YouSaid · the spoken record

Mcaskie

lines on the record: 133
first: 2000-11-28
most recent: 2007-01-31
sittings or episodes: 6
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

“In recognition of the importance of the regional approach, the United Nations regional Office for West Africa is in the process of being finalized, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will work very closely with it. In fact, we have already opened a regional office, which will focus most immediately on issues related to the Mano River Union. As a senior humanitarian, I should be remiss if I did not use this occasion to close by reminding us all that the Secretary-General, in his recent report to the Security Council, highlighted the fact that resources are still required to finalize the uncompleted aspects of the peace process. Only one third of the funding for the Consolidated Appeals for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has been collected.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“The Council will be dealing with that this afternoon, but I think we all agree on the extent to which cross-border activities have destabilized the region, and that the escalating conflict in Liberia is among the factors now posing the greatest threat to stability in Sierra Leone and in neighbouring countries. Since the beginning of this year, Sierra Leone has already received some 40,000 Liberian refugees, Guinea more than 30,000 and Cote d'Ivoire an estimated 60,000. In anticipation of any gradual drawdown of UNAMSIL's activities in Sierra Leone, due consideration could perhaps be given to enhancing the Sierra Leone Government's capacity to maintain internal security and the security of its borders; it could also assist with the effective screening of incoming refugee populations, a task that has proved very difficult in the past.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“Here, the issue for the Special Court and for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission remains the issue of funding, as we are all aware. The President's background paper, as I mentioned, asks the question of whether special attention could be given to gender-related issues. I think this is clearly a case in which rape was used as a war crime, and it should be so recognized. There will need to be special measures - including measures related to witness protection programmes - to enable women to come forward. Let me close by saying a few words on the regional aspects, as others have.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“At the inter-agency level worldwide, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee has now produced a report on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises as well as a global plan of action, which has now been endorsed by all the heads of agencies. It is important to note, however, that the mandate provided for training of UNAMSIL personnel in international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, including child- and gender-related provisions. An important advance over previous mandates was the inclusion of human rights and civil affairs offices - a model that has been followed in subsequent peacekeeping operations. Those aspects should continue to be strengthened, even while the military component is phasing down. My last point from the aide-memoire is the issue of justice and reconciliation.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“Many of them continue to stay with their commanders, while others have returned anonymously to their communities. In efforts to address those issues, the Government has acted extremely well, with a national sensitization campaign on rape being launched, with information on sexual abuse, on rape and on how to help victims. I referred to the response to the crisis of sexual exploitation in West Africa. Let me also mention that, in Sierra Leone, a coordinating committee for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse has been formed. Among many actions taken, the committee has adopted standards of accountability for humanitarian workers, which were launched in March by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, who himself is the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary- General.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“When we talk about boys being taken as forced conscripts, we must also remember that an equal or larger number of girls were forced to become partners of combatants or were otherwise held as sexual slaves and forced to bear unwanted children at a young age. Many girls have suffered permanent physical harm. In Sierra Leone, UNICEF has supported the establishment and coordination of a network of services for girls who were abused during the war. The difficulty is in identifying the girls who have been victimized. Stigma, shame and lack of opportunity or resources keep many girls silent, and thousands of young girls who were abducted during the war were used for sexual purposes. We characterize Sierra Leone in terms of the horrors of the amputations, but, for every person with limbs amputated, 10 or 100 girls were abducted and abused.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“Another lesson that I would add here is that, in situations such as that in Sierra Leone, women and girls have suffered an extraordinary level of rape, including gang rape, and every possible form of sexual violence. UNAMSIL's mandate could perhaps have been even more comprehensive had it referred specifically to the special protection and assistance needs of women and girls. That would include moving beyond the classic norms of gender sensitivity and mainstreaming, to include responses to endemic gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. This is an area about which we are all still learning, as the tragic events in West Africa have shown us, and we look forward to the study on the problems of sexual exploitation to point us in the right direction to deal with these matters.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“That was not true at the outset, but the growing cooperation between humanitarians and peacekeepers led to some very useful outcomes. Recently, UNAMSIL has cooperated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, transporting returnees from the Liberia border areas to safer zones inside Sierra Leone. With respect to recent movements of internally displaced persons, almost 4,000 people have been transported by UNAMSIL and by the International Organization for Migration from western-area camps, where they have received resettlement packages. Approximately 12,000 internally displaced persons remain to be formally resettled, however, following the fourth phase of the resettlement process. A fourth point from the aide-memoire is the effect on women and girls, and I shall touch on that at somewhat greater length.