YouSaid · the spoken record

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

lines on the record

17

first

2020-05-27

most recent

2021-01-06

sittings or episodes

2

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

1. “We hope that we can see peace in this new year and an end to the ravages of the pandemic through an equitable distribution of the vaccines.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

2. “While we commend the leadership and staff of that agency, its continued existence is a mark on our collective conscience. It means that we have not pursued peace or addressed fragility. What will we utter now at the beginning of this year of promise — more platitudes? I plead yet again. The United Nations, with its many entities, especially the Security Council, was established to lead the process of global development and global equity. The United Nations must represent more than hope. It must be an active mechanism for peace and scaled-up support for the fragile nations that for too long have been left behind. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic is a painful human tragedy. I extend my deepest condolences to all who are grieving for loved ones and pray for the speedy recovery of the infected.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

3. “Just think what the outcome would be if some 25 per cent of financing for peacekeeping were allocated to a technical training contingent of peacekeepers dedicated to training young, unemployed potential militants. Last year we celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. We recognize the Secretary-General, particularly for his strong advocacy on climate change and his call for silencing the guns to be able to battle the COVID-19 virus more effectively. We now need his equally strong words to national authorities for their actionable response to his advocacy. This year commemorates the seventieth anniversary of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations refugee agency.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

4. “Women from all walks of life literally sat for peace, following the male combatants as they lurched from one failed agreement to another. Without the Liberian women, Liberia would not have peace today. Today peacekeepers must also battle the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while supporting peace and containing conflict. As with multilateralism, countries are questioning the efficacy of peacekeeping operations and the costs of running them, often for years at a time. I disagree and remain a strong advocate for peacekeeping. However, like everything else, the architecture must change, with the flexibility to respond to challenging circumstances and in consonance with the recognition of, and support for, local capability and leadership when the warning bells ring.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

5. “They include persistent torture, extrajudicial killings, ethnicity used to consolidate power, women and girls targeted as the loot of war, deepened poverty and inequalities, the disruption of social services and dismantled and disrespected traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. In Liberia’s case, the regional peacekeeping force took us into an electoral process, which, while highly flawed, was a step on the path to peace. The United Nations international peacekeeping mission was a partner in the implementation of the final peace agreement, ensuring the protection of civilians during the sporadic but persistent outbreaks of conflict by new armed militias seeking to remove contested winners of the elections. Another key was women’s leadership.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

6. “I express my gratitude once again for the support for interventions in my own country, Liberia, and would like to highlight the three keys to ending our brutal armed conflict. First was the desire for peace by ordinary Liberians, tired of war. The second element was the robust mandate of the regional peacekeeping force and its understanding of the threats posed to regional security. The third factor was the subsequent international support for the final peace agreement and the timely partnership as we pulled ourselves up, albeit exhausted, bruised and battered. However, prevention is always better than cure and, in nearly every case, interventions are almost too late. As in most situations that spark into active conflicts, the signs are usually there long before any helpful actions are taken.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

7. “The members of the Security Council, one of the most important organs of the United Nations, have the power in their hands to help to end the vicious cycles of conflict, displacement and despair that so many have faced for so many years. They can look beyond narrow interests and recognize that peaceful, just and inclusive societies have benefits far beyond their own borders. They know that unattended issues in societies fester and deepen fragility, which often leads to violent conflicts. They also know that early interventions to support local responses to governance and poverty fault lines can build resilience. They have seen that women peace and security actors can help to put out a small smouldering fire before it becomes a major conflagration.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

8. “I am grateful for this opportunity to make a few points that I believe to be relevant to the purpose of this meeting. I would first like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your country’s presidency of the Security Council for this month and on your leadership of this high-level open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security in fragile contexts. This is only the first week of 2021 — a year to which the whole world has looked forward. There has probably never been a time when so many people wanted, and needed, the previous year to end, while clinging to the hope of a new year of promise and cautious optimism. This open debate must therefore also be faithful to that promise and commit to new and bold steps.”

   2021-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/24 (2021) · source

9. “The truth is that it is not beyond our ability to pass this test. However, how we pass it will redefine the course of human history. Let us not fail — for our own sake and that of posterity. I do not know how many will be infected, how many lives will be lost or where growth projections and human development indices will be when this pandemic ends. But I do know — as if further proof were needed — that we are more connected and interdependent than we have allowed ourselves to believe and that we have committed to acting together. As others have mentioned, I also know that the world and life as we know it will change. It is now upon us to ensure that those changes are for the better, for the good of humankind. Indeed, we face the test of a lifetime. May we find the courage, as we did in 1945, to find the answer of a lifetime.”

