YouSaid · the spoken record

Ogata

lines on the record: 219
first: 1992-11-13
most recent: 2002-07-19
sittings or episodes: 7
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

“When I returned to the Shomali plains, north of Kabul, the internally displaced, who in January had been heading home in vast numbers, were now settled in their original communities and were starting to rebuild their houses. Some families had, in fact, already finished the rebuilding and were starting to resume their handicraft work. Green leaves were sprouting on the grapevines in the fields - another encouraging sign of recovery. Such progress, even in small increments, enables the people of Afghanistan to personally experience the dividend of peace. That is what is important in the end, and the international community must continue to render its support to Afghanistan to ensure that this trend is not reversed.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“It is in this context that Japan has decided to expand the United Nations Development Programme Recovery and Employment Afghanistan Programme - already successfully undertaken in Kabul - to Kandahar. Japan intends to play a key role in the formulation and implementation of such comprehensive area development. It will be announcing a large package of assistance to Afghanistan in the next few weeks; a comprehensive area development programme would be given a sizeable portion. At the outset of my statement, I mentioned that my overall impression of Afghanistan was that significant improvements have been achieved in the past five months. In closing, let me describe what I saw.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Japan considers that the return and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons through the programmes of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund and other international humanitarian agencies, combined with regional reconstruction programmes of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, would constitute the base for a comprehensive area development programme. Such a programme is, in fact, being formulated under the leadership of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in close consultation with the Transitional Authority and provincial administrations. Kandahar could be a starting point.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Judging from the situation that I observed on the ground, humanitarian assistance continues to predominate, while recovery work is still in the offing. At this point, all out efforts should be devoted to community development in order to meet the recovery needs of the population, as well as to the reintegration of refugees, internally displaced persons and former combatants. The early establishment of potable and agricultural water supplies, education, sanitation, health care services and road reconstruction projects will make a crucial difference at this juncture. With respect to roads, which President Karzai has repeatedly stressed as a priority issue, I have conveyed his message to the Asian Development Bank and urged it to promptly implement its plans.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“Bearing in mind that we are now in the post-Emergency Loya Jirga phase of the Bonn process, the international community must take the next step and begin the full-scale implementation of its recovery and reconstruction assistance. In this regard, I am happy to note that the meeting of the co-chairs of the Afghan Reconstruction Steering Group (ARSG), which was held on 10 July in Paris with the participation of Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani of the Transitional Administration and Ambassador Brahimi, provided a good opportunity to review the current needs and the resources pledged and to coordinate a future strategy. Operationally speaking, full-scale reconstruction efforts, while awaited, seem to be still at the planning stage.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“In the medium-to-long term, this could have grave implications for the security environment as well as for the political stability of Afghanistan. That concern was repeatedly raised by officials I met in Kabul and Kandahar, and, I might add, it was also recognized in resolution 1419 (2002), which the Council recently adopted. In order to avoid the worst-case scenario and to stabilize the country, immediate steps must be taken to provide employment opportunities and other forms of assistance for returnees and internally displaced persons so that they can be swiftly integrated into local communities. The Afghan Administration needs support in planning and implementing community development programmes. How are we now to proceed?”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“I was very pleased when listening to previous interventions that these were directions which Council members were considering. The other significant issue is the rapidity with which refugees are returning, especially from Pakistan. While I was in Kabul, the one-millionth returnee registered for arrival. At the school I visited in Kabul, one half of the students in the classrooms were recent returnees. This in itself is a sign of people's hope for a better future in Afghanistan, and it is to be welcomed. There will inevitably be variations in the rate of refugee return. However, the scale, combined with internal displacements due to drought and ethnic confrontations in some parts, could overwhelm the absorptive capacity of receiving communities.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“They also regarded the demobilization and disarmament of armed elements, as well as compensation for their lost property, as necessary preconditions for their return. Given the recent developments in Afghanistan, I feel that their pleas merit the Council's renewed consideration. I wish to join my voice with those who are calling for the deployment of ISAF or other peacekeeping forces in unstable areas in the north. We should also find ways to help return the internally displaced persons. Furthermore, it is important that international efforts to assist the reform and rehabilitation of the national military, police and judicial systems and the demobilization and reintegration of armed elements produce concrete results very soon.