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“It was a critical lesson, that the creation of an official DDRR programme in Sierra Leone was in fact a central tenet of the Lome Peace Accord, signed in July 1999. The Accord was the first such agreement to recognize the special needs of children in the DDRR process. UNICEF has drawn a number of important lessons from this experience; there have been integrated into its policy and programming efforts, and will continue to inform our ongoing work in this area. As the mandate developed and matured, peacekeepers were able to play an important role in improving humanitarian access through the provision of security for humanitarian personnel and through securing safe areas for internally displaced persons and refugee returnees.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“Let me touch on some points arising from the aide-memoire. The first is media and information. An important lesson that has been learned is the need for accurate management of information. Security and military information was crucial for the protection of both humanitarian personnel and civilians, and the establishment of the humanitarian information centre in UNAMSIL, following the model of Kosovo but expanded in this case to include UNAMSIL participation, played a key role in furthering that objective. Secondly, on disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation (DDRR), particularly with regard to the effects on children, another important lesson comes from the successful demobilization of the 47,000 combatants, including almost 7,000 child soldiers.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“In fact, with the help of the Norwegian Government a very useful short pamphlet has been produced, but the print is so tiny that I wonder if the Norwegian Ambassador would tell us whether people in Norway have better eyesight than people in other parts of the world, as I need very good glasses to read it. But it is very handy to carry around. UNAMSIL's mandate was very good in terms of its comprehensiveness on the inclusion of issues and objectives relating to the protection of civilians in armed conflict, in comparison to previous peacekeeping mandates. Of the 13 main objectives contained in the aide-memoire, all of the relevant objectives were addressed in Security Council resolution 1270 (1999). In fact resolution 1270 (1999) is the most frequently referred-to resolution in the aide- memoire.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“The humanitarians will of course be working very closely with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the lessons-learned study. Let me refer to the aide-memoire (S/PRST/2002/6, annex) which the Council has adopted on the protection of civilians and touch on some of its elements. Today's workshop provides a welcome occasion to use the aide-memoire as it was intended, namely to facilitate due consideration of issues pertaining to the protection of civilians within the different phases of peacekeeping operations. As most participants know, the aide-memoire addresses 13 main objectives, ranging from access, to vulnerable populations, to the impact of natural resource exploitation.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“I am pleased to say something I believed from the outset, that as it has turned out, many of those fears were unfounded; it has proven to be a good model and a good lesson. Under the current structure, the Humanitarian Coordinator is in a far better position to address humanitarian concerns within the mandate, within the Mission, and in fact has centralized humanitarian issues within the political and military decision-making of the Mission. One of the issues we will need to look at, however, relates to learning from the way in which it was possible in general to preserve the humanitarian space and the independence of humanitarian workers, as appropriate. In fact, the May 2000 crisis, when peacekeepers were taken hostage, could provide a good example of the challenges. My colleague addressed this in his remarks.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“The level of support UNAMSIL was able to give to fulfil its mandate was determined by troop strength, and much of the support to the protection of civilians became possible only when UNAMSIL reached full capacity, or close to it. Because of the complexity of the task of the United Nations, I think we all agree that it was important in this case for the United Nations to adopt an integrated approach to this crisis. And, hopefully to be as frank as the preceding speaker, it is true there were concerns amongst the humanitarian community about such integration in the early days. Fears that the humanitarians would be "co-opted" by the political and military side led to great discussion amongst the organizations. The appointment of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, was one of the issues causing the greatest discussion.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“The war in Sierra Leone was further characterized, as speakers before me have said, as an ongoing regional problem, and - particularly as far as humanitarian actors were concerned - an ongoing regional problem of massive population displacement. Again, amongst those displaced, women and dependent children were disproportionately represented. The estimates are as high as 80 per cent. Unlike many other peacekeeping mandates, that of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) specifically authorized peacekeepers to take necessary measures to afford protection to civilians under imminent threat of physical violence - understandably, of course, within its capabilities and within its areas of deployment, and in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“All the issues the Security Council has discussed on the protection of civilians come to the fore in any discussion on Sierra Leone, whether it is access to vulnerable populations or the impact of sanctions. Widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law underscores the importance of bringing to justice the perpetrators of these atrocities. Women and children in particular have been targeted in an unprecedented manner during the conflict. One of the questions asked in the background paper is whether or not there should be special gender provisions in the Special Court. I will return to that issue later in my remarks.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“Ms. McAskie: In accordance with your agenda today Madam President, I will focus my remarks mainly on issues relating to the protection of civilians. As the war in Sierra Leone painted a devastating picture of the changing nature of warfare, wherein civilians are not only incidental victims, but direct objects of attack; in fact, they are targeted with extreme violence, murder, widespread rape and sexual violence, amputations, mutilation, burning alive, conscription of children, forced labour, abduction, massive destruction and looting. The list is horrendous and endless. These tactics were used to terrorize, to prevent participation in the political process, and ultimately to control illegal exploitation of natural resources.”
