YouSaid · the spoken record

Holmes

lines on the record: 557
first: 2007-04-04
most recent: 2010-07-07
sittings or episodes: 25
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

“It has been used as a calculated method of warfare in places such as Bosnia, Rwanda and Liberia and is currently used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and occasionally in other conflicts too, including that in Darfur. Its aim is to brutalize and instil fear in the civilian population - especially women and girls, but also sometimes boys and men - to weaken their resistance and resilience through humiliation and shame and to destroy the social fabric of entire communities. Survivors are left with horrific physical and psychological scars. In the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 27,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in 2005 and 2006. From March 2006 to April 2007, 6,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in Ituri, also in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Only three days ago, the bombing of a mosque in Baghdad resulted in the death and injury of over 200 civilians. Similar trends in countries such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Somalia are profoundly worrying. Those who send so many young men and women to their bloody ends, along with their innocent victims, in order to foment ethnic or sectarian tension and violence bear a heavy responsibility. Those who keep quiet about such attacks or even privately applaud them share that responsibility and appear heedless of the likelihood that they, or their societies in their turn, may become victims of this inhuman method of spreading pointless death and destruction. Another repugnant manifestation of the deliberate targeting of civilians, also too common in too many of today's conflicts, is gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“One particularly horrifying trend is the increasing use of suicide attacks including car or truck bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), to use the chilling technical term. Such attacks are most often perpetrated quite intentionally in public places: places of worship, markets, squares and other civilian areas where people gather in the normal course of their lives and where there is no military advantage to be gained. The inevitable result is carnage among wholly innocent civilians, thousands of lives ruined forever and a pervading sense of insecurity, disrupting even the most basic forms of public life. In Iraq, UNAMI reports, over 700 civilians were killed and more than 1,200 injured in such attacks during the first three months of this year alone.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Civilians are too often deliberately targeted in order to create a climate of fear and to destabilize populations. We see this in calculated attacks by Janjaweed and other militias on innocent villagers in Darfur and Chad; in brutal sectarian, ethnic and 3 political violence in Iraq; in the large-scale killing and abduction of civilians, particularly women and girls, by ruthless armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as arbitrary executions and acts of banditry attributed to Government forces; and in assassinations, disappearances and other violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law by those bearing arms in places as far apart as Sri Lanka and Colombia.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“In Afghanistan and also in Iraq, in addition to the dreadful toll of civilian deaths caused by insurgents and militias on all sides, the civilian casualties resulting from security operations of multinational forces and Government security forces are of increasing concern, even if there is no suggestion of deliberate targeting. Last weekend in Afghanistan was particularly tragic - 18 children died as a result of separate attacks by insurgent and multinational forces - and the overnight news of possible further civilian deaths reinforces that concern. In Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) estimates, an average of 94 civilians died violently every day throughout 2006 owing to the actions of all sides in the conflict.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“In Somalia, fierce fighting in Mogadishu involving heavy weapons, between March and early May, resulted in the killing of over 400 civilians and the wounding of 700 more - for the most part, older people, women and children - as well as the destruction of countless homes and livelihoods. Civilian casualties resulting from the indiscriminate use of force - whether from Israeli military operations, from violence between Palestinian factions, or from indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel itself - have characterized fighting in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Civilians bear the brunt of indiscriminate firing and violence in populated areas, including cities, where warring parties fail to distinguish, or even to try to distinguish, between combatants and the civilian population; or where they employ methods of combat or types of weapons - such as cluster bombs - that are out of all proportion to any military advantage to be gained; or where, just as culpably, they deliberately place themselves among civilian populations to try to deter attacks or at least ensure that the opposing side will damage its own image by killing civilians if they do attack.