YouSaid · the spoken record

Martin Bille Hermann

lines on the record: 98
first: 2020-07-02
most recent: 2021-09-08
sittings or episodes: 12
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 have the pleasure to submit this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Denmark. We are pleased to see the Security Council paying sustained attention to the peace and security dynamics associated with climate change and welcome today’s opportunity to speak to the issue of the humanitarian effects of environmental degradation. Climate change is a risk multiplier. The security implications and human cost of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, while the presence of armed conflict weakens communities’ coping mechanisms in the face of climate change. Environmental degradation and climate impacts deepen the root causes of fragility, heighten tensions over scarce or deteriorating land and water resources, and constitute key drivers of food insecurity.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“The only way to emerge stronger from this crisis and prevent future ones is through a cross-pillar approach that prioritizes conflict prevention and addresses the root causes of conflict.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“As countries emerge from the crisis, it is critical to support skills development and create opportunities for decent jobs in more resilient and less vulnerable sectors and industries. In conclusion, the ongoing pandemic serves as a stark reminder of the need for global solidarity and reinvigorated multilateral cooperation, not least in support of the peacebuilding agenda. Our collective response will determine how fast and how well the world recovers. In recent years, the international community has made important progress towards a shared commitment to the sustaining peace agenda. The different branches of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture must now be adequately empowered to urgently do their part to translate those principles into tangible results on the ground.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“The economic fallout from the pandemic, combined with the reversal of peace gains, makes it as important as ever to galvanize efforts to leverage new financing and foster collaboration with new partners. We need to think innovatively about ways to increase sustainable, predictable, more coherent and better coordinated financing for peacebuilding. On the one hand, we need to mobilize additional funding for the Peacebuilding Fund, which plays an important role as a catalytic and flexible tool for peacebuilding. But there is also an opportunity to further engage the private sector, where relevant, in conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts. Beyond funding, the private sector can also support entrepreneurial action in communities to better recover from the crisis, while mobilizing support for peacebuilding efforts.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“Such entities have proved critical in the face of the access restrictions imposed during the pandemic, and they provide a long-term presence, remaining well beyond mission drawdown. In a similar vein, we would like to see the United Nations and the World Bank deepen their alignment of capacities, tools and resources in support of national Governments. There is a need for integrated analysis and joint strategies. Such a strengthened partnership between the United Nations and international financial institutions could be leveraged to reduce the risk of conflict, sustain peace and mitigate the long-term negative impacts of the pandemic by building back better and greener as a result of the crisis, in line with the commitments of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“Ensuring a holistic multi-stakeholder approach that advances the inclusive and meaningful participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples and persons belonging to marginalized groups, such as minorities and persons with disabilities, is key to sustainably addressing the long-term implications of the pandemic in conflict-affected settings while sustaining momentum on peace processes. Partnerships are essential both in dealing with the immediate consequences of the current pandemic in the context of sustaining peace and in working to strengthen resilience to future crises. To that end, it is important that both the Security Council and United Nations peace operations harness a broad range of capacities and expertise by collaborating with local peace actors, as well as regional and subregional organizations.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“Making sure that women are included in decision-making and that a gender-transformative approach is applied at all stages of peacebuilding must be our common priority. We now have an opportunity to constructively advance the implementation of the women and peace and security agenda as part of the short- and long-term response to the pandemic. To ensure effective and context-specific advances on the women and peace and security agenda on the ground, we urge the Security Council to further utilize the recommendations provided by the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security. We also welcome the recent brief from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and UN-Women on COVID-19 and conflict.