YouSaid · the spoken record

Griffiths

lines on the record: 722
first: 2018-04-17
most recent: 2023-10-18
sittings or episodes: 57
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

“Wennesland but I would also like to thank our colleague, our Deputy Special Coordinator, President and Humanitarian Coordinator, Lynn Hastings, and the other humanitarians who are demonstrating unwavering commitment to providing essential assistance and relief. Their collective efforts and unstinting focus on key priorities based on operational needs exemplify not only the enduring commitment of the United Nations to extending hope and support but also the commitment of the humanitarian community and its supporters to doing the job that they have resolved to choose for their lives.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Lastly, I want to conclude by expressing my deepest admiration, gratitude and comity for the extraordinary people who are delivering life-saving and humanitarian services in Gaza and the West Bank, as they do in so many other parts of the world. Many of them are displaced or have lost loved ones. Many staff members in all our agencies have experienced that kind of suffering. The dedication and bravery of ambulance crews, health- care professionals and people working in hospitals and clinics are in fact a reminder of the fundamentals of humanity that drive our efforts to resolve differences through diplomacy, dialogue, kindness, generosity and accountability. I also want to express my profound personal gratitude. I have said it already in regard to Mr.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“What the people of Israel, Palestine and the region need, what we all need and what the Council’s mandate exists to secure, is for sanity and humanity to prevail, drawing on the provisions of international humanitarian law, and for urgent efforts to arrest any further descent into this brutal calamity. As Mrs. Nusseibeh said so eloquently (see S/PV.9442), the worry that many of us have is where this will leave us when the fighting has taken place. Of course, we implore the parties to respect international humanitarian law, and I want to be very clear that a humanitarian ceasefire would go a long way to easing the epic human suffering.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Since the start of the latest hostilities, the situation in the West Bank has also been deteriorating, as Mr. Wennesland said, and he would know. Last week was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations started recording fatalities in 2005, while the incidence of settler violence has also increased from an average of three incidents a day to eight. Suffering knows no borders. Widespread closures throughout the West Bank are having an impact on communities’ ability to access essential services, and there is a real risk of the situation spiralling out of control.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“We urgently need a mechanism agreed by all relevant parties to enable the regular provision of emergency needs throughout Gaza and to bring the level of distribution of assistance up to what it was before these terrible weeks, to 100 trucks a day providing assistance throughout Gaza to people in need. We must get back to that level of ambition. For that we need additional funding for agencies such as UNRWA, the World Food Programme and the Red Crescents in their leadership role. Without additional funding, UNRWA, which is already woefully lacking in funds, will not be able to continue to deliver core services. However, as Mr. Wennesland said when he made two very important points, Gaza is not the only location of concern in this deeply troubling conflict.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“UNRWA has a staff of 14,000 in Gaza still bravely working under such conditions, as do other agencies. The Red Crescents have many volunteers and are all ready to assist the people most in need. I am very grateful to many Member States for very quickly making emergency funding available for the immediate relief in Gaza, including from the Central Emergency Response Fund run by my Office and the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund. I thank all who stepped up so quickly. However, although we have a lot, what we do not have — and this is the killer and what we desperately need — is immediate and safe humanitarian access across Gaza, and that is the burden of our discussions with key parties.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“They must be protected in places of de-confliction, and they must have access to the essentials of humanitarian assistance for survival, which are available and regarding which we have all spent many hours in detailed negotiations with the parties. I am grateful to all the parties for the commitment they have shown to those negotiations. It means that the United Nations and humanitarian partners — I refer specifically to the great leadership of the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, whose leaders I met today — must be able to deliver relief to civilians in need throughout Gaza without impediment in places of their choice where they consider themselves to be safe and where we can seek to ensure that safety. We have humanitarian supplies; we have medical teams.