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“As noted by the Council in its resolutions on the protection of civilians, such acts are flagrant violations of international 07-39152 humanitarian law. Yet, day in and day out, they are too often what we see, particularly in the internal conflicts and civil wars that have increasingly replaced wars between States in today's world.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“In northern Uganda, southern Sudan and Nepal, relative peace and stability are allowing some refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their homes and to begin the arduous task of re- establishing their lives. Implementation of the cluster approach should lead to a more coordinated protection response at the field level among United Nations agencies and their partners through the action of a specific protection cluster. In many places, however, the picture remains sombre and profoundly worrying. Allow me to highlight three areas of particular concern. The first is the targeting of civilians, whether deliberately or through lack of concern about the consequences of the use of force.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“I believe we are gradually making a difference as to what is regarded as acceptable and normal and that that will have a profound effect over time. The activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the four seminal resolutions of the Council and the specific inclusion in peacekeeping mandates of provisions on the protection of civilians are all key steps in changing the international environment. And we are seeing improvements on the ground in some areas. More robust peacekeeping and the strategic deployment of peacekeepers in the interests of protecting civilians has helped to facilitate returns or, at the least, an environment conducive to the provision of assistance in places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“And the increasingly widespread acceptance of these ideas and principles, together with the existence of institutions and staff specifically charged with monitoring and, where possible, ensuring their observance, is a huge step forward. So too is the agreement of 191 Member States in the 2005 World Summit Outcome (General Assembly resolution 60/1) on a fundamental "responsibility to protect", a norm that not only emphasizes the primary responsibility of each State to protect its citizens and those within its jurisdiction from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity but also recognizes the role of the international community and the United Nations in helping States to exercise that responsibility.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Those objectives include: security for displaced persons and host communities; ensuring access to those in need and a secure environment for humanitarian workers; strengthening the rule of law, in particular police and justice systems; protection of women and girls in particular from gender-based violence; involvement of women in decision-making and incorporating gender perspectives at every level and in all areas; ensuring the rights of children by preventing their recruitment, ending abduction, supporting family reunification and fulfilment of basic needs; action on disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of 07-39152 soldiers; and finally, arms control, mine action, reconciliation and reconstruction programmes. The list is long and important.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“However, protection of civilians in armed conflict also has a particular significance in the work of humanitarian organizations and in the context of the Council's responsibilities. For the Council, it represents a series of primary objectives outlined in its own aide memoire (S/PRST/2002/6, annex), prepared at the request of and adopted by the Council, which aim to transform the security, political, legal and moral environment in which all concerned operate.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“It is hard not to conclude that for all our advocacy on behalf of civilians in need of protection, and for all the resources that are now devoted to all aspects of protection by the humanitarian and peacekeeping communities, we are still failing to make a real and timely difference for the victims on the ground. That is an oversimplification, as I shall try to explain. But we cannot afford to do anything but look the facts in the face. Lip service is easy; effective action is much harder. Protection can mean different things. To most people it means what it says: physical protection of innocent people from those trying to harm them. We must not lose sight of that primary meaning.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Mr. Holmes: Thank you for this opportunity to brief the Security Council on the protection of civilians 2 in armed conflict. That is one of my top priorities, as indeed it should be for all Member States. In the four months that I have been Emergency Relief Coordinator, my visits have included the Darfur region of the Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, northern Uganda and Somalia. In each of them, and in too many other places as well, I have seen how hundreds of thousands of civilians have been uprooted from their ordinary lives by the effects of conflict and left stranded, their fate of no apparent consequence to those who fight around them. Countless thousands have been killed, injured, maimed, assaulted, humiliated, ignored and treated as less than human.”
