YouSaid · the spoken record

Mahbubani

lines on the record: 1,011
first: 1999-09-11
most recent: 2004-05-10
sittings or episodes: 106
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We would, therefore, like to suggest that a more constructive course for the General Assembly Members would be to try to formulate a set of agreed criteria that could be used to evaluate the performance of the Council. Some of the questions included could be the following: First, has the Council successfully managed the issues under its purview; have lives been saved or improved by the Council's work? Secondly, has the Council improved its procedures and working methods to generate greater efficiency and effectiveness in its work? Thirdly, has the Council become more transparent and open in its work and in its relationship with the wider United Nations membership? And fourthly, has the Council enhanced or diminished its credibility and prestige in the international community? These are only preliminary suggestions.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“We congratulate Sir Jeremy Greenstock and his team for the work they did preparing this overview. We also believe that the assessments and reflections of the individual Council members at today's debate will provide a good basis to evaluate the Council's performance. More importantly, while the processes of the Council's decision-making may often take place behind closed doors, the results of the Council's work are now much more clear and visible. Its resolutions, Presidential Statements and press statements are public documents. The results of peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council, now amounting to almost $3 billion annually, are also clearly Visible. Hence, there is more than enough public data available to evaluate the performance of the Council when the General Assembly meets.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“In theory, the complaint of the General Assembly Members is fair. That is why we made the analytical component of the Report one of the key themes in our speech at the General Assembly debate last year. However, after having served on the Council, we have come to realise that the Members of the General Assembly may be making an impossible demand of the Council. Given the heavy workload of the Council and the highly politicized and controversial nature of many of the issues discussed by the Council, it would take months of negotiations for the 15 Council Members to agree on a common analytical evaluation of the performance ofthe Council. Despite this, this year's Annual Report contains a brief analytical overview that was skilfully drafted by the United Kingdom delegation during their Presidency of the Council in July.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“There has been an increased number of open meetings with participation by non- members of the Security Council, briefings for the wider membership of the Organization, and improved arrangements for consultations with troop-contributing countries." (A/S 7/387, para. 21) Hence, the Secretary-General recommended, as part of its reform package that the Security Council "might consider codifying the recent changes in its own practice." (Ibid.) Moving on from procedural innovations to the substance of the Report, we should acknowledge that the main criticism, which has been repeated year after year in each year's General Assembly debate of the Security Council's Annual Report, is that the Report is not analytical and therefore cannot be used as a basis for evaluating the work of the Council.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“The Secretary-General has also noted these improvements in his report on the "Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change" (A/57/387), a report that came out on Monday 23 September 2002 and which he presented to regional groups. Yesterday, for example he presented it to the Asian group. In his report he pointed out: "The Security Council has significantly improved its working methods over the past few years - stimulated, in part, by the thoughtful deliberations of the Open-ended Working Group. The Council has become more transparent, offering greater opportunities for the wider membership of the United Nations to participate in its work.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“In the past year, the Council's deliberations have become more efficient and effective and more interactive and analytical through the use of fact sheets, assessment-based reports, and the practice of alternating between Council and non-Council members in public meetings ofthe Council. Many of these developments are outlined in a report prepared by the Secretariat and circulated as Security Council document S/2002/603 dated 6 June 2002. We highly commend this report to United Nations Members as it provides a comprehensive account of changes in the Security Council's practices in 2001. I hope Member State will refer to this document when they speak on the issue of the Security Council's Annual Report in the General Assembly.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“For example, the Council has established new mechanisms for consultations with the troop- contributing countries (TCCs) and held public wrap-up sessions so that TCCs and the wider United Nations membership can share their views and interact in a frank and open manner with Council members. The TCCs have appreciated these changes. A permanent United Nations Security Council Presidency web site has been set up so that non- Council Members can have quicker access to information related to the Security Council's work. The Council has also had more Arria-formula meetings to listen to the views of other external actors including the academia, media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“Equally important, and I hope this is a major point, despite the proliferation of various forms of meetings of the Council, there is no agreement on their nomenclature and modalities. Having spoken with colleagues outside the Council, I can say there is considerable confusion about the meanings of the phrases: open meeting, closed meeting, private open meeting and so on. I think it is time to standardize this nomenclature. The reluctance of the Council to institutionalize the Working Group on procedures and working methods is puzzling, because there have been significant improvements in the Council's working methods.