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“I wish to express my deepest regret and condolences to the people of Afghanistan. These developments, therefore, make it all the more important that the international community continue to support the newly established Administration to ensure clear progress in both the political and the national reconstruction process. Two issues stand out as requiring urgent attention: security and the rapid return of refugees. The provision of adequate security throughout the country is a prerequisite for peace to take root and for recovery and reconstruction efforts to proceed. When I met with Pashtoon internally displaced persons who had fled the north in recent months in Kandahar province, they spoke of the security threats and requested the deployment of an international peacekeeping presence in the Mazar-e-Sharif area.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“The process of the Emergency Loya Jirga started from grass-roots efforts to choose delegates from all over the country, and even abroad. It was an impressive sight to witness 1,650 chosen delegates, including 200 women, assembled in an enormous tented hall, openly making and reacting to statements for more than one week. My warmest congratulations go to President Karzai, who was elected through a secret ballot, obtaining an approval rate exceeding 85 per cent. The successful conclusion of the Emergency Loya Jirga was essential for the long-term peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan. On the other hand, the political balance on which the newly created Transitional Authority of Afghanistan stands is still very precarious. This was most recently underscored by the tragic assassination of Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“During that period, in addition to witnessing the Emergency Loya Jirga, I was able to have discussions with key officials of the Afghan Administration, including President Karzai the leadership of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and members of the diplomatic community. I also had an opportunity to visit Kandahar, where I met with local government officials and representatives of United Nations agencies, and visited camps for internally displaced persons and refugees in Spin Boldak and Chaman, located near and across the border with Pakistan. My overall impression was that significant improvements have been achieved since my last visit five months ago. Based on what I learned there, I would like to offer my observations to the Council and to suggest possible ways to move on.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“It is a great pleasure for me to be present in the Council to discuss the important issue of Afghanistan. It is appropriate indeed for the Council to hold this meeting in the presence of Ambassador Brahimi, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. His contributions have been widely acknowledged. Having observed closely his extraordinary efforts to achieve peace and prosperity in Afghanistan during the Emergency Loya Jirga, I wish to join the international community in expressing my deepest respect and gratitude for his achievements. I visited Afghanistan as Prime Minister Koizumi's special representative from 13 to 19 June.”
2002-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4579 (2002) · source
“We know how we can organize this. I have talked with the authorities of Afghanistan too, but we need funds. This is what I wanted to add to our appeal, and perhaps from the peace and security point of view, you could also underscore the need for funds, if we are to have peace and security and the resolution of refugee problems. I am very grateful for the opportunity you have given me and your assurance of continued support to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Some 2.5 million have been in Pakistan and Iran for a long time, almost 20 years. The burden, as the delegate of Bangladesh mentioned, is very heavy on both the Governments and people of Pakistan and Iran. Yet, the situation inside Afghanistan is such that it is not so easy to promote return. However, in both countries I have seen Afghan refugees lining up, wanting to be helped to return. There also I need resources. It is a small amount for an initial reintegration package that we would like to give them. Afghans are wonderful organizers of transport and they can manage the transportation, but we still have to have money to give them. With these funds there would be many more ready to go back. Of course, there are many other conditions, such as human rights, girls' and women's education, and so forth. But people do want to go back.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“This is a very complex question, but I would still like to say that we need peacekeepers or observers to come in quickly. I appreciated that several delegations noted the importance of funding and I did not mention funding here. I was referring more to peace and security management. However, peace and security, staff security, all require money and this is where I would like to appeal to the Council. We have arrived at the fourth quarter with a deficit. A shortfall of $140 million is foreseen, which means we really have to cut back. Whether it is in the refugee programmes or our own deployment of very important and necessary staff, we have to cut down. For example, I was in Afghanistan recently. I would like to mention this serious situation, as the world's largest group of refugees is still the Afghans.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“But I think we have now identified areas where we clearly need stand-by arrangements and support and it is in this sense that we will be contacting Governments that have already expressed their readiness, whether in humanitarian security staff, logistic support or readiness of various kinds. We would like to come back to the Council much more systematically and I think we would be able to do that towards the end of the year. I hope we will get practical responses, because no organization should maintain, or can maintain, large standing capacity. It is really through stand-by arrangements that I think we will be able to be more effective. The timing gap is a problem and I agree that it is not just the peacekeepers or the humanitarian workers that can maintain stability.