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“The Secretary-General’s February call to action on human rights is a tool at our disposal that we must apply in order to ensure that efforts to address the ongoing crisis do not exacerbate existing inequalities and the root causes of conflict but rather contribute to strengthening resilience and sustaining peace. We welcome the recent convening of an informal exchange between the Security Council and the Human Rights Council and hope to see similar exchanges happen more frequently. From the onset of the pandemic, women have been on the frontlines as responders, caregivers and leaders in their communities. Alongside the COVID-19 crisis, a pandemic within the pandemic is happening, with increased levels of abuse and sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated against women and girls.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“That includes engaging all relevant actors in the design of the United Nations sustainable development cooperation frameworks, as well as adopting a conflict-sensitive approach to humanitarian and development programming. These efforts are crucial to reinforcing the link between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the sustaining peace agenda. Human rights must not become a casualty of the pandemic. The obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights must be front and centre in our response. Democracy and the rule of law must be upheld.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“United Nations special political missions and peacekeeping operations play an important role at the country level in addressing the root causes of conflict by building capacity and fostering continued progress on peacebuilding processes, thereby increasing resilience to ongoing and future crises. What we do today has bearing on the longer term. We encourage a renewed commitment to integrating the efforts of United Nations peace operations with responses by the United Nations country team and to ensure coherence between humanitarian, development, human rights and peacebuilding efforts under the stewardship of an empowered Resident Coordinator.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“We welcome the recently convened informal interactive dialogue between the PBC and the Security Council and encourage continued engagement between these two bodies going forward. The PBC can offer valuable advice, including during the early stages of mandate formulation through to review and drawdown strategies. The impact of the ongoing pandemic on conflict dynamics has underlined the need for peace operations’ mandates to be adaptable to changing political and operational challenges through the various stages of United Nations missions’ engagement. Member State commitment, solidarity and flexibility are essential for peace operations to deliver on their mandate. We therefore reiterate our support for the Secretary-General’s sustaining peace agenda as well as the Action for Peacekeeping agenda.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“We, the Members of the United Nations, must therefore resolve to take immediate and coordinated action to effectively mitigate the escalatory potential of the pandemic while strengthening long-term foundations for lasting peace. Sustaining peace is one of the core tasks of the United Nations and must be a shared responsibility that flows across the entire peace continuum and all three pillars of the United Nations engagement. We encourage the Security Council in particular to leverage all the tools at its disposal to support an integrated and coordinated United Nations response to the various phases of often complex conflicts, including prevention and peacebuilding. In particular, we hope to see even closer and more timely cooperation between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“We have also seen how the pandemic and its devastating socioeconomic repercussions can deepen the root causes of fragility and conflict, such as inequality, food insecurity and the consequences of unmitigated climate change. In combination with a growing number of human rights violations and abuses, increasing racism and discrimination and rising incitement to hatred and violence, as well as countless examples of the spread of misinformation and disinformation about the pandemic, this threatens to escalate ongoing conflict and displacement, foment new tensions and reverse humanitarian, development and peacebuilding progress.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“I have the pleasure to submit this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Today’s debate on peacebuilding and pandemics is timely, as we are about to embark on the formal phase of the 2020 review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. The impact of the pandemic constitutes an additional threat multiplier that risks reversing the hard-won peacebuilding gains. For many communities in conflict-affected countries, the pandemic is a catastrophe on top of a crisis. Fragile and conflict-affected countries face the challenge of having to address the urgent health and humanitarian impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while continuing to implement peacebuilding efforts in increasingly complex conflict scenarios.”
