YouSaid · the spoken record

Grandi

lines on the record: 204
first: 2017-11-02
most recent: 2023-10-31
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

“We hope that, in parallel, the members of the Council will continue to strive to find solutions to the conflict, thereby providing the necessary foundation for the work that all of us who are dealing with refugees do to address their plight.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“That is greatly appreciated. I will conclude, Mr. President, by echoing what almost all members, if not all members, mentioned, which is the importance of the Global Refugee Forum, which will take place in Geneva in December. I thank Switzerland for co-hosting it with us. I thank France and Japan for being co-conveners, together with other countries. It will truly be a moment at which not only Government but other actors including, as many mentioned, the private sector, academia, international organizations and development institutions, will come together in what has become, and what truly is, the most important global forum on refugees. I hope that all members will be able to secure high-level participation in those important discussions, in which many aspects of the response to the global displacement crisis will be discussed.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“This is not meeting the budget requirements; the amount is far below what is required. It is unprecedented, certainly in my eight years as High Commissioner. I therefore issue a very strong plea to Council members’ capitals and to those of other Member States for all of them to come and help humanitarian organizations, and UNHCR in particular. I welcome the fact that the representative of the United Arab Emirates mentioned the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh — those coming from Myanmar. I appreciate statements, but we need funding. That programme is severely underfunded, and many of our donors are not contributing to it. I think that it is important to also remember that aspect. In this respect, I warmly thank Gabon for setting the example and not only talking about the need for funding but contributing to the response in the Sudan.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“This is why — and I welcome the reference made by the representative of the United Arab Emirates in this respect — we hope and trust that displacement linked to climate, whether or not in relation to conflict, will be an agenda item at the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including trying to find the resources to address this particular aspect of the climate crisis. I want to repeat what I said, but in even stronger terms. The financial shortfall that many of us in the humanitarian community are facing, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is very dramatic. On 31 October, two months before the end the year, we still do not have the $600 million to simply do the work that we must do.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“I have been invited by the President precisely to look at ways to try and solve forced displacement when it is internal to a particular country. Many made the very correct link with climate. Climate is a factor of displacement. I have spoken here at the Council in past years about it. What is very relevant for members, of course, is that when climate factors overlap with conflict, or sometimes even cause conflict, that in turn leads to displacement. We see it in the Sahel, for example. We see it in the Horn of Africa and many other places.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Two thirds of the people forcibly displaced, of the 114 million to whom many members referred, are internally displaced people. There is an important agenda by the Secretary-General to pursue solutions for internal displacement. Just this morning here in New York, together with the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the issue, we had a meeting with interested Member States to try to pursue solutions for internal displacement. I want to applaud those members whose territory is a theatre for internally displaced people and are conducting work to try to address that internal displacement. I want to particularly thank Mozambique for its own statement in this regard. I hope to visit Mozambique soon.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“We are observing now, through the very route of the central Mediterranean, the arrival of people originating from areas of recent conflict, including Sudanese, who are coming because of the conflict in the Sudan, and Syrians again, who are fleeing from the Middle East, and we will continue to see that. I appreciate all efforts that are made to address the complex flows across the Mediterranean but unless the root causes are addressed, including conflict, as we discussed today, the risk that such flows will continue, and even increase, is very high. Some members, not many, mentioned internally displaced people. I did not elaborate on that in my briefing, but we should not forget that this is a very important segment of forced displacement.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“As Council members know, and as I mentioned, but let me repeat it again, we have been engaged in important dialogue with the Government of Syria on creating the conditions for refugees to return. If refugees ever return, it will be thanks to the combination of two factors: first, the action undertaken by the Syrian Government with regard to refugees’ rights, protections, access to services and to their homes essentially and, secondly, international support. Those two factors go together, and the work that we are doing to try to join the two tracks will continue with the support of many Council members. Let me also mention another area, namely, the central Mediterranean, which was mentioned by Malta, of course, as it is in the middle of that situation. I want to reiterate something that I tangentially mentioned in my opening.