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Because of the scarcity of water, in some locations, UNRWA — and I want to pay a special tribute to UNRWA for the way in which it has provided a buffer against suffering in such terrible times — is being forced to ration its provisions to one litre of water per person per day, bearing in mind that the minimum by international standards is 15 litres. Those people are getting one litre, and they are the lucky ones. As reported by UNRWA and other agencies, people are increasingly being forced to consume water from unsafe sources, putting the population at risk of waterborne diseases. Whether civilians move or stay, or whether they move again or stay where they first moved to — and that must be their decision — they must be protected. They must not be attacked inside civilian infrastructure.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“I want to pay tribute to the 15 staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Red Cross and Red Crescent personnel who were killed, and I have been meeting in recent days and the families of those who have fallen. We estimate that perhaps up to 1 million people have fled their homes to other parts of Gaza, but we do not really know. Many have done so in response to Israel’s announcement that civilians should leave northern Gaza for safety. But there is simply nowhere to go for civilians to escape the destruction and privation, both of which grow by the hour as missiles continue to fly and essential supplies, including fuel, food, medical items and water, run low.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“In just 11 days since the storming of Israel by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October, the death toll, as already mentioned, has already exceeded that of the 2014 hostilities, which lasted more than seven weeks. The pace of death, suffering, destruction and breaches of international law has not been exaggerated. In Gaza, more than 3,000 people have been killed, more than 12,500 injured and hundreds are unaccounted for under the rubble. Quite frankly, we do not know how many have moved from the north to the south to get out of harm’s way. We all know that the death toll includes humanitarians.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“It was no coincidence that one of the first humanitarian leaders on the scene after those events on 7 October was our dear friend and leader Mr. Tedros Ghebreyesus of WHO. It is imperative that the wounded and the sick receive the medical care they need. It is imperative that the parties respect their obligations under international humanitarian law. And it is our collective responsibility — we are all involved in this, we are not observers, we are all involved — to use all our influence to ensure that that is the case. This tragedy is characteristic of the crushing impact the conflict has had on civilians and, as Mr. Wennesland and Mrs. Nusseibeh have pointed out, the catastrophic consequences it will have if it continues to escalate, as we fear.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“I am compelled to reiterate, and it will not be a surprise to anyone, as everyone else has done on many occasions in the Council, that under international humanitarian law, there are simple requirements. There are simple rules of war that apply to all of us, whatever the provocation and — God knows that there has been provocation. Parties to armed conflict must protect civilians and civilian objects and take constant care to spare them from any attack. We have discussed that in the Chamber in relation to almost every other conflict around the world. This one is no different. International law affords specific protection to medical personnel and facilities to ensure that the wounded and the sick receive the medical care they need.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Gaza’s health services, as I have been hearing here in Cairo over the past day or two, are being overwhelmed by the extreme challenge of meeting the health-care needs of the rising number of wounded patients, all while facing significant shortages of medical supplies, water and fuel. The destruction of that hospital yesterday heaped further pressure on the crumbling, failing and sad health-care system. Not only were the victims rushed to the Al-Shifa hospital, one of the many other hospitals in Gaza on the verge of collapse, but Gaza has now been deprived of a facility that cared for more than 45,000 patients per year before the current hostilities.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“What happened on 7 October, the invasion into Israel and the taking of hostages, still missing and hidden away in Gaza, is simply wrong, against the law, unconscionable and unacceptable. Their unconditional release is an essential component of any return to the kind of normalcy that Mrs. Nusseibeh described to us before the meeting started. Since 7 October, 28 health workers in Gaza have reportedly been killed and 23 have been injured. There is no lack of courage. There is no lack of commitment in that population. There have been many reports of health facilities sustaining extensive damage — indeed the hospital had itself already been struck, as members know, on 14 October.