2020-08-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/799 (2020) · source
“A key prerequisite for promoting a rule-of-law-based approach is the need to move from convictions based on confessions alone to sentencing based on objectively verifiable evidence, not only as a way of ensuring a rule-of-law-based and human- rights-compliant criminal justice response to terrorism but also to ensure a more efficient and more comprehensive investigation and prosecution process, increasing the possibilities of exposing linkages between terrorists and individuals or networks involved in other forms of crime. Such an approach shows that effective counter- terrorism measures and the protection of human rights are indeed complementary and mutually reinforcing objectives.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“We welcome the increased collaboration between the United Nations and the Forum, and we call for an even further realization of the potential synergies between the United Nations and the Forum, in particular through Forum-inspired institutions such as the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law. That training institute, located in Malta, presents an obvious platform for addressing many of the gaps identified in the Secretary-General’s report through capacity-building and experience-sharing.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“Similarly, we as Member States must also work together, both within our countries and between authorities and sectors as well as with other Member States. Indeed, coordination and cooperation between authorities has been identified as one key factor in countering organized crime and terrorism. Furthermore, it is important to build and improve partnerships with civil society, including humanitarian and private-sector actors. The Global Counterterrorism Forum has developed a number of practical guidelines and best practices relevant to today’s debate that can assist us in translating our shared visions and priorities into concrete partnerships.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“It affects us all and can be defeated only collectively. Hence the demand for a coordinated approach ensuring effective and demand-driven responses that create tangible, gender-sensitive and sustainable outcomes on the ground in Member States has never been made in a more outspoken manner. United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations offices in Vienna must work effectively together, including by making the best possible use of their field presence and by finding the right balance between Headquarters and field presence. We call on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism to develop strategies to that end, drawing on the specific strengths and mandates of each Office.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“The Nordic countries fully support the important message delivered by the Secretary-General in his opening remarks during last month’s United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week: that counter-terrorism laws and security measures cannot be an excuse to shrink civic and humanitarian space, curtail freedom of association and deny other human rights. We are currently faced with multiple international crises requiring humanitarian, development or security-led responses, and the COVID-19 global pandemic and its effects has only increased competition for Member States’ scarce resources. We fully agree with the Secretary-General’s point made during last month’s United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week that we must harness the power of multilateralism to find practical solutions. Terrorism does not respect national borders.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“Furthermore, terrorist groups have set up local and regional systems to generate and move funds through illicit and organized criminal activity. This makes it all the more important to ensure that our national, regional and global counter-terrorist financing architecture is fit for purpose. Terrorist networks depend on external financing to run their organizations. That financing must be cut off. We must disrupt the links between organized crime and terrorism in order to identify and stop illicit financial flows to terrorist organizations and criminal networks. We encourage the expansion of existing initiatives as well as the development of new ones to deal more effectively with the nexus between terrorism and organized crime.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“I have the pleasure to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Denmark. We are grateful to the Indonesian presidency for having placed this very pertinent topic on the Security Council’s agenda. Your excellent timing, Sir, allows us to build on the discussions of last month’s United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week and the Secretary-General’s recent report on this issue (S/2020/754). While it is still too early to fully understand and assess the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the global terrorism landscape, the pandemic leaves the world more vulnerable to terrorism, with the possibility that already existing negative dynamics are coming into play earlier than expected and with more severe consequences.”
2020-08-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/791 (2020) · source
“Women are often disproportionately affected by climate-related security risks, but they also serve as key agents of change in climate-change adaptation and mitigation. Peacebuilding efforts should capitalize on these opportunities to strengthen the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, as well as their economic empowerment. The youth of today will face the worst effects of climate change in future, and it is therefore critical to include youth in decision-making processes with regard to climate and security. In conclusion, we would like to reiterate that we are pleased to see the climate- security nexus receiving increased attention from the Security Council. We look forward to engaging further on this issue in order to ensure that the Council receives adequate and timely information on climate-related security risks.”
2020-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/751 (2020) · source
“This should include climate experts from the World Meteorological Organization and national meteorological and hydrological agencies. Building on the foregoing, the United Nations should develop multi-hazard early-warning systems that take into account both climate and security risks and allow for an integrated cross-pillar response. To that end, we propose including the assessment, reporting and management of climate-related security risks in leadership-evaluation frameworks and the reporting responsibilities of Resident Coordinators and mission leadership. We also propose building on existing early- warning mechanisms developed by the humanitarian community in United Nations peace operations planning. Climate-related security risks are closely tied to both the women and peace and security and the youth and peace and security agendas.”
2020-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/751 (2020) · source
“Local knowledge and expertise are critical for effective policy analysis and to ensure that climate-change adaptation measures are designed in accordance with local needs and concerns, including those of marginalized groups, civil society, indigenous peoples, women and youth. Secondly, it is important that both the Security Council and peace operations engage with regional and subregional actors that can implement cross-border activities. Key partners include the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and subregional climate centres. Thirdly, it is essential that peace operations engage at the country level with both the security sector and non-traditional security actors in order to co-produce such risk assessments.”
