YouSaid · the spoken record

Miliband

lines on the record: 86
first: 2008-05-20
most recent: 2023-08-03
sittings or episodes: 9
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

“Phase 3 of the Integrated Phase Classification system — the crisis phase — is triggered when one in five families are so desperate to find their next meal that they are considering marrying off their children or sending them out to work. But anticipatory action depends on cash being available, and today it is not. I want to conclude by quoting Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, whose landmark work on famine of nearly 50 years ago starts with these words. “Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat”. In other words, it is a political problem. Today, however, the world is four times richer, but there is more famine, not less. That is not fate but choice. And it is a choice that will only be changed by action.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“The solution to that is not complicated. The humanitarian response plans in the nine countries at risk for famine were only 58 per cent funded in 2022 on average. Yet if their response plans were funded to the same proportion as Ukraine’s last year, there would be another $5 billion in the system to address the most acute needs in those nine countries alone. We need to address the threat of famine by looking through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror. Once famine is declared, it is too late for too many. We know that half of the people who died in the 2011 famine in Somalia died before the famine declaration was made. It is too late for too many to wait for a famine declaration.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“Also, all nine countries at risk of famine this year rank either high, very high or extreme for their levels of constraints on humanitarian access, which is a euphemism for stopping humanitarian aid workers from reaching people in need. We propose establishing an independent office for the protection of humanitarian access, which would ensure that when combatants deny aid, that information is reported with fear or favour to the Council, supporting efforts to drive accountability and diplomacy. Turning to problem five, I know that non-governmental organizations usually start by asking for more money, but I will end rather than start with it. The World Food Programme is cutting its life-saving food assistance programmes today — some of them by as much as half — because it does not have enough money to do its job.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“However, there is a delivery gap as well, and the money will not be spent in fragile and conflict States unless that gap is addressed. In conflict situations, that means making it the norm — not the exception — for funding to be directed through civil society, not just Governments. That would represent real localization. Problem four is the rise of impunity in conflict. Combatants attack civilians, deny humanitarian aid and destroy farms and food warehouses, all of which are both illegal and immoral. The solution is that the perpetrators have to be held to account. We do not need new resolutions for that. Rather, we need new resolve to uphold the existing ones. For example, the next time the Council is presented with evidence of hunger used as a weapon of war, that should trigger action.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“They are highly vulnerable and lack investment in resilience. The solution is to give climate finance a humanitarian face, addressing the finance gap and the delivery gap. The finance gap arises because adaptation is underfunded — it accounts for only 8 per cent of all climate finance — and because adaptation is geared to richer countries. We therefore argue that a set percentage of every adaptation fund should be directed to fragile and conflict States. We also argue that donors should increase the ratio of grants to concessional funding, because fragile and conflict States do not want to take on new loans. That could be done, for example, by trebling the World Bank’s international development assistance funds, as a Group of 20 panel recommended just two weeks ago.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“Ghelani needs support for national famine action plans in the countries most at risk, and support from the national and local authorities in developing those plans. She needs support for engagement with regional and global financial institutions in financing those plans and support in diplomacy to remove barriers on the ground to scaling up responses, as well as support in turning delivery plans into action, starting with the meetings surrounding the general debate in New York in September. Problem three is that as has been reported by the United Nations Development Programme, the more fragile a context — in other words, the more conflict there is in that context — the less money is spent on climate adaptation. Yet our clients represent a disproportionate amount of vulnerability to climate risk.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“We tested the treatment on 27,000 children in Mal with a 92 per cent success rate and a cost saving of 30 per cent, meaning that more children can be reached for the same amount of money. That approach should be made the norm — the default form of provision — in humanitarian settings, with delivery and funding to match, and it can be done right now. Problem two is that there is a proliferation of global initiatives on famine and food insecurity. The solution is an empowered body that can galvanize collective action and drive change. Fortunately, we do now have the High-Level Task Force on Preventing Famine, chaired by Ms. Ghelani, which has been given a new focus and mandate. But frankly, Ms.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“I repeat: 80 per cent of acutely malnourished children have been getting no help. The reason for that is the different approaches to moderate and severe acute malnutrition. There are different treatment and diagnosis protocols, different United Nations agencies, different products and complicated measuring systems ill-suited to situations of conflict. However, the solution is staring us in the face — a simplified system, in the hands of parents and community health workers, who use a simple upper-arm circumference measuring tape to diagnose acute malnutrition and administer one or two doses of ready-to-use therapeutic food per day, depending on whether the case is severe or moderate. Our own impact evaluation shows that this approach is not a pipe dream.