YouSaid · the spoken record

Georg Sparber

lines on the record: 36
first: 2020-07-02
most recent: 2021-06-28
sittings or episodes: 5
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

“The conflict has entered its eleventh year, with grave impacts on children. Millions have suffered death, injury, displacement, destruction, poverty, hunger and insecurity. An estimated million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, of which 4.8 million are children. We call on the Security Council to ensure safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to all Syrians in need. We furthermore support the Secretary- General’s Special Representative in her call to parties to the conflict to remove all impediments to humanitarian access to children and to enable unimpeded access to education. And we welcome her continued engagement and cooperation with special mechanisms, including the General Assembly accountability mechanism (IIIM).”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“The International Criminal Court’s conviction of Bosco Ntaganda for the forced enlistment of boys and girls in armed groups, and the perpetration of sexual violence against them, is an important step forward in ensuring justice for children in conflict. It is also a milestone decision in recognizing sexual and gender based violence against both male and female child soldiers equally. The Trust Fund for Victims of the International Criminal Court has provided important assistance to children and it is in the process of designing measures providing collective reparations with individualized components for the victims and survivors of the Ntaganda case. Liechtenstein has been a donor and supporter of the Trust Fund for many years. The situation in Syria continues to be of grave concern to us.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“It requires the Chief Prosecutor to appoint advisers with legal expertise on violence against children and the International Criminal Court to take measures to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses, and to have regard to age in this respect. Engaged in the prosecution of crimes committed against children from its inception, the International Criminal Court has been vital in determining how to handle cases involving child soldiers, including complex cases with children involved both as perpetrator and victim. The case of Dominic Ongwen is a prime example: Found guilty for a total of 61 crimes comprising crimes against humanity and war crimes, he himself was kidnapped and forced into military service at a young age.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“Depriving children of access to education and thus violating the right to education also has a devastating impact on sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated inequalities and limited access to education. The Safe Schools Declaration remains an important tool and its effective implementation is key. The international justice system has played a key role in ending impunity for grave violations against children. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has been exemplary in its child-sensitive approach.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“In times of quarantines, lockdowns and other restrictions on movement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is particularly important to ensure access to reporting mechanisms and to safe, timely, quality, age - appropriate, survivor-centred medical care and mental health and psychosocial support services for all survivors. We reiterate our strong support for the efforts of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to shed light on victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, including men and boys, in line with Security Council resolution 2467 (2019). We furthermore continue to be alarmed about the attacks against schools and other education institutions. Such attacks violate the right to education and often constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“This also includes the objective, consistent and transparent practice of listing parties that have committed grave violations against children and those that have and have not put in place measures during the reporting period to improve the protection of children. Liechtenstein remains deeply concerned about the high occurrence of sexual and gender based violence against children. Such violence is often underreported owing to fear of stigmatization and cultural taboos, in particular when perpetrated against boys, as also documented by the All Survivors Project. A culture of silence continues to impede accountability and justice, and contributes to further cycles of violence and persistent harmful gender stereotypes.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“25 years ago, the General Assembly created the children and armed conflict agenda – as a response to the many devastating effects of war on children. While the children and armed conflict mandate has had a positive impact on the livelihoods of many children since, the current situation sadly illustrates its continued urgent relevance. The number of grave violations against children remained high in 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increased their vulnerabilities. We reiterate that the protection of the mandate’s independence and integrity is crucial to its effectiveness and credibility.”