2002-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4577 (2002) · source
“President, will permit me to do so, I should like to end on a lighter note in our discussion of a serious subject. You referred to the fact that this was a man-made disaster, not a natural disaster. I can assure you that that is one expression on which we are not seeking gender equity.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The lesson we have learned in Guinea is that the international community has tools at its disposal to assist refugees and countries in crisis, but not to assist host countries of refugees. Guinea has suffered from this for a long time, and now that it has a humanitarian crisis of its own, we have to look at the link between massive underdevelopment and regional instability. Finally, on Liberia, the third of the three countries, the deteriorating humanitarian situation is only the tip of the iceberg. Given its long isolation, there is very little capacity in Government, civil society or the international agencies present on the ground. When conditions permit - and I realize that some of those conditions are quite strict - there will be a need for a long-term and in-depth approach to Liberia. If you, Mr.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Suffice it to say that for this year, if we add up the funds that we have collected from the appeal for Sierra Leone and the appeal for the region, it totals about $25 million, and we are already well into the month of May. So we will be actively seeking additional support. Finally, I was very pleased to hear the support for the regional approach. I think we are all aligned on that. But that should not blind us to the fact that solutions must also play out at the country level. In Sierra Leone, the end of war is only the beginning. I think that we have in Sierra Leone a classic example of where the international community, the international institutions and the United Nations need to work together to avoid any question of a humanitarian gap. As I said, this is a classic test case for the international community.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“There is no doubt that the opening of the Forecariah-Kambia route in the future will offer a significant opportunity for the safer and more comfortable return of refugees. Finally, the report being prepared by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, with support from OCHA, in accordance with paragraph 9 of resolution 1346 (2001), should be ready in a few days. The last question of which I took note was the question from Singapore about juxtaposing the expenditure of UNAMSIL and the tribunal and spending on development and humanitarian aid. Obviously, I do not have a figure for the totality of development and humanitarian aid for the region, because much of it comes from non-United Nations sources.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“A number of major non- governmental organizations, supported by the United Nations, will continue to operate in the area - Me'decins sans Frontieres, Action contre la Faim and Caritas 4 for example, will continue to offer assistance with our support. On the question of the slowing down of the boat traffic 4 yes; there are very few candidates, actually, for return by boat. It is not a deliberate policy of UNHCR or the International Organization for Migration to stop the boat traffic. The population of Forecariah has diminished, but in addition the Guinean Government is trying to encourage refugees to stay away from Conakry because of the overcrowding there. I believe my colleague covered the point on the Kambia crossing.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“That is why the exercise is taking slightly longer; it actually would have been faster if they had moved on foot. A major obstacle has been finding the trucks. As to whether this means that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would no longer provide assistance to refugees in the Languette, the answer is, yes, it would not. When we have a major policy with the Government of Guinea and the international community to move them away, an offer of assistance to refugees in the Languette would mean the failure of the project. We cannot offer assistance to the same people in two spots; it is not consistent. That does not mean that those in need of humanitarian assistance within those areas will not be getting some assistance.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“We all agree on the basic principle of voluntary return and on the need for security in the country of asylum, which has often been linked to the question of proximity to borders. As Council members know, there is a paragraph in the Organization of African Unity Convention that refers to an estimated distance from borders, recommended at 50 kilometres. The situation that arose in the Languette proves the usefulness of that particular guidance, and as such the movement of refugees to areas away from the border has been ongoing now since 3 May. It is true that original plans included the possibility of only the able- bodied walking, with the others being trucked. But in fact arrangements have been made to truck everyone out, so people are being driven to the new camps.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“With 40,000 already moved out, we are anticipating that another 30,000 will move in the next two weeks. I will come back to that in response to the questions from the representative of France. In response to Colombia's question about the relationship of the United Nations Secretariat with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaking very specifically for OCHA, although we do not have direct cooperation with ECOWAS on humanitarian delivery, obviously - that is not their role - we are working very closely with them on early warning and, in fact, are assisting them in strengthening early-warning mechanisms. The representative of France asked some very specific questions about refugee return movement. I can assure him that I think we all agree that this is a major concern.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The United Kingdom asked specific questions about the appointment of a humanitarian coordination and the timing of the establishment of a subregional office. On the latter, we are working now to establish a small unit in Abijan that would work on early warning and contingency planning but would also provide a base to an OCHA person, whom we would base in one of the three Mano River Union countries to provide the information and strategic analysis functions and a link to the United Nations Office for West Africa. We are working on that now. The appointment of the humanitarian coordinator is under discussion with the concerned agencies, and we would hope to make it quickly; I cannot give a specific date. The United Kingdom also asked a question about the movement of refugees out of the Languette.