YouSaid · the spoken record

Dejammet

lines on the record: 838
first: 1995-11-09
most recent: 2000-03-09
sittings or episodes: 128
sources: un-security-council

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“Unfortunately, the commitments made were not lived up to, and violence broke out again in May this year. Another regional organization that played a positive role was the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In particular, President of Zambia, Mr. Chiluba, with a mandate from SADC, succeeded in negotiating a peace agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was signed on 10 July this year in Lusaka by the States concerned, subsequently by one party to the rebellion and finally, on 31 August, by the Congolese Rally for Democracy. The Agreement is certainly a fragile one, but at least it offers a realistic chance of peace, a chance we must not miss, a chance for arriving at a settlement.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“First of all, it is encouraging to see how vitally alive the regional and subregional organizations in Africa are. They have been encouraged to play a part and they have done so. Often, the part they have played has been a determining factor in settling conflicts. Let me just give a few recent examples. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), thanks to the persistence and the effectiveness of several of its leaders, and particularly its Togolese presidency, achieved the Peace Agreement for Sierra Leone which was signed in Lome on 7 July last. We hope that it will be both definitive and lasting. ECOWAS was also able to achieve the Peace Agreement for Guinea-Bissau in Abuja on 1 November 1998. This was subsequently supplemented by an additional protocol signed in Lome on 15 December that year.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“It also allows us to see clearly the areas where much still remains to be done. I shall not speak about the economic and social side of the situation: the representative of Algeria this morning painted a very accurate picture of it. I believe that the information he gave us justification for what we already take as given: we must keep on giving development assistance. However dynamic some sectors may be, it is still absolutely certain that assistance is still needed, and as we have undertaken to do, we must make a sustained effort to provide official development assistance. Today, though, we are focusing on what has happened since April 1998 in the area of conflict prevention and settlement as well as maintenance of peace and security, which are very directly within the Council's remit.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“This has been said quite forcefully by many speakers; as the representative of Malaysia has pointed out, however, our world is one and indivisible. We must heed the criticism, of course. However, the meeting we are holding today is indeed a welcome initiative because it will without a doubt try to respond to these justified comments, some of them critical and in any case it will enable us to renew our resolve to be as objective and impartial as we resolve to be when we met on the suggestion of the Secretary-General two years ago. The picture has not been as bleak since then as is sometimes painted. The Secretary-General quite rightly made this very point: it is not all negative. The Secretary- General's report lets us see the areas where there have been positive and encouraging developments.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“I take this opportunity to thank him for his tireless activity, to further the cause of Africa and for his efforts to resolve the conflicts there. We also listened carefully to the statement by the representative of Algeria, the country that currently holds the office of chairman of OAU. I believe that he gave us a very full picture of the situation in Africa, both the bright spots and the darker shadows. Since the Security Council asked the Secretary-General for a report on Africa and thereby demonstrated its heightened interest in the future of that continent, criticism of the Security Council have resurfaced about how its degree of commitment to crises in Africa may not be the same as in crises elsewhere. Certain comments have been made on the differing levels of our commitment depending on the region involved.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): I wish at the outset, Sir, to join other speakers in congratulating you, your country and your Permanent Representative to the United Nations for organizing this meeting. Your uninterrupted presence in this Chamber throughout this debate, Mr. Prime Minister, shows more vividly than any statement the depth of the commitment of the Netherlands to the cause of development and peace in Africa. I should also like to extend my thanks to the Secretary-General for the excellent quality for his report, which is an extremely useful assessment as we consider the recommendations that were made in the April 1998 report (S/1998/318). We have also heard a very clear statement from the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Now that the Joint Military Commission has been established, and now that all the parties have named their representatives to it, is the Commission able to begin verifying information according to which troop movements continue in some parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which could have implications for the full implementation of the Lusaka Agreement?”
1999-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4047 (1999) · source
“As far as France is concerned, President Jacques Chirac said at the end of August and the Prime Minister, Mr. Lionel Jospin, reaffirmed to the General Assembly yesterday that France is ready to lend its full support to such a peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We agree with President Chiluba that it is good that the Security Council has been able speedily to take action on crises such as those in Kosovo and East Timor. But at the same time, the Council must be prepared and able to act just as quickly with respect to conflicts in Africa. I have a question for President Chiluba.”