2021-06-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/617 (2021) · source
“It should be in the primary interest of the Security Council to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian crisis and the worst- case scenario of a famine in the region.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“It is also a grave violation of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group Code of Conduct enshrining the expectation of 122 States for the Council to do better in precisely those situations. The situations in Yemen and in the Tigray region of Ethiopia are also of grave concern. While Liechtenstein welcomes the agreement between the World Food Programme and the Government of Ethiopia on humanitarian access, the situation is clearly nowhere close to ensuring that the people receive the necessary humanitarian assistance. Liechtenstein welcomes the Council’s recent agreement on a press statement on the situation in Tigray (SC/14501) — an overdue reaction by the Council that we hope will soon be followed up.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“Syrian Government forces have destroyed vital humanitarian aid supplies intended for its own people for many years, including as recently as last month in an airstrike on a non-governmental-organization-supported warehouse, and systematically attacked medical facilities more than 400 times since the beginning of the war. Meanwhile, the ongoing threat by some veto-wielding members of the Security Council to end the mandate for the final border crossing at Bab Al-Hawa is a direct threat to the survival of 2.8 million civilians in need in Syria’s north-west. That is one of many, albeit a particularly blatant, instance of how the constant threat and use of the veto prevents the Security Council from taking vital action.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“We are thankful to our partners who have joined that endeavour and look forward to forthcoming report of the Council of Advisers on the Application of the Rome Statute to Cyberwarfare. Let me briefly mention some situations in which that topic is particularly relevant to the Council’s work and should meet with the corresponding disposition of the Council to act. In Syria, the Allouk water station — the main water supply for 460,000 people — had its supply cut approximately 20 times in 2020. That led to some parts of the region going without water for more than a week. Cuts to water supplies, which are self-evidently indispensable to survival, are extremely concerning, and Liechtenstein recalls that ultimately it is the Council’s responsibility to ensure that access is consistently maintained.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“We therefore very much welcome the decision taken by the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in 2019 to fill a gap in the Statute by adding the starvation of civilians in non-international armed conflict to article 8 of the Statute, upon the initiative of Switzerland. Given the rapidly changing nature of warfare, it is important to also consider the relevance of cyberoperations in that discussion. To that end, Liechtenstein, together with 10 other States parties to the ICC, has created a Council of Advisers of eminent experts in international law to discuss how the Rome Statute, including its elements on the deliberate deprivation of resources indispensable for survival, applies in the context of cyberoperations.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“The activation of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the crime of aggression on 17 July 2018 was therefore an important step forward. We encourage all States to ratify the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute on the crime of aggression. We would also remind Council members that the possibility of referring aggression situations to the ICC is a powerful new tool that the Council has at its disposal. In the context of the protection of civilians after an armed conflict is triggered, the Rome Statute provides that the term “‘conditions of life’ may include, but is not necessarily restricted to, deliberate deprivation of resources indispensable for survival, such as food or medical services, or systematic expulsion from homes”.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“It must take a long-term and comprehensive perspective on security, with human security at the centre of its work. It should also consider further the contribution that the protection of civilians can make to the prevention of future conflicts and the perpetuation of ongoing ones. The most effective way to protect civilians is by averting armed conflict in the first place, and, indeed, the goal of preventing armed conflict was the driving idea behind the creation of the United Nations. The Charter of the United Nations is clear that the use of force is in fact illegal except in narrowly defined, exceptional cases. We view the deterrent effect of the criminalization of illegal war-making as an essential part of the protection of civilians agenda.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“Liechtenstein is grateful to Viet Nam for having organized this debate and recognizes the importance of the topic to the Security Council’s work, as well as to the protection of civilians agenda as a whole. Notably, the destruction of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as food, crops, livestock and water, is not only an outcome of conflict but also a root cause, as people are increasingly brought into conflict with one another over dwindling resources to sustain life. Attacks that result in the destruction of such objects heighten the insecurity of people, often for a long time, at times with that specific intention on the part of the perpetrators, in which case they amount to war crimes. The Security Council has at its disposal the tools necessary to deter such actions by ensuring accountability.”
2021-04-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/415 (2021) · source
“The necessity of addressing questions of self-determination as a potential source of conflict is therefore clear. Paying attention to upholding the human rights of minority groups, finding — where necessary — appropriate forms of self-governance within a State and ensuring the engagement of relevant communities in preventing conflict in an inclusive manner are all ways in which the international community can help to address this highly prevalent, but often politically sensitive, aspect of conflict. Early engagement and dialogue by regional and subregional organizations is an important factor in that regard; their capacity for early action as well as their understanding of the nuanced historical contexts and perspectives involved in relevant situations can lead to more sustainable forms of conflict prevention and resolution.S/2021/394”
2021-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/394 (2021) · source
“With regard to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Liechtenstein appreciates its key role in addressing the deteriorating situation in Myanmar, a role that was also supported in recent Council products. Regional and subregional organizations can also work in concert with the Council to magnify shared thematic priorities — for example, on women and peace and security, which is a priority of the current Swedish OSCE chairpersonship. Liechtenstein has long had a particular interest in preventing and resolving conflicts that relate to questions of self-determination, which often emerge from tensions between communities within a State. Conflicts relating to self-determination have accounted for around 50 per cent of armed conflicts since the 1960s.”
2021-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/394 (2021) · source
“To this end, close cooperation with regional and subregional organizations is an indispensable component. Solutions grounded in local contexts, at the earliest stage possible, have the best chance of ameliorating tensions and reducing conflict. We see this in the example of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), whose comprehensive approach to security encompasses all stages of the conflict cycle. In particular, Liechtenstein wishes to highlight the work of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, who, by identifying tensions early can address potential issues before they result in the outbreak of conflict.”
