YouSaid · the spoken record

Peter Maurer

lines on the record: 46
first: 2020-05-27
most recent: 2021-05-25
sittings or episodes: 4
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

“With strong political will, we can build on the good practices and progressive ideas emerging from the pandemic into longer-lasting policies to address individual and systemic drivers of vulnerability. Those practices include, for example, expanded access for asylum seekers, refugees, other migrants and the internally displaced to social safety nets and social protection systems, or the increased use of non-custodial measures to decongest prisons and the use of technology to facilitate contact between detainees and their families. There is much we can do and so much of that depends on political support. The ICRC offers its expertise and advice to States and we look forward to engaging with Council members further.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“The ICRC was pleased to see that, last month, under Viet Nam’s presidency, all 15 members of the Council co- sponsored resolution 2573 (2021), urging all parties to armed conflicts to protect civilian infrastructure. We congratulate members of the Council on the unanimous adoption of that resolution and we call now for its full implementation. The ICRC continues to call on all parties to armed conflicts to avoid the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area in populated areas due to the significant likelihood of indiscriminate effects. We strongly support the ongoing diplomatic process to adopt a political declaration to strengthen the protection of civilians against the use of such weapons.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“That is critical not only to live up to ethical imperatives and overcome the pandemic, but also to prevent further entrenchment of the systemic weaknesses revealed by the crisis. Fifthly, we call on States to strengthen health, water and sanitation services and to protect them at all times in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law. The poor state of essential services may have accelerated the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic but, on the flipside, the ICRC also sees how the rehabilitation of infrastructure and capacities pays dividends in a major emergency. Strengthening essential services in conflict-affected areas is not only a technical matter — it requires political support.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“We stand ready, bilaterally and multilaterally, confidentially and diplomatically, to work with all Council members to achieve better outcomes. My fourth call is to encourage States to invest in local responses and prioritize community engagement and trust-building before, during and after crises. We have seen the dangers when communities fail to trust the measures implemented by governments during COVID-19 and we have seen the rapid spread of misinformation, disinformation and rumours, which can result in violence against health workers and first responders. Inclusive responses should also include equitable access to vaccines and medicines, both between and within countries, so that no population is excluded, for example those living in areas controlled by non-State armed groups.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“Through arms transfers, training, equipment, advice, assistance, intelligence cooperation, capacity-building and information and logistical support, members of the Council engage directly or indirectly in military operations around the world where, at times, we see violations of international humanitarian law. Simultaneously, little consideration is offered on how respect for the law can be enhanced by improving a State’s own operations and leveraging influence to foster respect for the law and protection outcomes for civilians and others not fighting. In a recent study entitled “Allies, Partners and Proxies”, the ICRC has proposed a framework for strategic reflection on how to minimize risks of violations and maximize protection outcomes in such situations.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“Thirdly, and more precisely, we expect members of the Council to act more decisively to improve their own action and leverage their special relationship with allies, partners and proxies to respect international humanitarian law. We will not see better respect of the law if members of the Council continue to call out others while, at the same time, excluding themselves and their allies and proxies from critical review. Scrutinizing one’s own military operations and leveraging relationships in order to improve international humanitarian law is critical. Today, no one fights wars alone.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“Additionally, we call for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to populations in need. While neutral and impartial humanitarian organizations must respect national and international legal rules, States have the obligation to facilitate their work, not hinder them with dubious and vague references to sovereignty and security. Secondly, we ask States to prioritize the full implementation of resolution 2286 (2016) by taking concrete steps to protect health care. States supportive of that resolution should lead by example and implement measures, including national policies to ensure the translation of international frameworks into concrete protective measures and military doctrine and practice that protects health care in conflict, including in partnered military operations.