YouSaid · the spoken record

Guterres

lines on the record: 423
first: 2002-11-14
most recent: 2015-12-21
sittings or episodes: 28
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

“Let us not forget that religious wars are always, essentially, political wars. Peace cannot wait. The world needs a surge in diplomacy for peace, and I strongly hope that Vienna will be a key step for peace to be re-established as the number one priority on the international agenda.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“The European Union just decided to give â‚¬3 billion to Turkey for a plan of action to limit the onward movements of refugees - â‚¬3 billion to the country with the strongest economy in the region. The total cost exceeds that by far and will continue to rise, as will the price of the future reconstruction of Syria. But more importantly, if the conflict does not end quickly, it may be the end of Syria as we know it - and the same is true for Iraq. We are all aware of the complexities of the situation which the end of the First World War created in the Middle East - in the words of David Fromkin, that was "a peace to end all peace". But we must not allow today's sectarian divide to escalate to the level of the wars of religion that flattened large parts of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“But as legitimate as these concerns are, we must not forget that despite the rhetoric we are hearing these days, refugees are the first Victims of such terror, not its source. They cannot be blamed for a threat which they are risking their lives to escape. Yes, of course, there is a possibility that terrorists could try to infiltrate refugee movements, but that possibility exists for all communities and homegrown radicalism is, by far, the biggest threat, as all the recent incidents have shown. Those who reject Syrian refugees, especially if they are Muslim, are the best allies of the propaganda and recruitment efforts of the extremist groups. The war has to end, and quickly. The longer it drags on, the more difficult it will be to keep paying for its consequences.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“While the restoration of the caliphate may have been an aspiration for several groups since its abolishment by Atatiirk, we now have, for the first time, a terrorist organization that has the political objective of building a State and that effectively controls a large territory from which it can plan strikes anywhere in the world. This is a radical change even when compared to the worst of the international terrorism we have seen so far. The link to regional, European and global security is clear. Tens of thousands of young foreign fighters from around the world are in Syria or Iraq today. We know that many of them will travel back home, and we know the risks that entails.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“Ultimately, the fact that so many of the Syrians arriving in Europe are now coming straight from Syria demonstrates that the violence and human rights abuses inside the country are only getting worse and that the true solution for this humanitarian tragedy must be found inside Syria. As High Commissioner for Refugees, it is clear that my focus is on the people who have had to flee this war. But in this last meeting, allow me to say a few words as a citizen of the world because we face much more than a refugee emergency. The Syria-Iraq crisis - because that is what it has become - also has an enormous impact on regional stability and global peace and security.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“It breaks my heart to see these families, who have already suffered so much, forced to put their lives into the hands of criminal smugglers and traffickers who exploit them, rob them of their last savings, violate their most basic human rights, and often outright leave them to drown in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats. That is why I strongly support the idea of a vast programme forresettlement and other forms of admission to European countries and further afield - one that is large enough to help put an end to the tragedies of the Aegean Sea and the chaotic movement through the Balkans. Because if things continue as they are right now, I fear not only for the lives of refugees, but for the future of European asylum, as restrictive measures are already spreading like a Virus that also threatens to contaminate other parts of the world.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“I hope that the upcoming London conference will mobilize support not only for the vast humanitarian needs in the region, but also for longer-term approaches that combine self-reliance for refugees with effective international solidarity and responsibility-sharing with the host countries and communities. We need a new deal between the international community - Europe in particular - and Syria's neighbours. It is clear that without education for their children, access to the labour market and protection against poverty, more and more Syrians will see themselves left with only one option - moving on. After having seen their homes destroyed, their neighbours killed and their loved ones disappear; after having fled multiple times within Syria, faced poverty and lacked basic services in exile, they try to get to Europe to rebuild their future.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“Massive investments are required in support of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to prevent refugees from slipping further into destitution and to help Governments cope with the increased pressure on health and education, water, electricity and other public infrastructure. Of course such longer-term strategies need a stronger link between development and humanitarian efforts than is currently the case. The 3RP was a first step in this direction, but what is really needed is a change in bilateral and multilateral development cooperation policies and rules that would enable middle-income countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to benefit from several development instruments from which they are currently excluded.