2007-06-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5703 (2007) · source
“Finally I would like to thank those around the table who have paid tribute to humanitarian workers on the ground for their work in difficult and dangerous circumstances. That is much appreciated, and I will ensure that those comments are passed on to those concerned. Those tributes are fully deserved, particularly in places like Somalia and northern Uganda.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“I hope that the Council and the international community will address themselves to deciding what can be done to address the problem rapidly. On the question of the Juba peace talks, various representatives talked about the need to make sure that, whatever the outcome of the talks may be, they do not encourage impunity or amnesty and that full account be taken of the need for justice in the conclusion of the talks. I think that those points are well taken; there are being addressed in the context of the talks. That is why it is so important to find the necessary balance between the requirements of the lasting peace which the people of the area are desperately hoping for and the need for proper justice and accountability at the same time.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Let me simply assure him that we are extremely conscious of all of those points and very anxious to make sure that we work even harder than we have in the past to increase national capacity and reliance on local response as the first answer, because that is, indeed, a direction that we should be taking in the future. Others mentioned - as I did in my statement - the question of piracy off the coast of Somalia and the need for the international community to take a stand on this and make an effort to stop it. Clearly, it is a major impediment to, for example, the efforts of the World Food Programme to provide the necessary food aid to the people of Somalia, because the quickest and most reliable method of moving large amounts of food is by sea.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“But at the very least, it is vital that in any peace settlement that there may be between the LRA and the Government of Uganda, full provision be made for the free and voluntary return of those who are still held by the LRA against their will. The representative of Indonesia raised the question of the need for humanitarian relief efforts to take full account of local national sovereignty and the encouragement of local national capacity to respond to crises and disasters, and the need to make sure that international relief efforts do not, through their emergency aspects, damage longer-term development efforts.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“I would like to respond very briefly to one or two other points raised around the table. Some members, including the representative of Slovakia, mentioned, rightly, the question of children and armed conflict, both in the case of Somalia and in the case of Uganda. This is, indeed, a huge problem in Somalia, and all parties have, I think, been guilty in different ways and at different times of recruiting and using children - as internationally defined - as soldiers. It is vital that that process come to an end. In the case of Uganda, as various representatives pointed out, children, women and others are still being held hostage by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). I appeal to it again to release them now.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“That is where the problem - the gap in relief efforts or in development aid - normally arises. As I said, I very much hope that in the case of Uganda we can make sure that that gap does not appear and that there is the seamless transition from relief to development that we all want to see. I should also reiterate that, while the international community has a great responsibility in this regard and must do all that it can to make sure that that the transition works properly, there is an enormous responsibility on the Government of Uganda as well to provide basic facilities in local areas in terms of health, education, police and court presence and provision of water to make sure that people can, once they have returned home, settle in rapidly and resume their normal lives in an acceptable fashion.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The Government has established a joint monitoring committee aimed precisely at that process, chaired by the Prime Minister, and it is working with the international community on the spot to lead moves from the current emergency humanitarian action plan to the peace recovery and development plan, which I mentioned earlier and which is currently being worked up with the World Bank and others. So, there is good cooperation with the Government in that area. I think that, as I said, it is vital that the international community focus on this and on the question of the difficult move from immediate relief efforts with an emergency mindset - if I can put it like that - to longer-term development efforts, which normally involve different agencies with different, longer-term approaches.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Reopening it for humanitarian flights in the near future would facilitate access to particular areas. In general, I hope that the Council will keep a close eye on this issue and ensure that whatever declarations or resolutions it may adopt in future contain strong appeals for respect for humanitarian principles by all those concerned and for maximum facilitation of humanitarian access. The representative of Italy asked about cooperation with the Government of Uganda on the question of transition from immediate relief efforts to longer-term recovery and development efforts.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“But insofar as the central Government has control over those who are manning checkpoints, it is important that it pass the message down to those concerned that that is not an acceptable practice and is not to be used as a method of checking free movement by humanitarian workers, who are simply trying to help those in most desperate need. Again, I repeat that probably the single biggest thing that could be done to improve access for humanitarian workers is a move towards the kind of inclusive political dialogue and inclusive political settlement that we have all talked about around the table this afternoon. There may also be more specific things that could be done. For example, there are still some strategic airstrips which are not open for humanitarian access. For example, the airstrip at Merca, near Mogadishu, is not yet open.