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“Every single assessment has the same list: Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali and Haiti. The analysis is not in dispute. But analysis is too often followed by paralysis. We therefore need new muscle in the international system, not the muscle of debating strategies and plans but the muscle of taking action. Today I want to present to the Council five current problems, matched by five immediate solutions. With regard to the first problem, my colleagues in today’s debate will rightly draw attention to the impact of last year’s funding increases, which led to an increase in the number of children getting treatment for their acute malnutrition. But the year-on-year statistics show that 80 per cent of the world’s acutely malnourished children are not getting any treatment at all.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“Five years later, however, there is more armed conflict, more famine, more malnutrition and more and more food insecurity — the euphemism that is used for hunger and starvation. So, today our call is for action to help the 375,000 people facing famine-like conditions at the end of last year — a number that has only risen — and the 35 million on the brink. We have more than enough analysis. There is consensus that conflict is the primary driver of food insecurity today, exacerbated by the climate crisis. There is consensus too on the line of causation from conflict to hunger. Planting is disrupted. Prices are driven up. Combatants block supplies. Food storage is targeted. Coping capacities are depleted. We also know the countries.”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“Mr. Miliband: I thank you, Mr. President, and your team for your leadership on this issue. It is a true honour to speak today on behalf of 40,000 International Rescue Committee employees and volunteers working in 40 countries around the world. Our mission is defined by conflict and its consequences, so this debate means a lot to us and to our clients. Every day, our staff live out a simple mantra: focus on the solutions, not the suffering. So my briefing takes the form of a plea to the Security Council: follow my colleagues and focus on the solutions not the suffering. Five years ago, the Council recognized “the need to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity” in resolution 2417 (2018).”
2023-08-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9392 (2023) · source
“The United Nations reflects all the complexities of international relations, but also the inspiration of humanitarian values. We hope that this debate shines a light on the gap between the two and leads to renewed effort to live up to the better angels of our nature and, frankly, the better angels that helped to found this body.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“We live in the real world. We see the constraints around the often-divided Security Council, as well as in the conflict zones where we work. But we also look to the wider international community to help break the deadlock. When the Security Council is divided, the General Assembly can continue to play a critical role in establishing independent mechanisms to gather evidence on international humanitarian law violations. Where humanitarian work needs guarding from the politics of Member States, the General Assembly can establish independent panels and fact-finding missions and deliver transparent reporting on barriers imposed on humanitarian action in conflict settings. Public and unequivocal documentation of the current state of humanitarian access is the first step towards accountability and diplomacy for renewed access.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“The European Union has proposed driving independent data collection and reporting by funding those efforts and ensuring the independence of the body doing it. We hope that Member States will commit to using that data to drive accountability. Fourthly, early-warning mechanisms cannot be allowed to gather dust. Resolution 2417 (2018), on conflict-induced hunger, could be an effective indicator of food insecurity and famine and a tool to fight it, but it is undermined by weak and inconsistent implementation, data and reporting. That needs to change. Lastly, where the Council has direct power over access to aid, such as in the upcoming vote to renew cross-border access to Syria, that vote should be based on facts and law alone to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need by the most direct and effective routes.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“When progress stalls or commitments are abandoned, they should be called out. Secondly, United Nations officials have a critical role to play, from the Secretary-General on down. Their bravery and their voices should be lauded, not muffled. The Security Council should set a standard for defending United Nations officials who call out violations of international law. Thirdly, those officials should be backed by independent assessments of access violations that leave no room for political pressure to squeeze out plain speaking. In its watch list, published in December last year, the International Rescue Committee proposed an independent office for the promotion of humanitarian access to promote precisely such an independent assessment.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“However, it is responsible for the failure to hold those actors to account and curb their illegal excesses. That is what needs to change. We know what is needed to turn back the age of impunity — the countervailing power of transparency, of monitoring, of contact groups, of accountability and of justice. We have seen the effects of those measures, and that is what we call for today, new muscle in the drive to prevent the strangulation and weaponization of aid. We do not call for new rights. We call for new determination to uphold existing rights. First, humanitarian access and its denial should be a permanent agenda item for the Council, because that denial is a threat to regional peace and security. When reports are issued and benchmarks set, they must be followed up.