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“The refugee crisis has had an enormous impact on host countries and communities, affecting all aspects of daily life, from housing and unemployment to general price levels and public sanitation. The economies of Lebanon and Jordan have lost billions and billions of dollars as a result of the Syria conflict. We know Syrians will go on trying to reach Europe until there is a fundamental change in the factors that are pushing them to leave. There must be more international support to refugees and their hosts, and humanitarian assistance has to match the level of the needs. Even with the recent surge in funding triggered by the refugee influx into Europe, our Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) was only 52 per cent funded, with dire consequences for many families.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“Not having been allowed to work legally, refugees are increasingly vulnerable, dependent on scarce humanitarian assistance and forced to go into debt to feed their families. That has a particularly devastating impact on children; they drop out of school, go to work or get married early. Only half of all refugee children are in school. We are also worried that increasing numbers of people have no documentation, which puts them even more at risk, as many new refugee arrivals are not registering due to obstacles and safety concerns. In addition, thousands of children being born to Syrian parents in exile face a potential risk of statelessness. They are not stateless, but they face that risk for lack of registration.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“The enormous suffering and displacement inside the country continue and the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator just spoke about the humanitarian situation generating them. But the fact that two-thirds of the Syrians we interviewed in Greece had left the country in 2015 - with 37 per cent coming directly from Syria after just a few days in transit - shows how unbearable things have become. That is why it is so urgent to achieve the ceasefire foreseen in the Vienna talks and in the recently adopted resolution 2254 (2015). It is also obvious that Syrian refugees in the region are descending deeper and deeper into poverty. A recent joint study by UNHCR and the World Bank found that nine in ten Syrians in Jordan and Lebanon live below the respective national poverty lines.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“Mr. Guterres: I thank you very much, Madam President, for your kind words. Indeed, I have had the enormous privilege in the United Nations to serve the most vulnerable of the vulnerable people in the world. Nearly 1 million people have arrived by boat in Europe this year, more than 50 per cent ofthem Syrians. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) just published a survey of over 1,200 of them, and the findings confirmed something we have long suspected. Syria is experiencing a massive brain drain; 86 per cent of those we interviewed have a secondary education. Almost half have gone to university. One can only imagine the disastrous consequences of such an exodus on the future post- conflict reconstruction of Syria.”
2015-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7592 (2015) · source
“We cannot let that happen. This is not just a question of solidarity with those who are bearing the brunt of this crisis. It is a matter of preserving the very foundation of who we are and ensuring our common interests.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“In the meantime, Syria's neighbours need help that is adequate to managing the vast economic, demographic and fiscal impact of the refugee influx. The extraordinary efforts made by Turkey, where Syrians now have access not only to free education and health care but also to the labour market, are an enormous step forward. With more support across the region, we could help turn the refugees' situation around from one of dependency and unsustainability to one in which their economic self-reliance becomes an option that enables them to contribute to their host societies" development. The situation in the Middle East is a cancer that risks spreading and metastasizing. If things continue this way, we could see future developments spin out of control independent of our will, and with increasingly dangerous global consequences.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“I very much hope that with Governments coming together later this year in such forums as the annual meetings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Group of 20 and the Group of Seven will support these and other proposals. Now is the time to adapt to today's fundamentally changed reality, in which conflict, stability and development are linked. Thirdly, we must recognize the increasingly protracted nature of this refugee crisis. The ultimate priority objective of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees remains voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, in line with what most refugees prefer, but we have to recognize that for Syrians this option is not immediately in sight.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“This is true for not only Syria's neighbours, but also for countries like Cameroon, the Niger and Chad that border north- eastern Nigeria, or for those around Somalia. The fact that some of these are middle-income countries should not exclude them from this priority. The World Bank is now exploring various possibilities of making large-scale concessional financing available to Lebanon and Jordan, combining bilateral grants with its own usual loans. Ifthat strategy shift can materialize, it could go a long way towards helping those countries cope, and even to supporting a more positive attitude towards refugees' self-reliance and economic participation.