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“I want to reiterate our concern, now from the UNHCR perspective, about the impact that the crisis can have on the region in particular and even beyond, including the risk that the crisis begins to overlap with existing other consequences of other conflicts. We should not forget that Lebanon, in addition to being a fragile country itself, hosts more than 1 million people from Syria and Palestinian refugees. So those are all important factors to be looked at as Council members continue to discuss ways to stop the war and find a political solution to the conflict. The Russian Federation and others spoke about Syrian refugees and the importance of return.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Therefore, I welcome those representatives who have made statements to reiterate the need to strongly support UNRWA, which has been very poorly funded for a number of years. I mentioned it in my opening that it is an organization I know well, having led it myself, and I hope that the events of the past few days have proven how important an organization it is for the Palestinians and for the stability of the region as well. The priority, naturally, lies with allowing more supplies into Gaza to help people in Gaza across Gaza’s borders as soon as possible before the humanitarian crisis becomes unsustainable, and the priority lies, of course, also with the humanitarian ceasefire, which has been mentioned by many.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Mr. Grandi: I will be brief, but let me start by thanking Brazil. It is an honour to be invited here for this yearly opportunity to meet with the Council and be hosted by you, Mr. President, on the last day of your presidency. I take it also as a recognition of Brazil’s exemplary refugee policies which you, Sir, have just alluded to. I want to offer a few additional remarks on the many observations that several Council members have made regarding the situation in Gaza in particular and in the Middle East to reiterate that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does not have a mandate to operate in the Palestinian territory, and as Council members know, Palestinian refugees in that area are the responsibility of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“But in many places that lifeline is becoming thinner by the day. Being alone, being exposed, being short of resources make me wonder how much longer we can continue. Humanitarians are tough, but humanitarians are near a breaking point. And what will the Council be left with when they have to go? The gravity of this moment cannot be overstated. The choices that the 15 members of the Council make, or fail to make, will mark us all — and for generations to come. Will the Council continue to allow this jigsaw of war to be completed by aggressive acts, by its disunity, or by sheer neglect? Or will the Council take the courageous and necessary steps back from the abyss?”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“We are engaging, and therefore we are exposed. But we persist because the people cannot wait for a peace that is not pursued. And on top of this, we are being asked to do more with less. Forgive me if I talk money, but I must because humanitarian work needs resources. UNHCR alone urgently needs $600 million before the end of the year, and prospects for next year are dismal, with big donors cutting aid, and others who could help not engaging in multilateral support. UNRWA, whose crucial role is now clear to all, has been left chronically underfunded. The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross all face the same financial crunch in their humanitarian activities. We therefore prioritize and reprioritize. We cut rations, shelter and staff, hoping to maintain a lifeline to those in need.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“And there are different challenges as well — also a reflection of our unstable world — for example, in countries such as Myanmar, Afghanistan and elsewhere, where the combination of conflict, human rights violations and humanitarian challenges means that delivering aid — indispensable to save lives — requires interaction with de facto authorities in fraught and often dangerous political contexts. I appreciate the risks, and also the work done by the Council on humanitarian carveouts, which I hope will continue. Because in these situations we need flexibility — from those in control of the territory first and foremost, but also from our supporters. The reality is that humanitarians are trying to pick up the pieces of the jigsaw in those places as well — places where most Governments find it too difficult to operate.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Recognizing the extraordinary burden represented by millions of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, for example, we continue to work with the Government of Syria in bridging the still wide gap of trust and creating conditions for refugees to eventually return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity. That is why it is frustrating when we find windows for solutions, like for example in Burundi, and we do not have the funds to help people return home and restart their lives.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“And let this life-long humanitarian worker tell the Council that we need its voice to address each one of them. Not “their” voices, “its” voice — a strong, united voice carrying the authority that the Charter vests in the Council, but which the world does not hear any more, drowned as it is in rivalries and divisions. From where I sit, this has become difficult to understand. As a believer in multilateralism and in the role of the United Nations, I simply cannot accept it. Humanitarians are being asked to pick up the pieces and help more people in more places. We are asked to keep going for longer and to try to hold more things together, while little political capital is spent on making peace. Please rest assured that we will not give up, even when it is difficult.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Look at places such Central America and elsewhere, where we observe growing patterns of unresolved crises compounded by criminality, including by gangs that cause displacement, and where increasingly complex population flows now also include many arriving from Africa and beyond — testament to the global nature of displacement and despair. Each new crisis seems to push the previous ones into dangerous oblivion. But they stay with us. Look at Ukraine, where the plight of all civilians, including more than 11 million people forced from their homes following the Russian invasion, continues and is particularly acute now as winter sets in again, as members just heard (see S/PV.9464). Their suffering must not be forgotten, and that conflict too must be resolved with a just peace for the people of Ukraine. Look at all those crises, Mr. President.