1999-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4047 (1999) · source
“But along with the responsibility borne by Africa, the Security Council and the United Nations have their own ways and means of supporting African efforts, in particular those of President Chiluba of Zambia. Soon after the signing of the Lusaka Agreement, the Security Council adopted a resolution. Now, that resolution must be implemented. The United Nations has already sent liaison personnel to the capitals of the signatories and to the headquarters of the Joint Military Commission. That was but the first stage; as President Chiluba said, we must very soon be in a position to deploy a survey mission to make sure that we are able to contemplate the next stage, that of dispatching ceasefire monitors, and to begin actively to consider a third stage, as desired by President Chiluba: the deployment of a true peacekeeping force.”
1999-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4047 (1999) · source
“Mr. Doutriaux (France) (spoke in French): I wish to convey France's deep appreciation to President Chiluba of Zambia for his tireless efforts to bring about a peace Agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Security Council and the United Nations at large frequently invoke the primary responsibility of regional organizations; this pertains especially to Africa. There, a regional organization, the Southern African Development Community, along with the President of Zambia have shouldered their full responsibility to ensure agreement among the parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Security Council has duly recognized the significance of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.”
1999-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4047 (1999) · source
“However, France is willing to continue to give full consideration to the recommendations that the Secretary-General has put to us with a view to finding effective ways to ensure such protection for civilian populations.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“When the deployment of a peacekeeping operation is envisaged, all aspects that can help protect the civilian population must be considered: the establishment of a civilian police force, humanitarian assistance, disarmament, demobilization and measures to provide work for people who have been demobilized. As the report of the Secretary-General recommends, it is essential to have a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to these problems. The Security Council has already adopted a resolution on the protection of children in armed conflict which contains a number of commitments that we must constantly ensure are properly implemented. A draft resolution on the protection of civilian populations is before us today, and we fully support it.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“This year, the Security Council has already taken up the question of the protection of humanitarian personnel, and has reaffirmed its collective responsibility to guarantee the safety and security of such personnel. In this respect, too, principles and declarations exist. But they can be translated into fact only though our unrelenting vigilance. I am thinking about the action that the Secretariat takes when it must respond quickly to problems in certain crisis areas when the security or freedom of movement of humanitarian personnel is at stake. We can all recall the action that the Secretariat had to take in crisis regions in Europe, as well as in Afghanistan. As the Secretary-General has recommended, we must therefore forge a global and coordinated approach.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“Prevention, then, must come first, but later, when we see a threat to the civilian population, we must punish the perpetrators. We must therefore give high priority to the fight against impunity. Here, we note a welcome development in the sphere of international law: the establishment of two international criminal tribunals. The Security Council has certain legal means at its disposal - when the political will exists. It also has all the tools of the Charter to pursue the guilty and to cause them to change their behaviour, through the use of sanctions - which, however, must be carefully targeted and proportionate, so that they will not harm civilian populations.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“This can mean the rapid deployment of preventive peacekeeping operations with a view to preventing the deterioration of a situation by which the civilian population could quickly be affected. I note with interest the Secretary-General's proposal that Security Council working groups relating to volatile situations be established, making use of all the analytical resources of the United Nations, and especially of the human rights information and analysis emanating from independent experts. Prevention involves scrupulous respect for human rights and democratic norms. The international community must also disseminate information about the principles of international law with a view to creating a climate of respect for those norms that will protect the rights of civilian populations.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“There is no need to repeat what others have said about the changing nature of armed conflict and about the fact that a majority of its victims are now civilians. Combatants, of course, fight one another, but not only one another: they also attack defenceless populations in violation of international law and the fundamental principles of humanitarian law. This is a strategy of terror that spares no person and no area, a strategy of all-out war. And all-out war requires a global response, as rightly proposed by the Secretary-General in his welcome report to the Council. We must thoroughly consider all the ways and means available to us to respond to these threats, beginning with prevention.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“But we must also recall, this time with satisfaction, the Council's speedy and unanimous reaction in deciding, in order to address the protection of the civilian population, to authorize a multinational force to restore peace and security and to put an end to the violence. We also recall other, no less serious, conflicts elsewhere in the world, such as those in Afghanistan, Angola and the Great Lakes region of Africa, where civilians are also the principal victims. One example is provided by the team from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which stated yesterday that the conflict there had uprooted nearly a million individuals, who have become refugees or displaced persons. Here again, the Council must act and must shoulder its responsibilities.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): I wish at the outset to thank you, Mr. President, for including this item on our agenda and for convening this open debate on the welcome initiative of Canada. I wish also to thank the Secretary-General and Mrs. Mary Robinson for their presence here today and for their statements, which attest to the timeliness of our concerns. The item before us is now at the very heart of the mandate of the Security Council. It is necessary only to recall our recent debate on Timor to evoke the violence against civilian populations perpetrated in East Timor.”