2020-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/751 (2020) · source
“It is important to leverage the scientific findings of other ongoing processes such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in this regard. We welcome the efforts undertaken by the Climate Security Mechanism to map existing United Nations analytical tools, data and approaches and encourage further action on mainstreaming climate-related security risks in all United Nations efforts, including peacebuilding. We also encourage the Security Council to further strengthen the advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission. In order to enable the United Nations to prevent the escalation of conflict, timely assessment of climate-related security risks is essential, and partnerships play a key role in this regard. First, it is essential that peace operations engage with local communities and authorities in an inclusive manner.”
2020-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/751 (2020) · source
“I have the pleasure to submit this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. We welcome today’s opportunity to discuss how best to provide the Security Council with comprehensive and authoritative information on climate-related security risks, and would like to highlight the following points. First, we encourage the Security Council to continue mandating peacekeeping operations and special political missions to consider climate-related security risks. That should include integrating a climate lens into mediation efforts and preventive diplomacy. In addition, we see strong merit in mandating a regular comprehensive report by the Secretary-General on the climate-security nexus. This could serve as an important platform for dialogue between Member States and the Secretariat.”
2020-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/751 (2020) · source
“The Nordic countries will do our part, through our embassies, multilateral cooperation and a wide range of partnerships, including the Nordic Women Mediators Network and the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations, to equip peacekeepers. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread by the minute, the time for action is now.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“We must strengthen services for survivors of sexual violence, including by ensuring comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as access to emergency contraception and the safe termination of pregnancies. We must fight impunity, remove stigma, alleviate suffering, rectify injustices and ultimately help people to rebuild their lives and communities to build a sustainable peace. Accountability also means funding. The Nordic countries recognize that we as donors have a responsibility to promote flexible and core funding as well as build equal partnerships with civil society organizations. We appeal to other countries to step up and take on their responsibility to improve funding for conflict-related sexual violence interventions.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“We support the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies, and we firmly believe that we can achieve better results by working together. The Oslo conference on ending sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, held in May 2019, helped to change the way we address this issue. We must maintain momentum to make sexual and gender-based violence, prevention and response a key humanitarian priority. We highly value the contributions of survivors and witnesses, civil society and human rights defenders, which are crucial to building a relevant and effective response without causing survivors further pain. Reparation and justice must go hand in hand. A comprehensive approach is a prerequisite to alleviating both the immediate and long-term impact of conflict- related sexual violence.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“Eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is a key part of combating sexual and gender-based violence, and it should be included in all four pillars of women and peace and security agenda: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery. We need to focus more on the gendered aspects of the spread of small arms and light weapons and to include more women in disarmament efforts. Root causes of gender-based violence, such as gender-based power inequalities, gender stereotypes and gender-based discrimination must be addressed in policy and practice. Responsive measures, such as providing adequate services to survivors of gender-based violence, are crucial, as are measures to prevent the violence from happening in the first place.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“Individual States have the primary responsibility of preventing and responding to sexual violence, as well as of investigating and prosecuting persons implicated in such crimes. However, we need to strengthen State institutions and build capacity to combat conflict-related sexual violence. Perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence must be held to account. We call for the systematic use of gender expertise in United Nations operations and would like to highlight the importance of women protection advisers. We welcome the initiatives launched in the past year and echo the need for resolutions, mandates and sanctions to address conflict-related sexual violence and further translating words into action.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“And we need to put an emphasis on the development of specific mitigation plans and measures to ensure rule of law and accountability for sexual violence as part of the overall COVID-19 response. In the end, justice and accountability are not only imperative to end impunity; they are key in ensuring prevention. The Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire during the COVID-19 pandemic is not only a key step for addressing the shadow pandemic of conflict-related sexual violence. It should be the starting point for promoting a transformative and feminist approach to peace and security. We welcome the Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2020/487) pointing to possible ways forward. We must monitor and document violations of international law and provide training and funding where needed.