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Look at the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where one of the worst effects of modern conflict — horrifying violence against women — is so widespread as a tool of war as to make the world almost numb to the reports received every day of more women and children raped, exploited, killed — violence that drives people from their homes every day. Look at Armenia, where 100,000 refugees fled Karabakh in a matter of days, the result of yet another unresolved conflict that had been allowed to simmer for decades.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“I welcome the resumption of the Jeddah talks and hope that they will at least help reach a ceasefire soon. Look at Lebanon — reeling from economic collapse, in a country where one in four people is a Palestinian or Syrian refugee — a concrete symptom of not one but two unresolved conflicts at that tiny country’s borders. Look at the Central Sahel, where among grave political instability the brutal violence that has terrorized civilians for years is rising again, increasingly driving people to Africa’s coastal states, which are rightly very concerned, against the background of a climate emergency that is relentlessly wreaking havoc across the poorest countries.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Just six months ago, Governments and media were very focused on that situation as their citizens were being extracted from a war that had erupted without warning and turned previously peaceful Sudanese homes into cemeteries. Now fighting is growing in scope and brutality, affecting the people of the Sudan, and the world is scandalously silent, although violations of international humanitarian law persist with impunity. It is shameful that the atrocities committed 20 years ago in Darfur can be happening again today with such little attention. As a result, almost 6 million people have been forced from their homes; more than 1 million have fled to neighbouring and often fragile countries, and some of them have already moved on to Libya and Tunisia and are crossing the Mediterranean on flimsy boats towards Italy and the rest of Europe.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“While UNHCR does not have a mandate to operate in the occupied Palestinian territory — and let me especially pay tribute here to UNRWA and other humanitarian staff for their heroic work and to express my deepest condolences for the now 67 colleagues who have been killed — it is clear that this latest and deadliest round of violent conflict risks infecting the wider region and beyond with catastrophic consequences, including in places where UNHCR is very much present and working to help protect and assist the displaced and solve their plight. The conflict in Gaza is the latest, and perhaps largest, piece of a most dangerous jigsaw of war that is rapidly closing in around us. But we have — the Council has — the responsibility to remember that it is not the only one. Look at the Sudan.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“I hope that now, amidst the horrors of war, we can at least see how grave a miscalculation that has been. There will be no peace in the region, or in the world, without a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the end of the Israeli occupation. I hope that the remarks of the Secretary-General here in the Council last week (see S/PV.9451) will help everybody reflect on the need to turn this sombre page, as difficult as it may be, because it is vital. The opposite is deeply troubling.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“The world is waiting for it to do so. But one must hope that a ceasefire becomes the first step towards again embarking upon — finally — the path towards a solution. Over many years, including those during which I headed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), I have observed how solving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict was always described as “elusive”. But it has not been elusive; it has been repeatedly and deliberately neglected, cast aside as something no longer necessary, almost ridiculed. Dealing with the chronic resurgence in violence, followed by temporary ceasefires, was deemed more expedient than focusing on a real peace, one able to provide Israelis and Palestinians with the rights, recognition, security and statehood that they deserve.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“The past three weeks have provided devastating proof that disregarding the basic rules of war — international humanitarian law — is increasingly becoming the norm and not the exception, with innocent civilians killed in unprecedented numbers: in the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians and in the killing of Palestinian civilians and the massive destruction of infrastructure caused by the ongoing Israeli military operation. As we speak, and as members know, over 2 million Gazans, half of them children, are going through what my colleague Philippe Lazzarini has called “hell on Earth”. A humanitarian ceasefire — coupled, of course, with a substantial delivery of humanitarian aid inside Gaza — can at least stop this spiral of death. I hope that the Council will overcome its divisions and exercise its authority in demanding one.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“Mr. Grandi: Our latest figures speak of 114 million refugees and displaced people around the world. That is surely a tangible, but sometimes neglected, symptom of the world’s current extreme disorder. Including this yearly discussion in the Security Council’s charged agenda, Mr. President — especially these days — is consistent with Brazil’s commendable attention for the plight of the uprooted, for which I thank you. Forced displacement is also a consequence of the failure to uphold peace and security, and brutal conflict continues to be its main driver.”
