YouSaid · the spoken record

Faki Mahamat

lines on the record: 72
first: 2018-03-28
most recent: 2022-11-10
sittings or episodes: 8
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

“As far as the African Union is concerned, we are ready to work with the United Nations, the United Nations Secretariat and the Security Council to bring about an innovative approach at the doctrinal and operational levels. Our excellent relationship with the Secretary-General and the equally fruitful relationship between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the Security Council give reason to be optimistic about the future of our partnership for peace and the effective fight against terrorism. We urge collective action against this scourge and its direct and indirect causes. Our expectations for an urgent and determined response are high, and I must admit that we are very impatient.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“As I have said many times before, traditional mechanisms for responding to threats to peace, peacebuilding and peacekeeping are no longer entirely consistent with the new circumstances or the new threats. Terrorism in all its forms and illegal trafficking of all kinds are able to elude the old models. The costs, the bureaucratic red tape, the modes of operation and operational and tactical redeployment of these models make them — let us be frank — unsuitable, ineffective and obsolete. The mandates of United Nations missions need urgently to be revised to make them real actors in the fight against terrorist groups and other harmful armed groups.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“Solidarity with Africa in its heroic struggle against terrorism, unconstitutional changes and food, education and health insecurity is an imperative duty of the international community. Terrorism has no homeland. Its defeat in Africa is necessary to cut its chances of metastasizing elsewhere. This solidarity would be futile if it were not based on a new conception of peacemaking and peacekeeping that defines a new, more dynamic, less bureaucratized and above all more aggressive model. At doctrinal and operational levels, the concept in this regard reflects a foundation of shared values articulated around the principle that African problems must be solved by Africans, with the support of the international community.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“We call upon the Security Council, which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, in this regard. In recent times, such dangerous responses as non-constitutional changes, which not only represent a real setback for democracy, but are also a deceptive illusion of salvation for the African nations that are the victims of them, have become widespread. The result is practices and models of governance that are highly detrimental to the health of States already weakened by many other negative exogenous and endogenous factors. I would like at this point to commend President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment to democracy, which has been vividly demonstrated by his opposition to anti-constitutional Government changes, particularly when he was the current Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“There is also the formation of the Group of Five for the Sahel Joint Force, the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region, the Southern Africa Development Community Force in Mozambique, the Nouakchott Process, and more recently the establishment of a regional force in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, the African Union has set up a peace fund to work on prevention and support the efforts of countries that are victims of terrorist violence. It is clear that Africa is capable of mobilizing its resources, its men and women, in this existential struggle against terrorism. However, it has a pressing need for solidarity and, above all, for sustainable financial resources and technical and logistical support to sustain its efforts to fight the scourge.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“What specific answers have we given to the African countries that are victims of this aggression? Africa, let us say it, is tired of hearing promises and getting only disappointment. In the face of terrorism, whose devastation of the continent is well known, Africa deserves to benefit from the same prompt solicitude that its partners show in other places and under other circumstances. However, Africa has not been lacking in initiatives to counter the phenomenon, in particular through the Accra Initiative, which is intended as an ideal framework for the fight and whose objective is to promote information exchange and conduct joint cross-border military operations between its member States — Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“The Security Council, a major and central organ in this area, is being called on to examine, as it does every day, but with greater conviction and firmness, the unspeakable violence that is ravaging our planet and the heartbreaking misery that it creates. The failure of our systems and the vanity of our values are behind the birth and the spread of terrorism, that monster of our times. And that scourge has spread to Africa. Somalia, Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, the Lake Chad basin, Mozambique and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are all theatres and preferred areas for the proliferation of deadly terrorist activities today. What has the international community, whose linchpin the Security Council, done on issues of peace and security and on the fight against terrorism in particular?”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“Even Europe, thought to be definitively immunized to such issues through its tragic previous experiences and continuing prosperity, has been once again embroiled in a devastating war, this one between Russia and Ukraine, the consequences of which could plunge humankind into a new tragedy for our planet. In Africa, terrorism and the increasingly frequent use of violence as a means of gaining and maintaining power are fragmenting societies and causing dozens of deaths and significant physical and psychological damage every day, with incalculable consequences for the vital sectors of health, education and food for entire populations.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for inviting us to this important meeting devoted to the issues of peace, security and counter-terrorism in Africa. I hope that new ideas and initiatives will emerge from the meeting, and I wish the Ghanaian presidency of the Council every success for the current month. I would like to focus on two areas, the first relating to our ongoing quest for peace and the second on countering terrorism and violent extremism in particular. From Mali to Mozambique, from Somalia to the Gulf of Guinea, from Libya to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and including the Lake Chad basin, problems of peace and security are tormenting, agitating and mobilizing African minds and African attention.”
