YouSaid · the spoken record

Koofi

lines on the record: 25
first: 2021-10-12
most recent: 2022-09-27
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“I therefore ask the Council to stand with the people of Afghanistan, especially with its women. In fact, contrary to what the Taliban claim, their return has inspired many military extremist groups that are now operating on Afghan soil in order to pursue their missions. I must say that we have all worked hard for the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to be extended. With all due respect to my UNAMA colleagues, they have failed to fulfil their commitment on political dialogue and human rights. It is time for all of us to stand on the right side of history, together with the people of Afghanistan in their struggle to restore constitutional order. A safe, secure and peaceful Afghanistan can be a reliable partner of the world and a place for all of its citizens to live.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“It must be made clear that we are in support of engagement, but only with clear conditions, including with regard to funding and recognition. All of that should be met with an enormous level of flexibility by the Taliban. A safe and stable Afghanistan that can be a home to all of its citizens is in the interests of our neighbours, the wider region and global security. Let us not trap ourselves into the narrative that the Taliban have created — that they themselves are the only reality for Afghanistan and they are the only ones fighting other military extremist groups. The truth is that no military extremist group can dismantle another; only the people of Afghanistan, including its brave women in their long struggle, can dismantle all military extremist groups.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“I request that the Council initiate, and indeed facilitate, a stronger mechanism for a political dialogue. Today millions of eyes are on the Council and its decision. There is no room for violence. The only solution to the question of Afghanistan is a political dialogue. The Taliban believe that power is a gift to them from God, hence they feel no need to commit to a peaceful dialogue. We must collectively use all the leverage we have — if any — over the Taliban towards a meaningful and genuine commitment to dialogue and a peace process. That leverage includes engagement, which must be conditional on a basis of give and take. I would like to ask all of those here what they have gained in the past year by engaging with the Taliban.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“They claim that they have increased domestic revenue. They pay their soldiers through the domestic revenue that they have collected and, they want the rest of the international community to feed the people of Afghanistan. There is no accountability from their side to the people. What comes next? What now? It is high time for the Council to identify and list the individuals involved in those atrocities. Can such a measure influence the Taliban to change their course? We believe that it can. It is only appropriate that the Council extend and strengthen sanctions on the Taliban figures concerned as one of several measures needed to influence the group to leave the path of violence and commit to real dialogue and talks for the true and genuine peace desired by the international community and, more important, deserved by the Afghan people.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Sadly, the answer was seen in the new wave of violence that brought fresh and prolonged grief, anger and despair to the thousands of Afghan families that have lost their sons, daughters and loved ones. As of now, that wave of violence has taken on a new form, including through targeted extrajudicial and mass killings of different segments of the population, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. I would therefore like to ask the Council to recognize what is happening in Afghanistan as a crime against humanity. Everyone living in Afghanistan is in immediate need of food. It is not a matter of whether it is 24 million or 30 million people — the entire population in Afghanistan is in immediate need of food and aid assistance, as a harsh winter is coming. The Taliban have a good division of power.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“The compromise, flexibility and willingness of the people of Afghanistan and the international community, including the Security Council, to look beyond a dark past of systematic Taliban atrocities and into a future of hope, trust, confidence and peace extends back over a decade. Let us not forget that, in June 2011, the Council took the difficult decision to separate the Taliban Sanctions Committee from that of Al-Qaida. The Council decided to delist a significant number of Taliban from the Security Council Committee established pursuant to the sanctions regime under resolution 1988 (2011). That is what the Taliban called for, while promising to abandon violence and choose the path of peace. But what was the result?”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“When they take to the streets to protest, they are being silenced with violence. They are being arrested, tortured and disappeared with no accountability. They leave the country in search of peace and a better future, taking extremely dangerous roads to neighbouring countries, whose hospitality we are most grateful for. Their destiny in neighbouring countries is in limbo as they await their final destination. The Taliban see the women of Afghanistan as the main threat to their ideology. People in my country are experiencing a terrible human rights catastrophe, but that is not the only problem they face.