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“This is the urgent task for Council members: we have seen how the decisions made here — or the lack of decisions — can have enormous and devastating humanitarian consequences around the world. Today I bring to the Council’s attention five key calls that we believe will strengthen the protection of civilians. First, parties to conflict, and all those with influence over them, must respect international law and protect civilians. Respect for international humanitarian law is a fundamental but forgotten part of the narrative on COVID-19. The pandemic has shown us the corrosive effects on societies when international humanitarian law is violated. The destruction of health systems and essential services has led to large- scale displacement and limits people’s ability to withstand future shocks.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“Clearly not enough is being done to protect health-care workers and medical facilities to translate resolution 2286 (2016) into action. We cannot allow hospitals to be bombed with impunity, the ill and injured to die needlessly, diseases to spread unchecked or life-saving vaccines to be reserved for the privileged. This global crisis brings with it a compelling imperative for change. Collective action to look after the most vulnerable people in societies has never been more vital. We need a fundamental change of behaviour of belligerents in conflicts. We need political solidarity and investment in basic infrastructure and services. We need better protection for civilians and more substantive and broader support for humanitarian action.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“We have seen the impacts on those grieving and the importance of upholding the dignity of the dead during an emergency, the global mental health crisis and the silent suffering of families of people gone missing in conflict. While the need for robust health-care systems has perhaps never been greater, paradoxically, health care is under attack. Five years since the Security Council demanded an end to impunity for attacks on health care, our observations in 40 countries affected by conflict show that attacks on health care have gone unabated and health-care delivery continues to be impeded due to disregard for international humanitarian law. We have also seen an increase in cyberattacks against health-care facilities.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“It is obvious to all of us that the pandemic has not solely been a health crisis; it has intensified existing protection needs and created new concerns. We have seen the impacts on children: families kept apart, shuttered schools, routine health care and vaccinations halted. We have seen the impacts on migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons: excluded from State-run health-care and social-protection systems; border “push-backs”; and the denial of the legal right to seek asylum. We have seen the impacts on people in detention, where a lack of due process and judicial procedures put lives — and hope — on hold, and where deadly diseases can spread rapidly in chronically overcrowded and unfunded facilities.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“War and violence within and between States and non-State armed groups becomes even more complex with inter-community violence spreading in many contexts. The result is that individuals and local communities face elevated risks and barriers. Those already at the back of the queue — women, children, people with disabilities, minorities, the elderly — are being hit hardest and increasingly marginalized. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently released its first comprehensive report showing the systemic impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on communities shouldering the double burden of war and disease. I would like to focus my briefing today on these observations, in the light of the serious and compounding protection challenges that are emerging.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“I thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to brief the Council and to China for convening today’s open debate. Since my last briefing on the protection of civilians (see S/PV.8596) we have seen global fragility deepen due to the converging challenges of armed conflict, the pandemic, economic downturn, rising inequality and climate change. In conflicts, we are witnessing vicious cycles of violence with political, ideological, ethnic, religious and criminal motivations intersecting, and violations of basic norms leading to massive protection challenges. At the macro-level, we are struggling with issues such as the fragmentation and proliferation of actors, the privatization of warfare, with private military and security companies entering battlefields, the widespread availability of weapons, and urban violence.”