2021-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/394 (2021) · source
“The coronavirus disease pandemic has served to further emphasize the necessity of seeing human security as a starting point for the Security Council’s work. It has also underlined the need for solidarity, unity, transparency and intensified effective international and multilateral cooperation in addressing the pandemic and its consequences. Never have so many people felt so insecure simultaneously. Work to this end could include Council contributions to system-wide discussions on negative security impacts of the pandemic, including, but not limited to, the areas of climate and biodiversity, poverty and hunger, health, education, gender, freedom of expression and information and privacy. The holistic approach associated with human security requires the Security Council to take on a greater field of vision.”
2021-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/394 (2021) · source
“The effective work of, and cooperation with, regional organizations is essential to the Security Council’s effectiveness. As mentioned in previous submissions to the Council, a sea-change is needed in how this body conceptualizes its approach to conflict prevention and resolution, as well as the means through which it does this work. The Council, considering the whole of the conflict cycle, can do prevention earlier and better by applying a more comprehensive paradigm of security in its work. Upholding human rights, encouraging progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and combating climate change must all be seen as early investments in ensuring that each individual can be more secure, and therefore an investment in peace.”
2021-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/394 (2021) · source
“The Council has laid a foundation on a limited number of these issues, including through its women and peace and security as well as climate and security agendas. These should be expanded and complemented by a similar engagement in all other security- relevant areas. A more open attitude on the part of the Council towards the work and expertise of the rest of the United Nations system is a necessary first step in this regard and would be a welcome sign that the Security Council understands itself to be an integral part of the United Nations that contributes to the overall goals and purposes that the international community has committed to through the Charter and the countless important agreements developed on its basis.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“While standards in this respect vary significantly within the various peace operations, Liechtenstein sees room for improvement across the board. Moreover, Liechtenstein is concerned at the sustained efforts being made by certain States to weaken this dimension of peace operations, including regularly during budget negotiations. Where the Security Council takes a broader and deeper look at security, it can have positive impact, such as with its current thematic agendas. The Council should draw the right conclusions from that and ensure that it contributes to system- wide discussions on the negative security impacts of the pandemic, including but not limited to the areas of climate and biodiversity, poverty and hunger, health, education, gender, freedom of expression and information and privacy.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“They would indeed have provided a model to significantly limit the pandemic’s impact had there been better progress towards their achievement before the outbreak of COVID-19. But the SDGs are also the blueprint for how to build back better in a way that remedies vulnerabilities in our current system. The Security Council and its peace operations can play a key role in that regard. Human rights and the rule-of-law components of peace operations can help lay the foundations for more accountable institutions, enhancing inclusion and strengthening democratic processes and the fight against corruption, in accordance with SDG 16. Accordingly, the mandates of all United Nations peace operations should systematically include strong and effective human rights and rule-of-law components.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“It should also have an interest in introducing a clear justice component into the PBC’s work — an omission that has prevented the Commission since its inception from maximizing its potential and that should be rectified also in the light of the parameters for sustainable peace given in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community has agreed on the most ambitious and most comprehensive human development programme, and indeed human security programme, ever devised. They include a clear acknowledgement of the need to sustain peace based on international law, in particular human rights, cooperation, solidarity and multilateralism.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“In this way, the Council has an opportunity to embrace and build on the work of other organs and agencies of the United Nations. The exceptionalism often displayed by the Security Council is as much outdated as its restrictive agenda setting. Both need to change if the Council is to retain relevance and legitimacy in the light of the present security threats. Formats for cooperation across the United Nations system should be expanded; some already exist, most notably the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). The Security Council could contribute constructively to the work of the Commission in helping to reassess the criteria to establish configurations.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“But its handling of peacekeeping mandates remains inconsistent and is dominated by a militarized approach. The ongoing pandemic offers an obvious opportunity to review that approach. Many States already stated the obvious in the Security Council in July (see S/2020/663): never in the history of the United Nations have more people felt more insecure as a result of not only the virus itself but of its devastating knock-on impacts. The world has seen wide-ranging human rights restrictions and increased risks of mass poverty and hunger, a massive negative impact on education, increased inequality and heightened social tensions. For that reason, Liechtenstein appreciates the fact that the Council has chosen to look at COVID-19 through the lens of sustaining peace.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“The Council should prioritize upholding human security and analyse how threats to it can be best prevented or resolved, an imperative given the increasing evidence that crises of a similar nature are likely to recur. With its peace operations, the Security Council has a powerful tool at its disposal to foster sustainable peace and comprehensive security. Unfortunately, the use of that tool diverges greatly in terms of political aspirations and technical quality. In some contexts, such as in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, the Council has been able to articulate a more comprehensive approach to security in its peacekeeping mandates.