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“And while this is tragic, it needs to be said that it is not just a strategy on the part of non-State actors but also of States Members of the United Nations. And those who complain, or expose, or campaign against it — whether they are United Nations officials or non-governmental organizations or political opposition — are often targeted for retribution. The Ukraine crisis is obviously the capstone of this age of impunity, but it is not the exception. Just last week two IRC vehicles were attacked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, leaving one medical staff member in hospital with gunshot wounds and others kidnapped. The Council is not responsible for the tactics of those laying siege to communities or targeting civilians or aid workers.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“IRC and other humanitarian staff are kidnapped at checkpoints, shot at by armed groups, threatened with arrest if they provide life-saving aid to what is termed the enemy. And that is before the bureaucracy, the endless waiting for permissions, for visas, for documentation, for cash delivery — delays designed to frustrate, not deliver. According to the Assessment Capacities Project, ACAPS, nearly 200 million people in humanitarian need — 70 per cent of the total — are living in countries with very high or extreme humanitarian access constraints. That is not the collateral damage of conflict. It is not a stray bullet or a military mistake. It is often part of a war strategy, one that directly violates the laws of war.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“Rajasingham said, civilians account for nearly 90 per cent of the casualties of war, and we learned this week of the more than 100 million people who have been forced to flee their homes by conflict and disaster. So the system for protecting civilians — diplomatic, political, legal, humanitarian — is not succeeding but failing. And no failure is greater than the denial of access for innocent civilians to the legal right to receive life-saving aid. So the focus that you have chosen for this debate, Madam President, could not be more important. Every year the delivery of aid becomes harder in conflict zones, not because the natural geography is more difficult but because the human-made obstacles are more significant.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“Mr. Miliband: It is an honour to be with the Security Council today to speak as a fact witness on behalf of the 30,000 staff and volunteers of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) who served more than 35 million civilians at 200 field sites in conflict zones around the world last year. The demand that both our staff and clients share is not for new rights or new laws, but for the Council to fulfil the commitments it has made and allow them to enjoy the civilian protections they have been repeatedly promised. The Security Council has said many times that the protection of civilians is its business. Countless resolutions have promised to fulfil commitments under international humanitarian law. Yet there are 56 active conflicts in the world today. As Mr.”
2022-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9042 (2022) · source
“The people of the region do not need a new process; they need the confidence that comes from a plan, with the timelines and commitment to make it a reality. Our message to Israelis, Palestinians and the region must be clear and undivided. We support peace and we expect peace. The challenges ahead are indeed great. Bold decisions will be needed on all sides, but the consequences of inaction will be even more severe.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The European deposit with all partners is an unyielding commitment to be a force for practical help - money, training, people, commitment - to all parties as they seek to prepare for and then implement a final deal. There is also a Russian deposit - its commitment to work for an international conference to support a peace plan and your role in the E3+3 and in this Council in ensuring that Iran abides by its commitments to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Since we last met in January, we have been in what for us has been a holding pattern. This has been understandable, but this, too, is a euphemism. For people of the region, it has been lost time, and anyone who thinks that a stable holding pattern can continue indefinitely is gravely mistaken.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“We applaud the vision and commitment of its principal author, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. We welcome the determination and fresh thinking of King Abdullah of Jordan to advance its goals. The Arab Peace Initiative is in fact an Arab deposit that needs to be matched. The United Kingdom has been proud to play its part alongside other European countries, not just in arguing for a regional resolution to all outstanding issues, but also in supporting the economic and security strategies of the Palestinian Authority. There is no issue that will motivate Europeans more than the chance to support a drive for peace in the Middle East.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“If the Egyptian-sponsored talks on Palestinian reconciliation are not to reach a conclusion, then we look forward to a new Government being formed with a clear commitment to the peaceful advance of the interests of the Palestinian people, as resolution 1850 (2008) envisaged, and above all a determination to improve their daily lives in advance of Palestinian elections. This, too, needs support. But, Israelis and Palestinians cannot deliver this deal on their own. Israelis need peace with the whole Arab world, as well as cooperation with the Palestinians. Palestinians need support from the Arab world as well as compromise from Israel. This is the 23-State solution that we need, and is embodied in the Arab Peace Initiative, which is finally getting the recognition that it deserves.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“Israelis want to see an end to the threat of terror and the release of Gilad Shalit. Again, they are right to want these things. What has been missing is shared and sustained political will to overcome the obstacles, and now is the time to find it - too late for too many, but urgent nonetheless. In this context, the creation of a new Israeli Government takes on added significance. Prime Minister Netanyahu leads a Government born of the democratic process. The United Kingdom welcomes his public commitments, restated today, to political, economic and security tracks. Progress on each one is vital, needs to be delineated and requires support. Meanwhile, Israel has a willing partner for negotiations in President Abbas. The Palestinians need a Government.