2021-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/505 (2021) · source
“That would allow us to learn from one another, to design contextual and innovative responses and critically to ensure a greater impact over time. I thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to bring the humanitarian perspective into this discussion today.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“Peace and security will not be established by focusing on military and security measures to curb conflict and violence. We must ensure that those most at risk are our urgent priority. Building resilient communities alongside efforts to protect those communities from violence is critical. Robust action needs to be well framed and executed in strict respect of laws and principles in order to avoid fuelling further cycles of violence. While many of us may agree in general terms on the linkages between peace, security and our climate and environment, the “how” of our response still needs more critical analysis and sharing of experiences. The ICRC would welcome regular and systematic discussions on today’s issue.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“The second area of focus for the ICRC is respect for international humanitarian law. In the light of the climate crisis and the extensive environmental degradation resulting from war, the ICRC is accelerating its outreach to States and next week will release its updated guidelines on the protection of the natural environment in armed conflict. The guidelines will assist States and others in interpreting and applying international humanitarian law and in incorporating its rules in military manuals as well as in national policy and legal frameworks to enhance the protection of the environment. From the Sahel and Lake Chad region to war zones around the globe, millions are suffering on the front lines of environmental degradation, climate change and conflict.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“It does not matter if the cause is conflict or disaster, or both, people demand an independent future, one in which they can feed their families without our help. With that in mind, the ICRC’s focus today is twofold. First, I turn to the issue of providing humanitarian action that mitigates the impacts of conflict and protects communities from harm. We are invested in helping to build strong and resilient communities that can withstand environmental degradation and successive climate shocks. We work at the levels of systems, communities and individuals: from building walls that protect communities from floods, to supporting new microeconomic enterprises and introducing waste-management systems and practices, to vaccinating livestock and distributing drought-resistant seeds.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“It is starkly evident that people affected by conflict are also disproportionately impacted by climate shocks. This also includes those living outside of regular governance systems. It is the ICRC’s estimate that today approximately 66 million people worldwide are living in areas controlled by non-State armed groups and thus are outside adequate governance efforts to deal with the complexities of the issues. Urgent action from members of the Security Council — from all States as well as from legal experts and development, climate and humanitarian actors — is critical. But what action should be taken? Let me share one predominant message that I bring home from visits to the ICRC’s operations. The populations affected do not want handouts, even if they may need them temporarily.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“How can the Security Council, and how can we, as front-line humanitarian organizations, support those who have been chased out of their lands and are surviving in precarious conditions; those who have lived for months or years in leaking shelters or cramped rooms shared with host families; and those who are now flooded by torrential rainfalls?For too long the world has neglected the Sahel, leaving vast humanitarian needs unmet. Yet climate change and environmental degradation are felt more dramatically there than in many other places around the world. Years of conflict, underdevelopment and criminality have led to fragile social and economic systems and enormous humanitarian needs. The ICRC sees those patterns repeated across many of the conflict zones in which we work.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“Yes, they are displaced, first, because of conflict and violence as well as violations of laws and principles. But they also recognize the increasing tensions between communities because of changing rainfall patterns and scarcity of land for agriculturalists and pastoralists. They talk about the erosion of traditional conflict-resolution mechanisms in communities and the manipulation of tensions by armed groups and irresponsible leaders. At the same time, those same communities are being hit by damaging floods and drought. More than 1 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Mali, the Niger and Burkina Faso because of conflict and violence over the past year, leaving them highly vulnerable to the next shock, such as the deadly floods of the past weeks.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“Our operational response has paved the way for more in-depth policy reflections on the links between environmental degradation, climate risk, humanitarian needs, and peace and security. While some of the concerns reported by the populations affected are fears of future disasters such rising desertification or displacement from extreme-weather events, others are living those horrors today. Communities living in the Sahel and Lake Chad region are among the most resilient in the world. But in the face of the cumulative pressures of conflict, climate change and environmental degradation, they now walk a tightrope of survival. Last week I visited the Niger and Burkina Faso, where people told me about their experiences of rising violence and displacement.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“It focused on security issues and on mitigating impacts on vulnerable populations, including civilians, women, children and displaced communities; on protected places such as hospitals or schools; on the availability of weapons and their use; and on the need of belligerents to comply with the law. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has increasingly noted that communities living on the front lines of war, violence and devastation are more frequently — and more urgently — citing climate shocks as a key issue of concern, alongside poverty, injustice, exclusion and weapons availability. For decades now, environmental dimensions have been incorporated into the ICRC’s humanitarian response: on, for example, explosive remnants of war and land contamination; the management of waste; and the ensuring of safe drinking water.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity to brief the Council, and I also thank the Government of the Niger for having organized today’s Security Council meeting. For decades, the discussions on humanitarian challenges centred around the consequences of either armed conflict or disaster. Each had its specific and distinct laws, protocols and procedures that informed humanitarian action, and there was little crossover between the two. Accordingly, the Security Council maintained its focus on conflict-related humanitarian challenges.”