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“In this year's General Assembly, the Secretary-General will be trying to instil a spirit of reform into both the General Assembly, including its subsidiary bodies, and the Secretariat. This spirit of reform has not yet fully infected the Security Council. We have noticed that the Council is particularly conservative in its working methods and procedures. For example, despite our efforts to push for regular meetings of the Council's Working Group on procedures and working methods, there have only been six meetings of this Working Group during the period covered by the Report. We have also tried to formalize the system of drawing of names to determine the speakers' list for public meetings. So far, we have not succeeded. Similarly, it is remarkable that the Council's rules of procedure remain provisional after 57 years.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“We will not go into the details of the changes made; instead, in the text of the Report we have attached an explanatory note which sets out all the improvements made in the new format. We thought it would be useful to have a public record ofthese changes. Let me also pay a tribute to my colleague, Christine Lee, who, as you know, worked very hard on this report, as well as many of your colleagues and experts, to produce this revised format. Many observers of the Council sitting outside may be surprised that we have taken the time to provide the details of these small changes and improvements. We should explain why we mention these innovations. After 21 months on the Council, we have discovered that the Security Council, perhaps with some justification, is one of the most conservative institutions in the world today.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“Together with our colleagues we are pleased to have made a small contribution to the improvement of the format and content of the Security Council's Annual Report. It has been dramatically reduced in size, from 571 pages to approximately 291 pages and, as Mr. Kalomoh said, there was a last minute corrigendum that managed to deduct approximately 90 pages. Each page out from the Report saves approximately $1,000, so we have saved about $300,000 this year in the preparation ofthis Report. At the same time, more statistical information has been provided on the Security Council's deliberations and activities. Equally important there is an analytical overview in the introduction to the Report.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“We believe that the new format of the annual report has actually rectified a defect in the way the Security Council reports were previously submitted to the General Assembly, a defect which was, incidentally, mentioned in "the bible" of the Security Council, which we know to be the "Bailey and Daws" publication. Bailey and Daws said: "[w]hile the report in its present form provides an occasion for United Nations Members to raise concerns about the work of the Council over the previous twelve months, it does very little to facilitate the raising of such concerns". (S. Bailey and S. Daws, The Procedure of the UN Security Council, 3rd ed., p. 290) I hope we have taken care ofthis problem.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Kalomoh for introducing the report. I also want to begin by saying that today's meeting is, in some ways, a historic one. This, we believe, is the first time that Council members will be discussing openly the annual report before submitting it to the General Assembly for its consideration. The President of the Security Council will also refer to the provisional verbatim record of this meeting when he presents the report to the General Assembly. I hope this will explain to our colleagues here why I may have to deliver a slightly longer statement than usual, because ifI do not deliver it, it will not enter the provisional verbatim records.”
2002-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4616 (2002) · source
“Again, as other speakers have said, long term progress depends on the political will of both sides to move beyond short-term security measures to the broad vision set out in resolution 1397 (2002) where two States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders. We also believe that the Arab peace initiative adopted at the Beirut Arab Summit offers a historic opportunity that should not be squandered.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“Israel's obligations under international law are clear: it must allow and facilitate immediate access by humanitarian agencies to mount emergency rescue operations in the affected areas. My fifth and final point is that we continue to believe that the situation demands the continued and sustained engagement of the Security Council. Again, as virtually every speaker has said, the best way of addressing the situation is through implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002). Each of those resolutions came about through painful negotiations. Their words were carefully chosen, and we have them before us. Our challenge is to implement them.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“In this difficult moment we should not lose sight of the larger process, which, as Mr. Roed-Larsen pointed out to us, must be based on the parallel pursuit of the various humanitarian, security, political tracks, as well as on reciprocity. The fourth point we would like to raise relates to the humanitarian dimension, which, as several speakers have said, is extremely important. Mr. Roed-Larsen gave us statistics on how bad the humanitarian situation is currently. We support immediate relief efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, including implementation of the recommendations made by Ms. Catherine Bertini, the Secretary-General's Personal Humanitarian Envoy.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“It is also significant that the Quartet has decided to set up a third-party mechanism to monitor and assess progress in the three phases; the assessments will be strictly based on the parties' compliance with specific performance benchmarks. We look forward to receiving more details as the Quartet develops its monitoring and assessment mechanism. One point we wanted to make to the Quartet was that we hope that as the Quartet carries out its work it will bear in mind that it must also deliver results, because if the Quartet describes its plan of action without delivering results, our fear is that this process too may be damaged. Our third point is that we hope the international community, as well as the Quartet, will not be held hostage by the actions of extremists on both sides who are clearly determined to disrupt the peace process.