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Dozens of health-care providers and caregivers — demonstrating their frankly extraordinary courage and commitment to remaining on site to do their duties and remain steadfast by their patients’ sides — were also in the building. The hospital was also hosting numerous internally displaced people, who either had nowhere else to go or were sheltering there in the expectation — or at least perhaps the hope — that it would provide safety. They were wrong. Reports to date indicate hundreds of fatalities — including hundreds of civilians and health- care workers. I associate myself with Mr. Wennesland’s call for a fact-based inquiry to find out how this happened. I want to say one thing of the highest importance to all of us in the humanitarian community and all of us who are governed by the rules of war and international humanitarian law.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the hospital in question was one of 20 in northern Gaza subject to the announcement by the Israeli authorities that civilians should leave for their safety. It is terrible to think about that the morning after. However, evacuation for many had simply not been possible due to insecurity, as we have been discussing in the Chamber today, the critical condition of many of the patients, and indeed the lack of ambulances, staff and capacity in the rest of the health system, which as members know is on its knees in Gaza. When the hospital was hit, it was fully operational and had breached its maximum capacity. It was therefore overflowing with patients, including women and children.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I would like to say what an honour it is for me to be on the same rostrum as Tor Wennesland, and I associate myself profoundly with every single word that he said, born from years of relevant experience, including not just looking at the horrors of the past 11 days but anxiously looking ahead to the horrors to come. I give all credit to Special Coordinator Wennesland. I also join him and all members of the Security Council in expressing my horror and despair at the explosion, which he described watching, as so many of us did, at the Al Ahli Anglican Episcopal Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday evening. My heartfelt condolences go out to the grieving families affected by that heart-wrenching tragedy. I also extend my sincerest wishes for a swift and complete recovery to all those who have been injured.”
2023-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9443 (2023) · source
“Some will go hungry, some will starve and many may die as a result of these decisions. We implore the Council and the world beyond it to help to make every effort to restore the spirit — what the Secretary-General at the time referred to as a beacon of hope — that those two agreements represented for all of us in a world of such difficulty and tragedy.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“United international support — including, I hope, from the Security Council — is essential if those efforts of advocacy and diplomacy are to be successful. And of course I want to reiterate our appreciation for the extraordinary efforts of the Government of Türkiye in supporting, hosting and overseeing so many aspects of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Let me conclude with a final and perhaps personal impression. We have all been so deep in the weeds in this project for so long, and this week has therefore been a week of sadness and disappointment. But for many of those 362 million people, it is not a matter of sadness or disappointment. It is a matter of a threat to their future and the future of their children and families. They are not sad. They are angry, worried and concerned.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“The humanitarian catastrophe that continues to unfold in Ukraine, which we have discussed before and will again, therefore continues to reverberate around the world, and that must end. As has so often been said, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be respected. And as the Secretary-General said yesterday, the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian ports — and we have both referred to this — may also constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. The bottom line is very simple. Food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and the Russian Federation remain of crucial importance to global food security today, despite the events of recent days. The United Nations will therefore continue its engagement with all involved to ensure that Russian and Ukrainian food and fertilizer can continue to reach global markets.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Of course, the higher prices will be most acutely felt by families in developing countries, who are already at risk and who tend to spend a much higher share of their household income on food, something that we have discussed in the context of many places in humanitarian need. Escalatory rhetoric also threatens to further undermine the safe transportation of food through the Black Sea more broadly. And with no access to ports or world markets, farmers may have no choice but to stop farming. In addition to the global effects, that would have an immediate impact on domestic food prices and the economic stability of Ukraine. That in turn would affect food security inside Ukraine and in the region.