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“This is where assistance to develop local capacity is the primary, preliminary step and then sometimes it becomes necessary to move on to regional or subregional arrangements. In this area many States are now helping in regional military training and so on. This is very welcome and then, at the very end, as a last resort, international help is forthcoming. In my Office we have studied the ladders of option together with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and have constructed and strengthened our emergency services unit. We were concentrating on our own strengthening of emergency services so that I do not think that we have really contacted Governments that have offered to enter into partnership through various stand-by arrangements.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“There are points through which refugees flee and it is in those places, for example in Guinea it would be mainly in two areas - in the west in Forecariah and in the eastern part in the Gueckedou area - where the refugees have gone and I think these are the places where more focused observer missions might make a big difference, as has been seen in Zaire. That, then, is the thinking behind my plea , almost, to look at border areas, which would help not only refugees but prevent insecurity from spreading. The third point is about the ladders of option. I have been talking about ladders of option for establishing the security of refugee settlements, as well as security for the humanitarian workers. I would like to emphasize that we should look first at the local level and at how local police and law enforcement capacity can be strengthened.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We should be ready to take this on much more quickly, but I think that this division of responsibility is something on which I would like further clarification. I do not think it will be possible for cross-border mandates for peace to take effect soon. However, I think that some of the delegations who have visited West Africa in particular, will have noted how impossible it is to contain fighting and to stop the fighting from moving across borders, and will understand the importance of trying to look at the border situation. I am fully aware that no peacekeeping forces can be deployed along the entire 1,000 kilometre border of any country. But geography is a very important factor.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“I was particularly pleased to receive some response on the question of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) - a matter I would really like the Council to examine further and on which I have received assurances from several delegations - because we cannot take care of disarmament and demobilization. It is necessary to have police or military personnel to disarm people who are armed and we cannot do this. Even with funding from the World Bank for disarmament and demobilization, the persons who carry out this task would have to be people who know that they have to be armed, so that they can disarm. It is on that basis that the next step of reintegration will require civil society involvement and the involvement of humanitarian and development agencies.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“I would like to start by thanking representatives for their very warm expressions of appreciation for the work that my Office has done, including myself. This is always a very encouraging recognition that I always try to pass on to my colleagues who are really spread out all over the world. I am also pleased to note that some of the points I made in my briefing have been responded to with the promise that the Council will be looking into them further and also that there was some recognition that my comments will serve as food for thought.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“This is an essential, if very complex, task. My successor, High Commissioner-elect Ruud Lubbers, has the experience and the stature to carry it out with energy, courage and creativity. I trust that the Security Council will give him the same strong and constant support that I have enjoyed in this Chamber for the past 10 years - support for which I would like to express once more my deep personal gratitude. I do so also on behalf of my colleagues, and of all the uprooted people they so bravely work with in some of the most dangerous areas in the world. Please continue to help them.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“The last 10 years have proved that, if they are not part of a comprehensive political and security approach, humanitarian workers face dangers, are less effective and even risk aggravating humanitarian crises. What we must establish, at different levels, are what we could call "security partnerships for refugees" - joint ventures between States hosting refugees, those ready to provide resources, and humanitarian organizations like UNHCR. In my briefing today, I have spoken of practical ways on how to promote such partnerships: by containing insecurity linked to refugee crises, improving peace operations and focusing more decisively on peace-building. Through security partnerships, together we can create a better security environment in which refugee protection and solutions can be more effective.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Without any doubt, DDR is also one of the areas in which UNHCR expects more decisive action by the Security Council. In their great potential and in the obstacles which undermine them, DDR programmes reflect all the contradictions of peace- building. I see two problems which need to be addressed in particular: first, the roles and responsibilities of all actors involved in DDR-related activities must be clarified; secondly, there must be a stronger focus on reintegration, because disarmed and demobilized soldiers, if they are not given opportunities for a future, will go back to more lucrative military activities. These are not small matters and, unless they are addressed seriously, little progress will be achieved in this important area.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We have launched a pilot project, in returnee areas of Rwanda and Bosnia, called Imagine Coexistence, consisting essentially of support to small, community- based inter-ethnic income-generating activities, around which we would like to build clusters of other activities branching off into the community - sports, theatre, culture, dialogue. This is one of the innovative approaches that we are taking. But its impact, once again, will be limited, unless there are more rapid and comprehensive efforts for peace-building at various levels. One crucial issue which I would like to mention before concluding is that of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR). UNHCR is particularly anxious that effective DDR contributes to the creation of a safe environment for refugees returning home.