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“As His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey has explained, all this is a catalyst for a resolution of other issues dividing Israel from its neighbours. Nor is there much argument about the short-term measures that would give life to hope among the people in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Palestinians want to see a freeze on all settlement activity, both in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as per Road Map commitments, and the opening of crossings into Gaza not only for humanitarian aid, but also for reconstruction supplies and the movement of people and trade, as per resolution 1860 (2009). They also want to see the Palestinian Authority properly funded by all of its donors. The United Kingdom believes that they are right to want these things.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“That is why the Secretary-General was right in his remarks this morning to refer to a crisis of confidence. President Obama has said that the status quo is unsustainable. We need to take that seriously. Destructive forces in the Middle East have derived strength from the perceived inaction or failed initiatives of the international community. Without a decisive drive for peace, there will be a drift towards more war. The Council is not short of consensus about a solution. We share the passion and conviction of our French colleagues in setting this out. The broad shape has been clear for some time: a comprehensive peace, based on two States, agreed borders based on those of 1967, Jerusalem as the capital for both States, and a just settlement for refugees.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“It is relevant to our deliberations that the only people who gain from this failure are those committed to violence. There are also other outstanding issues arising from the Gaza war, including the Secretary-General's Board of Inquiry report on attacks on United Nations premises. We look to the Israeli Government to investigate each of these incidents in the light of the Inquiry's findings. The West Bank, meanwhile, is in economic limbo. The Palestinian Authority is short of funds, Israeli settlement building continues, with demolitions and settlements in East Jerusalem particularly dangerous for peace. Meanwhile, rockets continue to land in Israeli towns, the rearmament of Hizbollah is in contravention of resolution 1559 (2004), and Iran exploits the misery of Palestinians to advance its own goals.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“After 61 years of temporary truce and bloody wars, it can sometimes seem inevitable that the conflict in the Middle East will continue for at least a few more years and that the best we can hope for is that it does not get too much worse. But that logic is not only faulty; it is dangerous. Conflict can erupt again at any time. The Gaza war showed how close to the surface conflict is in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Resolution 1860 (2009) was a hard-fought achievement that laid the basis for an end to the Gaza conflict in January. But there is, as many speakers have already said, overwhelming evidence that it is has not been fully implemented. More work remains to be done to reopen the crossings, to get humanitarian aid in and to bring an end to arms smuggling.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The United Kingdom warmly welcomes this debate, and we thank the Russian Federation for its initiative in opening it. We also thank the Secretary-General for his very strong words today. This meeting comes just a week before the start of an intensive series of Visits to Washington, as the new United States Administration fulfils its commitment to offer the leadership necessary to address both the insecurity of Israelis and the statelessness of the Palestinians. Today, our duty is not just to state national positions. It is to unite our commitment in word and deed to support the development of a new plan for peace.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“Our job is to turn the words of the resolution into reality, and that is a task to which the United Kingdom will remain wholly committed. To that extent, our work does not finish; it must carry on with renewed vigour.”
2009-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6063 (2009) · source
“I believe that, tonight, the United Nations has served its purpose of speaking loudly, clearly, authoritatively and unequivocally. But we all have further responsibilities: responsibilities for the parties on the ground, responsibilities for regional States - some of which, such as Egypt, are working so hard on the practical measures that are now essential - and responsibilities, too, for the whole international community, because this crisis in the Middle East affects us all and that is why it belongs in the Security Council. I said on Tuesday that our responsibility was to chart a course back to resolution 1850 (2008). Today, I believe we can do so with the route map set out in resolution 1860 (2009) - not as a substitute for the decisions that need to be made on the ground, but as a complement to them.”
2009-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6063 (2009) · source
“The heart of this resolution, I believe, shows a genuine consensus on a clear set of objectives. The first is an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire. The wording of the resolution is clear on that point. The second is the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza - in the short-term through increased aid and then through the opening of crossings, as per the 2005 Agreement. The third, the security needs of Israelis, needs to be tackled through the new measures on the illegal trafficking of arms. The fourth is the political needs of Israelis and Palestinians alike for a strong Palestinian Authority, speaking for all Palestinians and negotiating in good faith with Israel for the only solution to the conflict in the Middle East: the two-State solution.”