1999-09-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046 (1999) · source
“In this context, we have today noted very carefully the statements made in Indonesia by General Wiranto. France hopes, therefore, that the Security Council will be ready to decide, in the light of the assessment of the mission dispatched to the territory, on the establishment of an international security presence - an international force to help restore peace. If the necessary conditions were present and the Security Council were to decide to establish that force, France would participate. Finally, I should like to pay tribute to the courage of the personnel of the United Nations Mission in East Timor. Bearing in mind the security conditions, France appeals for the maintenance of a United Nations presence in that territory.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“If the Indonesian authorities are not capable alone to fulfil their responsibility to restore order and to implement the 5 May Agreement - and unfortunately the facts seem to demonstrate this - Indonesia must accept the offer made to it by the international community to help it to attain those goals. The Secretary-General, in a statement made yesterday, was very clear and very firm. He said: "The time has clearly come for Indonesia to seek help from the international community in fulfilling its responsibility to bring order and security to the people of East Timor and to allow those who have been displaced to return home in safety. (...) I urge the Indonesian Government to accept their offer of help without further delay." The Security Council yesterday approved that statement, which the Secretary-General reiterated this morning.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“The choice of independence, which is now being contested by force of arms, is under threat. At the beginning of the events, the Security Council, on your initiative, Mr. President, did react. It decided to dispatch a mission to the territory, stating that it was ready to shoulder all of its responsibilities in order to restore order and security and to ensure full compliance with the 5 May Agreements. Day after day, a unanimous Council, through the voice of its President, has been appealing to the Indonesian Government. We do not wish to see the Government of Indonesia isolated. We hope that it will understand the need to honour its commitments and to ensure order and the safety of all in East Timor. We know full well that that is a heavy responsibility, but it is not being shouldered today. This tragic impasse cannot go on.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“The information reaching us mentions all sorts of Violence, assassinations and reprisals by the militias against the civilian population. The violence has resulted in large flows of refugees and displaced persons. Dili has been devastated by the militias. I need hardly reiterate the consequences, which have been described in such detail by previous speakers. The question before us today is really a simple one. Are we back in 1994, dealing with Rwanda? Are we back in 1998, facing Kosovo? Are we going to react in time to prevent forced exodus and massacres? Yes, the Indonesian authorities have taken certain steps, but it is clear to us now that they have not been effective. Security has not been restored. Only yesterday, the general headquarters of the United Nations Mission was attacked by the militias.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“The United Nations encouraged, inspired and accompanied a negotiating process leading to self- determination and which seemed exemplary. We all had applauded the efforts of Indonesia, Portugal and the Secretary-General. We had worked out procedures which led to a free consultation of the people of East Timor and which embodied the success of democracy and the observance of human rights in that part of the world. Today, suddenly, everything seems to be collapsing because of the rebellion of one segment - we hope a limited segment - of the people concerned against international order and against the commitments of the Indonesian Government. But whatever the gap between official Indonesian reactions - which are to respect the referendum - and the behaviour of the armed gangs, we must take note of the extremely alarming scale of the disaster.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): This debate in the Security Council was necessary. We are grateful to Member States who requested an immediate meeting. Of course, Security Council members will have to hear the conclusions of the mission they dispatched to the territory to decide on future action. But it is only right that, with any further delay, those who are to take the decisions should hear the voice of all Member States of the United Nations and take cognizance of the scope of the concerns and of the urgent need for a reaction. We are grateful to the Secretary-General for being with us today and for his statement, which attests to the gravity of the situation and which indicates what should be done. What is occurring in East Timor cannot be tolerated any more.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043 (1999) · source
“It is therefore to be hoped that the parties will demonstrate openness and give favourable consideration to the ideas that the Secretary-General and his Special Representative plan to submit to them in coming months. These new contributions to the search for a solution should be welcomed as an opportunity to revive the peace process. For its part, France fully supports United Nations activities to resolve the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, and joins other delegations in paying tribute to the departing Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Liviu Bota. For all these reasons, we shall support the draft resolution before us.”
