YouSaid · the spoken record

Egeland

lines on the record: 421
first: 2003-12-09
most recent: 2022-01-27
sittings or episodes: 20
sources: un-security-council

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“While over the coming year we establish better systems of redress and managerial oversight, we must not lose sight of the need for vigilance and follow-through, in which, I hope, troop-contributing countries will also wish to play a part. I would like now to turn to the practical work undertaken by my Office over the past six months to consolidate United Nations efforts to meet the protection needs of civilians in armed conflict. In the past, the Council has asked us for greater integration of these issues among the various parts of the Organization. I am pleased to report that the creation of a cross-cutting protection and human rights unit within the United Nations Mission in Liberia, integrating the range of expertise required to adequately protect civilians, represents a significant development for future cooperation in this respect.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs are an integral part of this joint effort, and the Bulletin applies equally to United Nations staff serving in peace operations. We all agree that acts of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by United Nations-affiliated personnel do irreparable damage, both to the image of the United Nations and - more importantly - to our ability to serve and protect war-torn communities. We also agree that any such act by anyone affiliated with the United Nations - whether soldier, political officer, aid worker or police officer - affects all of us.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The eighth and final challenge relates to charges of sexual exploitation of civilians in conflict by our own United Nations personnel. Since the most recent briefing on the protection of civilians, there has been progress on a protection issue on which the United Nations itself has been called to account, namely sexual exploitation and abuse. The Secretary-General's Bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse was promulgated last month. At the Secretary-General's behest, all parts of the United Nations system with a field presence are working very closely, together with our non- governmental organization partners and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, to establish a coherent system for the implementation of the Bulletin at the field level.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“In Angola, there has been a rapid return of a large portion of the displaced population. Despite the encouraging signs of large- scale return, however, re-establishing their economic future will be critically affected by unexploded ordnance problems. Likewise, the humanitarian situation in Colombia continues to be of great concern. There is a large number of internally displaced persons, with more being forced to leave their homes and land every day. The conflict is also creating increasing numbers of refugees. We welcome the encouraging progress that has been made by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in preparing a national policy for internally displaced persons. The recent displacement of more than 600,000 people in the Darfur region, however, remains a serious concern.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“I encourage the Prosecutor to pursue his efforts in this regard. I welcome the Transitional Government's announcement of its intent to cooperate with the Prosecutor, and would like to encourage the Government to pursue all other relevant means in order to bring those responsible to justice. The seventh challenge is the special protection and assistance needs of the displaced. Given the millions of internally displaced men, women and children throughout the world, the special needs of these particularly forgotten people remain a natural focus of our work. In Liberia, the entire population has suffered displacement at one time or another. Yet, more than 500,000 remain displaced. The security and return of such people is a key component for the successful restoration of peace and stability.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The swift re-establishment of the rule of law, justice and reconciliation is vital during the transition from conflict to peace, and the actions of the leaders of the parties are crucial. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere, it is critical that political and military leaders stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the victims and make clear that human rights violations will not be tolerated. Prompt, independent and effective investigations must be carried out. Perpetrators must be brought to justice. Potential perpetrators must be deterred. To this end, I welcome the statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that his Office is following the situation in Ituri, including the allegations of widespread sexual violence and other serious violations of international criminal law.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Given the cultural sensitivities, the most effective response is to work with and support local initiatives to assist the victims. We also need to address the special needs created by the increase in female-headed households. However, we will be unable to stop the scourge of sexual violence in these countries without a functioning justice system. This brings me to my sixth challenge: justice and reconciliation. In too many conflicts around the world, sexual violence, torture, murder and other serious crimes under international law continue to be committed with total impunity. The need to end this culture of impunity is fundamental. I would, therefore, like to ask the Security Council to continue to denounce strongly such terrible acts and take concrete measures to address the issue of impunity.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The attention of the Council to these issues is critical, and I ask it to maintain a strong focus on sexual violence in its future missions to areas of conflict. I wish to draw particular attention to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where extreme crimes of sexual violence - described by some as sexual torture - have taken place on a chilling scale. The transitional process, the increased presence of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and the strengthened security situation in areas of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have improved humanitarian conditions where MONUC is deployed, but more physical protection is needed.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“I welcome the current initiatives that are taking place in Cote d'Ivoire to establish a process of demobilization, and hope that these initiatives will complement the DDRR measures in Liberia. A stronger peacekeeping presence in Cote d'Ivoire is now needed to provide a more secure basis for taking this critical process forward. Fifthly, with regard to the challenge of sexual violence in armed conflict, the fact that women and children continue to constitute the majority of civilian victims demands our urgent and vigorous attention. Rape and other forms of sexual violence continue to be used as brutally devastating weapons of war - in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, northern Uganda and West Africa and in far too many other conflicts around the world.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“One of the features ofthe conflict in the Mano River Basin and C6te d'Ivoire has been the pervasive involvement of youth. The extensive engagement of largely young unemployed men in the militias fighting in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire threatens to undermine the security of the region as a whole if that culture of youth violence is allowed to become entrenched. The spread of a violent youth culture can be stemmed only by comprehensive regional protection solutions - in particular, control of arms flows and sustained, well-designed and resourced DDRR programmes that address the particular needs of young people brutalized by war, with no means of survival but the gun. DDRR must be addressed on a regional basis, and neighbouring States should recognize their responsibilities to assist.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“We are all aware that the recruitment and use of child soldiers is a problem mirrored in many other conflicts around the world today, notably in West Africa. It is incumbent upon all of us to do more to respond to the tragedy of children being recruited and used as child soldiers, suffering extremely violent sexual attacks or bearing the burden of responsibility for their younger brothers and sisters because they have lost their parents to the ravages of HIV/AIDS or the violence of war. That is but one example of the suffering of children in conflict zones. The rape of both boys and girls in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a further justification for making the protection of children a particular priority in our daily efforts. The fourth of our challenges is demobilization, disarmament, reintegration and resettlement.