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“In this regard, we welcome the categorical condemnation by the Palestinian Authority of the recent spate of suicide bombings. The second point we would like to make is that, like several other speakers, we would like to strongly support the efforts of the Quartet. Indeed, it is hard to believe it was only three days ago that Mr. Terje Roed- Larsen came here and briefed us on the significant progress made by the Quartet. It is also noteworthy that the latest Quartet meeting included consultations with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as representatives of the Arab League follow-up committee, as well as representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. At the same time, the Quartet spelled out detailed and specific time lines and targets within the three-phase road map.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“Speaking now in my national capacity, I note that, as the fourteenth speaker, we will probably repeat or endorse many of the points that have been made so far, but some of them are worth repeating. We will make five points. The first point is that Singapore deplores in the strongest terms all acts of violence and terror that target civilians, and it calls for an end to extreme acts by both sides. The Israeli forces must stop their frequent military incursions into Palestinian cities and, as virtually every other speaker has said, its siege of Ramallah. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority must undertake resolute efforts to put a stop to the suicide bombings and other acts of terror against the Israeli population.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“When the Secretary-General spoke to us earlier this morning, he ended with this sentence: "Let us rebuild a centre that can hold" (supra). I think he was referring to the rebuilding of a centre in the Middle East, but his remarks might apply to the Security Council as well, which, as we know, has not often been united on the Middle East question. We also need to rebuild a centre within the Security Council. One practical suggestion we have is that it might be useful to review the many thoughtful statements the Secretary-General has made on the Middle East question, including the one he made today. If we use his statements as a basis for action, then I think we can rebuild the centre we need in this Council.”
2002-09-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4614 (2002) · source
“Secondly, I wanted to congratulate you, Mr. President, on the initiative of launching this debate. As I explained earlier, I think that it is a real issue and not one that should be dismissed. Even though there are other voices in the corridors of the United Nations that say that the Security Council's job is not involved in norm creation but rather to handle specific issues, I think that in this particular case the Council can make a difference. I hope that, when the two reports come out in October, the Council will use them to continue the process. One debate is not going to change the course of events, but it is part of a very important process. I congratulate you, Sir, for participating in this.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“In my own brief visit to Liberia, I found the women in Liberia quite engaged and outspoken. Can she illustrate how the women of Liberia can play a role in trying to contain a real-life dangerous conflict that is troubling the Security Council now? That is just one example. The others that can be provided will be very helpful. I do actually want to apologize to Mr. Guehenno, Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer. If I am not here to listen to their responses, I will be fully briefed. My apologies if I attend to other commitments. Finally, two concluding points. One is that I would like to support the final concrete appeal that Ms. Heyzer made at the end of her statement about the women in Rwanda and providing some form of sufficient protection from the obvious difficulties they are facing. I hope that something can be done about that.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“I have been given the example of something called Jerusalem Link, a federation of Palestinian and Israeli women's groups. In 2000 apparently its platform served as a blueprint for negotiations over the final status of Jerusalem during the Oslo process. Of course, we all know how difficult the Jerusalem issue is. Are there concrete examples that can be provided of where the participation of women has made a difference in terms of delivering peace? It strengthens the case for saying: let us get women more involved. I noticed, for example, that, with regard to your debate, Mr. President, on the West Africa workshop, we were very concerned that all the good work that we had done in Sierra Leone might be lost by the new fighting breaking out in Liberia. I noticed that one of the two experts, Ms. Ellen Johnson Salib, is from Liberia.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“Heyzer bravely said in her remarks that experts found that a gender perspective is not sufficiently incorporated into peace operations. Rather, it is isolated in the form of single staff persons or small units lacking sufficient seniority or resources. This is one question that I hope Mr. Guehenno will try to address. My next question is to Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer. One of the points made in these discussions about the role of women is that women actually can and do make a difference when they are involved in delivering peace. For example, I understand that President Clinton said in July, after the Camp David talks, that "If we had women at Camp David, we would have an agreement." We also know that when they are involved in peace, women actually make a difference in some areas.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“Here, since I cannot criticize other cultures, I will just say that, as is known, Asian males tend to be very chauvinistic, male chauvinists. I say this with some knowledge because my wife complains that she has not fully scrubbed male chauvinism from me. These gentlemen are essentially brought up with these traditional Asian values and martial traditions, and then they are sent out into the field and told: I want you to be sensitive in the way you handle women; I want you to understand the needs of women, and so forth. As Mr. Guehenno himself is an expert on the whole question of values and how to handle values, I am sure that it is a major exercise communicating abstract points on paper to real people in the field. I was wondering whether he had any thoughts on this. Here I note that Ms.