2009-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6063 (2009) · source
“Let me, first of all, Sir, start by praising your presidential efforts over the past three days to bring us together, as well as those of the President of France for all that he has been attempting to do to bring forward the goals that we seek together. We have been brought together over the past three days first by the gravity of the situation that currently exists in Gaza. Statistics do not do justice to the situation there, but the word "crisis", which is sometimes overused, is wholly appropriate, in my view, in that context. However, we have also been brought together, I believe, by Clarity of vision for the future. The only way to secure dignity and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike is for that dignity and security to be for both of them.”
2009-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6063 (2009) · source
“But we also have a responsibility to keep alive the vision of a peaceful Middle East in which Palestinians have the dignity of statehood and Israelis have recognition and security from their neighbours. That is the responsibility of the Council, that is our task today and those are responsibilities and tasks that the United Kingdom wants to help resolve.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“It will also undercut the smuggling trade. The permanence of a ceasefire depends on something else. President Abbas is a powerful and consistent advocate for the interests of all Palestinians, whether they live in Gaza or the West Bank. The unity of Palestine is essential to any decent vision of the future. It is also a precondition for a democratic politics of consent in which there is one legitimate authority and in which every Palestinian has a voice in the only process that counts: the peace process. The test for us over the next 24 hours is simple: will we help to bring an end to the current conflict and pave the way back to the vision the Council set out three weeks ago? Our starting point must be the goals of an immediate ceasefire, an end to arms trafficking and an opening of the crossings.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“But we are enjoined to come to the United Nations not just to make declarations, but to seek common ground and to find common purpose, so we must focus on the substance and permanence of a ceasefire, as well as on its timing. Israel is right to say that the flow of illegal arms into Gaza is a threat to its citizens and needs to be curbed. We say that we need to support countries in the region in developing the tools to tackle the trafficking of weapons from land and sea. This will be a complex and difficult task, but it is essential. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is right to say that it concluded an agreement in 2005 on the opening of crossings for people, goods and aid into Gaza. We say that we need to open those crossings and re-establish the authority of the Palestinian Authority over them. This will help the people of Gaza.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“The confirmation just a few hours ago that 30 civilians were killed today in a United Nations school in Gaza is a devastating reminder of the urgency of our responsibilities. Earlier today, the Quartet envoy called the situation in Gaza "hell". The shortages of food, fuel and medicine are, according to our reports, acute. The scale of the suffering is immense. The need for humanitarian supplies is urgent. In this context, it is right to salute the leadership not just of the Secretary- General, but also of the brave United Nations workers trying to relieve suffering in Gaza. The United Kingdom stands four square behind the Security Council statement of 28 December calling for an immediate halt to all violence. I reiterate today the call of my Prime Minister for an immediate ceasefire.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“Rockets were fired into Israel, Palestinians died in Israeli military action and the people of Gaza suffered greater and greater deprivation. However, the immediate trigger for Israeli military action was the end of the truce. Hamas rejected its extension and fired almost 300 rockets between 19 December and 27 December 2008. Those rockets are not just a danger and a provocation - though they are that. They demonstrate a choice by Hamas, not just to target the people of Israel, but also to target the fragile negotiations for peace, sponsored over the past year by the United States. However, the immediate consequence of Israeli military action over the past 10 days is also clear: 600 dead, many of them civilians and children - the horror of war piled upon months of deprivation.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“I believe that, in this debate, we cannot simply restate our national positions; we have a wider responsibility to support all efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire and to chart a course back to the common vision set out just three weeks ago in Security Council resolution 1850 (2008). As we meet, lives are at stake and new initiatives are under way, notably from President Mubarak and President Sarkozy, to engineer new action for a ceasefire that engages Israel and responds to its security concerns. The United Kingdom supports those initiatives. We in the Council now need to use our discussions over the next 24 hours to be clear in our principles and practical in our conclusions to reinforce those efforts. The truce of June to December 2008 was, in truth, less than that.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“There could not be a greater contrast between the daily regime of delicate diplomacy at the United Nations and the day- to-day reality of death and destruction in Gaza, but the two are linked. The United Kingdom believes that the crisis - and I use that word advisedly - in Gaza is an indictment of the collective failure of all of us, over a long period, to bring about the two-State solution, which offers the only hope for security and justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The two speeches that we have just heard, from President Abbas and Ambassador Shalev, define the challenge for this Council. Both were moving, deeply felt and passionate.”