2022-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9188 (2022) · source
“I dare to believe that soon the voices of the true friends of Africa will be raised so that together we can join hands for a genuine renaissance of multilateralism, which is now deeply scarred, belittled, biased and in dangerous decline. May the Council echo this call from the depths of Africa.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“I know that my friend António Guterres, who carries Africa in his heart, will spare no effort to ensure that Africa is heard, respected, included and placed at the centre of the global processes of peace, security, development and inclusive and democratic transformations. I am certainly pleased with what we have done and what we are doing together, but that is no reason to ignore the shortcomings. We still need to deepen our partnership between our specialized agencies, our special envoys and especially the African Union Peace and Security Council and the Security Council. The business of peace in Africa is too complex not to widen the channels for finding solutions for all of us in respect, equality, solidarity, inclusion and sharing. I am by nature an optimist.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“Let us ensure that all the funds and financial structures for preventing and combating pandemics materialize. Let us make sure that in Africa the portion of financing and investment directed to climate-related issues is no longer a small one. Let us make sure that the unlimited universe of science and new technologies is generously opened to Africa. Let us ensure that one half of the planet no longer labours under the burden of its affluence while the other half cries out in hunger and deprivation. If the Security Council chooses that path, it will find the entire continent mobilized around it. If it does not, its credibility may suffer irreversibly. Africa refuses to accept the prospect of resignation.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“The Council cannot avoid the question by letting it fall on deaf ears or refusing to provide a response satisfactory to the universal conscience. Africa is striving to make sacrifices for its peace and security imperatives and objectives. The African Peace and Security Architecture — not least the African Union Peace Fund — is being put in place. However, the denial of Africa’s decisive and primary role in meeting its challenges remains patently obvious. What we need is something more than ceremonial statements. Let us set a specific time frame to discuss and decide on Africa’s role in this forum for world peace that has brought us together today. Let us ensure that African missions are established according to the immutable principle of the primacy of the mandate to establish and safeguard peace in Africa.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“Rather, it is founded on decisions taken at two different levels — first, those considering the profound transformations that have occurred throughout African development, and secondly, the conservatism that has governed the doctrine in force at the United Nations since the end of the Second World War. Africa is now home to 1.4 billion people, as well as to 70 per cent of United Nations peacekeeping missions. The African continent’s issues are at the forefront of debates at the United Nations. Yet Africa is the only true continent excluded from the benefits of permanent membership of the Security Council. Africa has made gains in intelligence, talent, awareness and ambition. How many billions of dollars are spent on United Nations missions in Africa? What results have been achieved? Africa is seeking an answer.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“The war in Ukraine, with its devastating global consequences, has significantly aggravated such challenges and has increased the risks of instability, violence and war in every fragile area across the continent. Enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and from the Constitutive Act of the African Union to the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, our strategic partnership with the United Nations has been framed by a series of pertinent and technically perfect texts. The issue is therefore no longer a matter of normative mechanisms.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“At the outset, I would like to congratulate Gabon on its presidency of the Security Council for the month of October, which is a clear indicator of the role that Gabon has always played within Africa and on the world stage. The theme that your presidency has chosen, Sir, lies at the heart of the issue of promoting peace, security and stability, which are the pillars of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. As we are all aware, our continent is buckling under the weight of terrorism, instability, unconstitutional changes of Government, food insecurity and all kinds of health- and environment-related crises and precarity.”