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“It would help us if more details were provided along these lines to make the case that this is not an exercise in political correctness, but, as Mr. Guehenno emphasized, it is an important issue that we have to address. We were asked to pose questions. I have one for Mr. Guehenno and one for Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer. I appreciate the point that Mr. Guehenno has made that DPKO is fully committed to the whole exercise of gender mainstreaming. I am sure that within the Department in New York there is that commitment. But, as he knows, many of the people who are sent to the field are parachuted in from their countries. They come in; they get briefings from DPKO, and then they go out to the field. I suspect that they come with all their cultural values and attitudes intact.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“It is useful to provide statistics that make the case. For example, one statistic that I came across - which I suppose is obvious - is that at the beginning of the twentieth century only 15 per cent of the casualties of conflicts were civilians, but since the end of the cold war, 90 per cent of those killed in conflict are civilians. Apparently, three out of four fatalities of war are now women and children. So there has been this huge sea change in the nature of conflicts. If I may talk of the good old days - if I may use that phrase - when the boys went out to fight boys and then came home, those days are gone. Now conflict directly involves women and girls, and that is why we need to address this issue more directly.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“Of course, those who are sceptical about this exercise are not going to come here and say "I am sceptical about this exercise; it is just a pure exercise in political correctness". But they exist, and to some extent, that is reflected in the fact that only 11 countries have signed up for this debate. Also, the number of seats that are occupied gives some indication of the degree of scepticism. I make this point at the beginning because I thought that one useful contribution that both Ms. Angela King and Ms. Noleen Heyzer could make in the course of today's debate would be to try to slay this invisible elephant in the room. One way of doing that is to indicate that this is not an abstract exercise; it is about real life situations and real people, whose lives can and will be improved by our debate today.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“I too want to thank Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno, Ms. Angela King and Ms. Noleen Heyzer for their statements. I want to begin by saying that Under-Secretary- General Jean-Marie Guehenno was a very brave man when he began his remarks by saying that he had encountered some scepticism. I believe that he said that in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) this was an exercise in political correctness and not really something of real value. To be completely candid, I thought that in some ways Mr. Guehenno tabled the most important point that we need to address in today's meeting, because, looking around this room, what I detect most of all is a huge, invisible elephant of scepticism about the value of this exercise.”
2002-07-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4589 (2002) · source
“The 'Quartet' remains committed to implementing the vision of two states, Israel and an independent, viable and democratic Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, as affirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 1397." (S/PRST/2002/20, annex) When Council members met in informal consultations two days later to discuss, and then endorse, the statement by the "quartet", there was considerable interest in the three-year time frame that it established. We now hope that the "quartet" will take the next steps and spell out the specific time lines and target that have to be met to achieve this three-year goal.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“It has an important paragraph that I would like to quote: "Consistent with President Bush's June 24 statement, the UN, EU and Russia express their strong support for the goal of achieving a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement which, with intensive effort on security and reform by all, could be reached within three years from now. The UN, EU and Russia welcome President Bush's commitment to active U. S. leadership toward that goal.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“We also hope that the Secretary-General's idea for the deployment of an impartial, robust and credible multinational force, which could create a secure environment and the political space to allow the comprehensive strategic framework to take root, will not be forgotten. Only by adopting such a comprehensive framework can the security needs of Israel and the political aspirations of the Palestinian people be addressed simultaneously. In order to achieve the comprehensive solution that we all support, we need a strong diplomatic vehicle to drive the process. Given the difficult political terrain of the Middle East, we believe that the "quartet" may provide the strong four-wheel-drive diplomatic vehicle that is needed. Here we welcome in particular the latest joint statement by the "quartet", issued only 11 days ago on 16 July.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“Preparations for the proposed international conference must begin soon in order to make substantive progress towards the vision outlined in resolution 1397 (2002) with definite timelines. This should build on relevant Council resolutions; and existing peace agreements and understandings, including the negotiations at Camp David in the year 2000; and the subsequent discussions at Taba, as well as the Tenet Work Plan, the Mitchell Report and the Arab peace initiative. It is important for the international conference to address the issues of security, peace and economic distress in parallel.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“The Security Council should continue to find ways to implement its own resolutions. Singapore believes that the best way of addressing the situation is through implementation of relevant Council resolutions, including 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002). Non- implementation of its resolutions weakens the Council's authority, including its ability to ensure full compliance with its other resolutions. Ultimately, the resolution of the Middle East problem is contingent on achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace agreement and the normalization of relations within countries in the region. We hope that the international community will not be held hostage by the actions of extremists on both sides who are determined to disrupt the peace process.