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Afghanistan used to enjoy a highly dynamic free media, for which all credit goes to the nation for safeguarding. In the past year, however, 300 media outlets were closed. In 17 provinces, there are now no woman journalists. Before Kabul was handed over to the Taliban, there were 2,756 women journalists working in the media — there are now only 600 of them. The rest of those women were either fired or faced with enormous security challenges, compelling them to give up their jobs. Those women, who like the Security Council were at the forefront of protecting our common values and efforts to build an equal and just society, are now humiliated and oppressed and are becoming invisible. Those women are former security forces personnel, journalists, judges, Government employees and activists, inter alia.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Afghan women continue to ask me and the members of the Security Council: What have they done to deserve such a burden and to pay the price for such unjust policies? We must admit that we have all failed Afghan women. Women who used to be the sole breadwinners in their families, who constituted 30 per cent of the country’s civil servants, can no longer go into their offices. Their posts are being filled by men, leaving them with no means of income. In fact, when some of those women were asked to come in to sign their monthly payroll, the Taliban asked all the men to leave the office and not to come in to work that day. They do not even let women inside the offices. Can anyone here begin to imagine the indignity that the women of Afghanistan are enduring?”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Under the Taliban, the continued elimination of women from public life has made Afghanistan an open prison for women, who make up 55 per cent of Afghan society. Under the Taliban regime, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where girls from grades 6 to 12 are banned from going to school, and they do it in the name of tradition and religion. In fact, what they do is in contradiction with religion. Our beautiful religion places emphasis on education — the first verse that came to our Prophet, peace be upon him, was: “Read!”. The Taliban also blame the culture, while just last week, hundreds of girls in Paktia province protested, calling for respect for their right to education. The Taliban’s systematic elimination of women’s rights has become tougher day by day.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“I want them to imagine not being allowed to wear what they want and being deprived of their basic, fundamental human and Islamic right to education and work. Can they put themselves in the shoes of Afghan women for one minute and feel the pain? I am sure it is hard to imagine. Under the Taliban, Afghanistan has yet again become a safe haven for international military extremist groups in the region, inspired by the Taliban’s victory, that are trying to overthrow their own Governments. And it has become a place of horror for women and other groups. The Taliban has issued more than 31 sanctions, edicts and orders to eliminate women in Afghanistan, banning all their basic human rights such as access to education, employment and liberty. As a result, a generation of Afghan women have become prisoners within the walls of their homes.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“In the past, millions of Afghans left the country because of violence, and we are grateful to those who hosted them then. Now they are fleeing because of violence, uncertainty and economic deprivation, and because of the Taliban’s brutality and lack of governance. Under the Taliban, Afghanistan has become a lawless country. In fact, it is probably the only country in the world that does not have a constitution. Our Constitution is in limbo. It does not have a place for women, and it holds no future for the people of Afghanistan. I would like everyone, especially my brothers in this room, to imagine for one minute what it would be like if Afghanistan — or indeed the world — was ruled by women and they, as men, were not allowed to leave their homes without being accompanied by a woman.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Yet they are still hopeful that the Security Council, the main international body accountable for ensuring world order and stability and protecting the rights and dignity of all human beings, will act on their behalf. My people and our imprisoned homeland want the Council and the world to know what is happening under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. According to various estimates by the United Nations refugee institutions and other groups, more than 2.3 million Afghans have fled the country since August 2021. Millions more are looking to leave the country and are desperately trying to obtain passports and find a way out of Afghanistan. The mass departures of Afghans speak volumes about how they feel about being ruled by a militant group whose ideology represents the darkness of the past and personifies repression and terror.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“Ms. Koofi: As I was preparing to come to speak before the Security Council, I talked to a lot of women and men in my country, Afghanistan, about the message they wanted me to transmit to everyone here on their behalf. This is what they told me. The people of Afghanistan are disappointed, horrified and feel betrayed that the world is still not vocal about the current gender apartheid under the Taliban, a group that has no international or national legitimacy. The people of Afghanistan are disappointed that during the general debate of the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session, our world leaders did not talk about the 40 million people suffering in Afghanistan or the gender apartheid that the regime is perpetrating on its people.”