2022-10-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9149 (2022) · source
“We will never cease to insist on that with all our strength and to work with our friends who come to our assistance. At the same time, we note that, in its fight against terrorism, Africa continues to suffer the perverse effects of a veritable double standard; while in other parts of the world, in particular the Middle East, international efforts have been mobilized to combat terrorism, efforts on that scale have been mostly denied to Africa. The financing of the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel and the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad basin continues to suffer shortfalls in terms of United Nations resources. I hope that today’s open debate will advance discussion of those double standards and unethical shortfalls, and above all the international community’s recognition of its obligations.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“That is the picture that a quick look at the interaction of climate conditions and peace and security issues in Africa offers us. The fundamental issue has always been not so much the description and explanation of the phenomena that frame our lives but rather the way we deal with them. In that respect, I must admit that, in Africa at least, we are disappointed by the international community’s responses. There is no point in hiding from Council members our concern with regard to the fight against climate change and terrorism and the interlinkages of these two devastating phenomena. While Africa’s contribution to global pollution is minimal, its share of the investments to address the adverse effects of climate change is very small. The commitment of the African Union to ensuring a genuine justice in those areas is unshakeable.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“When we correlate those consequences of climate change with aggravating, frustrating factors, such as weak or poor governance, corruption, marginalization and political, social and community exclusion, we may understand how the promotion of deviant trajectories has far-reaching consequences. From the Lake Chad region to the Horn of Africa, unprecedented temperatures are being recorded. Their variability puts undue pressure on rural economies, vulnerable groups and State capacity. The ensuing poverty and climate variability are converging in a mournful symphony that is highly conducive to violence, criminal networks and terrorists, resulting in huge fluctuations in population movements. Over the long term, the effect is to create upheavals that very few forward-looking development strategies can foresee.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“The dependence on agriculture and livestock in the region, for example, pushes more than 50 million people in the Sahel alone into a precarious situation, making them easy targets for jihadism and other forms of violence, which are breeding grounds for criminality. If we recall that employment in the agricultural sector varies from 25 per cent in Burkina Faso to 75 per cent in the Niger, we may then understand the extent to which people are vulnerable to the spread of the terrorist cancer and its various metastases across the continent. On the other hand, if we recall that women, in particular girls, represent 40 per cent of the agricultural and pastoral workforce, then we understand the extent of another phenomenon of inequality and injustice that is the cause of the suffering of millions of women and girls.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“Accordingly, such phenomena create conditions conducive to the proliferation of non-State entities, led by terrorist groups, which influence, disorient, indoctrinate, intoxicate, recruit, arm and train thousands of young people to follow a path of death and destruction as a way to find salvation and realize non-existent and delusional destinies. It is on that ideological, social, economic and existential terrain that the real confrontation takes place between national and continental efforts, on the one hand, and terrorism and other forms of deviance, on the other. One of the fundamental causes of the phenomena of violence and trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings is arises precisely from those conditions.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“Migration and its criminal networks, trafficking of all kinds, chaotic transhumance and rural exodus complete a picture that is already quite bleak. The failure of many inadequate reforms exacerbates the risks associated with such phenomena. The scarcity of resources, water and agrifood resources in particular fuel intercommunal conflicts. Let us not forget that conflicts between herders and farmers have killed six times as many people in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria as the conflict with Boko Haram.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“If we take as an example the data provided in reports on the Sahel region and the Lake Chad basin, we note that the large-scale increase in the number of young people, a human result of the demographic explosion, has added to the pressure on natural resources in a worrisome way. In that regard, we must recall that in the Group of Five for the Sahel countries, military spending consumes a quarter of the national budget to the detriment of the social sectors, in particular education and health care, water and food security. Where does the frequent violence between herders and farmers arise from? The access to ever-dwindling resources and their unequal distribution due to climate change widen the gaps and inequalities, which lead to all kinds of terrorist activity.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“I am sure that the Niger’s proven experience and the President’s vast understanding of these issues will provide the Council with relevant analyses that will enable it, I hope, to take decisions that meet the challenges, which is all the more relevant given that the subject of this meeting is being discussed just a few weeks after the convening of the twenty- sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Glasgow. Although experts cannot establish a direct causal link proving that conflicts are caused by climate change, there is no doubt today that deteriorating climate conditions, a lack of rainfall and subsequent droughts contribute to exacerbating social and intercommunal tensions owing to the scarcity of life-sustaining resources, in particular of water and pastures.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“At the outset, I would first like to pay tribute to the memory of the civilian and military victims who fall on almost a daily basis, in particular in the Sahel. I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, President of the Republic of the Niger, for having invited us to this important meeting on the issues of climate change and their interaction with peace and security. I am pleased to congratulate him on the organization of this important meeting and to wish the Niger’s presidency of the Security Council every success for the current month.”