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“We also urge the Palestinian Authority to continue to work with all Palestinian groups to stop all acts of terror, which have been widely recognized as undermining the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to statehood. We note that Ambassador Al-Kidwa reiterated in his statement today that "Indeed, the Palestinian side has condemned this practice [of suicide bombings] that has undermined the Palestinian national interest". The current situation clearly demands the continued and sustained engagement of the Security Council. In this regard, we are pleased that the Council has responded promptly to the request by the Arab Group in convening this open debate, which, we hope, will defuse the situation on the ground. We hope that the Palestinian people will take comfort in the fact that we all share their outrage.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“Israel has the right and, in fact, the responsibility to protect its own civilians from terrorist attacks. However, we understand that the Palestinian Authority, with the support of regional players, has been working with Palestinian groups to put a stop to the suicide bombings and other acts of terror against the Israeli population. The recent Israeli attack undercuts such efforts and undermines Israel's legitimate right to defend itself from terror. It is also, of course, counterproductive to international efforts to find just and lasting peace in the Middle East. One wrong act does not justify another. We take this opportunity to appeal to the Palestinians to exercise maximum restraint in this critical phase, and we call on both parties to maintain their stated support for a negotiated settlement.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“Singapore deplores in the strongest terms all acts of violence and terror that target civilians, and we call for an end to extreme acts by both sides. The latest Israeli attack in a residential area in Gaza, resulting in the death and injury of innocent Palestinian civilians, is not only highly regrettable in itself, but will also have the ill- timed effect of potentially rolling back the positive movement generated by recent concerted international efforts. We agree with the characterization made by several world leaders, including the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Mr. Jack Straw, who said that the attack was unacceptable and counterproductive. We join the Secretary-General in calling on the Government of Israel to halt such actions and to conduct itself in a manner that is fully consistent with international humanitarian law.”
2002-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4588 (2002) · source
“If the international community can give them even the barest amount of help, they want to seize that opportunity and go back to a normal, peaceful life. If we can succeed, in a sense, in turning back decades of conflict in a county such as Afghanistan, imagine the impact on the minds of people in other countries which have experienced far less conflict but which also want to return to a normal life. So if we can, with a light expatriate footprint, turn things around in Afghanistan, imagine what we can do in other countries around the world.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“We owe this to the people of Afghanistan and to regional and global security" (supra). I am glad that he added an important last phrase, when he said: "For we know all too well that instability in a remote part of the world can have grave repercussions far beyond the borders of Afghanistan." We support that conclusion. I wish to touch on another point. The thought struck me as I was listening to Ambassador Brahimi that perhaps the big lesson that we can learn from the latest example of Afghanistan is that, even in a country such as Afghanistan, which has experienced decades of conflict and which is known to have martial traditions and so on, there is indeed among the people a very deep desire for peace.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Here, of course, we all know that, while the worst of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been avoided, much more remains to be done in areas relating to humanitarian relief, recovery and reconstruction. We all know that the donor community made generous pledges at the Tokyo donors' conference, but, again, as Ambassador Brahimi has just told us, he is calling for an urgent translation of the pledges made into commitments. I hope that will also be forthcoming. In conclusion, I wish to make two points. The first is to emphasize the point that Ambassador Brahimi made in his conclusion: "The challenge before us now is to prove to the people of Afghanistan that we will not disengage until we make good on our promises to them, and that we will not allow setbacks to reverse our course.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Indeed, most of us are sympathetic and supportive of his request, and if he could elaborate a little more on this issue, then possibly the case for expanding ISAF beyond Kabul might, hopefully, gain some traction in the course of these discussions here. Of course, as I said earlier, all the other calls that we have made through the regional commanders to join the main political process, the call on President Karzai to expand the scope of his authority - all of that is linked to the establishment of security. I hope that we will, during the course of this meeting, show great support for the call that Ambassador Brahimi has made to us. Finally, a quick word on the humanitarian situation.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“I thought that it was very brave of Ambassador Brahimi, and also of the Secretary-General, to make a very strong case for the possibility of expanding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to other parts of the country. I hope that the Council will take note of what he said after calling for the expansion of ISAF. He said: "We continue to believe that the expansion of ISAF would have an enormous impact on security and that it could be achieved with relatively few troops, at relatively little cost and with little danger" (supra). This is a fairly strong point that Ambassador Brahimi is putting across to us. I suspect that I am not giving away any secrets if I suggest that some people will be sceptical about the suggestion he is making, but I would ask him if, when he responds, he could highlight that point.