2022-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9137 (2022) · source
“That is entirely in the control of the United Nations. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other agencies must learn from the lessons of 1996 to 2001. When I was living in Afghanistan, I was a recipient of that. They must demonstrate a practical and clear gender-responsive aid plan. Let us remember that a safe, stable and just Afghanistan means a secure world.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“I know that we do not have many good experiences and examples of elections in Afghanistan, but there is no alternative to elections. People, with all their problems, stand by elections. We remember that people paid the highest price; their fingers were cut for voting, but they still exercised that right. Finally, as the humanitarian crisis looms, women and children constitute the majority of the vulnerable population. To reach them, especially given the gender- discrimination ideology of those holding power in Kabul, it is imperative that the United Nations demand the protection and inclusion of Afghan female aid workers and peacebuilders and other civic professionals and community organizations — not only the recipients but also the decision-makers. They are critical to the distribution and delivery of aid, and they are the neediest.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“The fact that there are thousands of people every day using their civic rights and protesting against what is happening in the country is a small example of how the current generation has transformed. The main lesson from the past 150 years of my country’s history is that a durable peace and sustainable State in a multi-ethnic and diverse country requires a pluralistic social and political structure. Hence the international community has to make it clear that it will work with the authorities in Kabul only if they work with all parties to map out a clear path that guarantees the fundamental rights of all segments of society, in particular women and girls, and their inclusion in the State. That should include a speedy return to the constitutional order through elections in which everyone should be able to take part.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“At a time when our societies are increasingly divided, Council members can promote the essential values of respect, compromise and dialogue. As a country of minorities, of several ethnic and linguistic groups living together for centuries during conflict and peace, inclusivity through the meaningful participation of all groups and power structures is more relevant today than at any other time in my country. People in my country today want meaningful representation. That is the message I wanted to convey to the Taliban during my negotiations with its representatives. I wanted to tell them that Afghanistan today is a transformed Afghanistan. The Taliban needs to adapt to the new realities of Afghanistan.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“Look at the situation in Afghanistan: thousands of people from religious minorities and other minority groups are forced to flee their villages and left with no home and no future. Only people who live in that situation understand the pain of being homeless and having no identity. Achieving the effective participation of minorities and ending their exclusion requires that we embrace diversity through the promotion and implementation of international human rights standards. There can be no place for discrimination, which scars societies and pushes communities to grow further apart. The public platform Council members enjoy comes with a responsibility to use it, and to use it wisely. As political and diplomatic leaders, Council members have the duty to bring in those who are different, rather than to push them out.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“As every Council member engages with the Taliban caretaker establishment, no matter what the strategic focus is, please remember that there are some 16 to 17 million women and girls in Afghanistan who do not know what tomorrow holds for them. That is heartbreaking. As a woman who has spent and lived all my life in Afghanistan, after 20 years of investment of blood and treasure, it breaks my heart to start from scratch. Another area where power imbalances can do harm is when they are directed — or rather, misdirected — at minorities. All countries in the world include persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Although situations greatly vary, common to all is the fact that too often minorities face multiple forms of discrimination, resulting in marginalization, exclusion, forced displacement and migration.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“We were told, “The decisions have not made; once the decisions are made, we will include you.” Let us be part of the decision-making. Do not decide on our behalf. Let us make decisions together with men in order to make the decisions sustainable, meaningful and acceptable to all. If women were only listened to and if the people of Afghanistan were only given more time to negotiate their future, we could have avoided the situation that we face now. Even if we had an agreement between the warring parties that was 50 per cent acceptable by all sides, it would be much better than the chaotic situation that we face now.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“The Sustainable Development Goals — our common blueprint for building peaceful, prosperous and inclusive societies — clearly state that gender equality is a goal in itself and key to achieving the other 16 goals. In order to achieve that, we should make our political processes, structures and methods of work more responsive to women’s needs. In Afghanistan, for instance, we want direct face-to-face talks with the Taliban. The United Nations can include us in its own mediation teams. It can also facilitate a meeting of a delegation of our women with the Taliban. We want to do it for our sisters back home. For years, women in Afghanistan have been advocating, lobbying and demanding the meaningful participation of women, youth and victims of war as a prerequisite for the success of the peace process.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“Women and girls are once again regarded as second-class citizens. They are literally making us invisible again. That situation shows how power imbalances are at the root of so much conflict and inequality. Let me mention two specific areas where power structures cause particular chaos where we need to take action together to address the harmful outcomes. The first is close to home, in the relationship between men and women. The playbook for running today’s world was written primarily by men with men’s interests in mind. It presents men as the norm and women as the exception. In short, the world has been set up to make it easier for men to perpetuate themselves in power.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“In fact, as I speak to the Security Council today, in my country, the women and men who dedicated their lives to building peace, to promoting the rule of law, justice and equality — people who put their own lives at risk to protect and serve ours — are living under harsh oppression imposed on them through the power of exclusion. What is happening in Afghanistan should be of concern to all of us. In fact, when I left Afghanistan a few weeks ago, as I was arriving at the airport, I saw thousands of people walking in the streets of Kabul. The city looked like a graveyard of people who were alive — people who were hopeless, disappointed and powerless. At the same time, we have to come together to hold the Taliban accountable for what is happening in my country. There are serious reports that fundamental freedoms are being flouted.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source
“Ms. Koofi: It is my honour to join this timely open debate on peacebuilding and sustainable peace. I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to Kenya for inviting me to brief the Security Council. The overall theme of this meeting is “Diversity, State-building and the search for peace”. Diversity and inclusion are the cornerstone of State- and peacebuilding. Who appreciates the value of living in peace and harmony as much as my people in Afghanistan — those who are born and die in war? The future of Afghanistan, my country, is the latest test of whether we can come together as a global community to uphold the principles of the Charter of the United Nations in the face of adversity.”
2021-10-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8877 (2021) · source