2021-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8923 (2021) · source
“The centrality of the African Union is not a matter of ego or self-importance. It is a matter of common sense and the quest for efficiency and concrete results. To implement it, the African Union, which has no specific agenda, is seeking only collective action based on respectful partnerships and not a substitute for taking orders or clearing one's conscience. It is a matter of working together, on the basis of common values, in the sole and unique interest of peace, reconciliation and democracy in Libya. In such a joint effort, we will give specific content to our partnership with the United Nations, in accordance with the framework agreement signed in April 2017 here in New York.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“We must then engage in a process of genuinely inclusive and revitalized political negotiations in order to outline a democratic and consensual transition capable of dealing with humanitarian emergencies and the organization of free and transparent elections, which are the foundations of true political legitimacy in that country. That objective is easy to formulate, but complicated to achieve. It requires a joint implementation mechanism - with emphasis on "joint" - to take the lead. In the establishment of that new joint mechanism, it is crucial that we underscore the central role of Africa in an issue that is just as African as any other on our continent, in which the continental organization has demonstrated its own competence, knowledge, experience and expertise.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“In less than a decade, that way of addressing the Libyan issue has revealed the full extent of its limitations as the crisis continues to deteriorate and the suffering of the Libyan people only persists. It is time to stop that infernal, senseless process. The Security Council and Africa have an obligation to collectively reconsider that situation and experiment with another way. First, we must clearly decide that there is no military solution to the crisis. Rigorous enforcement of the embargo on weapons - which continue to proliferate throughout the country and allow those waging war to continue to do so by financing their weapons from Libya's own resources - is therefore a matter of extreme urgency.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“I take this opportunity to reiterate my calls for real and effective solidarity with those countries, since their fight against poverty and the cancer of that region, terrorism, are concerns worthy of the most active international solidarity. Any weak point in that desired solidarity, regardless of the pretext, would facilitate the spread of the terrorist hydra, which, at least in the Sahel, has been fuelled by the fragmentation of another African crisis. By way of conclusion, I will say a few words on the crisis in Libya. The Libyan crisis has been marked from the very beginning by the frustrating marginalization of Africa, which has been replaced by a plurality of external actors, each of which is pursuing its own agenda, as everyone knows.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“Progress towards peace in Africa must not, however, hide the weaknesses and, above all, the darker realities that continue to cast shade on the overall outlook. In the Sahel, the efforts of the international community to contain and eradicate terrorism are not yet producing the expected results as the phenomenon continues to grow and threaten regions beyond northern Mali alone. The countries of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-S Sahel) have therefore joined forces and decided to pool their resources in order to provide the appropriate responses. The support of the Security Council is essential in that regard.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“I have come today to reiterate Africa's continued readiness in that regard. The panorama of peace in Africa highlights some indisputable success stories. The normalization of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic through the implementation of the agreements concluded under the auspices of the African Union; the significant progress made towards peace and reconciliation in South Sudan; and a certain level of positive stabilization against terrorism in Somalia and the Lake Chad area are noteworthy. The latest addition to that series of achievements is the significant success of African mediation in the Sudan, which paved the way towards a peaceful and consensus-based democratic transition in the country.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“The traditional mechanisms for responding to threats to peace, peacebuilding and peacekeeping no longer fully correspond to the new situation. Terrorism in all its forms and illegal trafficking of all kinds are unmanageable through the former models. The costs, bureaucratic red tape, ways of functioning and operational and tactical redeployment methods of those models make them - to be frank - unsuitable, ineffective and obsolete. A new model endowed with a legal, political, financial and operational mechanism that is better adapted to the social, cultural and religious context of African societies must be conceived. The African Union has repeatedly reiterated its full readiness to work with the United Nations, and the Security Council in particular, towards the desired doctrinal and operational progress.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“It is on the basis of that double principle that the African Union has proposed here in the Security Council and beyond an original model to fund African peacekeeping operations. While the overarching duty of Africa is to bear responsibility for a significant part of that funding, that cannot in any way relieve the Security Council, the sole organ truly responsible for peace in the world, of its obligations to provide funding for those operations from the appropriate resources of the universal Organization. That issue is today at the heart of peace and security concerns in Africa. The factors threatening peace in Africa make it urgently important that we develop innovative approaches to considering such factors and the best ways and means to effectively respond.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“I would like to begin by addressing you, Mr. President, to thank you and your Government for organizing this important meeting on the state ofpeace and security in Africa and partnership to strengthen regional peace and security. Peace in Africa is undergoing significant changes. We have finalized the preparation of a well-engineered peace architecture with relatively effective organs. In the interest of harmony and coherence, that architecture has combined the efforts of our regional organizations - the pillars of our African Union - with those of the Union itself. On a doctrinal level, that architecture reflects a foundation of shared values, coordinated around the double principle that African problems must be solved by Africans themselves and that the cost of so doing should be borne, to a large extent, by Africa's own resources.”