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We see the concrete, sometimes desperate needs of returnees in devastated areas or in areas where communities continue to be deeply divided. We are doing our part to address these needs. In the 1980s, we initiated "quick impact projects" for emergency rehabilitation in areas of return. In some places, we were criticized for having gone beyond our mission, but in countries like Rwanda, for example, could we have afforded to withdraw when returnees still lived under plastic sheeting? When schools had no roofs, no books, no teachers? We are now going farther and exploring new avenues, particularly in the promotion of community coexistence as a first step towards reconciliation.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“In some countries we have initiated interesting and creative projects - for example with the World Bank in war-affected areas of Sri Lanka. In others, such as Sierra Leone, we have made proposals for pilot projects involving all three agencies. We are now examining opportunities elsewhere - Burundi, if a peace agreement is eventually implemented, would be a possibility. On our side, we have made great efforts, yet the response by Governments and organizations has been very timid, and raising funds for post-conflict activities remains a very difficult and uncertain exercise. I must tell the Council that I am disappointed by the limited response to our work in this area. For us at UNHCR, peace-building is not an abstract concept.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“And yet, development agencies are slow to come once emergencies have ended. There is a gap between emergency, short-term humanitarian activities and the implementation of medium-term to long-term development and reconstruction programmes. During that gap, societies can unravel again very easily, and conflicts can re-start. I have personally made efforts to coordinate a joint initiative with two key international development partners of UNHCR - the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This initiative, which was launched in January 1999 under the auspices of the Brookings Institution, has become known as the Brookings process. We aimed in particular at filling the gap in funding and the gap in responsibilities and operations.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“UNHCR, of course, has a very special interest in this process because of its mission to ensure that refugees return home and settle down in safety and dignity. And we have had very difficult experiences in countries emerging from conflict, with large numbers of people returning and resources rapidly dwindling after emergencies have subsided, as in Rwanda, Liberia and Bosnia, just to mention a few examples. Its focus on peace-building truly makes the Brahimi Panel report very complete. Once more, however, we should shift into operational mode and look at how we can be as comprehensive in action as we are on paper. I will speak, again, from the perspective of the United Nations refugee agency. Our problem, as I have said many times, is that we do not have the resources, or indeed the expertise, to run development programmes.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Refugee-hosting countries, of course, would have to agree, but that would be in their interest, because this expanded concept of peacekeeping could address some of their own concerns in terms of security and stability. Had we had that form of support, say, in West Timor, maybe the events of last September could have been avoided. Such an arrangement would also have been useful in the former eastern Zaire in 1994 to 1996; perhaps some of the subsequent violence and instability could have been prevented. Let me now turn to the second important area on which I want to focus: peace-building. For years we have been saying that unless more attention is devoted to the consolidation of institutions and communities after conflict, peace will not hold.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“But the issue of insecurity spilling over across borders from countries in conflict and affecting in particular areas hosting refugees should be examined and factored into strategies for such operations. West Africa is a case in point, but the matter is broader and particularly serious in Africa. The Burundi, Congo and Angola conflicts, for instance, pose similar problems. I would like to make a proposal. Could peacekeepers, in situations of refugee flows which might become carriers of instability, be given a special, cross-border observer mandate - in a word, to monitor areas hosting refugees beyond the borders of the country in which those peacekeepers operate?”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Yet, not only are humanitarian workers seriously at risk in border areas of Liberia and Guinea, but there is also a very real danger that the Sierra Leone conflict will spread, and that refugee flows will be one of the conduits of that propagation. The conflict, in simple words, may become regional but the response, as I have said, continues to be country-based. I understand of course that to expand peacekeeping beyond a country's borders presents many political hurdles and problems of resources. Sierra Leone is itself a good example of the difficulties encountered by a large operation in an area of relatively low strategic interest, with uncertain prospects and high risks.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“But speaking not only from a humanitarian but also from a refugee perspective, I would like to take this opportunity to go beyond the conclusions of the Brahimi Panel report. Look at West Africa, for example. There have been, as members know, cross- border attacks in both Guinea and Liberia in areas hosting refugees - and indeed because of the presence of refugees. Beyond Sierra Leone's borders, however, the only presence of the international community, amidst half a million refugees, is humanitarian, because the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) is, of course, limited to Sierra Leone.