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Now the food they are harvesting may no longer be able to reach the global markets that so desperately need it. As I think we all know, global grain prices have spiked this week, threatening to undo the hard- won progress achieved over the past year, and that potentially threatens hunger — and worse — for millions of people. As of Wednesday, according to the World Food Programme, wheat and corn futures have risen by almost 9 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, in the largest single-day increase in wheat prices since the full-scale invasion began. And that is not surprising. It was predicted, and it happened. Much of the world relies on those staples being affordable, and that is under threat yet again.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“The Russian strikes on port facilities in Odesa and other Ukrainian ports that she also referred to are reported to have injured civilians and damaged infrastructure essential to the export of food. Before Monday, the facilities in those ports were protected installations, owing to their alignment with the export of food and other relevant products. As we can imagine, Ukrainian farmers are watching that nightly assault with great anxiety as they now harvest the crops — crops that had a future because of the Black Sea Grain Initiative — that they nurtured and protected in the shadow of war in spite of risks from landmines and unexploded ordnance, as Ms. DiCarlo mentioned, as well as the damage to the Kakhovka dam and the consequent flooding, to storage facilities, as we saw this week, and to infrastructure.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“As the Secretary- General highlighted earlier this week, the memorandum of understanding has also delivered concrete results over the past year, supporting the ability of increased volumes of Russian agricultural products to reach global markets. Together, the Istanbul agreements of 22 July 2022 contributed to sustained and essential reductions in global food prices, which by last month — before the current situation — were more than 23 per cent below the record highs reached in March last year. Monday’s confirmation that the Russian Federation was withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative was therefore immensely disappointing to all of us, including many far beyond this Chamber. The developments in the four days since, as Ms. DiCarlo has said, have been alarming.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“In the space of the 12 months since that day in Istanbul, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has enabled the safe export of close to 33 million metric tons of food from Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries, aboard more than 1,000 outbound vessels. I think that is an achievement that even on that day in Istanbul we could not have imagined. It was achieved thanks to the cooperation between the signatories to that historic agreement in war. It has allowed the World Food Programme to transport more than 725,000 metric tons of wheat in support of food assistance operations in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen, the countries that are now impacted by recent decisions.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Many humanitarian plans, as we have discussed, including this week, remain severely underfunded. For millions of people around the world already, the margins are fine and their capacity to withstand further shocks is limited. Almost exactly a year ago to the day, we celebrated the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the memorandum of understanding on Russian food and fertilizer exports. Those agreements were a decisive international response to spiralling food prices that were undermining food security around the world. Their signing also represented something more. It was a demonstration that together, with goodwill and in good faith, we could achieve innovative, daring solutions that put humanity above politics, even in the most extreme of circumstances — in this case, an agreement between the two warring parties.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: As we have discussed in this Chamber before and on many occasions, and as Under- Secretary-General DiCarlo has just outlined, the war in Ukraine has had a significant impact on the world, far beyond the country’s borders — a world already reeling from an accumulation of shocks of which we are all well aware. The scale of global humanitarian needs under those circumstances is vastly outpacing the resources we have available. Just as a reminder, in my function as Emergency Relief Coordinator, I am responsible for the relationship and the representation of the humanitarian community to the now 362 million people in 69 countries who need humanitarian aid. Nothing anywhere near that number has ever been reached before, and an unprecedented $55 billion is required to meet the priorities within their needs.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“We can leverage more early-recovery funding on a reliable and dependable basis, continue to be present in north-west and north-east Syria, ensure that our aid there is not dependent on fluctuations within a shorter period of time and turn our attention to sectors in Syrian that, as I was reminded of in Damascus, have such a central role in determining basic needs, for example electricity and water — we can, must and should address those issues — only if we make our presence one of partnership and support for the people who have suffered these many years.