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“As I suggested in my initial remarks, I think that it is important that the central Government give instructions, disseminating them and making them public, that all concerned should be helping and facilitating humanitarian work and access as much as possible. It is clearly important that humanitarian workers not be harassed at checkpoints or requested to pay so-called taxes. That is not the case at the moment; I am afraid that they are being harassed and requested to pay "taxes". It is not always clear who is in charge of any particular checkpoint - they are simply armed groups.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The representative of France raised a question about what more we could do to improve access for humanitarian workers in Somalia. Of course, there is no simple, magic solution to this; it is something that needs to be tackled in a number of ways. I think that the most important starting point is the acceptance by every authority in Somalia - the Government and any others, local or otherwise, in control of territory or otherwise active - of respect for the principles of independence and impartiality of humanitarian action. The Transitional Federal Government has established an inter-ministerial committee, headed by the Minister of Health, to liaise with the humanitarian community and to deal with humanitarian issues. We welcome the establishment of that body, and we will work as closely with it as possible on these issues.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“There was support for full deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia. Also, there was agreement on the severity and size of the humanitarian crisis we now face, particularly with the size of the recent displacement from Mogadishu - which was, I think, the largest single displacement we have seen in the world so far this year. I was also grateful for the support expressed for the humanitarian relief efforts that are under way, which so far have not made as much impact as we would have liked, but we are continuing to step up our efforts. Also, I note the welcome around the table for the proposed visit by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the View that this should take place as soon as possible.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Mr. Holmes: Mr. President, may I take this opportunity to thank all the representatives around the table for their supportive and constructive comments. I hope their tributes to the comprehensive and detailed nature of my report were not simply indirect criticisms of its length. I also think that it would not be too optimistic to say that there does seem to be virtual unanimity around the table about the analysis of the situation and what we need to do about it in the cases of both Somalia and Uganda. I find that very encouraging, in particular in the case of Somalia. That support was, I think, genuinely unanimous about the need for genuine political dialogue and reconciliation as the best way of tackling the humanitarian problems as well as the problems of the country as a whole.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Little real improvement can be expected unless there is a satisfactory and fully inclusive internal political settlement. Otherwise, I fear the worst. In Uganda, on the other hand, the United Nations and the international community, working closely with the Government of Uganda, have the chance to bring to a peaceful end one of the most intractable conflicts in Africa and to make a real success of the return to their homes of the displaced people of northern Uganda. These people are poised between hope and fear: hope that the day of their definitive return home may be close, and fear that if the peace talks break down, renewed Violence could again wrest this prize from their grasp. I urge all concerned to do what they can to ensure that this perhaps unique opportunity is not missed.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“For example, many displaced people in Acholi raised with me their rising fears of Karamojong cattle rustlers, responsible for several recent killings and violent incidents. However, there have also been many concerns about excessive use of force by the Government and other human rights violations, for example as detailed in the latest report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. I urged the Government to take these concerns seriously and to step up their development efforts in parallel with the disarmament process. I have described today two very different situations, but both deserve close attention and help from the international community in general and from the Security Council in particular. In Somalia, the immediate humanitarian needs are huge and largely unmet so far.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“For our part, the United Nations will continue to support the Government of Southern Sudan through the Juba Initiative Project, helping in practical and political ways the Peace Secretariat and the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team. I believe that these talks also deserve full support from the wider international community and from key regional Governments. The stakes are high, both for northern Uganda and for Southern Sudan. I also raised with President Museveni and the Government the situation in Karamoja, in the north- east of Uganda. The Government is engaged there in a process of removal of the many illegally held weapons in that long-troubled region. This is, of itself, necessary and legitimate.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The Juba talks, with the mediation of the Government of Southern Sudan and the facilitation of President Chissano, are beginning to produce some results. At the same time, we are all aware that the process is fragile and that the issue of the International Criminal Court warrants will have to be properly addressed in a way that satisfies the requirements of both peace and justice. No one is following this with more intense concentration than the displaced of northern Uganda, who want above all to see reconciliation and lasting peace. That was, for example, the clear message from a group of former child abductees I met, despite their appalling experiences.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“This strategy, which should be implemented progressively in parallel with the continuing humanitarian relief efforts, will need the full commitment of everyone if it is to succeed. We cannot afford to fail, and we will have no good excuses if we do. But none of this will be possible without continued generous levels of funding. In 2006, the Consolidated Appeal for Uganda was 90 per cent funded. Worryingly, this year's Appeal is projected to be funded at only 50 per cent of its $303 million target. The World Food Programme has already had to reduce its ration to IDPs from 60 per cent to 40 per cent of full requirements. I therefore urge all concerned not to relax their efforts and their provision of resources just at the moment when they are most needed. The success of the peace process is the immediate key to this opportunity.