2020-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/929 (2020) · source
“Much can be done in the Council and beyond. The adoption of resolution 2532 (2020) represents a chance to reset and to translate the consensus reflected in the text into greater cooperation and action to protect civilians. The choices are there. Choose to respect the ceasefire, and choose to intensify diplomacy to make it happen. Choose to enable humanitarian access, including facilitating movement. Choose to follow the laws that Member States created in international humanitarian law. Choose to give space to first responders and local communities. Millions around the world are depending on the United Nations to make the choices that protect them from the health crises of the future.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The ICRC, together with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and its existing community networks is often one of the few responders in contested areas. We see that there is no substitute for neutral and impartial humanitarian action that secures the trust of populations and that of the authorities across front lines and the so-called last mile of service delivery. Trust can be achieved by listening to the plight of communities, by walking the talk and by engaging and cooperating with local leaders and faith-based organizations and religious leaders. On the front lines of fighting the pandemic, the convergence of health and security is not a matter of political debate but of simple and experienced truth. Even in this uncertain time, we have the knowledge and the lessons on how to tackle COVID-19.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“This should be followed through to ensure that rules of conduct and training are in place, as well as robust oversight of security forces. Checks and balances must be in place so that emergency measures, such as lockdowns or widescale data collection, are not used as abusive tools to control a population or to undermine public trust in health measures. Temporary restrictions on humanitarian access must not become fixed. Sixthly, responses will be effective only if there is community trust and engagement. The global COVID-19 response is a game-changer for State-citizen trust. Health care at gunpoint is futile. Even in conflict-affected environments, local authorities can build trust by listening to communities and acting with transparency. Responders also need to be trusted, and stigma combated.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Fifthly, we must proactively guard against any rollback of civilian protections. Governments must not exploit the pandemic and set draconian precedents, which undermine international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Any exceptional measures to fight and contain the pandemic must be time-bound, non-discriminatory and proportional to public health needs. We urge wider implementation of the good practice of granting exceptions to humanitarians whenever possible. For their part, humanitarian organizations are ready to take additional precautionary measures in their work. Given the mistrust and heightened tensions in areas of violence and conflict, States need to be especially vigilant to ensure that laws restricting the use of force are thoroughly applied.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“We must ensure that responses reach those less visible and silenced, for example, displaced people, those working in the informal sector, those in areas controlled by non-State armed groups, people detained, people with disabilities, the elderly, racial minorities, women and girls as well as sexual and gender minorities. We must look at the landscape of needs rather than creating trade-offs between the COVID-19 response and other responses. The war-wounded and those with chronic diseases must still be treated. Mental health and sexual violence responses must be scaled up to meet the dramatically increasing demand. Livelihood assistance and other social supports must be boosted as critical prevention measures. Failure to do so will nurture the cycle of exclusion, violence and conflict.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The ICRC has delivered more than 200 confidential reports to the authorities concerned over the past few months on the conditions in detention facilities, making recommendations on system-wide improvements with regard to health, sanitation and hygiene services, overcrowding, family contact, ill-treatment and judicial processes. We commend the many authorities that have responded positively to our recommendations and have prevented a degradation of their security environment. Fourthly, responses must be built to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized community members. No one is safe from a pandemic until everyone is safe. Pandemics will affect some people more than others.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“The ICRC has seen a growing recognition that inhumane conditions, for example in detention or in displacement camps, can become deadly during a pandemic not only for those interned but for host communities. In detention facilities in more than 50 countries, the ICRC is working with the authorities to strengthen health care and hygiene measures. We have seen such measures effectively prevent the spread of cholera and Ebola into places of detention in Guinea, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By responding to health needs, it is possible to improve inhumane conditions over the longer term and defuse rising tensions in communities.