficult moments with regard to the elections.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The new commissioners have been doing their homework. There are now 2,679 candidates, of whom 400 are women. We also are working on setting up 6,835 polling centres and 19,942 polling stations. Thirty thousand new voters have been registered. We are approaching the figure of 12.5 million people expected to vote. It will not be easy. The main challenge will be security, as will the second. If the elections are tarnished by excessive security problems, the result might include the closing of polling stations, and thus the disenfranchisement of people who could have voted. We will have to watch that as we get closer to the date in order to be able to assist the Afghan authorities. It is the Afghan authorities who are in charge of the elections, with the United Nations and the international community proactively working to support them.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“That produced three results: first, a new electoral chairmanship and a new electoral aid team; secondly, the presence of international commissioners, who would also be there with a role, namely, that no decision would be taken by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) if any of the international commissioners was not in agreement - a major element of reassurance, not just nationally but, above all, internationally; and, thirdly, a decision on the role of women. Sixty-eight seats in the Afghan Parliament would be guaranteed for women. If, for whatever reason, as has happened in the past, a woman were to give up a seat, she would be replaced not by a man but by another woman. All this resulted in an end to the stalemate. Elections are now moving ahead, mutatis mutandis, in the right direction.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was able to contribute to one major improvement in the process. As members of the Council will probably remember - so many things have happened - in April there was a moment of difficulty that involved an institutional stalemate between the two institutions of the presidency and the Loya Jirga, which could have blocked the election process. The United Nations, with the cooperation of the whole international community in Kabul, was able to propose, and get approval by everyone for, a formula for what we called the implementation guidelines for the elections.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The plus-one aspect pertains to aid coherence, namely, helping the international community and Afghan authorities to avoid overlaps and focusing better on ensuring that the huge amounts of aid reaching Afghanistan do not overlap. Elections are the mother of all issues in Afghanistan and, frankly, for all of us. The previous elections did not go well, and to say they did would be an overstatement. This time we are all trying to work together so that they will be better - not perfect or elections one would see in other countries that do not have the same challenges, but better. Inshallah, they will be better; first, because lessons were learned by everyone and, secondly, because there is much more monitoring taking place internally, among the Afghans themselves.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“If they are proposing such concrete programmes, they should also feel that they can lead them and, of course, be accountable for the results. At the same time, this would not be putting more pressure on donor countries, which are, at the moment, feeling the stress of additional funding, because there will be, at most, a request for bilateral realignment of the current funding. The United Nations, as you know, Mr. President, is now focusing on a three-plus-one initiative. We cannot cover everything, and if we did we would not make a difference or be able to make a difference. The three-plus-one areas are elections, internal and regional dialogue, and constructive regional engagement.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“The concept is one of a public contract between the Afghan Government and the Afghan people, and an offer to produce public, concrete delivery of socio-economic improvement. The international community will not be expected to bring new funds, but, if they feel comfortable with those priorities, may be asked to realign bilaterally the resources already allocated for Afghanistan. That would have several advantages. One of them would be to further the concept of Afghanization, which should become not just a word but, increasingly, a concrete fact. The Afghans feel that very strongly. They are a proud people, historically proven to be so and even more so these days. They need to feel that the future is, in fact, in their hands, and that will be a good opportunity.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“It signaled the support of the international community for the Afghan authorities during this crucial year. The Consultative Peace Jirga has also been held, which was equally extremely helpful because it gave everyone, Afghans and foreigners, the opportunity to realize that there is a common feeling as to how to address the dialogue in order to have more Afghans inside the large tent where we all attended the Jirga. The next step is the Kabul Conference, to which many foreign ministers will go. I understand that the Secretary-General has also confirmed that he will be attending. It will be a very good opportunity for a stepping-stone. Allow me to summarize the direction that the organizers of the Conference - who are, of course, the Afghans; we are co-chairing, but they are in charge - are taking.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“I think that anyone here who has been there must have had the same feeling. This is a year in which all of us, together with the Afghan authorities and the Afghan people, are trying to reach a form of stabilization in the situation. Everybody acknowledges the fact that there is no military solution alone to the current situation in Afghanistan. There must be a lot more, and that is what we are working on together. What we need is a political vision that addresses the concerns, the aspirations and the hopes of the Afghan people and of all stakeholders, in particular those in the region. This is also a year with a calendar densely packed with events. In that sense we are moving in the right direction. The London Conference has been held, which was very useful.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“It is a great pleasure, Mr. President, to see you here again following the Council's mission to Afghanistan. (spoke in English) I would like to take this opportunity to elaborate a little bit about the United Nations activities in Afghanistan and the priorities in the current Afghan environment. I will be a little shorter than usual, because we had the privilege of having the members of the Security Council visit Afghanistan. The members of the Council have therefore seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears about the current situation there. I would like, in that connection, to thank the Council for its visit. Coming just slightly more than three months after I took up my new assignment, the visit was a very timely one for all of us. 10-42978 This is indeed a crucial year in Afghanistan.”
2010-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6351 (2010) · source
“I must say frankly that, when, a year or maybe more ago, in the middle of blistering heat, sandstorms, 20 rockets a day and, oftentimes, a lack of movement in the environment, we would ask ourselves "what on earth are we doing here?" What helped us to keep going and move forward was exactly that: seeing the resilience of our Iraqi friends going forward. We wanted to prove that all those who died in Iraq, for Iraq, including Sergio, the many others from many other countries and many Iraqis, did not die in vain.”
2009-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6145 (2009) · source
“In conclusion, the future looks moderately bright, and there is growing hope for Iraq in the world and inside Iraq. If the Iraqis can avoid or defuse tensions - and they are doing so - and if they are capable of seeing changes in their daily lives through sustainable security gains, which are taking place, through the delivery of basic services and through more political inclusiveness - and we see movement in that direction - all of these being realistic goals, then Iraq will flourish. This afternoon, a movie will be shown here in this building, a film dedicated to a friend and colleague of mine, Sergio Vieira de Mello. My colleagues in Iraq and myself feel that the presentation of this report coinciding with the fact that we will see this movie today has a special relevance to us.”
2009-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6145 (2009) · source
“We now have many United Nations agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, UN-Habitat, the United Nations Office for Project Services, UNDP and the World Food Programme, present in Baghdad. Secondly, our credibility is built on our access, our ability to talk to all sides, reach out to every community throughout Iraq and nurture relationships at the highest level of spiritual and political leadership. Thirdly, we have our legitimacy, thanks to the Security Council. We have facilitated solutions that require mutual concessions by offering both credibility and international legitimacy. Fourthly, we have our expertise, what expertise we have and when we can offer it, building up the capabilities of national institutions.”
2009-06-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6145 (2009) · source