2023-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9465 (2023) · source
“We hope that everyone here, as well as other countries, will invest in the preparation of the Forum and participate at an adequate level — it is a ministerial meeting — because it will be an important moment to reflect on all that we have discussed today and to look to the future with renewed determination, despite all the challenges.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I would like to conclude my remarks by thanking members of the Council for having mentioned the global compact on refugees, which remains an important toolbox adopted four years ago, the tools of which are available to everyone here, as well as other countries, to improve the response to refugee crises and crises of displacement. I would also like to thank the Council for having mentioned that the Global Refugee Forum, the first of which we held in Geneva in 2019, will be convened again at the end of next year. Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, the Niger and Uganda will be the co-conveners, together with UNHCR, and it will be co-hosted by Switzerland and UNHCR.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I would also like to thank the representative of India for his question, the matter of which is outside of my Office’s mandate. Palestinian refugees fall under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at least in the areas in which it operates. But if he will allow me, I would like to support his call for support to UNWRA. As he knows, I was the Commissioner-General of the Agency before becoming High Commissioner, and I think that its work in support of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East is very important and deserves full and sustainable support, even under the very difficult present circumstances. I think that I have covered all the points.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I would like to point out that while dialogue between the countries is of course very important, as the representative of China stressed, that alone will not guarantee the return of refugees. The conditions and discrimination that still prevail where they come from must be lifted if we want people to go back. Otherwise, as the people who want to go back always tell us, they will not do so until they no longer fear reprisals, violence or the other situations they endured just a few years ago — as everybody remembers. I am worried about the situation, because I think that with the political evolution in Myanmar itself, things have become more difficult. I was a little bit more optimistic before the military takeover last year, but we should not give up, and we should continue to insist on addressing that particular issue.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“We will also continue to work with the Russian Federation with respect to the Ukrainian refugees who are present on its territory — the representative of Russia mentioned that. I would like to highlight that we have a rather small operation in Russia, so we have very limited access, but we are available to continue to cooperate and to increase the access that we have to people, regardless of the country in which they find themselves. I would like to express my support to the representative of China, who mentioned many important points, including the one about genuinely continuing to try to create conditions for the return of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, which requires the cooperation of Bangladesh and Myanmar. That is undoubtedly a priority file for us.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I would like to echo that: we are concerned about the situation and will be appealing in the next few days to all States receiving Haitians to not to return people to a country that is extremely fragile. I know that the Secretary-General also has put forward some proposals for the situation in Haiti. It is at the moment a very complex and worrying situation, but from our point of view it definitely needs the Council’s attention. We will continue to work wherever Ukrainian refugees are present, and they are present in many parts of the world. I am on my way to Japan in the next few days, and I am going to meet a Ukrainian refugee community in Japan — so, really, there is quite a wide spectrum of host countries.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“And I can assure the representative of Russia, as well as others, that we will continue to talk constructively with the Government of Syria to try to remove the obstacles that prevent people from returning. I was in Syria myself not so long ago, a few weeks ago, and those are very complex but important discussions that we will continue to have in order to create those conditions, because we must recognize that the burden on the neighbouring countries — especially Lebanon, Jordan and Türkiye — is very substantive. But of course, as many of those here have said today, returns must remain voluntary. There was an important mention, I believe by Ireland, of the situation in Haiti.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, with whom I had a very long conversation, has also made it one of his priorities to bring under control the security situation, including the Al-Shabaab insurgency. I think it is very important, on the part of the Council, to support him in those efforts. On our part, we must step up humanitarian assistance in parallel as, hopefully, more territory becomes accessible to humanitarian workers. Some Council members mentioned the situation in Syria. I did elaborate further on that yesterday, in the Third Committee. I am also worried about the humanitarian situation inside Syria, and I agree that we need to step up our efforts. Resolution 2642 (2022) gives us space for early recovery projects, and I think that we need to do more of that.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“This year, our Executive Committee, which is not technically our governing body but is the main forum in which we interact with States, adopted a resolution on mental health. We all recognize that, with the very traumatic nature of conflict today, that is a very important aspect of our response. Before I conclude, I would like to mention a few specific areas that were also cited by some members. The United States mentioned the need to step up efforts in Somalia, and I strongly agree. I think that includes us as well, and this is one area in which, as I told my colleagues, we need to do more. I think it is a collective responsibility that we all share. The situation in Somalia is still very bad, although it has improved slightly in terms of humanitarian assistance.