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Pandemic responses cannot be reduced to the delivery of masks or confined to emergency rooms. Communities need measures to guard against the multiple dimensions of fragility — health and sanitation systems, social safety nets and livelihoods. There are no silver bullets, but where people are hit by the double burden of conflict and disease, context-specific, evidence-driven approaches will balance the imperatives of controlling infections and mitigating the secondary impacts. I warn against compartmentalizing the response into humanitarian or development. We must enable emergency and long-term responses and preventative and curative responses in sync. It is possible.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Misinformation and exclusionary responses can fuel unrest and instability. Today, the distribution of scarce medicine and protective materials is triggering violent flare-ups; tomorrow, the inequitable distribution of any COVID-19 vaccine could destabilize communities. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has joined the Secretary-General in calling for a people’s vaccine that ensures no one is left out. Once vaccines are available, their equitable distribution will be critical. We are working to plan with States and with millions of Red Cross and Red Crescent and other humanitarian workers to help to mitigate against, potentially, very dangerous situations. Thirdly, the response must go far beyond health needs and mitigate the wider secondary impacts of pandemics.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Words and promises, including resolutions such as resolution 2286 (2016), which are agreed by the Council, are fruitless if they do not result in meaningful changes on the ground. Positive influence by those who have leverage over parties to conflict must be a priority. The ICRC is doing its part with millions of health workers around the world providing advice on implementing protective measures, fighting stigma and maintaining neutral and impartial services in the midst of war and violence. Secondly, assistance and protection must be available to all those in need without the threat of politicization or manipulation. Under international law, impartial humanitarian aid cannot come with strings attached or be withheld from so-called enemy groups. People’s needs are the only reasonable basis on which to respond.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Today, I bring to the attention of Member States six essential lessons for a pandemic response in humanitarian settings. First, international humanitarian law must be better respected to protect civilians and their infrastructure from multiple future shocks, including pandemics. Violations of international humanitarian law, such as cities bombed to rubble and mass displacement, are the enemy of a pandemic response. Countries where health services have been destroyed by war stand little chance of treating or containing COVID-19. Emergency-room mortality rates are spiking dramatically. Attacks, including cyberattacks, on health-care workers and facilities are continuing unabated. Health workers and humanitarians are our first and last lines of defence, and they must be protected.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“Instead, the precondition is a political environment that provides for health systems, social supports, humanitarian action and simultaneous emergency and development approaches, as well as a fundamental change of behaviour of belligerents in conflicts. Unquestionably, pandemics are changing humanitarian work. We already know that needs are vast and growing. According to our legal analysis, there are now approximately 100 armed conflicts around the world, involving 60 States, and more than 100 non-State armed groups as parties to those conflicts. This represents a steady rise in the total number of classified conflicts over recent decades. The ICRC is drawing lessons from the impacts of COVID-19 across these conflicts, as well as the experiences of other infectious diseases, such as Ebola, cholera and tuberculosis.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“I thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to brief the Security Council today. Conflict zones are the sharp end of pandemics. Communities are already living in a difficult situation, where additional shocks can be catastrophic. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is seeing first-hand how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its economic aftershocks are deepening fragility, spiking humanitarian needs, accentuating the impact of violence and conflict, opening the doors to alarming levels of stigmatization, increasing global poverty, heightening instability and tensions and reversing hard-won development gains. These are deeply complex and fragile places in which to launch a pandemic response. It is clear that pandemics cannot be addressed solely as health issues.”