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“But it is also essential for the structural investment programmes presented by the host Governments to receive development funding from the international community. This requires a fundamental review of development cooperation policies. Because Lebanon and Jordan are middle-income countries, the World Bank is not allowed to give them grants to help deal with the severe demographic shock they have endured. We have to redress this and other serious inadequacies in the global development cooperation architecture. Bilateral and multilateral development aid policies should include among their first priorities the countries that not only host large refugee populations, but are also fundamental pillars for regional stability and a first line of defence in ensuring the collective security of the international community.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“There is no way around this, and it is high time that all those who have an influence on actors in Syria put aside their differences and come together to create the conditions to stop the fighting. But as long as that remains a distant prospect, we must do everything possible today to prevent a further deterioration of the regional situation - a descent that could otherwise become irreversible. First, some immediate priorities must be addressed: providing more humanitarian aid to refugees and vulnerable host communities, and stopping the horrific loss of life in the Mediterranean. Secondly, there has to be massively increased support to the neighbouring countries. The funding announced in Kuwait last month to support the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan is an important signal of hope and must now be disbursed quickly.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“These include expanded resettlement, humanitarian admission, flexible visa policies, family reunification, or academic and sponsorship schemes. The unbearable tragedy in the Mediterranean can be tackled only through genuine international cooperation. I sincerely hope that the measures announced in Brussels yesterday will represent a first step towards collective and effective European action. One thing is clear - the situation in the region has become utterly unsustainable. After Iraq became so dramatically engulfed in the Syrian conflict with the attacks on Mosul and Tikrit last year, I do not know where the next disruptive shock will take place. I know only that it will come, and that things risk getting even worse. We all know that, ultimately, the only way to stop this from happening is a political solution to the conflict.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“As a result, dangerous coping mechanisms are on the rise, with more and more families forced to send their children to work or marry off their teenage daughters. There are also increasing reports ofrefugees resorting to survival sex to make ends meet. With conditions in the neighbouring countries worsening and refugees growing increasingly desperate, more and more are attempting the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. This month alone, twice as many people drowned as during all of 2013. We have long been calling on Europe to reinstate a robust search-and-rescue capacity and to focus on saving lives at sea, crack down on smugglers and traffickers, and create more legal avenues to safety for persons needing protection.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“Living conditions across the region are deteriorating, and there is insufficient international support to cover even the most basic humanitarian necessities. The World Food Programme, our privileged partner, was forced to reduce its food voucher programme by 30 per cent, with far-reaching consequences for refugee families. Our own cash- assistance programme in Jordan, for instance, targets only those most at risk, but with current funding levels we reachjust 22,000 households - less than two-thirds of those that should qualify, even with the strictest criteria. With an estimated 100,000 urban refugee families in Jordan living below the absolute poverty line, these interventions are little more than a drop in the ocean.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“It is my duty as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to ask Governments to continue letting civilians seek protection, but the conflict and the resulting refugee influx, in the absence of sufficient international solidarity, have had such an enormous impact on neighbouring countries that we are now seeing a growing host fatigue, as the Ambassador from Jordan said at our last meeting on this issue, and harsher policies imposed on refugees in some areas. There are increasing tensions between communities as local families struggle harder to cope the longer the conflict drags on. As humanitarian agencies, we are doing the best we can, but what we are able to provide is far out of proportion with the needs.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“Mr. Guterres: We are all longing for a shred of hope and some good news, but since my last briefing to the Council (S/PV.7394) things have only gotten worse. The regional spillover effects of the Syrian conflict are taking on dramatic proportions. Fourteen million people are now displaced due to the interlinked crises in Syria and Iraq. Security threats to neighbouring countries are growing. As a result, we have been observing a steady deterioration in the protection space for Syrians trying to escape the conflict. Security concerns in the region have led to border management measures that also limit refugees' chances of reaching safety.”