2019-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8627 (2019) · source
“The African Union is determined to play its full role in the fight against the scourge of mercenarism and to mobilize its member States to that end, but this struggle against a phenomenon that is transnational in nature cannot succeed without the full cooperation of other international actors. I therefore renew my call for increased international cooperation and support.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“More precisely, focus must be placed on security sector governance and, in the case of countries emerging from conflict, on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes. With regard to the latter, we can never sufficiently stress the risks posed by the failure to complete such processes. Lastly, I underscore the fact that the fight against mercenarism must be part of the overall context of promoting peace and security on the continent. Experience has shown that mercenaries often operate in conflict areas. The African Union is actively engaged on that front in the framework of its Silencing the Guns by 2020 campaign. I welcome the United Nations support for those efforts, in particular the commitment of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“It is clear that we must strengthen the international instruments related to this phenomenon. The aim here is to expedite the signature and ratification of existing instruments, as well as to ensure their effective implementation. I note with concern that the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries has been signed and ratified by only a limited number of United Nations Member States. It is equally important to strengthen cooperation among States, including in the areas of intelligence and prosecution. Without effective coordination, our work will not be effective. Likewise, it is crucial to provide increased assistance so that States can strengthen their capacity to confront the scourge of mercenarism more effectively.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“In that regard, the second Africa Forum on Security Sector Reform, held in October 2018 by the African Union Commission, recommended the revision of the 1977 Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa, with a View to adapting it to developments since its adoption and providing it with an implementation and monitoring mechanism. More specifically concerning private security companies, the Forum recommended the development of a continental regulatory and supervisory framework. The African Union Commission is currently working on the follow-up to those recommendations and, to that end, will consult various international partners, including the United Nations. Today's debate provides us with an opportunity to identify practical measures that can help end the scourge of mercenarism once and for all.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“The most recent example, in fact, concerns Equatorial Guinea, where an attempted coup d'etat involving a number of foreign mercenaries was foiled a few months ago. I take this opportunity to reiterate the African Union's solidarity with Equatorial Guinea on the heels of that destabilization attempt. Similarly, the sometimes porous nature of African borders and the transnational nature of the security challenges facing the continent have encouraged the mobilization of foreign fighters to serve as mercenaries in conflicts tearing apart some countries. Another such development is the emergence of private security companies. Clearly, this is often a matter of legal entities that transact with Governments, but their existence and proliferation nevertheless pose challenges that warrant special attention.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“That situation clearly poses a serious threat to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and harmonious development of African States. In the light of that situation and the serious concerns to which it has given rise, the Organization of African Unity adopted its Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa in 1977. The Convention entered into force in April 1985. It enabled the establishment of continental norms concerning mercenary activities, while at the same time encouraged a number of cooperation initiatives at the continental level. Despite those efforts, the scourge of mercenarism continues to persist. In that regard, it is worth noting the continued destabilization activities involving mercenaries.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“The choice of this topic therefore represents a concrete contribution to realizing the goal of the Silencing the Guns by 2020 initiative. The African Union looks forward to the outcome of this debate. Unfortunately, the history of our continent is replete with examples of mercenary involvement in destabilization activities, including coups d'etat, interventions in armed conflicts and attempts to take control of the natural resources of the countries concerned. As early as the 1960s, when our countries were working to consolidate their independence, some were faced by this phenomenon. The consequences have been devastating in terms of violence, human rights violations and additional threats to the security and stability of the countries in question.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“I am pleased to address the Security Council for the second time in less than three months in the context of a high-level debate on issues of importance to Africa. I regret that constraints related to the preparations for the Summit of the African Union, to be held this weekend, have prevented me from being with the Security Council in person. I thank President Obiang Nguema for having invited me to this debate, which marks the beginning of the Equatorial Guinean presidency of the Security Council. I wish every success to this presidency, which is representative of Africa as a whole. At a time when our continent is stepping up efforts to promote peace and security, it is necessary that we consider all sources of insecurity and instability. Mercenarism clearly constitutes one such challenge that must be addressed.”