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Ms. McAskie: Let me thank the representatives of Mali and Jamaica and the other speakers who have given their support for the strengthening of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). I can assure the Council that these words are actually extremely useful to us, and that OCHA, although it is mostly voluntarily funded, is a Secretariat department and must abide by Secretariat rules and regulations and go through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), the Fifth Committee and so on to establish posts in the field. So concrete measures of support from the Council on our operations are extremely useful to us in speeding up these processes.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Finally, pending the resolution of the mechanism to ensure increased access to UNAMSIL logistics capacity for humanitarian actors, we are calling on donors to increase their support for the World Food Programme (WFP) logistics operation in Sierra Leone. The relief agencies use WFP helicopters for assessments and medical evacuations. Finally, funding is needed also to build the Government's capacity to extend basic services to newly liberated areas. The grave situation of internally displaced persons, refugees and other vulnerable communities is exacerbated by endemic poverty and inadequate government capacity, as well as by the chronically low international response to appeals for international assistance.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“There is also an urgent need to enable United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide aid to internally displaced persons and host communities through funding of the consolidated appeal process for West Africa and UNHCR. I would also add that there is a need for donors to support the Mano River Women's Peace Network as part of the effort. We talk a lot about the role of women in peace- building, and here we have an opportunity to do something practical about it. In addition, OCHA will strengthen its presence in Guinea and in Liberia, and recommends very strongly that the international community continue to support UNHCR's two-track approach for Sierra Leone refugees in Guinea.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In terms of the recommendations of the Mission, it is our recommendation that a subregional capacity should be established by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to provide mechanisms to facilitate the exchange and analysis of strategic information, including Geographical Information System (GIS) data, on developments in the subregion between the United Nations and its partners in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to support subregional contingency planning and resource-mobilization efforts. That presence should be linked to the proposed United Nations office for West Africa, although, depending on the ultimate location of that office, the OCHA element need not be co-located with the political office, as the OCHA office must be based in one of the countries in crisis.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Assistance needs are still extremely high, not just for refugees but for the growing number of internally displaced persons. While events in Sierra Leone give cause for encouragement, developments in the two neighbouring countries give much cause for concern. And the encouraging news in Sierra Leone brings its own problems: the problems of the reinstatement of Government authority and the enormous costs that will go along with that if we are to sustain the growing security in the country.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The overall estimate, however, is that with refugees and displaced persons, we are dealing with something between 1 million and 1.5 million people in the three countries of the Mano River Union. As I said at the outset, the Mission confirmed the need for the United Nations to address the situation in that part of the world from a perspective fully informed by the regional dynamic. An understanding of the regional interplay among the three countries members of the Mano River Union is critical to addressing the volatile humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone, Liberia and now, unfortunately, Guinea. In that connection, we confirmed that coordination, information exchange and analysis required strengthening not just on a country basis but on a regional basis.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The Government is appealing for assistance, and Liberia was covered in the West African regional consolidated appeal, which was launched a month and a half ago at Geneva. But so far we have received a very small amount: about 8 per cent of that appeal has been funded so far. Let me mention one or two quick conclusions, and then one or two recommendations from the visit. First of all, I have thrown out a lot of numbers. The numbers are extremely confusing; they change from week to week; they change as people move; and they change as we get better access and as we estimate better. So I apologize if the numbers that members have now are not the numbers they had before; that is the reason: when you are dealing with problems of displacement, that is the risk we run.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“There is fighting all along the border of northern Lofa county- the county that borders South-East Sierra Leone and South-West Guinea. That fighting has increased the number of internally displaced within Liberia; the figure we have been given is between 60,000 and 80,000, of which one third to one half have been created in the past three to four weeks. The Liberian Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission estimates that there are still, in addition, some 160,000 Liberian refugees in the region and about 75,000 Sierra Leone refugees in Liberia, of whom about 50 per cent are receiving assistance from UNHCR, while the rest are inaccessible. As I mentioned, some of the Liberians are now fleeing across the Mano river into Sierra Leone, and it is conceivable that some Sierra Leone refugees within Liberia may possibly return with them.