2015-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7433 (2015) · source
“In today's climate of rising panic, it worries me deeply that refugees are becoming mixed up with security concerns, confronting hostility in places where they thought they were safe. In several public debates, they have been made scapegoats for any number of problems, from terrorism to economic hardship and perceived threats to their host communities' way of life. But we need to remember that the primary threat is not from refugees, but to them. Syrians are now the biggest refugee population under UNHCR's mandate. As their number keeps growing and they become more vulnerable, the serious repercussions this has across the region only highlight the obvious: the urgent need for the international community to bring together all key actors and put an end to the conflict. There are no winners in this war; everyone is losing.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“Following the example of countries such as Germany and Sweden, other States in Europe and the Gulf region should consider offering legal access, with more opportunities, so as to alleviate some of the pressure on Syria's neighbours and give more refugees an alternative way of reaching safety. Without such alternatives, the number of people taking to the seas will continue to grow. Not only are they facing serious human rights violations at the hands of smugglers and traffickers; we now also see armed groups threatening to enter the smuggling business for their own purposes of sowing fear. This should remind us that protecting refugees also means tackling racism and xenophobia.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“But Italy's Mare Nostrum operation has ended, and the European Union's Triton initiative is limited in both mandate and resources. Europe must step up its capacity to save lives with a robust search-and-rescue operation in the Central Mediterranean, or thousands more, including many, many Syrians, will perish. To reduce the number of people getting on boats in the first place, more legal avenues are needed for Syrians to seek protection in third countries. Several States provide resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes, but the needs far exceed available spaces. We believe that one tenth of Syrian refugees would require resettlement as an adequate solution to their protection situation. Flexible visa policies, expanded family reunification, academic scholarships and private-sponsor schemes must complement these measures.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“As discussed at length during the Berlin Conference, the Syrian situation illustrates the inadequacies of today's development cooperation policies at a time of multiplying conflicts. To address this, bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as international financial institutions, should review existing criteria and priorities. It is absurd, for example, that Lebanon and Jordan have no access to World Bank grants because they are considered middle-income countries. As High Commissioner for Refugees, it breaks my heart to see Syrian families fleeing from a horrible war, forced to risk their lives again, on unsafe boats, to find protection in Europe. Since the start of 2015, more than 370 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean; that is one person drowning for every 20 who make it.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“Its programmes are designed to be funded not only from humanitarian but increasingly from development cooperation budgets. I hope that the upcoming Kuwait III conference will play a determining role in stabilizing the situation in the refugee-hosting countries. Beyond the immediate humanitarian priorities, it is crucial that development actors fund the plan's resilience pillar and the host Governments' plans. Countries such as Lebanon and Jordan need much more financial assistance, not only to local refugee-hosting communities, but also through Government budget support for the necessary structural investments in health-care systems, education, water and electricity supply, and other public infrastructure, which is cracking under the tremendous pressure.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“If this issue is not properly addressed, this crisis in the making could have huge consequences for the future not only of Syria but of the whole region. As humanitarian resources dwindle, abandoning refugees to hopelessness only exposes them to even greater suffering, exploitation and dangerous abuse. Abandoning their hosts to manage the situation on their own could result in serious regional destabilization and more security concerns elsewhere in the world. It should be obvious that in order to prevent this and to preserve the protection space in the region, refugees and host countries need massive international support. The regional refugee and resilience plan aims to bring together the humanitarian and longer-term efforts of host Governments and over 200 United Nations and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“The Turkish budget has already spent around $6 billion in direct assistance to Syrian refugees, and, in a landmark decision last year, the Turkish Government's temporary protection decree gave Syrians access to the country's labour market as well as to free education and health care. But in the global context I described, it is no surprise that growing desperation is forcing more and more Syrian refugees to move further afield. The dramatic situation in the Mediterranean illustrates this, with Syrians accounting for one third of the nearly 220,000 boat arrivals last year. With the refugee situation growing more protracted and more desperate, almost 2 million Syrian refugees under 18 risk becoming a lost generation. Many of the over 100,000 refugee children born in exile could face the risk of statelessness.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“The refugee influx has had a heavy impact on the economies and societies, mostly of Lebanon, Jordan and northern Iraq, overwhelming social services, infrastructure and Government resources. International support is far from keeping pace with the magnitude ofthe needs. As host countries face growing security risks due to the regional spread of the conflict and do not get the help they need to cope with the refugee influx, Syrians are finding it increasingly difficult to reach safety. The Office ofthe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) monthly registration figures in Lebanon have dropped nearly 80 per cent compared with early 2014, and the number of people entering Jordan has also dropped substantially. Meanwhile, it is important to underline that refugees continue to cross the border into Turkey in significant numbers.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“After years in exile, refugees' resources were depleted long ago, and their living conditions are drastically deteriorating. I have met middle-class families with children who are barely surviving on the streets and are praying to make it through the winter. Well over half of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are living in insecure dwellings - up from a third last year - and a survey of 40,000 Syrian families in Jordan found that two-thirds were living below the absolute poverty line. One father of four compared life as a refugee to being stuck in quicksand - every time he moves, he sinks further. With humanitarian appeals systematically underfunded, there is simply not enough assistance. At the same time, host communities are severely overstretched.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“Meanwhile, the Syrianrefugee crisis has overwhelmed existing response capacities, with 3.8 million registered refugees in the neighbouring countries. Lebanon and Jordan have seen their populations grow in the space of a few years to a point they were prepared to reach only in several decades. One third of the Lebanese population today is Palestinian or Syrian. Jordan is facing a similar challenge. Turkey has now become the biggest refugee-hosting country in the world. In addition, more than 2 million Iraqis were internally displaced in 2014 and some 220,000 sought refuge in other countries. The continued growth in displacement is staggering. But at the same time the nature of the refugee crisis is now changing. As the level of despair rises and the available protection space shrinks, we are approaching a dangerous turning point.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“Mr. Guterres: Briefing the Security Council in 2013 (see S/PV.7000), I said that the war in Syria had not only unleashed the worst humanitarian crisis of our times but it was also posing a terrible threat to regional and global peace and security. This is the reality we face today. Iraq saw the most frightening and complete spillover of an internal conflict into a neighbouring country in recent history. Lebanon has been on near-permanent security alert, and there have been increasing threats even to Jordan in the past months. As many as 20,000 foreign fighters from over 50 countries have reportedly travelled to Syria and Iraq since 2011, with their number nearly doubling during the course of last year.”