2019-02-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8456 (2019) · source
“I have come to acknowledge the need to work with a strong sense of urgency towards the advent of an international peace and security architecture that is in line with the threats of today and tomorrow. May this faith and hope come out of this debate stronger than before.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“Today we are at a turning point. We must seize the opportunity to better address the challenges of peace and security. That is what our continent expects, as do many other members of the international community - of that I am sure. In an unpredictable international environment where threats that are becoming more serious and complex every day, we cannot adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Sooner or later we will pay dearly for such an attitude. I have come to the Security Council to express Africa's renewed faith in the United Nations and its hope in its ability to meet the challenges of the day. I have come to say that the African Union is determined to play its rightful role in the collective endeavour to strengthen our shared Organization and make it more effective in promoting peace and security.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“Now is not the time to hesitate with respect to our continent, still less so at a later time. The draft resolution for Africa proposed by the three African members of the Security Council sets out a framework that in no way prejudges subsequent decisions by the Council on a case-by-case basis and does not have any financial impact at this stage. It preserves the authority of the Security Council. I would even say that it reinforces it, because it gives it more effective control over the conduct of African operations partially supported by the United Nations. We call for consensus on texts, on the understanding that this one should not empty them of their substance. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work done by the three African members in this regard. It was a truly consultative approach that guided their efforts.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“Over the years, we have taken several initiatives precisely to shoulder our share of the responsibility in that area. African leaders have agreed to fund up to 25 per cent ofthe continent's peace and security agenda. We have revitalized the African Union Peace Fund. More than $80 million has already been raised and its Board of Trustees has just been established. We have taken concrete steps to ensure greater accountability and respect for human rights in the conduct of our operations. Admittedly, additional efforts are required, but the foundations for a Security Council decision have already been laid. The renewed determination of Africa to play a greater role in the promotion of international peace and security must find support in this Council Chamber.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“The approach of adopting a resolution on sustainable and predictable funding for African peace operations, which was solemnly reiterated by the African Union Peace and Security Council at its meeting three days ago, is important. I must underscore that such operations are possible only with the consent of the Security Council. The Security Council must be allowed to more effectively assume its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security by using all the resources offered by the Charter of the United Nations. Furthermore, the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union must be further cemented by ensuring a better distribution of the financial burden that comes with promoting peace.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, the transitions in Mali and the Central African Republic from African missions to United Nations missions, and the considerable support that the United Nations provides to our mission in Somalia are illuminating examples in that regard. We should ask ourselves if the situation in the countries concerned would have arisen had the international community opted only for orthodoxy and conservatism instead of the innovation required by the circumstances. It is up to us to go even further. Those extra steps are not a leap into the unknown. They represent the extension of what we have already experienced, the lessons learned from the multifaceted support provided by the United Nations and the resolutions already adopted on the issue.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“The situation on the ground has become so complex that waiting to fully restore, build and keep the peace often means being unable to help people in danger. That is the context in which the division of labour between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, has evolved. The African Union has demonstrated that it can intervene rapidly in complex environments to curb violence, facilitate peace and create the conditions for keeping it. The partnership between the African Union and the United Nations has evolved to allow for creative negotiations on current security challenges.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source
“The issue of funding such operations has been on the agenda of the Security Council for more than a decade. We are pleased to note that, throughout this time, the international community has become increasingly aware. Everyone acknowledges the fact that international crisis-response mechanisms are not suited to today's challenges. The reasons for that situation are well known and linked to the nature of conflicts, which are often intra-State rather than inter-State, the high number of actors involved, extreme violence, the scourge of terrorism and organized crime. Those are the many factors that have shaken the very foundations of peacekeeping operations, including the conditions of their deployment.”
2018-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8414 (2018) · source