2009-01-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6061 (2009) · source
“This will be vital if Somalis are to be effective in developing an indigenous security sector. At the same time, it is clear that there are major questions relating to the security situation as well. I look forward to learning in this debate of the views of a range of members here, including the Somali delegation, about their understanding of the intentions of Governments in the region, about the future of the African Union Mission in Somalia and about the security needs in Somalia. We understand that the history of intervention in Somalia is one that carries a great number of important lessons for all of us. We will be addressing these issues in a manner consistent with our own commitments, not just to the humanitarian situation, but also to the political support that is going to be necessary to take this forward.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“The clear and shared goal is to work for a credible commitment from the Transitional Federal Government, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia and other political forces to re-energize the Djibouti political process with the aim of producing a more representative political system. There are, however, two major areas of uncertainty that raise questions for the United Kingdom. One is about political uncertainty, the other is about uncertainty relating to the security situation. With respect to the political uncertainty, there is a necessity for early concrete steps to deliver a viable way forward. Sheikh Sharif's recent visit to Mogadishu is an important example of this. We also need to see an orderly transition to the proper Government of national unity and the clear appointment of key cabinet figures.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“However, as my Russian colleague has intimated, we cannot look at the issue of piracy through the prism of international trade or shipping alone. In Somalia itself, as people understand from watching television or reading the newspapers today, the political, humanitarian and security situations carry real risks. The Djibouti process has, for many people, opened a potential new chapter for Somalia. It is a Somali- owned process and must remain so. But we have a responsibility, as members of the Security Council, to do what we can to support it. It will not succeed in isolation from the political process. I hope that all those engaged in the negotiation can do what is necessary to turn it into practical reality.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“The United Kingdom and many others are working to address the issue of piracy at sea, with the European Union, NATO and Combined Task Force 150 all playing their role in seeking to escort World Food Programme vessels, deterring pirate activity and, where possible, disrupting attacks. Others are contributing naval assets to undertake similar tasks. The cooperation at the military level amongst those contributors is demonstrating how we can work together on this difficult issue. However, it is important that we work not just on the military front, but with the shipping industry, either on a Government-to-industry basis or through the International Maritime Organization. To support these efforts, I welcome the practical measures that we have agreed in the resolution today.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“That concludes my explanation of vote, and I would like to now make a statement on the wider issue of piracy and related issues. I am obviously grateful to our colleague, Ms. Rice, for her initiative in taking this resolution through and for securing unanimous support for it. I think this is an important opportunity to discuss both the narrow issue of piracy and the wider situation in Somalia. I will try to do so briefly. The seas off Somalia are a key economic artery for global trade and for many nations represented here. But they are also essential to the delivery of essential humanitarian supplies to the people of Somalia.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“The authorization conferred by paragraph 6 of the resolution to permit States cooperating with the Transitional Federal Government to use "all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia, for the purpose of suppressing acts of piracy" enables States and regional organizations, with the consent of the Transitional Federal Government, to act, using force if necessary, against pirate activities on land in Somalia. This is an important additional tool to combat those who plan, facilitate or undertake acts of piracy from the territory of Somalia. The United Kingdom considers that any use of force must be both necessary and proportionate. These concepts include an assessment that the measures taken must be appropriate to the circumstances to which they are directed.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“I would like to start by setting out an explanation of vote in relation to the resolution we have just passed before moving on to my broader statement. The United Kingdom has voted in favour of the resolution adopted because we support robust action to address the serious threat to international navigation, including deliveries of humanitarian aid to the people of Somalia, posed by piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6046 (2008) · source
“We applaud the efforts of President Abbas and Prime Minister F ayad to make this a reality and we are determined to play our part in supporting them. Our role here today is not just to adopt a resolution; it is to challenge all those with an interest in the region to join us in 2009. The perils of inertia are clear; inactivity and confrontation are the recruiting sergeants for extremism from Mogadishu to Manchester. The gains of effective action are the opposite: the reversal of four decades in which the Middle East has been destabilized and the world made less safe. That is why the United Kingdom pledges to do all in its power not just to support this draft resolution, but to progress its implementation.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6045 (2008) · source
“And those who would torpedo the process must know that we are determined not to allow them to succeed. Hamas must end its rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, abandon violence and demonstrate their commitment to the political process by moving towards the Quartet principles. The United Kingdom welcomes operative paragraph 4 of the draft resolution on the development of Palestinian capacity and the development of the institutions of a Palestinian State. We believe this is vital. The political process and the situation on the ground are inseparable. They need to be mutually reinforcing. Better security forces for the Palestinians does not just mean better lives for them - it means more security for Israel.”
2008-12-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6045 (2008) · source