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Newly displaced persons were featured on the front pages of the local papers every day, along with the country's preoccupation with the sanctions, particularly as we were there just a few days after the visit of the Chairman of the Council's sanctions Committee, Ambassador Mahbubani. We met with opposition parties as well as with members of the Mano River Women's Peace Network, all of whom are seriously concerned about the possibilities of Liberia falling back into a state of civil war. It was reported to us that the two main rebel groups, ULIMO-K and ULIMO-J, which in the past have been fighting each other, had formed an alliance and that in response President Taylor is mobilizing the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, the group that was disarmed in 1997 and 1998.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“What we have to remember is that, as the Government tries to restore services, government workers themselves are among the displaced: in the refugee camps in Guinea you find professionals and government workers, and the Government, at number 175, is already the lowest on the Human Development Index scale. That, plus the ravages of war, will mean that plans to reinstate government services as UNAMSIL moves forward will require enormous assistance to the Government: capacity-building and resources. The situation in Liberia - unlike that in Sierra Leone, where you could say that there are strong signs of hope - is more one of growing despair. The sense was that the political and military situation was rapidly deteriorating. The Mission itself, in fact, remained in Monrovia as it was unsafe to travel to areas affected by the crisis.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“I just had word this morning that, apparently, the RUF has released 97 children to the non-governmental organization Caritas, in Makeni. I do not know how many are boys and how many are girls, but this first release of 97 children is a very good sign. One of the issues for Sierra Leone that will be extremely difficult, with the strengthening of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the hope for a return to a secure environment within the country, is the extent to which the Government will be able to resume services. The humanitarian community is already extremely overstretched; we have received about 25 per cent of the funds requested in the consolidated appeal, and we have been making another appeal for funds to assist in the humanitarian effort.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In Makeni, we met with the RUF leadership, Issa Sesay and his colleagues. The message that we gave to the RUF from the point of View of the humanitarians was to request free and safe access for humanitarian staff and freedom to undertake assessments and provide assistance without escort in these areas. I made it clear that the ability of the humanitarian community to access areas behind the RUF line would require not just their word, as they insisted that we would be safe, but tangible proof that this would be the case, as we have not, as members know, had good experiences in the past. One of the issues we raised as a sign of good faith is the release of the child soldiers, as well as the girls. Whenever we talk about the child soldiers, I have asked the humanitarian community also to emphasize that girls are being abducted.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“What we found is that, over the past few months, there has developed a noticeably improved relationship between UNAMSIL and the humanitarian community, and we were very pleased to acknowledge this. The humanitarian operations have benefited somewhat from UNAMSIL logistics capacity. This is welcomed and we would look for opportunities to increase it. The mission visited camps for internally displaced persons. We saw the first internally displaced persons returning to their own villages - a real sign of hope. We visited one of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration camps, though it had very few people in it, and we saw, in the South-West, some returned refugees being resettled in areas which are not their homeland, as their homes in the North are still behind RUF lines.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The Humanitarian Coordinator will need, however, to work very closely with those members of the humanitarian community who are non-United Nations to assure the broader humanitarian community that this does not mean any reduction of attention to their needs. The current individual has been requested to report back once he has been on the job for a few weeks, with a view to determining whether the presence of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs should be strengthened in support, given the fact that the Deputy Special Representative carries with his title a very long list of complex responsibilities, including issues relating to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and to governance.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Continued relief will be needed for some 400,000 internally displaced persons within the country. Now, in an unfortunate irony, Sierra Leone is having to deal with an influx of Liberian refugees across the border into areas to which the humanitarian community has judged there to be no room for Sierra Leone refugees to return. Thus, we are trying to stop the flow of refugees from Sierra Leone into the south- eastern part of the country and yet we are now faced with a potential influx of Liberians across the Mano River itself. Within Sierra Leone, it will be recalled that the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary- General was recently appointed as Humanitarian Coordinator within UNAMSIL. This was a difficult decision, but is, in my mind, a very positive development.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“We heard first-hand reports of goods being stolen and the United Nations on the ground is investigating the claims made by international non- governmental organizations that refugees have, in fact, actually been attacked. Within Sierra Leone, I would say that there are five main issues which characterize the humanitarian situation. First, the community is trying to deal with the spontaneous returnees, including those who returned under a planned programme from Conakry to Freetown. About 55,000 have returned so far and we expect that those numbers could easily reach 100,000 over the next few weeks. The resettlement of internally displaced persons in their own villages that are now safe has begun, but, in addition, there is the potential for further displacement as the RUF withdraws from Kambia.