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Without peacekeepers, we could not have worked and could not continue to work effectively in those areas. On the other hand, I am pleased that, in discussions of the concept of preliminary assessments, the role that is played and can be played by field-based humanitarian agencies has been recognized. It is very important that these agencies are seen as complementary to peace operations, and not just as other actors who happen to work in the same areas. In my 1992 briefing to the Security Council, I said that humanitarian action was becoming dynamically linked to peacekeeping and peacemaking. We were then learning important lessons from our close cooperation with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia. I am pleased that the United Nations is now finally trying to make this concept a concrete reality.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“It stresses the need for quick decisions in responding to crises; it gives priority to quick fact-finding missions to the field; it underlines the importance of identifying and pursuing early solutions; and it places great emphasis on presence in the field. Those are crucial aspects of the report the importance of which UNHCR has advocated for years. They are also, by the way, basic elements of any humanitarian deployment. They clearly show the affinity, if I may call it so, between humanitarian action and peace operations, and the need to refine their relationship and mutual support. UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies have large programmes in post-conflict areas, where peacekeeping is vital: think of Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor, just to mention a few.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Kofi Annan, on an in-depth review of peace operations. We have been among the most eager supporters of the report (5/2000/809) of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations chaired by Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and are participating very actively in the discussions on its implementation. The report is very important and courageous in its attempt to discuss comprehensively and in a broader context how the United Nations can fulfil its key function of helping maintain peace and security. But from a more specific operational humanitarian perspective, the report is also extremely relevant to UNHCR and its partners, particularly as it sets out a few objectives which, if achieved, would provide crucial support to humanitarian action.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We need to know what contributions may be forthcoming in human, material and financial terms, and, again, how quickly they will be available. I have insisted so far on intermediate security measures, because I know that in most situations peacekeeping is simply an unrealistic option. But I also believe that the transition that started with the end of the cold war has not yet ended, that new or renewed conflicts will flare up in different regions, and that the international community will have to maintain peace after very fragile ceasefire agreements are signed. Peacekeeping, therefore, will continue to remain necessary. But to remain relevant, it will have to adapt to the new environment and become much more effective. We in the humanitarian community have welcomed the initiative of the Secretary-General, Mr.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We have some such programmes - and they are working reasonably well - in the area of western Tanzania hosting refugees from Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We need the Council's support for similar programmes in other critical spots: in Guinea, for example, whose Government has requested international cooperation in addressing security problems in the areas bordering Liberia and Sierra Leone. The response of Governments to the concept of a ladder of options to improve local security in refugee- inhabited areas has been very positive, but it has remained, so far, in the realm of theory. It is urgent that we take steps to operationalize it, and to implement concrete, predictable measures, for example the deployment of humanitarian security staff.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“I have often spoken - also in this room - of the need to look at different options: not only full-fledged peacekeeping, but also and especially measures intended to support local law-enforcement capacity. I insist on the word "support". That is the key concept, and it implies working together, as opposed to straightforward intervention. I am also referring to very specific situations, especially insecure border areas in and around refugee sites. And I am thinking of relatively simple measures: assisting the judiciary; training the police and the military; supporting the police with logistics and communication; and deploying, if necessary, liaison officers to work as coordinators and advisors.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“The Kosovo refugee crisis last year proved that we had to adapt our existing emergency response systems to a new and more crowded humanitarian space, and the area on which we are focusing in particular is to upgrade our surge capacity to address refugee emergencies at very short notice. No matter how rapidly and effectively humanitarian agencies mobilize, however, their response will be inadequate unless the environment in which they operate is secure. I am speaking both of staff security and, from UNHCR's point of view, of the security of refugees and of the communities hosting them. There is today an increased awareness that humanitarian agencies should not be left alone to confront difficult and dangerous situations. The question is: How do we ensure that?”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“We have no choice; delays in our work inevitably mean that lives are lost. Since 1992, we have therefore progressively built systems to respond quickly to sudden, massive population movements. These systems are based essentially on the concept of stand-by resources that can be mobilized and sent to the field within 72 hours - staff, equipment, goods and money. Since 1992, however, the environment has changed rapidly. Political pressure for quick solutions to refugee problems has increased and there is a growing number of humanitarian actors, including sometimes Government themselves.