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“We recall that President Al-Assad granted the United Nations access to two additional border crossings, among other emergency measures, which have renewed until August. I have no reason to believe that they will not be further renewed. I think that the Council sees our views on where we want the draft resolution to go, and they exactly reflect the Secretary-General’s statements to that effect. As Ms. Rochdi has reminded us, the humanitarian response in Syria is at a critical juncture, as is the future of Syria itself. On our side, considerable challenges are apparent, but, frankly, so are the many important opportunities.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“As I have mentioned — and I think that this is the most important point that I want to emphasize — it is conducive for early-recovery programmes, which do not function on six-month cycles, and barely do so for 12 months. We need to look farther ahead. And the Syrian people, who have had greater needs every year, depend at least on that kind of assurance. We have seen a range of donors, including your country, Madam President, fully fund — an unusual and excellent moment for humanitarian funding globally — the almost $400 million flash appeal in response to the earthquake. Member States have also bilaterally dispatched many trucks, boats and planes full of assistance, of which I heard more details when I was in Damascus the other day.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“The Council can certainly depend on our commitment to that end. The cross-line convoy represents an important moment, but it is also a reminder that it cannot replace the cross-border volume needed, as we regularly remind the Council. We will therefore need to continue with more time, effort and daily contacts in order to enable cross-line assistance to comprise an increasingly larger portion of humanitarian assistance in north-west Syria. A 12-month authorization will enable us and our partners to deliver better humanitarian outcomes in the months ahead. It is as simple as that. Operational planning, staff recruitment and fundraising can be undertaken in a more deliberate fashion. An authorization for another year, until next July, will ensure aid flows in the desperate winter season, which will present a risk for a shorter period.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“In my view, a 12-month authorization reflects a pragmatic outlook on the current operations, and it is particularly relevant to the need of programming early recovery and leveraging early-recovery funds from donors. On a monthly basis in the north-west, the United Nations and its partners reach approximately 2.7 million of the most vulnerable men, women and children with essential and life-saving assistance. Most of those supplies go through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing, authorized by the Security Council. Prior to my arrival, as Ms. Rochdi mentioned earlier, several weeks of effort culminated in a 10-truck convoy from Aleppo safely reaching Idlib, with assistance for 22,000 people. We all know that such efforts to increase that cross- line assistance must continue and are essential.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“And as we heard, the Secretary-General has been very clear about his views on the need to see it renewed to cover 12 months and to include all and any cross-border points in order to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the north-west. His conclusion, of course, is a carefully considered one. It reflects the latest assessments about the humanitarian situation on the ground. Since the earthquake, we have been very pleased to be able to deploy United Nations staff to north-west Syria, which is extraordinarily useful. Those daily assessments point to growing needs and deepening hardship. Food prices in that area exceed the national average, which is already high. The highest concentrations of displaced families are along the Syrian-Turkish border. Cholera, which we often refer to in the Council, continues to spread.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“Rochdi said, in the weeks prior to my arrival in Syria, we witnessed a marked increase in violence in the north-west, particularly in Latakia and Idlib. It is with great sadness that we learned of the deaths of at least 11 people, including nine individuals who lost their lives in a bombing near a market in north-western Syria. Many more have been injured in recent days following an uptick in hostilities, reminding us that the war continues. I offer my deepest condolences, through the Council, to all the families affected by the recent violence. As we know, the Council’s cross-border resolution will expire in 11 days, on 10 July.