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“I do not know whether Ambassador Brahimi will be responding to questions later. If he is, can he tell us how we can try to make the National Directorate for Security, which we understand is causing much fear within Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan, a bit more open and accountable to ensure that it is not perceived to be a negative force in Afghanistan? But that is only a small part of the picture. The larger question is the challenge of establishing security not just in Kabul but throughout Afghanistan. We are glad that Ambassador Brahimi applied the rules of the Brahimi report when he spoke to us today and told the Security Council "what it needs to know and not what it wants to hear" (5/2000/809, para. 64).”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Having made those calls, I realize that they can be credible only if we can in a sense respond to the concerns of those to whom they are addressed. Ambassador Brahimi has just told us that foremost among these concerns is security, which is one of the main critical requirements of sustainable peace but which has remained elusive in many parts of the country. I believe that this is perhaps the main message that Ambassador Brahimi was trying to put across to us. As he said in his remarks, the recent assassination of Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir certainly caused quite a few tremors in Afghanistan. I was also very troubled by the remarks that Ambassador Brahimi made about intimidation involving the National Directorate for Security. He referred to the case of a young man who died after interrogation.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“I had three other appeals that I wanted to make: first, to call on President Hamid Karzai, after receiving the compelling vote of confidence from the Emergency Loya Jirga, to redouble his efforts to extend the authority of the Transitional Administration beyond Kabul; secondly, to call on the Afghan diaspora to respond to President Karzai's call for them to return to help in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which would go much further in helping Afghanistan than criticism from afar; and thirdly, to call on the Afghan delegates who participated in the Emergency Loya Jirga and who showed a tremendous amount of political courage and maturity to continue to display the same degree of commitment in the months and years ahead.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Our challenge now is to try and persuade those armed factions to join the main political process in the country. The good news, as Ambassador Brahimi reported to us is that, "no one has so far opted out of the peace process" (supra). That is the good news. But it is not enough. The challenge is to go one step further, to integrate those regional military leaders and to try to persuade them that it is in their long-term interest to relinquish whatever economic and political power they have in their own regions to the central authorities. That is one of the appeals that I was going to make.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“This is an outcome resulting from Afghan participation and input. We believe that the Loya Jirga may have actually provided the foundation for change as the Secretary- General put it in the report, through "the promotion of a new standard of legitimacy: namely, that power should be based on popular participation rather than military might". (S/2002/737, para. 42) We all know that, despite these achievements, considerable challenges remain. Indeed, Ambassador Brahimi spelled out those challenges in his remarks here today. The first and the biggest challenge is reflected in the fact that there is in Afghanistan today an existing power infrastructure that is the result of two or three decades of conflict. We talk about all the armed factions in various parts of the country.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“The remarkable thing that we should take note of is that, despite the ambitious time line set by the Bonn Agreement and the inherent complexities created by long years of warfare and neglect, the Bonn process has largely been on track. The big achievement in all this was the convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga. We can point to the imperfections of the Loya Jirga. Yet, as Ambassador Brahimi said a few minutes ago, it was an event that many people doubted would ever take place. The fact that it did take place, on schedule and without a single security incident, is a great achievement. I completely agree with the Ambassador's assessment. Certainly, the Loya Jirga has gone a long way towards providing a more balanced, broad-based and representative Transitional Authority for Afghanistan.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Secondly, he talked not just about the complexities of having to deal with an obviously complex political solution in Afghanistan but also about the complexities of trying to integrate the United Nations family within Afghanistan. For all that he has done, we really do commend Ambassador Brahimi. My second point concerns the political situation. The Secretary-General's report of 11 July 2002 on the latest situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security as well as the presentation that Ambassador Brahimi has given us paint a balanced and realistic picture of the state of affairs in Afghanistan. We hope that they will be studied even after these meetings.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“As I struggled for words, I luckily found relief in the report of the Secretary-General, where he said that "under the wise and inspired leadership of Lakhdar Brahimi, [the staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)] have endured difficult conditions, long hours, much stress and no rest over the past six months. Yet they have delivered quality results in all their activities, be they political, humanitarian, developmental, logistical or administrative". (S/2002/73 7, para. 71) I believe that is an understatement by the Secretary-General. I say this having taken note of the points that Ambassador Brahimi emphasized to us. First, he said that UNAMA did this with a very light expatriate footprint.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source