YouSaid · the spoken record

Ochoa Nifio

lines on the record
10
first
2017-06-13
most recent
2017-06-13
sittings or episodes
1
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un-security-council

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  1. “There is a monumental challenge ahead for Colombia - the consolidation of peace in the wake of the signing of the Peace Agreement. Humanitarian mine action will be a crucial activity in helping to put a definitive end to the violence and establish a foundation for peacebuilding and development activities for all Colombians. The Security Council has a vital role to play in ensuring that demining can contribute in other areas to improving the lives of communities affected by mines and that it can result in the benefits that are so evident in my country. I am proud to be here and working for UNMAS, as an agent for change and for strengthening mine action in Colombia. I hope that the Council will continue to ensure that Colombians can count on its support in dealing with the challenges that they face.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  2. “Various kinds of demining action, for example, might contribute to disarmament activities being carried out under the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Colombia. UNMAS is supporting the relevant national authority in its development of national demining plans and in prioritizing the country's worst-affected areas. In addition, as a guarantor of international standards, UNMAS has been working on the adoption of national standards that will enable Colombia to improve the efficiency of its operations and will ensure a faster response in the communities where it is needed. We have recently had the privilege of starting to train former combatants, which will lead to the creation of a civilian humanitarian demining organization that will enable Colombia to achieve its goal of reintegrating 20 per cent of demobilized combatants.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  3. “Secondly, former combatants' participation in the humanitarian-demining process can be explicitly accepted as a form of punishment within the transitional justice framework outlined in the Agreement. Thirdly, their participation is considered to be an act of reparation for the damage caused by the conflict and as a way to help to reverse its effects. Lastly, mine action is seen as a way to provide former combatants with options for economic and social reintegration and employment opportunities. It also represents a unique opportunity for the United Nations to maintain its support for affected communities, such as those in Colombia, in particular because mine-action initiatives help to promote efforts to achieve sustainable peace. This is a process that UNMAS has had an opportunity to initiate.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  4. “Their presence continues to have socioeconomic consequences for the people affected and is an obstacle to the large-scale delivery of humanitarian assistance and development in many areas of a country. Dealing with the problem means not just eliminating the physical threat in the soil but also setting up structures and processes that can help individuals and communities recover from the impact of mines. In the case of Colombia, various provisions of the Peace Agreement took specific steps and defined the roles that mine action could play in that context. First, it recognizes humanitarian demining as a precondition for implementing other public policies, including those related to replacing illicit crops and the collective return of internally displaced persons. It is also fundamental to development plans.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  5. “For more than a year, the humanitarian demining activities under the Gestures of Peace initiative constituted the sole concrete action jointly implemented by the negotiating parties. As a member of UNMAS, I had the good fortune to be invited to participate in the initiative. I was able to observe that, despite starting from a point of mistrust, along the road both the FARC representatives and the army were able to define shared terms and goals and establish coordination mechanisms to enable them to deal jointly with the challenges that arose. Ultimately, humanitarian demining as a Gesture of Peace succeeded in making mine action a key issue in the eventual Final Peace Agreement. Anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war remain an enduring legacy of any conflict, whether or not a peace agreement has been signed.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  6. “In 2014, after many years of negotiations, the peace process was at a difficult stage and confidence levels between the Government and the FARC were at a low point. Many even feared that the process might collapse altogether. Given the circumstances, the FARC-EP agreed to participate in the Gestures of Peace process. Humanitarian demining, along with, for example, the release of child soldiers, was chosen as one of those Gestures. In that particular context, the additional benefit of the humanitarian demining initiative was that it enabled the Government and the FARC-EP to demonstrate their commitment to peace and to pursuing coexistence and reconciliation. As a result, the Colombian army and the FARC-EP began to work in cooperation, a significant milestone on the path to peace.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  7. “My initial assignment took me to one of the most affected districts in my country at the time. I trained the first 50 of Colombia's civilian deminers. We set up groups under my supervision that were made up of Victims of the conflict, former military personnel and ex-combatants. I saw them all working together with a common goal, that is, to clear landmines and explosive remnants and thereby help communities: a genuine example of reconciliation. Day by day, I learned that humanitarian mine action was, in so many areas of my country, key to initiating the socioeconomic reconstruction of communities. That has never been more clear than in the context of a peace process, as we in Colombia have seen.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  8. “Colombia ranked second worldwide in the number of victims caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war. In more recent years, Colombia has recorded fewer victims, but remains in the top five. Seven years ago, more than 50 per cent of Colombia's 32 departments recorded contamination - predominantly then, as now, in the most remote and underdeveloped rural areas. In those places, landmines serve to deny access to services, restrict mobility and prevent the use of productive land, thereby leaving little hope to them recover from poverty. Moreover, the south of the country is home to indigenous communities, who in the past were trapped and cut off due to the presence of landmines, which meant they could not walk in or out of their territory; the humanitarian aid they needed was completely blocked.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  9. “Since 2002, the national authority - the Directorate for Integrated Action against Mines - has been leading the development of the mine action sector and the introduction of civilian humanitarian demining in Colombia. I have seen first-hand the enormous impact and consequences that landmine and explosive remnants of war contamination have had on the lives of my fellow Colombians and on the development of my country. For that reason, it has been incredibly gratifying for me to be working with UNMAS to support the process of removing the threat posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war. Seven years ago, the mine action sector in Colombia was at an early stage of development and facing the daunting task of tackling an enormous problem. Allow me to mention a few facts from that time.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source

  10. “I am grateful, Mr. President, for the invitation to address the Security Council. It is an almost indescribable experience to have the honour to be here before members to make this statement. I have been working in mine action in Colombia for the past seven years, first with a civil-society group and now as an official of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). UNMAS in Colombia plays the critical role of technical adviser to the national mine action authority, at a moment when the negotiation, design and implementation of the Final Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejercito Popular (FARC-EP) necessitates a functional, efficient, and effective Mine Action sector.”

    2017-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7966 (2017) · source