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“We must also take into account important and difficult issues such as land rights; the continued demobilization and reintegration of ex- combatants; the fate of extremely vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, disabled and orphans, who are unable easily to return home; and the disposal of landmines and unexploded ordnance left over from the conflict. If the current positive trends continue, we can all see clearly the coming challenges and opportunities. We have to effect a seamless transition from relief to development, not something the international community has always been distinguished for. The Government of Uganda, with the support of the World Bank and the international aid community, is working up a peace, recovery and development plan.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Secondly, people who have either moved to new settlement sites or are commuting to their places of origin from their existing camp continue to need basic food and household items, but they also require access to services such as water and sanitation, health services and education in their new areas. Thirdly, those who have returned to their homes require a basic support package for the early stages, but more importantly, they need a large amount of development and reconstruction help to re-start their normal agricultural livelihoods, with re-established infrastructure and social provisions. Those three phases will coexist, often in close proximity, creating a complex situation which demands a flexible and highly coordinated approach.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“I was given similar messages in the nearby Namokora IDP camp, home to some 17,000 displaced people, where I spent the night after discussing the situation with camp elders around the traditional evening fire. They brought home to me their fears for their culture and their way of life if the conflict is not resolved soon so that they can finally return to their normal lives. The situation - with most people still in camps, some in half-way house satellite areas and others already beginning to return home - presents us with a triple challenge, which I was able to discuss with President Museveni and members of his Government. First, we need to go on providing vital humanitarian assistance to the 1.6 million people still in camps.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“It is important that the process of return continues to depend on free and informed choices by the people themselves. In Kitgum district in the Acholi subregion, I visited the new Labworomor settlement site for those who have left a large neighbouring camp and are moving towards their homes. The residents told me clearly that they would not feel safe enough to return to their homes for good until a final peace deal with the Lord's Resistance Army was reached, ending the 20- year conflict. Their desire for peace was strong and palpable. They were clearly following every twist and turn in the Juba talks with a mixture of anticipation and anguish. They also said that a full return would not be possible until there were basic services such as water, health care and education in their original home areas.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“A recent UNHCR report shows that a number of displaced people are tentatively moving out of the camps towards their places of origin. Some have already moved back home permanently. But that movement is not yet massive or irreversible. In the Acholi subregion, nearly three quarters of the 1.1 million IDPs remain in their original camps. One quarter are now in new settlement sites nearer their homes, often commuting daily to their villages of origin. But so far only one per cent, or just over 7,000, have permanently returned to their places of origin. In the Lango subregion, further from the sensitive border area, the situation is more encouraging still. Only one quarter of the 466,000 displaced people remain in camps, while the remainder - over 350,000 - have already returned home.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The situation in the conflict-affected districts of northern Uganda is improving, as security has increased with the major decline in attacks by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and as the efforts of the Ugandan Government and the international humanitarian community to help the displaced have borne some fruit. There is a degree of optimism in the air. Night commuting to avoid abduction by the LRA - once the most tragic face of northern Uganda, affecting over 20,000 children - has largely ceased. Nevertheless, there is a long distance still to travel and serious obstacles in the way. Camps still hold 1.6 million displaced people, though that number is significantly down from its height of 2 million three years ago.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“Many from Mogadishu have become IDPs themselves but, despite having to care for their displaced families, still travel for hours every day into the capital to carry on their work. It is mainly thanks to them that we are able to maintain at least some assistance to the Somalis who are in such desperate need. Let me now turn to northern Uganda, and a more encouraging picture. I have returned from my visit there with the belief that the Ugandan Government and the international community now have the opportunity, through supporting the political process in Juba and continuing humanitarian aid and in the transition from relief to recovery, to resolve one of Africa's major humanitarian emergencies - but that a major international effort is still required on all those fronts.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“These efforts need to be redoubled if there is to be any hope of a lasting peace, with Ethiopian forces withdrawn and the African Union force fully deployed. Otherwise, I fear, on the basis of what I saw and heard during my visit, that the chances of more long years of conflict, degradation and poverty are high. Meanwhile, it is of the utmost importance that the impartiality and independence of the humanitarian response be preserved and that the Transitional Federal Government and other Somali actors be fully supportive of it. I would like to conclude by expressing my appreciation for the efforts of United Nations and other humanitarian national staff in Somalia who, despite extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, continue to run vital operations.