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“A humanitarian agency does not have any function of recognition; its function is to help the people. If we cannot be there, the people cannot be helped, and being there means having to be interlocutors with whoever controls that territory. That is a fundamental aspect of humanitarian action. If we have to negotiate too much because — understandably — in that particular situation there are sanctions, then it becomes cumbersome and difficult, and we waste valuable time. Therefore, if the Security Council can help us in that key area, and here I speak on behalf of all my humanitarian colleagues, then that will be invaluable. It is an urgent matter, so I make a plea for that. I believe the representative of Mexico mentioned mental health.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“Ethiopia is a large refugee host country and has been a host country for decades, and we work very well in those areas in which there is no conflict. In those areas where there is conflict, access becomes difficult. That is why I have made a plea for peace talks to succeed quickly, so that we can resume the improved access that we had only a few weeks ago. Therefore, access is possible when there is goodwill, and that is important for the people who are affected by conflict. I thank the many Council members who mentioned the initiative led by the United States and Ireland on the carveout. What we need is clarity and flexibility so that we can also operate in difficult political circumstances. We need to be everywhere. It does not mean that we recognize anybody. That is not our job.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“Unfortunately, that is going to happen this year, unless we receive urgent additional funding now and, of course, into 2023. I am fully aware that everyone is struggling and that budgets in donor countries are tight in the wake of the coronavirus disease response and the various impacts of the crisis in Ukraine. Nonetheless, I must tell it as it is and, unfortunately, the cost is very, very high. I thank those members who mentioned access. Access is a very difficult issue in situations of active conflict. I have mentioned access in parts of Ethiopia, but the issue applies to many other places. I would like to stress that it is particularly difficult in areas that are theatres of conflict. In Ethiopia, we work in many parts of the country.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I have been in this role for almost seven years, and this is the first year that I am expressing alarm at the funding gap. We have managed in previous years — we were never fully funded, but we managed. This year, in some operations, especially in Africa and in the Middle East, we are struggling with funding. Even in areas for which it would seem obvious that we should receive funds, such as the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and the response to the Syrian refugee crisis, which many members have mentioned, we are falling short. That means that we will have to make cuts. How am I to tell host countries that have been struggling under the weight of millions of refugees that we cannot provide the same level of cash assistance as in previous years?”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I must be frank and say that this year, with 37 emergencies, when I visit places and tell my colleagues that we are not doing enough, which I sometimes do, they ask me how we can possibly do more. We can no longer even find enough people to respond to those emergencies, because we are spread so thinly across the world in trying to counter those situations. Indeed, in my opening remarks, I said that we can be counted on. We will continue to lead and participate in humanitarian responses, but we are spread very thinly at the moment. If the situation does not improve in some places, I do not know how much thinner we can be spread and continue to be effective. That is just to sound the alarm, so to speak. What if we do not receive funding? This year, we do have a funding gap.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I mentioned in my opening remarks that it is also extremely important not only to continue to sustain global humanitarian efforts, but to ensure that there is no backtracking or reduction in development assistance, because the link between the two is fundamental. That is something I saw clearly in Somalia last week. Of course, we must ensure that the suffering Somali people receive food, medical care and shelter — all of those — through humanitarian interventions. However, if we do not simultaneously build their resilience and their immunity to the shocks of climate change, conflict and other hardships, we will continue in a spiral of humanitarian assistance that is unsustainable in the long term.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“I would like to echo the Canadian representative here in New York who, when I presented my report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly yesterday, took the floor to state that the reception and treatment of Ukrainian refugees should not be an exception, but the norm. It should be the model upon which we build when it comes to hosting refugees and basis for comparison. I think a very high standard has been set, which I hope will set a precedent. The United States, as well as many others — in fact, almost all members — mentioned the importance of continuing to support not only UNHCR, but also the humanitarian agencies, non-governmental organizations and others involved in providing humanitarian responses, with adequate funding.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“The representative of Gabon mentioned, and many other members echoed, that we must not apply criteria — and our response should not change — according to geographical area, or the place from which people come. I would stress that all people fleeing armed conflict, as well as discrimination and persecution, are equal in our view and must be treated equally. We will continue to insist on that, because it very important, but unfortunately it is not always the case. There is inequality even in the manner in which the victims of the worst situations are treated. That is something that we will continue to remind all parties to avoid. Some Council members mentioned — and I said so myself — that the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, particularly in the European Union but also in other countries, has been quite exemplary.