YouSaid · the spoken record

Ochen

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18
first
2019-10-02
most recent
2019-10-02
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “We want to have a model African-led peacebuilding missions and operations to complement the existing United Nations and African Union peace operations. By implementing all of the above, we will accelerate innovation for a lasting peace in Africa. I pray that peace may prevail in Africa and the world.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  2. “Another goal we intend to achieve through the peace academy is to support the principles of adherence to and tolerance of different opinions among young people, without being compromised. We will also support the partnership between youth and donors with the intention of harmonizing strategies to look at the long-term aspects of peacebuilding, which will be key to strong institution-building. With all of that said, I wish to say that we must be aware that the African youth has grown up, and now they are many in number. They are becoming a force. It will either be a positive or a negative force on the world. But it will be a force. We must do the right thing, right now. It would be in our best interests to step up now to help redirect the pace of change towards a positive change.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  3. “The big question that everyone is asking is: when will we have a permanent African member on the Security Council? It is a question that the Council must look at now in order to maintain the legitimacy of such an important institution in the minds of young Africans. Finally, based on our 15 years of active peacebuilding work across the continent and also from our childhood, we have moved on to build an African peace academy. That is a locally led vision for the region that will have an impact on world peace. Through that facility, we will opt to put in place home-grown efforts for peacebuilders, conflict preventers and conflict mediators. Through the web network of peacebuilders, we hope we will have a continent-wide peace movement. That is a commitment that could help us to make collective achievements together.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  4. “Youth have increased in numbers across the continent, but we must move away from the numbers and towards generating a positive impact. My penultimate point is that we must focus on addressing the root causes of violent conflict, such as conflicts over land and mineral resources. Imagine ifwe had shared African resources with the rest of the world in a way that benefited Africans - where would Africa be by now? And of course, questions have been arising on issues of growing concern among young Africans. The United Nations is key, and we need to promote the United Nations and bring it closer to the people. Let them understand the values and principles as well as the declarations and treaties signed, which will mean they will be able to respect the rules of engagement.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  5. “Another recommendation I would make based on my experience of travelling to different countries around the continent - some of which have endured sanctions for years - is that States' development capacity should be prioritized instead of imposing sanctions or cutting aid, because it is the people who are suffering, and it is not just top politicians being affected but the innocent, the poor, children and women. Sanctions are not punishing the State as intended, but rather they are punishing the people. In as much as we are committed to putting an end to guns in Africa, let us make sure that the commitment to youth and peace and security is matched by meaningful financing. Donors should give money and provide the technical skills that are needed.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  6. “I think the time has come for a pre-mortem approach whereby we mediate in conflict situations from the outset to prevent suffering and death. That is key. The fourth recommendation I would make is on mediation as a tool for conflict prevention. We must seek to address the various grievances of ethnic groups before we allow them to escalate into violent conflict. That can be done only ifwe domesticate and bring about solutions at the local level.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  7. “They are wondering: who really wants the wars to end in Africa if nations around the world are competing to militarize the continent? Who really means well? What do they mean when they say they are working for peace and stability in Africa, with all these guns arriving on the continent? If the rest of the world genuinely means well to Africa, it should scale down its military cooperation in Africa and scale up the partnership for peace. Let us plant the seeds of peace. Thirdly, most international interventions - whether led by the African Union, the United Nations or other platforms - have had a post-mortem approach to peace. That has been Viewed in many different ways. We are grateful for the support that comes in the form of humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping missions and peace operations.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  8. “Therefore, identity matters, and whom they identify with is important. Allow me to make the following recommendations to the Council. First, in order for us to tackle the big question of what we can do to achieve our dream of silencing the guns in Africa by 2020, I think the bedrock will be the political will generated by both the weak and the powerful people across the continent. That would mean that theirjoint decisions to negotiate a collective future supplied by the leadership will be necessary to create a climate in which everybody can thrive. That is key. We need that. Secondly, I would like to make a recommendation on gun Violence. It is my hope that, given the increased gun flows to Africa, the Security Council will understand that youth are genuinely lost.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  9. “Those are concerns that the Security Council could help us to address. The fifth challenge, shared among many young people whom I have met in different parts of the continent, is a concern that, while there is increased engagement from influential figures - what we consider to be the "celebritization" of the peace agenda - and while that is good in terms of raising awareness, it does not do much justice to people who are suffering and going hungry. Young people are carrying guns on their necks every day, looking to secure livelihoods. Young people are saying that most initiatives do not align with their needs. They are not living the lives they studied for, they are not living the lives they researched, but they are living the lives into which they were born, in which they survive and continue to live.