2015-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7394 (2015) · source
“Even if no cases have yet been identified, if the virus spreads to the country and no preventive measures are taken we can be sure that one day all the achievements in peace or development that we have achieved in that country will be lost. In that respect, we also commend the efforts made by the Government of Guinea-Bissau to prevent the spread of the deadly disease, and we ask Council members and international partners to support, financial or otherwise, the people and the Government of Guinea-Bissau in order to help prevent the spread of Ebola that we all know is affecting West Africa. Let me thank Council members for their attention. All the countries from the Portuguese-speaking Community are committed to supporting Guinea- Bissau.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“We are deeply grateful for that and acknowledge everyone. Today, Guinea-Bissau, a small and still a poor country, needs the same support. We feel the need and the duty to share what we have with our brothers and sisters of Guinea-Bissau. Today, each member of the CPLP is deeply committed to contributing to Guinea-Bissau in the coming years, as we have done in the past. As President of the CPLP, I would like to pledge our full support to the Prime Minister and people of Guinea-Bissau during the donors conference to take place in early 2015. We will continue to seek the full engagement of all international partners, and in particular the International Contact Group. Iwould also like to draw Council members' attention to the risk of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which also poses a great threat to Guinea-Bissau.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“In that regard, we also welcome the Secretary-General's recent report on Guinea-Bissau (S/2014/805) and its recommendations, and we endorse in particular the technical rollover of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. We look forward to the next report of the Secretary-General, which will include the findings and recommendations of the strategic assessment mission sent to the country earlier this month, and the comprehensive review of the mandate announced for early 2015. We profoundly believe that it is our obligation - whether we are a small or big country, a poor or rich nation - to give our support to a people that today is in great need ofit. For many years, Timor-Leste was blessed by Council members' support here in this Chamber, as well as by all the Members of the United Nations.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“On 29 October, the CPLP held an extraordinary meeting of its Council of Ministers in Guinea-Bissau, at which we expressed our deep appreciation for the positive role played by the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB), while encouraging the national authorities to coordinate with ECOWAS and all African States to reconfigure ECOMIB to support the implementation of much- needed reforms. We also call on the Security Council to give all its support to ECOMIB, which has played an extraordinary and very positive role in bringing peace and stability in Guinea-Bissau. We also recognize the very positive role played by the President of Rwanda and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, His Excellency President Trovoada.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“I urge Council members to read it because it contains some recommendations that will certainly be helpful to them and their own countries. This morning, the Prime Minister described for us the current situation in Guinea-Bissau and the vision that his overnment has for the people of that country. The CPLP and its member States remain deeply involved in coordinating efforts with the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union, the Peacebuilding Commission and the Guinea-Bissau configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as the International Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau to support the priorities identified by the Government of Guinea-Bissau.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“In that regard, we stress the vital importance of the international community's support in its technical and financial aspects, but also in ensuring stability to allow the national authorities to implement those reforms. For all its achievements, Guinea-Bissau is still a post-conflict country with fragile institutions and scarce financial resources. In his address to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session, the Prime Minister called on the international community for assistance, and specifically requested the reactivation of the International Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau as a privileged forum to discuss and seek support for the mobilization of international aid (see A/69/PV.17). This morning, we held the tenth working session of the International Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau. A joint communique' has been published.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“The recent actions taken by the authorities concerning security sector reform - especially the substitution of General Antonio Indjai as Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, the routing of all salary payments through the banks, the revision of the Armed Forces retirement roster and the identification of 100 personnel to retire by January 2015 - are to be commended. Those achievements show the strong commitment and steady leadership of the newly elected authorities. We welcome the Government's continuing reforms aimed at greater political and socioeconomic stability, as well as at consolidating the rule oflaw and protecting and promoting the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of all Bissau-Guineans.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“Politics in Guinea-Bissau is not as it was before. It is a new day and a new and great journey lies ahead for the people of Guinea-Bissau. Policies implemented by Prime Minister Simoes Pereira and his team evidence the change that has occurred in the country. I congratulate the Prime Minister and all of his colleagues for those policies. I profoundly believe that following that path will lead to success, not only in peace and stability but also in development for the people of Guinea-Bissau and, ultimately, for the entire region of West Africa - including even small countries such as ours that are very far away and situated in Asia.