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“A very vivid example for me was that the distinctions between “rehabilitated” and “reconstructed” schools should be relaxed to provide students with safe places to learn. At the moment, we can rehabilitate the inside of a building, but we cannot rehabilitate the building as a whole in order to restore it to its former purpose as a school for primary and secondary education. We also still need a stronger international consensus on this issue, although it has been building considerably, and your own country, Madam President, has been very much at the fore with regard to the importance of early- recovery programmes in Syria. In the coming weeks, I look forward to coming up with ideas on how to forge new partnerships and perhaps access new sources of funding on early recovery for Syria, and to discussions, particularly with the region. As Ms.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“But it is clear to all of us, I imagine, that further expanding early-recovery activities is the humanitarian community’s best chance to give support to the future of the Syrian people. Any move towards a more sustainable response will require a different approach, and crucially one with longer timelines and fewer red lines from donors, and I heard examples of that in my discussions with representatives of the United Nations and international and national NGOs in Damascus. Young people can receive vocational training but must also be mentored to turn those capacities into livelihoods. I heard about irrigation systems that can be constructed for communities of farmers without qualifying as development, which is of course taboo.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“What we are looking to do is to turn those pledges into money in the bank as soon as possible, given the exceptional adversity of the funding situation for humanitarian operations in all parts of Syria. After more than 12 years of crisis, there is also the issue of early recovery, which we have much debated and will continue to. I had lengthy talks about that in Damascus. Early-recovery needs pose a defining challenge to the humanitarian response across Syria. That is not to diminish the many other pressing humanitarian issues in Syria, and indeed, as Ms. Rochdi just reminded us, they are legion and include protection risks for women and girls and other vulnerable groups.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“Operations outside that particular plan are also challenged. I heard from the representative of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East that the Agency now has funds for only 18 per cent of its annual budget. It has never had such a bad year. Its operations for Palestinian refugees, the famous Yarmouk camp, for example, may grind to a halt in August if the situation does not change. Of course, we appreciate the considerable donor support and pledges made earlier this month at the seventh Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region. As High Commissioner Grandi, Administrator Steiner and my representative noted, every contribution helps significantly to alleviate suffering and bring some measure of hope.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“I am therefore sorry to say that millions of people across Syria — and they will be listening to this statement — will find little respite during one of the holiest times of the year. That hardship comes at a time when the United Nations and its humanitarian partners have very limited means to help the vulnerable people of Syria. This year’s humanitarian response plan — the largest in the world, incidentally, at $5.4 billion for humanitarian aid inside Syria — is less than 12 per cent funded, halfway through the year. It has never been quite so ill-funded in the history of the conflict. As we were briefed about last month (see S/PV.9333) and as I heard again in Damascus from the World Food Programme, a $200 million deficit will force it to slash its emergency food aid by 40 per cent, almost half, in other words.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“First, the people of Syria are suffering more today than we can truly appreciate. We have said so often in the Chamber that each year their suffering continues to increase. Today families across the country want to celebrate the holy day of Eid Al-Adha, and yet they are doing so with less food on their plates, little fuel in their stoves and less water in their homes. Households have to pool income from every possible source just to cover basic expenses and often do not succeed. Twelve years of conflict, the economic collapse associated with it and other factors have pushed 90 per cent of the population below the poverty line. There is even some speculation that the number is now higher.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I thank you, Madam President, for inviting me. I returned from Damascus yesterday with a greater sense of the profound humanitarian challenges about which Ms. Rochdi just spoke, but also of the urgent opportunities facing Syria. The mission was my third since the February earthquakes devastated the region. I travelled to Syria to resume discussions with President Al-Assad and Foreign Minister Mekdad. It was also a very important opportunity to hear about the challenges and opportunities first-hand from the United Nations and non-governmental organization (NGO) leadership, international and national, in Damascus. In Jordan, I was fortunate enough to have the chance to exchange views with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi about regional dynamics connected to Syria. The various discussions left me with several lasting impressions.”