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  10. “We are stuck in a non-progressive mindset of power, which says that we are including youth, but that is a mere sentiment; it is not really meant. The question we have to answer is how to include in the discussion every young person and key player for the right mind-change. The fourth challenge is that there are too many war profiteers, both at home and abroad. Think about what would happen if Africa were to close its borders for one day or one year - how many industries would fail around the world? We have so many resources at home, but they are taken at the expense of the African people. How do we address that challenge of there being too many war profiteers? The question is, who really wants the wars to end? Is it African leaders and the African people or the international community?”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  11. “They are feeling the urge to take revenge. That is a challenge. The next challenge is migration. There is growing uncertainty among youth on the continent, with thousands seeking jobs abroad. We are seeing them die in the Mediterranean Sea on a daily basis, as well as the suffering of Africans around the world. But also, for those who decide to stay home, they are sometimes forced to settle for low quality livelihoods, which tends to increase the range of risks and vulnerabilities. The third challenge is hierarchies and the state of mind. Over our time together, we have talked about youth inclusion and participation. It is true that the language has changed, but the power has not. Power remains the same.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  12. “The continent is littered with them. Fourthly, how do we deal with the systemic marginalization of Africans by fellow Africans, as well as international norms? Allow me to present the key challenges from my recent trips across the continent, made with the support of the African Union, in an effort to mobilize youth momentum towards peace in Africa. One thing that is common is the lack of critical positive momentum across the continent. We found an absence of a transformative leadership agenda aimed at empowering young people as leaders in peacebuilding. The streets throughout the continent are full of young people chanting that someone must fall and that someone must go. Everyone who chants those sentiments is conveying so much pain and anger, and one can feel that, from their hearts, they are ready to strike back.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  13. “I have met with young people in South Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One young man, from a country I will not name, asked me how it was that I could tell him to put down his gun, because his gun was his life, security, livelihood, father, mother and Government - how could he lay down his gun? That was his question to me, and I did not have an answer. But our background and our work over the years, which has helped us move forward, have been guided by the following four questions, which I humbly ask the members of the Security Council to help me answer. First, how can we make peacebuilding rewarding, and peacebuilders rewarded, so that peace is chosen by the young people in Africa? Secondly, how can we build trust among Africans, and towards the African people? Thirdly, how do we reduce the flow of guns to Africa?”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  14. “We went on to build up our momentum, while we struggled with meeting our own education and health needs and worrying about the future. In 2005, I formed the African Youth Initiative Network, aimed at mobilizing young people - fellow youth suffering like I was - to transform our trauma and pain into an opportunity for leadership and peacebuilding. That has been key in developing our leadership in the direction of peacebuilding. I can say that it is very difficult for something good to come out of a life of conflict. I admire the momentum and commitment by the African Union to saying that we have to silence the guns in Africa by 2020. The year 2020 is not so far away, and there are gun shops all over the continent. That is a vision that we must embrace and ensure that we commit and deliver on.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  15. “But something in me told me that my situation was an opportunity for me to take responsibility, and instead of criticizing the war mongers, I should create peacebuilders and achieve what the continent was thirsty for, in that case, peace. At the peak of the conflict, I was at a crossroads, pondering whether picking up a gun to fight was the way to go. But something in me kept on telling me that war was not an option, that suffering needed to end and that picking up a gun would escalate the suffering. I chose peace. At the age of 13, I started a peace club in the IDP camp where I was living in northern Uganda. The objective was primarily to discourage and challenge the child soldier recruitment that was happening in my region.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  16. “Every day, I painfully struggled to find something to eat and somewhere to sleep and worried that if I slept at all that I might not wake up alive, or that I might wake up in the hands of armed men. Worst of all was when my own brother was abducted on 10 December 2003 - apparently, Human Rights Day - which was the day that right for me was violated, at best. Unfortunately, to date, my brother, as well as my cousins and fellow community members have never been seen again. It has been quite an exhausting journey. I always wondered whether it was enough to cry and criticize war mongers or fighters, or was it too late when I criticized or complained about them.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  17. “Mostly, I anxiously awaited when my parents would be able to build at least a semi-permanent home. But, when war came, everything, including all those dreams, was turned upside down. My dreams were cut short; my vision for the future was amputated. That is what I witnessed as a child. Since I was a child, after spending my life in the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda, with millions of fellow Ugandan children sharing my painful journey, we felt that the world had forgotten us, and we asked ourselves who we could fight against. Should we pick up a gun and fight somebody? Ultimately, we wondered how we could work together to fight against the disgraceful fate that we were living. Every day, as a child, I had to struggle to survive abductions and being killed. I had to struggle to not get blown up by landmines.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source

  18. “Mr. Ochen: Congratulations to you, Mr. President, and South Africa on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for October. I would like to thank everyone in the Chamber, together with my fellow briefers. It is a great honour. I send my warmest regards from Kampala to all present, as I feel delighted to be invited to contribute to the discussion. On a day like this, we are also observing the International Day of Non-Violence, and a subject of that nature is quite befitting. In myriad ways, my story, like many others of young people around the continent, begins with a story of pain, unfortunately. When I was growing up as a child, like any other child in the world, I wanted to study and become a doctor or a pilot. My dream was to become a teacher.”

    2019-10-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8629 (2019) · source