2020-07-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/663 (2020) · source
“We understand that consensus is difficult, but human life and dignity cannot be the price of inertia. We ask that the Council be stronger in word and deed in encouraging better behaviour on the battlefield and ensuring that human life and dignity is protected, without exception.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“It protects those living under occupation, those in detention, the missing, the dead and their families, and it prioritizes restoring family links. Respecting and ensuring respect for international humanitarian law in all circumstances would protect people from the impact of war and shield them against the subsequent health, economic or environmental shock waves. We call on the Council to ensure in all situations, whether while enforcing exceptional measures in response to public health emergencies or during hostilities or public unrest, that its responses are guided by the utmost respect for the protection of civilians. We also call on the Council to respect the dignity and rights of the deceased, the families of missing persons and persons deprived of liberty.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“I am also encouraged by the potential for multi-stakeholder responses to influence behaviour. This week, 40 global leaders joined the ICRC’s call for Governments to work together to stop cyberattacks on the health sector. It cannot be overstated that the extreme vulnerability of people in conflict zones to repeated shocks is, in large part, due to States and other belligerents disregarding, over many years, their legal obligations towards populations under their control. International humanitarian law protects civilian life, essential services and the environment. It prohibits torture and ill-treatment, like rape and sexual violence. It protects those not participating in hostilities and provides special protection for health services and health workers.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“For example, we have seen the safe release from detention of many people deprived of liberty, decisions to regularize non-documented migrants to ensure they can access health care, and the adoption of unilateral ceasefires. Arms bearers remain engaged with the ICRC in crises, with new opportunities for dialogue and advice arising. As police forces and military personnel are called on to maintain public order, the ICRC has maintained a dialogue with public forces to ensure that international law is upheld when conducting operations. And as part of our broader dialogue with hundreds of non-State armed groups across the world, the ICRC is engaged with Islamist and Salafi scholars in the Sahel on a fatwa on COVID-19, giving guidance on respect for the deceased and on health protocols.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“States’ responses to the pandemic show the risk that, without checks and balances, emergency health measures can become abusive tools to control a population’s movement or withhold services. We fear that some groups — perhaps those considered to be the enemy — may be excluded from life-saving measures. For example, the distribution of any vaccine in volatile and contested places will be difficult, but it must be available to all equitably. On a more positive note, States have also stepped up in response to the pandemic, implementing more humane policies. If I have optimism during this bleak crisis, it is because I see the potential for actors to take measures during this crisis that spark a recommitment in support of humanitarian protections.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“International humanitarian laws, principles and concepts have been developed to protect people, not to make a point against political adversaries. I urge Council members to base their policies in this regard on the law, which is the only reasonable basis for consensus, and to leave political controversies outside of humanitarian concerns. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis is fast threatening to become a protection crisis. At the very time they are needed most, helpers are under attack. Health systems are being targeted and health workers abused. Since March this year, the ICRC has recorded 208 COVID-19-related attacks against health-care targets in more than 13 countries. The socioeconomic impacts will cause further waves of despair, leaving people facing hunger and poverty exposed to abuse and exploitation.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“While the ICRC takes responsibility for delivering neutral and impartial humanitarian services independently and within the legal framework of the Geneva Conventions, it is the Council’s responsibility to facilitate access to populations in need. Council members are obliged to proactively facilitate access and not to pile mountains of bureaucratic and political obstacles on humanitarian organizations. Council members are not asked to tell humanitarian organizations who is in need, but rather to allow neutral and impartial humanitarian organizations to do independent needs assessments in full transparency. And if there are divisions on whether people in a specific context are in need, I would expect States to allow humanitarians to do their jobs as a default precautionary measure unless imperative security reasons prohibit as much.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“In particular, I raise the devastating impact on civilians when explosive weapons with a wide impact area are used in populated areas. The death and destruction left behind by heavy explosive weapons raise serious questions about international humanitarian law compliance and signal the urgent need for a change of behaviour to protect civilians, including by avoiding the use of such weapons in populated areas. A strong, unequivocal political declaration committing States to taking concrete action in that regard would be a good first step. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working on policy and operational-level recommendations to that end. The divisions within the Security Council on critical concepts of humanitarian law and work, notably access to populations in need, are increasing suffering on the front lines.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“I am concerned about broken places and systems — the migration and displacement camps and the prisons where human dignity is as absent as clean water and sanitation. I am concerned about emerging threats — the rapid spread of hate speech; stigmatization of all kinds; and data being misused to suppress or control populations instead of protecting them. I am concerned about the shrinking space for neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian work. And I am concerned about the behaviour of belligerents and all those who support them — about the violations of human life and dignity caused by persistent disregard or expedient interpretation of international humanitarian law and other international legal frameworks.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source
“Secretary-General Guterres’s report card (S/2020/366) on the state of protection highlights the enormous violations and the failures to protect men, women and children around the globe. Communities caught in the crossfire of armed conflict suffer shock after shock, violation after violation, until their resilience is threadbare. I am concerned for people — for the rising number of displaced people, stuck in limbo without any prospect of a lasting solution to their plight, and for the millions of families searching endlessly for their missing loved ones. I am concerned for the urban poor, elderly, detainees, migrants and refugees, women, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and people with a disability.”
2020-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/465 (2020) · source