1999-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4029 (1999) · source
“The lack of meaningful progress in defining a status for Abkhazia that would respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia is another matter for concern. Here, the elections planned in Abkhazia, Georgia, seem to constitute a new setback. The selection of voters on the basis of racial, ethnic or religious criteria, in violation of the most basic international standards, is completely unacceptable and must be unequivocally condemned. Moreover, any balloting based on such practices must be regarded as null and void. Overall, the prospect of a political settlement seems to be blocked. This persistence of a status quo that flouts international law and brings instability to the area is unacceptable. Goodwill is needed from all to facilitate a political settlement.”
1999-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4029 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): Despite some limited progress, such as the easing of tension along the ceasefire line in recent months, the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, is still a matter for concern. For more than seven years, peace, security and prosperity have been losing ground to civil war, to attacks on the fundamental rights of civilian populations and to ethnic cleansing, as explicitly noted in the conclusions of the Lisbon summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Hundreds of thousands of refugees driven from their homes by Abkhaz militias are still denied the guarantees they need to return home for good. The parties should accept assistance from the competent international bodies in working towards the necessary arrangements.”
1999-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4029 (1999) · source
“This is commendable, because we know that some of the countries that have stated their willingness to help strengthen the sanctions regime are in a very difficult economic situation; their efforts are therefore all the more highly appreciated. They deserve strong support, because what is done with respect to Angola can also be useful as an example to be followed. We must recall the very harmful impact of the diamond trade on the crisis in Sierra Leone. Everything that can be done and everything that has been achieved thanks to Ambassador Fowler's work and the support it will provide to the Security Council, and thanks to the positive response of African countries on Angola, should prove useful also for other crisis areas such as Sierra Leone.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“It would thus be very useful to follow Ambassador Fowler's recommendation faithfully. For our part, we have already stated that we will fully support the activities of the expert panels to be established by Ambassador Fowler; we are entirely willing to respond to any request to nominate experts, and, as we have said, are willing to provide material support for the work of the expert panels. Finally, we should welcome the response in the subregion, at the seventieth ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, and among African countries to Ambassador Fowler's recommendations.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“I would highlight recommendation nineteen, relating to the diamond industry, for this is the crux of the war waged by UNITA. The talks Ambassador Fowler held with individuals in the diamond trade were useful. We must strengthen controls and set better standards in that trade, and we must first and foremost lay stress on the importance of certificates of origin. This is a straightforward and direct recommendation. We commend Ambassador Fowler both for bringing this to the Security Council and for having already discussed it in the field. We can only hope that those responsible for this trade - which, of course, is a legitimate one - will ensure that there are no departures from the standards and that, through the institution of a more specific and serious certificate of origin, UNITA's sources of income are dried up.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“We should, I think, endorse the philosophy voiced by Ambassador Fowler when he said that in order to restore the means to attain a reasonable peace and in order not to eliminate any possibility of discussion, we must reduce UNITA's war machine. Obviously, this involves reducing UNITA's material and financial resources. This brings us back to the notion of sanctions. We appreciate the realism with which Ambassador Fowler undertook his mission. He made two trips and sought in a concrete, simple and logical way to consider what can be done to ensure that the sanctions work and that UNITA's military capacity is consequently reduced. That capacity is what is now preventing Angola from returning to the road to peace and economic development. In that connection, I must stress the great interest of all of Ambassador Fowler's recommendations.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“Such travel gives us a far more realistic picture of the ways in which sanctions regimes are applied and of their impact on the affected regions, and provides the Security Council with more specific and, I would hope, more positive help in its work. I would just stress once again that the Chairman's initiative here is very welcome indeed. I agree also with Ambassador Fowler's conscientiousness in reminding us of the facts and in regularly informing the members of the Security Council about the scope of the humanitarian disaster caused by the war in Angola. The Security Council must bear the numbers and the scope of the tragedy clearly in mind when we compare the Council's work on this subject with that on other crises, especially those in Europe.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): I wish first of all to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting, and to join others in congratulating and encouraging Ambassador Fowler on the timely initiatives he has taken this year. It made great sense for him to travel to the region affected by the sanctions regime. Last year, the then Chairman of the Sierra Leone sanctions Committee, the representative of Sweden, had the same idea. This has proved to be an extremely useful exercise. I think it would be a good idea for the chairmen of other sanctions committees to follow Ambassador Fowler's example.”