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In fact, UNHCR, with the full support of the Government of Guinea, has the exercise of moving refugees away from the Languette well under way; 40,000 have been relocated so far and they anticipate completing that some time within the next 10 days. What we found, however, is that this relocation, along with news of an improved situation in Sierra Leone, has also spurred an increase in attempts by some to return to southern Sierra Leone via areas held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). This is placing an enormous burden on the humanitarian community and in fact is creating serious difficulties for the refugees, who find that their return home is not an easy one. Refugees are being stopped as they cross through RUF territory, as the RUF is intent on registering them.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“We found that the lack of information inside Guinea as to what the situation is in neighbouring countries has often given rise to proposals for the full return of refugees to their countries of origin. Our assessment is that conditions for a return to Sierra Leone or Liberia do not exist at this time. We were very pleased to receive assurances from the Guinean Government that it is fully committed to meeting its obligations under the Convention for refugees and, in fact, is working very closely with UNHCR in its two- track approach. The two-track approach, of course, is the dual one of assisting refugees close to the border to relocate to secure areas deeper within Guinea, while providing assistance to those who are making their way voluntarily across the borders.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In Guinea, we found a nation which, after years of dealing with the spillover from the war in Sierra Leone and the cost of that, is now, unfortunately, facing a humanitarian crisis of its own, with numbers of between 200,000 and 300,000 internally displaced persons. The further deterioration of the situation in Liberia may well increase that number. We travelled to the Languette area - or Parrot's Beak, as it is known in Sierra Leone~ Kissidougou and Gueckedou, and we visited camps in the region, including transit centres in Conakry. What was painfully obvious, in addition to the regional nature of the crisis, was the fact that there is a real dearth of strategic information from one country to the next.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In all three countries, I consulted, of course, as usual, with the United Nations country team, non- governmental organizations, local civil society and the media. It is painfully evident that the regional approach being developed is absolutely the right one, particularly among the three countries of the Mano River Union. The major finding of my mission is the extent to which the crisis in each of the three countries is fuelling crises in the neighbouring countries. There is not a single border that is not affected, exacerbating the humanitarian crises with humanitarian consequences and making it painfully evident that the solutions to these crises must be looked at in an interrelated way. Let me deal specifically with the three countries, very briefly.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“I should add that I found it extremely useful for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to travel to a country such as Sierra Leone, where there is a major peacekeeping mission, and I am recommending that we do this more often. In Guinea, we benefited from the fact that we arrived at the same time as the United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development, Ms. Claire Short, and Mr. Charles Josselin, French Minister for Francophonie and Cooperation, who were visiting the region. Again, this was very useful. I met with senior officials of all three Governments: in Guinea, the Prime Minister; in Sierra Leone, the Minister for Foreign Affairs; and in Liberia, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Planning and the Joint Presidential Committee on Humanitarian Affairs.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“In addition, the Secretary-General requested that, during my Visit, I collect views and information relevant to this Council's request for a response to paragraph 9 of its resolution 1346 (2001), in particular on the question of how to take forward the issue of refugees and internally displaced persons in and around Sierra Leone, including their return to safe areas. I was accompanied by one of our major donors, Ambassador Marika Fahlen, the Swedish Ambassador for humanitarian affairs, along with staff of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“The primary objective of the mission was to make an assessment of the humanitarian situation in the subregion and to evaluate the humanitarian coordination mechanisms among and within the three countries of the Mano River Union. This was seen as essential in View of the regional dimension of the present crisis, the recent changes to the structure of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), as well as the findings of the visit undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the recent interdisciplinary mission to West Africa led by my colleague, Mr. Fall.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source
“Ms. McAskie: I am very pleased indeed to brief the Council on my recent mission, particularly in conjunction with my colleagues Mr. Guehenno and Mr. Fall, as I think this is a good example of how all parts of the United Nations Secretariat are working very closely to address the very complex situation that is developing in that region. In accordance with the Council's request, we attempted to provide some maps through the use of the overhead projector, but this room does not lend itself to that; we tried, but they were absolutely impossible to read. We do have a map handout, which I have been told will be with us in a moment. I will have that circulated, hopefully while we are speaking. Between 17 and 25 April, I visited the three Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.”
2001-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4319 (2001) · source