   2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

10. “Only regional and global solidarity can protect the whole world from further tragedy. From global health and human development to peace and climate change, we need more multilateralism, not less. Only by working together can we overcome our common challenges and make the world safer, better and more peaceful. Thirdly, excluding impoverished nations from ongoing medical research and the development of needed cures does not mean that wealthier ones can continue to live in a protected bubble. Fourthly, we face an urgent need to reset the world to higher standards of international cooperation and peace as the most enduring and sustainable path to successfully confronting our common challenges, ending ongoing conflicts and preventing future ones. This pandemic has humbled us all and it represents our greatest test in living memory.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

11. “Simply put, protecting human rights, ending impunity and engaging in preventive diplomacy are crucial to stopping conflicts before they rage into full conflagrations. We must not ignore the many signals today or delay necessary action to prevent conflict. Finally, the coronavirus disease pandemic — with more than 5 million infected and more than 300,000 deaths worldwide — is a painful human tragedy. I extend my deepest condolences to all who are grieving for loved ones, and pray for a speedy recovery for those infected. Yet, even in this period of sadness, we are reminded of many important lessons that may help us prevent conflict and war. The first is that women’s leadership and participation in gender-balanced governance have often made the difference in this fight. Secondly, we must remember that the virus is a pandemic.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

12. “I understand that the United Nations cannot end all conflicts alone. It requires a multitude of actors and commitments, including the involvement of women through the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), which remains a key ingredient for peace. But I also know that the role of the Security Council is pivotal, especially one that is more representative of all the peoples of the world so as to be more effective in ending and preventing conflicts. As a Liberian, I am grateful to the Security Council and the larger United Nations for supporting the interventions that helped to broker and bring peace to my country. However, in my country, like in many places of ongoing conflict, the fault lines and signs were visible for many years.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

13. “What we simply cannot do is resign ourselves to a sense of hopelessness by settling for and accepting the continuation of numerous situations of prolonged carnage. After all, the United Nations and its many organs, especially the Security Council, represent hope for peace. Seventy-five years ago, our nations acted with courage to end a global war. The Council now represents the hope and aspirations of the global community for international peace and security. We must find the political will and commitment that has been long absent and we must act now. Today, our world is beset with more conflicts, the growing threat of violent extremism and a young population that is increasingly less hopeful about the possibility of living in peace. We simply cannot continue this way. It is time for change.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

14. “In that connection, nothing should weigh more heavily on our collective consciences or on the desk of the Council than the urgent need to stop ongoing conflicts and preventing new ones. I know that preventing a conflict is never easy, and yet our collective experience shows that it is less costly, if not easier, than ending one. Consequently, whenever peacekeeping mandates need to be changed, we must change them. When missions need to be reassessed, we must reassess them. When the Council needs to be broadened and strengthened to reflect the changing reality of our world, we must adapt and reform it. When individual members are holding the Council back with their narrow self-interests and using the veto power in ways unintended, we must find a workable formula to preserve the collective interests of all.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

15. “We must find a way to end this cycle of immeasurable loss and human tragedy. The truth is that unless we put an end to these ongoing conflicts, there can be no semblance of a just compact between these States and their peoples nor any possibility of addressing the inequalities and injustices that have often fuelled the conflicts — both prerequisites for developmental transformation. Even worse, that opportunity may be lost for generations to come. That is also why I could not agree more with the Secretary-General that “[t]he most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of armed conflict” (S/2020/366, para. 67). That brings me to my second point. A conflict averted often does not make the headlines, but it saves lives and livelihoods.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

16. “My hope is that this reflection will further pave the way for increased women’s leadership and strengthen our efforts to protect traditionally marginalized and vulnerable groups — often women, children and persons with disabilities — trapped by conflict. Unfortunately, some conflicts are so protracted that we have seen multiple shifts in the parties concerned, and many people have been born and died without experiencing what it is to be a child or an adult with fulfilled aspirations and rights. Instead, their lives have often been defined, shortened and narrowed by conflicts they had no part in creating. It is time to take bold action, because unless we do so now we will lose many more lives, many others will sustain life-changing injuries and millions more will be forcibly displaced.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source

17. “I thank the Council for this opportunity and wish to make a few points I believe to be relevant to our purpose. The first is to congratulate the President on her country’s accession to the presidency of the Security Council, and to commend her on her leadership during this high-level open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. I also extend special greetings to the Secretary-General and the entire United Nations family as we mark the seventy-fifth year of the formation of this pre-eminent multilateral Organization, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, as well as the twentieth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. Those milestones offer an opportunity for reflection.”

    2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source