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“As many are aware, every year we celebrate World Refugee Day on 20 June, and I always make a symbolic trip on that occasion. This year I went to Côte d’Ivoire, because that country, which produced almost half a million refugees during the difficult years of its own civil war — you, Sir, will be well aware of that, given that yours was one of the host countries — has now changed its trajectory and returned to peace and stability, with 90 per cent of refugees having returned. Those who have not returned will be integrated into neighbouring host countries, including Ghana. Therefore, I wanted to stress that, when positive political action is taken, solutions to displacement can be found. It is not always a negative trajectory, it can be positive, too.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“But as I have said in many forums, it is conflict that mostly continues to drive displacement, and of course that is why it is a tradition for me to come to the Council at least once a year to share my views with its members, because their work is closely linked to ours. We somehow pick up the pieces when the Council cannot reach political solutions. However, we appreciate the enormous difficulties involved in that, and we continue to encourage the Council in those efforts. One question today asked what the Council can do to best assist us. The best way is to continue to work on such political solutions. That is something that we ourselves cannot do, but we expect the Council to strive to achieve them so that our work is made easier.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“As the representative of Norway said so clearly, we will maintain protection at the heart of what we do on many of the front lines that the Council deals with from the political perspective. With regard to something that was mentioned by several members — of whom the representative of Brazil was the first — I want to stress that I mentioned climate change to highlight the complexity of today’s movement and the importance of considering such factors in the current general discussion on the climate emergency, with the approach of the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in November and next year. Given the importance of those forums, I would encourage that the connection to displacement and conflict be considered in them.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“Mr. Grandi: I thank you, Sir, for the statement that you have just made in your national capacity, which was virtually a summary of the main points that were discussed here this morning, and for your very wise advice. I would like to also thank all the members of the Security Council who expressed support for my organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and our partners and staff. That is very much appreciated. While I should have perhaps been clearer, I can assure everyone that despite all the challenges that we face together and our concern about the fact that political solutions are not forthcoming, we will continue to do our work.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“It was a condemnation of a world where those that have contributed the least to global challenges are suffering the most from their consequences, and of a world where the dramatic rifts that we witness every day here in the Security Council’s own debates are leading us all to the brink. The suffering, loss and despair of 103 million uprooted people and many more, which my colleagues and I witness every day, are not the fantasy of an idealistic humanitarian worker. They are very real. Allow them to be a humble, but compelling call to action.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“Fourthly and lastly, it is needless to say, but allow me to reiterate that we need the international community, starting with the members of the Security Council, to overcome its divisions and disagreements, at least when it discusses humanitarian issues, and hopefully when it addresses, or strives to address, the root causes that are displacing people around the world. That is because what I saw in Somalia last week was a condemnation of us all and of a world of inequality, where extraordinary levels of suffering are receiving scandalously low levels of attention and resources.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“Another perspective on safeguarding humanitarian action is that we should remember that, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, up to 80 million people live in areas under the control of non-State actors. They are often vulnerable or displaced. Many are caught up in highly politicized conflicts. Others live in countries under sanctions. But no matter how polarized the context, humanitarians must be able to operate everywhere that lives must be saved. At times, that may involve uncomfortable interactions with those who control the territory. I raise that because we are often forced to negotiate humanitarian carveouts, as they are called, on a case-by-case basis. I therefore welcome the current efforts in the Security Council to ensure greater predictability in such matters.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source
“But peacebuilding will fail unless development actors take more risk and boldly invest even when conditions remain fragile — Burundi being a case in point. Thirdly, humanitarian action must be better safeguarded, from different viewpoints. One is straightforward security. Threats to humanitarians are increasing, with deadly consequences, as we have seen in the past few days in Ethiopia. Parties to conflicts must protect our work and enable access to people in need. Furthermore, everyone must uphold international humanitarian law and contribute to preserving the civilian character of refugee settings, which is an increasing challenge in many parts of the world. Armed elements must be separated from refugees and those displaced, and those needing protection must not be conflated with combatants.”
2022-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9178 (2022) · source