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“To make matters worse, it is anticipated that COVID-19 will severely hamper the possibility of survivors to report sexual violence, further exacerbating the existing structural, institutional and sociocultural barriers to reporting such crimes. Adding to this, sexual- and gender-based-violence response programmes are in many cases not considered to be essential, life-saving services and prioritized as such in the context of the overall COVID-19 response. That needs to change. We need to ensure a prompt and comprehensive response to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. We need to work towards the establishment of specific protocols for survivors to continue to be able to gain access to timely services, including the full range of sexual and reproductive health- care services, while mitigating the risks of COVID-19 transmission.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“Conflict-related sexual violence is a violation of international human rights and international humanitarian law. It can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity and an act of genocide. Sexual violence destroys lives, tears apart the social fabric of communities, creates rifts between neighbours and preys on the differences that enrich our societies. Those who are targeted are often discriminated against owing to their religious, ethnic, sexual, political or other minority status. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has borne witness to a “shadow pandemic” in the form of a sharp rise in incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, including in conflict situations.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“Other positive developments include the policy for United Nations field missions on preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence, which was adopted in January this year, and the first whole-of-mission Handbook for United Nations Field Missions on Preventing and Responding to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, which was launched just over a month ago. While much of the normative framework against sexual violence is in place, sexual violence continues to be a horrific part of conflicts around the world. We cannot turn a blind eye to this situation. It is high time to move from words to action. We must step up efforts at all levels, including in relation to both advocacy and funding for prevention and measures aimed at addressing conflict-related sexual violence.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“I deliver this statement on behalf of Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and my own country, Denmark. I thank Germany and the Dominican Republic for organizing today’s open debate. Furthermore, I express sincere gratitude to Special Representative of the Secretary-General Pramila Patten and her Office for their important work. We have seen several results on the normative side: of the 10 Security Council resolutions adopted under the women and peace and security agenda, 7 specifically describe sexual violence as a major impediment to international peace and security.”
2020-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/727 (2020) · source
“The International Health Regulations, furthermore, provide a unique legally binding framework for all Member States to prevent, protect against, control and respond to the international spread of disease, while avoiding unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade. In closing, the Nordic countries would like to reiterate our strong support for the Secretary-General’s global ceasefire appeal and encourage those Member States that have not already done so to join us. We also strongly welcome the Security Council’s unanimous adoption of resolution 2532 (2020) in support of the appeal.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The current pandemic has demonstrated that the world has not been sufficiently prepared to meet a health crisis of this nature and magnitude. The only way to ensure global health security is through a global coherent approach to preparedness and response based on solidarity, reinvigorated multilateralism and renewed commitment to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, with a particular focus on strengthening public health functions and institutions and promoting universal health coverage. At its current stage, the COVID-19 pandemic is best curtailed by having a safe and effective vaccine and, once available, by ensuring equitable global access. We therefore welcome and supports initiatives such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and the Coronavirus Global Response.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“However, such emergency measures must not be used as a pretext or justification for weakening universal values of human rights, democracy or the rule of law and must be necessary, proportionate, temporary and non-discriminatory in nature. We are particularly concerned about negative impacts on civil society, human rights defenders, gender equality, women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights, and possible abuse of surveillance technology. We strongly support the Secretary-General’s call to put human rights at centre stage in COVID-19 response and recovery. Addressing the crisis in all its dimensions and bolstering resilience require rapid response, good governance, legitimate leadership and a vibrant civil society. Viruses and bacteria know no borders.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The crisis has also led to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence and domestic or intimate partner violence as well as reduced access to vital sexual and reproductive health services. Women and girls with disabilities face even greater risks. Member States must address the structural gender inequalities and discrimination that place women and girls at greater risk during crises. This requires Member States to conduct systematic gender analyses of crisis response, and use sex- and gender-disaggregated data. Nordic countries place great emphasis on the protection of women and girls and on upholding their rights, as well as the safeguarding of universal health care and unhindered access to sexual and reproductive health care services. A state of emergency like this pandemic requires extraordinary measures.