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“In refugee emergencies, UNHCR, other United Nations front-line agencies - especially the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Programme - the Red Cross movement and non-governmental organizations will continue to be the first on the ground. If there has to be complementarity in this endeavour, however, we must do all that we can to reduce the gap between the deployment of humanitarian personnel and the implementation of some security support measures. Otherwise, the cost is simply unbearable, as proven by the catastrophic consequences of inaction in the successive Great Lakes crises, for example, or by the recent murders in Indonesia and Guinea. We at UNHCR have become used to being called to confront refugee emergencies literally at a few hours' notice.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“When all deployment of international forces failed, our staff had to go and search for scattered, hungry and terrified refugees in the rainforest of that vast country, sometimes even on foot. I am aware of the difficulties in political terms, in military terms and in terms of resources, but there are a few points that I would like to raise and a few suggestions that I would like to make in this respect. Let me insist first of all on the need to initiate and implement peace operations much more rapidly. The issue of timing, frankly speaking, is one that has not yet been satisfactorily addressed by Governments. We know that peace operations will inevitably be slower than the humanitarian response.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“The gap in time between the beginning of humanitarian activities and that of peace operations continues to widen. Last, but certainly not least, in many places, such as West Timor, Guinea and Liberia, forced population movements have become the cause and conduit of grave insecurity and instability and little is done to address the problem, as if we had learned nothing from the lessons of the former eastern Zaire. This is a situation that worries me deeply. In most parts of the world where UNHCR and its humanitarian partners are called upon to operate, mechanisms to address security problems are slow-moving, unwieldy and not adapted to the new type of conflicts. In many places, they simply do not exist. Among my most vivid memories is the rescue operation that we set up in the former Zaire in 1996.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“As we have said many times, the nature of war has changed, but the concept of peace operations may still be based on the assumption that wars are fought across clear-cut front lines. In spite of discussions on wider approaches, peace operations continue to be country-based and to reflect neither the internal nor the regional nature of many of today's wars. The Council will appreciate that we at UNHCR ask ourselves such questions as an agency dealing precisely with forced population movements across blurred conflict lines and across borders. We deploy our own staff - unarmed humanitarian workers - to dangerous and isolated duty stations. They are increasingly targeted and - as in the terrible September incidents of Atambua and Macenta - attacked and brutally killed.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Bridging the gap between the pressing, often dramatic interests of the most vulnerable and deprived people in the world and the legitimate concerns of States has been the crucial theme of my decade at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). My central question today is therefore the following: What do refugees need from the Security Council? What does the United Nations refugee agency expect from the body responsible for addressing peace and security problems in order to be able to fulfil its core mission to provide effective protection to refugees and find durable solutions to their problems? I would like to elaborate on and make concrete proposals in two main areas: peace operations and peace-building. Let me begin with peace operations.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“It was less usual then than it is today that the representative of a humanitarian agency should be asked to speak before the Security Council, and it was the tragedy of ethnic cleansing which placed the United Nations refugee agency - whose mission is to serve people - at the centre of the political debate on peace and security. Over the years, I have observed the interface between the political and humanitarian spheres grow and evolve. I have not ceased calling for political support for humanitarian crises. I have repeated countless times that humanitarian action can only address - not resolve - political problems. I have given much thought to the relationship between humanitarian and political bodies.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Over the years, refugee issues have also appeared on the agenda of the Council more regularly and frequently. This proves the obvious. The nature of contemporary wars, which is primarily internal and intercommunal; their intensity; and their objectives - especially the brutal expulsion of entire communities from specific areas - mean that conflicts today are inevitably the main cause of mass exodus. Internal conflicts and refugee flows, in turn, have become a threat to peace and security across borders in many areas. More than ever, refugees and wars are inextricably linked. My first briefing to the Council was in 1992, when the violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia was displacing millions of people.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“Mrs. Ogata: Thank you, Sir, for having invited me once more to brief the Security Council. In six weeks, after 10 years, I will leave office, so it is for the last time that I speak here today as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Therefore, rather than elaborate on specific regional crises, I will take this opportunity to give, perhaps, some food for thought, looking back at the experiences of the past turbulent decade and reflecting on the future of refugee work - in particular, on its relationship with this body, the most important forum where issues of peace and security are discussed and addressed. I briefed the Security Council for the first time eight years ago. Since then, I have met with the Council quite often; if my records are accurate, this is my twelfth briefing.”
2000-11-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4219 (2000) · source
“The solutions - human solutions - are the same, but the means to get there may not be the same. I would just like to say how happy my colleagues in the field will be to hear that the Security Council has taken enormous interest in solving the refugee problems. They will be very much encouraged.”
2000-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4089 (2000) · source