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“I would like to start by also congratulating the people of Guinea-Bissau on the holding of peaceful, free and fair elections earlier in the year and on the inauguration of the newly elected authorities, thus formally returning the country to constitutional order. In that regard, I would also like to recognize the very decisive supporting role played by the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, the Economic Community of West African States Mission in Guinea-Bissau and other partners. In its first 100 days, the Government, led by Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, has made very significant progress in improving the provision of basic services to the people of Guinea-Bissau, paying salary arrears, launching the new school year and seeing its programme and budget unanimously approved by the National Assembly.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“It is a great honour for us to take part in this afternoon's meeting of the Security Council. It is also a great honour to see you, Mr. President, presiding over the meeting. Australia is a neighbour and a friendly country that has supported Timor-Leste for many years in achieving peace and stability. Australia has also been a great contributor to the development process in Timor-Leste. I thank the Australian delegation, the permanent members of the Security Council and the non-permanent members that are present today for this opportunity. It is a great honour for us to address the Council on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), whose members are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste.”
2014-11-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7315 (2014) · source
“National and international efforts to respond to the current crisis therefore need to take into account all of the Central African Republic. They must also acknowledge that the reconstruction of a disappeared State is, as has been stated, an intensive and time-consuming process, which must go far beyond calm being restored and elections taking place.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source
“I was there four years ago when the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic ended its mission, and we had a camp of 5,000 refugees from the Sudan. There was no presence of the State in that region and no security at all, and we had to remove the refugees from the north-eastern part of the country to the centre, close to Bambari, as an absolute requirement for protecting them, because it was impossible to do so in that part of the country. There, in the north-eastern part of the country, the current leadership could easily be challenged, explaining some of the concerns that have been expressed over a possible fragmentation of the country, which can and must be avoided.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source
“She has appealed for the option to pay two months of the many that are due, and as of now, she has not been given those resources, which are absolutely essential to establishing her credibility and to enabling her to put in place the minimal requirements of a functioning State. The current events in the Central African Republic could also potentially destabilize the whole region. Continued brutality against Muslim communities could create a pretext for extremist terrorist forces, which are already present in other parts of the continent, to spread to its centre. While the violence has been concentrated in the west, we must also not forget the long-neglected east.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source
“That is a key focus of the Secretary-General's six-point initiative. The immediate reinforcement of international forces, in particular with police contingents to ensure security in the neighbourhoods, is the biggest imperative. Another is immediate financial support to the Government, to re-establish its capacity to function and put in place at least a basic police and justice system, able to arrest, try and jail criminals. I must say I was very impressed by the new President, but the thing that made more of an impression on me was when she confessed that she did not have a cent. Long after she was elected, she was still not able to pay any of the salaries in arrears.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source
“International forces are present in some of those sites, but if more security is not made available immediately, many of those civilians could be killed right before our eyes. There is a glimmer of hope in the fact that, in a few places, communities and courageous religious leaders are starting to take mediation into their own hands. The strengthening of the civilian capacity of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic to support mediation efforts- which was mentioned, with the Secretary-General insisting on its importance - is an urgent and decisive need. The demon of religious cleansing must be stopped and must be stopped now. To do that the most important protection and humanitarian objective inside the Central African Republic is the re-establishment of security and law and order.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source
“Although it is mainly made up of frustrated youth, criminal elements, ex-soldiers and militias supporting the former President, and although its main motivations have become revenge and looting, it was quickly mislabelled as Christian, which fuelled the interreligious dimension of the violence. Since early December, we have effectively witnessed a cleansing ofthe majority of the Muslim population in the western part of the Central African Republic. Tens of thousands of them have left the country, the second refugee outflow of the current crisis I mentioned, and most of those remaining are under permanent threat. Just last week, there were approximately 15,000 people trapped in 18 locations in the western part of the Central African Republic, surrounded by anti-Balaka elements and at very high risk of attack.”
2014-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7128 (2014) · source