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“We need to step up efforts to increase protection in the regions of origin and along migratory routes. COVID-19 disproportionately affects women and girls everywhere, resulting in a “shadow crisis”, in the words of the Secretary-General. Women are the majority of frontline health workers; women and girls bear the brunt of unpaid care work; women constitute the majority of those working in the informal sector, with low wages, no social protection and small chances of being reached by governmental support packages; and more girls than boys drop out of school. Many of these girls risk never returning to school when they reopen, often increasing their exposure to violence and harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages, adolescent pregnancies and female genital mutilation.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“We must reinforce and strengthen our resolve and commitment to leaving no one behind, and indeed reach those who are most vulnerable in the immediate response as well as in building back better and greener from the pandemic. To this end, recovery plans must be designed and implemented in a conflict-sensitive and gender- and climate-responsive manner, and we must ensure the full, equal and meaningful multi-stakeholder involvement of particularly women and girls in the design, implementation and evaluation of such plans. The combination of the pandemic, its socioeconomic consequences, and exacerbated conflict may lead to an increase in displacement and migratory movements and consequently place those already exposed in an even more vulnerable situation.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“At the same time, member state flexibility and solidarity is essential, if peace operations are to deliver on their mandate. The crisis also presents an opportunity to review mission mandates in light of a changing threat landscape. We therefore reiterate our support to the Secretary-General’s Action 4 Peacekeeping Agenda, which we believe does exactly that. The direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 exposes and exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, adversely affecting particularly the least protected among us. For populations in fragile and conflict affected contexts, coping mechanisms to address and handle pandemics are often reduced, sometimes even non-existent.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“We know that for peace processes to be successful and sustainable, they need to be inclusive and transparent. We must therefore take proactive measures to ensure the full, equal and meaningful multi-stakeholder participation, especially of historically marginalized and vulnerable groups, such as women and girls, in political and peace processes. United Nations special political missions and peacekeeping operations play an important role in safeguarding momentum on existing peace processes and sustaining peace, as well as in the COVID-19 response. Peace operations need to be innovative in adapting to the new reality and we support the comprehensive efforts that the United Nations has made in order to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers as well to support host nations in preventing the spread of the virus.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Health and global security are closely interlinked. Pandemics risk exacerbating ongoing conflicts and sparking new ones, potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence. This, in turn, undermines our ability to fight disease. At the same time, people in conflict-affected States are particularly vulnerable to pathogens as well as the secondary effects of the pandemic. There are examples of conflict parties exploiting the uncertainty created by the pandemic to press for a military advantage, and of the pandemic leading to the disruption of ongoing peace negotiations. For those processes where momentum is sustained, there is a risk of further marginalization and exclusion of already vulnerable groups as conversations shift to virtual forums.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The Nordic countries welcome the efforts of the United Nations and the Secretary-General to address the immediate and long-term consequences of the crisis, including through the launch of the Global Humanitarian Response Plan and a new multi-partner Trust Fund for COVID-19 Response and Recovery. We call on all Member States to support the important role of the United Nations system, and the leading role of the World Health Organization in particular, in mobilizing and coordinating the global response to the pandemic, with human rights at the forefront. This is also a unique moment for assessing the results brought about by the Secretary-General’s reform agenda, including the extent to which the reforms have led to a more coherent United Nations system on the ground, under the strategic leadership of Resident Coordinators.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Without immediate coordinated action, this will continue to lead to pandemics, global crises, displacement and conflict. The most important thing we can do to prevent such crises is to implement the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, vulnerabilities to cybersecurity threats have been exploited during the pandemic, with a notable increase in malicious cyberactivities, particularly against medical facilities. Misinformation and disinformation risk enhancing the likelihood of conflict, violence, human rights violations and mass atrocities. We, the United Nations, must face the crisis with determination and resolve, in solidarity and through a strong multilateral response.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“I have the pleasure to submit this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — on the timely topic of health and security. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic poses a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security. The socioeconomic fallout of the crisis exacerbates the root causes as well as the consequences of conflict and risks reversing hard-won development and peacebuilding gains. The expected food crisis caused by the pandemic may also aggravate conflicts. Root causes of conflict also increase the risk of pandemics. Unmitigated climate change and escalating environmental degradation, including biodiversity loss, undermine the very basis of human well-being.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source