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Tragically, in today's conflicts we find children increasingly targeted and subjected to some ofthe most unconscionable atrocities the world has ever witnessed. Last month, when I visited northern Uganda, I was confronted by a war against children, fought primarily by children. More than 10,000 children have been abducted by the LRA over the past 12 months alone and have been forced, through brutal means, to become child soldiers, labourers and sex slaves. Fear of abduction by armed groups has created tens of thousands of "night commuters" throughout the north and east of Uganda - children who walk up to three hours to the major towns every evening before dark, simply to avoid abduction.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“I wish to emphasize that national staff in several countries have, at great personal risk, continued to deliver humanitarian assistance in the absence of an international presence. Our international responsibility is to provide solidarity through our presence and to establish effective measures for our common security as humanitarian organizations. I therefore encourage the Security Council to continue to stress to all parties to armed conflicts their obligation to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and to ensure that those responsible for attacks are brought to justice without delay. The third challenge I should like to highlight is the special protection needs of children affected by conflict. Children are in no way spared from the violence and suffering of war.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The international community must now demonstrate the same level of commitment that it has to higher-profile crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. The second major challenge is the security of humanitarian workers. There can be no access when humanitarian workers are denied security. Our emblems have always provided us with a certain protection based on an understanding and acceptance of our humanitarian mission. That has now been tragically challenged in Iraq and Afghanistan. The past six months have also seen our humanitarian colleagues threatened and targeted in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, the occupied Palestinian territory, Chechnya and various other areas.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“The turning point came with a strengthened peacekeeping force and the political commitment of the Government and the regional actors - supported by the international community - to a peace process that has begun to take hold. As a result, humanitarian access has begun to improve after years of deterioration. In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, increased access has inevitably revealed greater need. If we are to consolidate peace and security, the humanitarian community must be able to meet those expectations. Despite the inherent risks in these fragile situations, the international community must recognize its responsibility to ensure adequate and timely resources or risk losing the momentum towards peace. The history of the region has demonstrated too- cautious donor behaviour.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Humanitarian access is entirely dependent on too- limited and too-unreliable military escorts. Issues of humanitarian access in the occupied Palestinian territory also continue to be of serious concern. Recent developments - including the construction of the Israeli security barrier - will serve only to further limit the access that affected communities have to humanitarian assistance, to essential services and to their livelihoods. Our efforts to secure access where it is denied require unflagging commitment provided on a systematic basis by all of us. By contrast, today we are seeing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo what the return of a measure of security can mean for the restoration of humanitarian access.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Vulnerable communities have the right to receive humanitarian assistance, and we have the right and the obligation to provide it. For example, on my recent mission to Uganda, I saw a stark picture of what the absence of humanitarian access means. Outside the main northern and eastern towns, access has been dramatically reduced by the increased activity of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Some 1.3 million people have been displaced by the war. Many of those people are living in "resettlement camps" in inaccessible areas, with severely limited access to their lands, to their livelihoods and to humanitarian assistance. In those circumstances, food aid provided through the World Food Programme is saving more than 80 per cent ofthe population from starvation, but even that food aid is vulnerable to looting during LRA attacks.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“I shall review a number of current country situations through the lens of the protection of civilians. I shall also present two important documents developed by my Office over the past year - the road map and the aide- memoire on the protection of civilians - and I shall conclude with a lO-point platform for future collective action. In the current complex environment for humanitarian action that I have described, what should be done? First, we should address access and protection. It is not acceptable that we are denied access to affected populations in the majority of crises where we are deployed. There are more than 20 countries where access to civilian populations in need is in some way restricted. Together, we must work with Governments - and, where necessary, with armed groups - to systematically address restrictions on access.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“If we fail to keep abreast of this changing environment, we will end up with even greater challenges to international peace and security. The threats are constantly evolving: new weapons, new ways of conducting war, new ways of inflicting violence, new ways of deterring those who would keep the peace and those who would bring assistance. Seen against that evolving context, the protection of civilians should be viewed not as a static problem, but rather as a shifting series of challenges that we must all address with innovative and direct policies and tools. Together, we can and must confront those challenges. We have made some headway over the past six months. In my briefing today, I shall outline developments since the last update was presented to the Council by my predecessor, Kenzo Oshima, in June.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Indeed, his career spanned all these aspects of the Organization's work. The tragic and untimely death of Sergio and those serving with him has underscored a number of unwelcome truths relating to that critical nexus. Most obviously, the landscape in which the United Nations is operating is changing. We have in recent months witnessed what I can only describe as assassinations of humanitarians from across the spectrum: the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and non-governmental organizations. Those deliberate attacks against humanitarian personnel dramatically reduce access to civilians in armed conflict and the humanitarian space required to render support. And without those two prerequisites, we fail in our responsibility to protect. We seem to be moving into a time where the protection challenges are more complex.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source
“Mr. Egeland: On behalf of my colleagues in the humanitarian community, I thank you, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address the Council in an open meeting. This is my first opportunity to brief the Council, and it is most fitting that the topic is the critical issue of how better to protect civilians in armed conflict. Mr. President, we have a common agenda. The Security Council is the principal mechanism of the United Nations for the promotion of peace and security around the globe. The humanitarian community administers to victims in the absence of peace and security. It was my predecessor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, who, with his usual foresight, first introduced this topic to the Security Council. Sergio had a keen awareness of the important nexus between peace and security, humanitarian affairs and human rights.”
2003-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4877 (2003) · source