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“I have already made clear that $10 million is available from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for those and other projects. But I urge other donors to increase their response also, including through support for NGOs working hard to increase their presence and activities in Somalia, some of them for the first time. The biggest single contribution to humanitarian relief efforts would be the establishment of genuine stability, which would enable people to return home freely and to begin to re-establish their lives. That cannot come from a military solution but from inclusive political dialogue and reconciliation across the main political and other groups, which the international community has been demanding.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“I assured them that this was not true and that my own presence in Mogadishu was a symbol of the deep concern of the United Nations, political as well as humanitarian. We all have a responsibility to ensure that this is indeed the case, and not to turn our backs on Somalis in this latest hour of desperate need. As I speak, United Nations and non-United Nations relief organizations are doing all they can to step up further humanitarian relief efforts. Besides providing emergency food supplies, UNICEF is targeting 180,000 people in south central Somalia for shelter and other non-food items. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is aiming to provide emergency shelter, non- food items and support to basic services for 90,000 people.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“When I raised those concerns, President Yusuf rejected any allegations of Transitional Federal Government involvement. He nevertheless accepted my proposal of a Visit to Somalia by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to look into those claims. I hope that such a Visit can take place soon. During my short stay in Mogadishu, I was also able to meet with representatives from civil society, including elders and women's groups. They conveyed to me their concerns about the intimidation of civil society and the local media. Several also expressed their conviction that the United Nations and the international community in general had abandoned Somalia and were not interested in the fate of the Somali people.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“As I walked through the narrow spaces between still incredibly makeshift huts built with scraps of material and sticks, I tried to imagine the daily life of the children following me and the future in store for them. Frankly, not enough has been done to provide those people with the basic conditions of human dignity. I told the Council on 24 April that I had been particularly concerned by reports of severe breaches of international humanitarian law during the recent fighting, with indiscriminate use of massive force in civilian areas, apparently by all sides. There have also been many reports of major human rights violations, including abductions and unlawful killings, and there 3 are concerns over the apparently arbitrary detention, deportation and disappearance of individuals.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The Government has not yet suggested an alternative sustainable solution other than to suggest a return to the areas of origin. While I understand the Government's need to reinstate public institutions, it is imperative that alternative solutions be identified for that highly vulnerable segment of the population. After the meeting with the Transitional Federal Government, I was able to visit briefly a site where some of the IDPs have lived for up to 17 years. The building, by pure chance the former British embassy in Mogadishu, currently hosts over 150 families, the majority of them pastoralists who lost their assets in the early 1990s and moved to the capital in search of work.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“They suggested that only 30,000 to 40,000 people had been displaced by the fighting in Mogadishu and that half of those had already returned to the capital. They also strongly underlined the need for relief organizations to cooperate more with the authorities and to relocate rapidly from Nairobi to Somalia. In turn, I raised the fate of the approximately 250,000 long-standing urban displaced in Mogadishu, a significant number of whom are from the Hawiye clan and many of whom have fled the city. IDP sites which were situated in areas of high-intensity conflict have been abandoned, while those IDPs who were living in public buildings are unable to return, given the Government's stated intention to repossess those buildings.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“During my visit to Mogadishu, I discussed with President Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Gedhi the urgent need to increase relief efforts, for example by establishing better mechanisms for liaison and resolution of problems between authorities and the humanitarian community. I also urged the Government to issue instructions to control actions of armed groups at checkpoints; to ensure that visa, permits and customs problems were minimized; and to make clear publicly 07-35031 that all possible assistance should be given to agencies and non-governmental organizations engaged in providing humanitarian relief. The President and Prime Minister assured me that they were fully committed to helping. However, our discussion was complicated by disagreement on the severity of the crisis.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“The World Food Programme (WFP) and CARE have together distributed food supplies to around 180,000 people. However, the plain fact is that so far, assistance has not remotely matched the needs. There are pockets of South-Central Somalia which have remained inaccessible and obstacles to humanitarian access continue. Unfortunately, piracy is also hindering the World Food Programme's ability to move food by sea, while private contractors hired by humanitarian agencies to deliver aid are having problems with land convoys. There are, for example, checks every 10 kilometres in some areas, with so-called taxes of up to $100 per checkpoint.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source
“One particular concern is the plight of pregnant women having to deliver without medical help. Meanwhile, over 30,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea and associated cholera have now been recorded in southern Somalia, including almost 1,000 related deaths. In late April, harassment and intimidation of humanitarian staff, closure of strategic airstrips and administrative directives by the Transitional Federal Government were greatly obstructing humanitarian efforts. Over the last few weeks, progress has been made in delivering assistance, thanks in part to increased cooperation with the authorities. Around 290,000 displaced people have so far been reached with non-food items, while the health and sanitation response has involved support for hospitals, provision of medicines and chlorination activities.”
2007-05-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5677 (2007) · source