1999-07-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4027 (1999) · source
“Lastly, with regard to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the first reports from the Office of the High Commissioner mention a large number of refugees moving towards Tanzania, and some of the accounts of the refugees unfortunately leave us in no doubt about the cruelty of the fighting and its tragic consequences for the civilian population. We are aware of the signs of hope and the improvement in the situation, about which Mrs. Ogata has informed us, particularly with regard to the possibility of the return of refugees. But any additional information about what is happening, in particular with regard to the flows of refugees to Tanzania, would enable us better to direct our assistance and gain an awareness of the urgent needs to be met.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“In Sierra Leone, what prospects for the return of refugees have been opened up by the new agreements? Has UNHCR already prepared a repatriation plan? Outside Freetown, where it has recently re-established itself, UNHCR has recently observed a significant population of displaced persons who are not receiving any assistance whatsoever. What is the situation today, given that the parties signed a peace plan last month in Lorne, and what is the distribution of tasks between UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross? As for Angola, we would of course appreciate anything that Mrs. Ogata can tell us about what seems to have been a serious deterioration in the situation.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“Ogata tell us that there are some signs of hope following recent events and the agreements that have been reached. But I should like to invite her to give some thought to several issues. The first relates to Guinea, which is the primary host country in Africa. It has almost 500,000 refugees on its territory, most of them from Sierra Leone and Liberia. Guinea, which is a poor country, is in no position to respond alone to this major challenge. Last June's progress report from the Office of the High Commissioner revealed the inadequacy of funding for UNHCR's programme. I am not certain that the trust fund that we asked to be set up has been properly provided for. My question, therefore, is whether Mrs. Ogata has been able recently to detect progress in the financial replenishment of the programme, which is essential for Guinea.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“The question of refugees cannot be resolved without conclusively resolving the problems being experienced in Africa: underdevelopment, an increase in conflicts and the difficult transition to democracy and good governance. But again, on all these points, we - and the Security Council in particular - can and must act. We must help the African States in their transition to good governance and democracy and, in particular, in settling regional conflicts. We must also provide material and financial assistance to UNHCR. For its part, despite the bilateral obligations that it is striving to fulfil with all developing countries, my country has sought in recent years to maintain the level of its contributions. We have already heard Mrs.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“The financial situation of UNHCR's African programmes, of course, remains worrying. Only the programmes for Angola have more than 50 per cent financing. For Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, funding is at about 25 per cent. For the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is less than 25 per cent, and for the Republic of the Congo it is less than 10 per cent. Those statistics relate to what refugees or displaced persons receive in Africa as compared with Europe. That should prompt us, the Members of the United Nations, to assume our responsibilities. Of course, as the Secretary-General has reminded us, a great deal depends on the Africans themselves.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“The implementation of all of these measures thus has a cost, as does the day-to-day management of emergency situations, a problem which the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must continually confront. In this context, we can only welcome the money- saving measures already taken by UNHCR as well as its efforts to bring about budgetary and administrative restructuring. With regard to Africa in particular, we welcome the reforms that are being carried out within UNHCR to create a new, single structure for the entire continent. The introduction of results-based human resource management methods should also be emphasized to show that UNHCR is doing its part, spontaneously, under Mrs. Ogata's authority, in order to attain, to the extent possible, the objectives that have been set.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“We know that ensuring the security and protection of refugee populations, particularly by separating them from armed elements, is a fundamental problem, and some have found it to be the source of the continued fighting in the Great Lakes region. Finally, there is the issue of assistance to host countries, which are frequently destabilized by the massive influx of refugees. The representative of Gabon earlier told us how his country has had to cope with the problems created by receiving refugees. We should also consider the situation of a poor African country such as Guinea, which was obliged to receive a very large number of refugees.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“A number of priorities are urgent, and they were identified at that time. First, there is the issue of the protection of civilians in areas of hostility. As the fighting continues to rage, we might ask ourselves whether this objective has been attained. There is also the issue of the creation of zones of peace for children. Once again, despite the efforts of Olara Otunnu, we are very far from having truly succeeded in implementing this basic requirement. With regard to the negotiation of provisional ceasefires to provide foodstuffs and emergency assistance, I believe that some real progress has been made in the field.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“We are responsible for doing everything possible to ensure that Africa not feel that, once again, it is the victim of imbalanced policies, of which the Ambassador of China cited examples. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees just reminded us, the situation of refugees in Africa is of great concern. The figures speak for themselves: of the world's approximately 22 million refugees, more than one third are located in Africa. In the Great Lakes region alone there are 6 million refugees and displaced persons. Given the magnitude of the task, all our energy must be mobilized and every solution explored. In his report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace in Africa (S/1998/318), the Secretary-General dealt with the question of refugees in the more general context of humanitarian assistance.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“Ogata invited us to ensure that the entirely necessary and justified emergency mobilization on behalf of the Kosovar refugees not lead to neglect of the other hotbeds of crisis throughout the world, first and foremost in Africa. The High Commissioner's recent visit to Africa and presence here with us today are reminders of that appeal. Indeed, there have been many indications of the high priority attached to the situation of refugees in that part of the world, not only by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but by the entire United Nations. Our debate here in the Security Council - for which initiative we thank you, Sir - should also be an opportunity for us to confirm and strengthen the international community's commitment.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“Mr. Dejammet (France) (spoke in French): First, I thank you, Sir, for having invited the Security Council to join in the mourning and sorrow of the royal family of Morocco for the passing of His Majesty Hassan II. We are also grateful to the Secretary-General for having represented the United Nations through his presence at His Majesty's funeral. The King of Morocco embodied a vision and a policy of peace, openness and tolerance. He was respected and loved by his people. France was honoured to be among his friends. In her statement to the Council at its meeting in May on the situation in Kosovo, the High Commissioner for Refugees concluded with an appeal to the members of the Council. Mrs.”
1999-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4025 (1999) · source
“That is necessary if we want peace to be restored and the provisions of the important resolution adopted here to be fully implemented. Those are the reasons why we are grateful for your country's initiative, Mr. President, which deals with concrete problems that relate to several conflicts being dealt with by the Security Council. The presidential statement that will be adopted at the end of this debate will confirm the importance the Council attaches to this question, and, above all, its determination, stimulated by the statements made today, to find answers. It will then be up to the Council to embody in each case the principles and recommendations that it will endorse in that statement.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source
“The success and the solidity of the ceasefire agreement that has just been signed by the warring parties will require the recovery of weapons and the demobilization of combatants from the many armed groups, militias and rebels that have been present in the Great Lakes region for a number of years. The task is considerable. That is another reason why this debate, convened by Malaysia, is so timely and important. We must also talk about Kosovo, where, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), it is the duty of the international security presence to demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the other Albanian armed groups, as well as to establish a safe environment for the civilian population.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source
“That agreement includes a section devoted to disarmament, cantonment, demobilization and the reintegration of combatants. The United Nations, which is involved through the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UN OMSIL), working together with the parties in Sierra Leone and with ECOMOG - the competent regional organization - must see to it that this task is successfully completed if we truly want that country, which has been at war for eight years, to rediscover peace, with its attendant benefits, in particular the return of refugees. And we know that almost 400,000 refugees are in the neighbouring country of Guinea. The same can be said about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Again, the news is good, although the situation is fragile.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source
“We must bear these examples in mind in dealing with the problems arising today in several post-conflict situations, situations that completely justify the statement made by the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Frechette, to whom we express our gratitude. In Guinea-Bissau, it is now truly essential for the weapons-collection operation initiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to resume fully and to succeed and for the combatants to be demobilized, thereby contributing to the stabilization of the country as it prepares for elections. We are pleased that an agreement has just been signed by the parties in Sierra Leone, and we understand very well how essential this is to our British friends.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source
“The two operations in the Central African Republic - one of which, MISAB, was a multinational operation entrusted exclusively to Africans, the other, MINURCA, being a United Nations mission - succeeded in recovering and keeping under control over 90 per cent of the heavy weapons and 60 per cent of the light weapons that had been circulating during three uprisings that broke out in 1996. A demobilization programme was developed with the assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and we should pay particular tribute to the work of UNDP in this field. UNDP has played a fundamental role in the demilitarization of the Central African Republic, an operation which is preserving respect for civilian life.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source
“In Mali, Mozambique, Cambodia, the Central African Republic and Guatemala, the tasks of disarmament, demobilization and the reintegration of ex- combatants into civilian life have been undertaken and successfully completed, in the first place, because of the involvement of the parties, but also because of the persistence and constancy of international assistance. The United Nations Operation in Mozambique, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, the Inter- African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB) and the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) have played an essential role in applying the principles that we are discussing today.”
1999-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4020 (1999) · source