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“Liechtenstein conveys its gratitude to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Retno L.P. Marsudi, for having convened this second open debate on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Council thereby has set a basis for a hopefully regular engagement on the primary security topic worldwide. Sooner rather than later, that engagement should also yield tangible results, building on resolution 2532 (2020). In addressing the pandemic, the Council is taking an important but insufficient step to revise the paradigm of peace and security, which has been proved inadequate to deliver on the expectation of the membership that the Council act comprehensively and preventively against all threats to international peace and security.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“Children across the world are missing out on education and are at increased risk of suffering abuse and violence and, in situations of armed conflict, forced conscription. The pandemic and its ripple effects exacerbate the problem of modern slavery and human trafficking, which requires renewed determination to implement bold solutions, including those promoted by Liechtenstein’s Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking initiative. All this points to the clear need for a better understanding of the links between pandemics and security. The Security Council should significantly increase its efforts to analyse these links with a view to improving early and preventive action. Today’s debate is a good start to that discussion, and Liechtenstein expresses its hope that the Council will sustain its engagement.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating already fragile security situations in Yemen, where it is overwhelming an already fragile health system, and in Syria, where cases continue to rise, adding to the plight of the many civilians in need of humanitarian assistance in both countries. People on the move are particularly vulnerable, as the Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire acknowledges and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently reaffirmed before the Council (see S/2020/560). Women face higher exposure to the virus in their essential roles as front-line workers, and they may experience greater economic hardship, as they are overrepresented in the informal sectors. Women in lockdown also face an increased risk of physical and psychological abuse.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The SDGs provide a model not only for how to overcome the crisis of the current pandemic. They are also our blueprint for how to better prepare for future crises of this dimension by comprehensively addressing climate change, poverty, hunger, health, education gaps and inequalities, among other things. While the pandemic affects all countries and impairs human activity at all levels, the challenges are by no means evenly distributed. Past experience points to complex interlinkages between health emergencies and conflict situations. On the one hand, health emergencies, such as the Ebola outbreak, have had very severe security impacts. On the other hand, conflicts have led to increased vulnerability to disease as, for example, in South Sudan.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“In addressing the drivers of conflict, the Security Council should display openness to embracing and building on the work of other organs of the United Nations to address global challenges to our common security. The extent to which the Council succeeds in that respect will also determine how relevant its work is in the eyes of the membership and the general public over the next 75 years. With the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community has agreed on the most ambitious and most comprehensive human development programme ever devised. The SDGs include a clear acknowledgement of the security dimension of sustainable development and constitute a human security programme based on international law, in particular human rights, cooperation, solidarity and multilateralism.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The pandemic has significant and visible security impacts, from wide-ranging human rights restrictions and increased risks of mass poverty and hunger to deferrals of important political processes and heightened social tensions. It has also highlighted the interlinkages between global health and developments in climate change, biodiversity and cybersecurity, inter alia. A proactive approach by the Council to these developments could significantly increase the efficiency of its work, in particular in its preventive dimension. There is a strong indication that the number of situations of concern before the Council that are driven by climate change, health emergencies, economic tensions and other external shocks will only increase in the future.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Today’s debate is an important contribution to a much-needed effort in the Security Council to broaden its overly narrow security paradigm. That paradigm has proved insufficient to embrace the full spectrum of security dimensions that determines international relations and domestic policy today and to deliver on the expectation of the membership that the Council act preventively against threats to international peace and security. The so-called thematic agendas of the Security Council are an essential contribution towards implementing its mandate, and they must obviously include global health emergencies such as the current pandemic.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The Security Council’s call for a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda and its support for the Secretary-General’s efforts in that respect, as well as its call for a 90-day humanitarian pause, are important political signals. They would have been more impactful had they been issued with fewer caveats and closer to the Secretary- General’s call for a global ceasefire, which is supported by an overwhelming majority of the United Nations membership. Liechtenstein has, together with other States, pursued early action on the pandemic in the General Assembly and is encouraged that General Assembly resolution 74/270 ultimately also helped the Security Council to overcome its deep divisions for the sake of a common position on COVID-19.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Liechtenstein welcomes this open debate and thanks Foreign Minister Heiko Maas for his leadership in bringing urgent attention to the coronavirus disease pandemic — a crisis of enormous proportions that will continue to significantly shape our domestic and international policies for the foreseeable future. Never before in the history of the United Nations have more people felt more insecure than today, faced with the immense health, economic and social fallout of this global pandemic. It is high time that the Security Council addressed the security implications of the pandemic after months of self-inflicted oblivion. Liechtenstein welcomes resolution 2532 (2020), on coronavirus disease (COVID-19), finally adopted yesterday after painstaking negotiations.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source