2023-06-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9363 (2023) · source
“We stand ready to do everything we can to ensure we reach all those who have been affected and need assistance, but that will neither be easy nor straightforward. We are extremely concerned about the people in the affected areas that we are currently unable to reach, and we are operationally ready, at any time, to move with inter-agency convoys and aid personnel into Russian-controlled areas as well as those affected by today’s events. The people of Ukraine have shown extraordinary resilience. Our urgent humanitarian task is to continue to help them to survive — and then to be safe and to have a future — and we will do so in our terms to the best of our ability. And we of course stand ready to keep the Council abreast of any developments.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“The United Nations has no access to independent information on the circumstances that led to the destruction in the hydroelectric power plant and dam. Yet international humanitarian law is very clear: installations containing dangerous forces, such as dams, must receive special protection precisely because their destruction can cause severe loss for the civilian population. Constant care must therefore be taken to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure throughout all types of military operations. The damage caused by the dam’s destruction means that life will become intolerably harder for those already suffering from the conflict. The consequences of not being able to deliver assistance to the millions of people affected by the flooding in those areas are potentially catastrophic and, as yet, unmeasured.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“We are particularly concerned about the risks of mine and explosive ordnance contamination, as fast- moving water shifts projectiles to areas previously assessed as safe, thereby putting people in further and unpredictable danger. At least 30 per cent of Ukraine’s territory is mine-contaminated, according to the Ukrainian authorities, with Kherson oblast being the most affected in the country. The destruction of the dam may also, of course, negatively affect electricity generation. In addition, any uncontrolled decrease in the water level of the Kakhovka reservoir may negatively affect the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant downstream. Our colleagues at the International Atomic Energy Agency are closely monitoring the situation. As of this time, no immediate threat has been reported.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“I mentioned the loss of health care, water, electricity and heating for thousands of people and the massive numbers of those forcibly displaced. Today’s news means the plight of people in Ukraine is set to get even worse than the picture we had of it then. Immediate humanitarian needs are expected to grow as floodwaters move over the coming days and as assessments of the situation and the response continue. The Kakhovka dam is a key source of agricultural irrigation in southern Kherson and the Crimean peninsula. The sustained flooding displayed on our screens today will disrupt farming activities, damage livestock and fisheries and bring about widespread longer-term consequences. This is a massive blow to a food-production sector that, as we know, is already significantly damaged.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“Those efforts, which are a complement separate from and in addition to the Government of Ukraine’s response, include the sending of additional equipment such as power generators, mobile water- filter equipment and transportation for water trucking, with water being such a key issue resulting from this devastation. Multidisciplinary mobile teams have also been deployed to train and bus stations across the oblast to support those seeking evacuation. Cities in the west are preparing to receive those evacuees — families facing tragedy. When I last briefed the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine just three weeks ago (see S/PV.9321), I highlighted the civilian death and suffering being caused by the conflict on both sides of the front line.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“The Kakhovka Reservoir, which is formed by the dam, is a lifeline in the region and a critical water source for millions of people, not only in Kherson but also in Zaporizhzhya and Dnipro oblasts. Ukrainian authorities report that at least 40 settlements are already flooded or partially flooded in Kherson oblast, and that number is expected to rise in the coming days. Severe impact is also expected in areas controlled by the Russian Federation where humanitarians — my colleagues — are still struggling to gain access. The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have already stepped up operations today to try to address the impacts of this event. An emergency response is under way to provide urgent assistance to more than 16,000 affected people. That support includes drinking water, cash assistance and psychosocial support.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I thank you, Mr. President, for this chance to speak on this particularly tragic day. We have all seen the terrifying pictures of the catastrophe unfolding in Ukraine’s Kherson region as we speak. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam is one of the most significant incidents of damage to civilian infrastructure since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realized in the coming days, but it is already clear that it will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine — on both sides of the front line — through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods.”
2023-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9340 (2023) · source
“I am one of those who therefore calls on the Council and all Member States to support any effort that may bring about an end to the carnage and destruction that we have seen so clearly, vividly and continuously. In the meantime, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners remain committed to safeguarding the life and dignity of persons affected by the war and to the pursuit of peace, whether it be today, tomorrow or in the weeks to come.”
2023-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9321 (2023) · source
“For the reasons I set out, I hope Council members will agree that the continuation of the Black Sea Initiative is critically important, as is the recommitment by the parties to its smooth and efficient operation. We will continue to call on all to meet their responsibilities, as the world watches us very closely. I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the efforts, energy and commitment of the Government of Türkiye, which hosted our talks last week, brokered the deal, hosted us in Istanbul and intervened at all levels at every step of the way to reach a sustainable deal. It is clear that the people of Ukraine and millions of people around the world can ill afford a continuation of the war. More than ever, they need an end to the hostilities and a political solution to end the conflict.”
2023-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9321 (2023) · source