YouSaid · the spoken record

President Vella

lines on the record

10

first

2023-05-23

most recent

2023-05-23

sittings or episodes

1

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un-security-council

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1. “Besides, we must avoid seeing arms and ammunition continuously and regularly arriving in conflict zones, while civilians in those zones are threatened by hunger, if not death, because humanitarian convoys cannot reach them. The pain, cries and laments of so many men, women and children must be heard and heeded. The world relies on the work and leadership of the Council to protect the most vulnerable from harm, suffering, or worse.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

2. “We know that early, time-sensitive support and interventions with farmers, fishers, herders and foresters, whose basic means of survival have been affected by conflict or climate, have enormous positive impacts on the availability of nutrition in such emergencies. We must seek to scale up both emergency food assistance and protect agricultural production in emergencies for the maximum benefit of populations. Finally, we must increase funding for humanitarian responses. The world’s military expenditure is at an all- time high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, while the United Nations humanitarian response plans, which require $51 billion for 2023, are struggling to be funded. That is a poor reflection of our global multilateral system and of the values we are meant to uphold.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

3. “White notes, as detailed in resolution 2417 (2018), must be issued in a swift manner for them to be acted upon at the Security Council. We must stop conflict-induced hunger before it becomes too late. Secondly, the United Nations can work more closely with warring parties, particularly if they are States, to ensure the adequate deconfliction of infrastructure, be it products or services, which is indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. Such deconfliction programmes can act as an additional layer of protection. However, they must not be treated as a substitute for the parties’ adherence and due diligence to their own obligations under international law. Thirdly, it is not enough to rely solely on emergency humanitarian food assistance in the crises of our times.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

4. “Unfortunately, we have already witnessed the impact caused by the disruption of agricultural exports from this region on vulnerable markets far away in the Horn of Africa and the Levant. It is crucial that this lifeline is guaranteed and remains in place as long as it is intended and needed. The world should not be blackmailed by hunger. Hunger should never be brandished as a weapon in any conflict. Looking to the future, I would like to make the three following points. First, the Security Council must take seriously its obligations to ensure accountability for those who have violated international law, and in particular, those who have ordered or participated in the destruction, or prevented the functionality of, civilian infrastructure that is critical for the production and availability of food.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

5. “We must ensure that throughout these times of unspeakable, irrational horror, the fundamental respect for human rights and human dignity remains. Malta reiterates that in all of these crisis settings around the globe, civilians are not and should never be a target. The humanitarian workers, helpers and volunteers who aid them are not a target. Objects and services that are indispensable to the survival of civilian populations are not and should not be a target. These distinctions are clear. Never can it be said that we did not know. Malta welcomes the news of an agreement reached by the parties to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative for a period of another two months, and I thank the Secretary-General for his dedicated efforts in this regard.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

6. “In that regard, given that sanctions, unless targeted, may have adverse and unintended humanitarian consequences, directly or indirectly, on innocent civilian populations, we welcome the recent adoption of resolution 2664 (2022), which provides for a humanitarian exemption for all United Nations sanctions. Monitoring to ensure civilians do not inadvertently pay the price by suffering unintended consequences for the actions of the sanctioned, is our collective responsibility. The restrictions on Afghan women’s mobility and from working and giving their services to the United Nations and non-governmental organizations have severely affected humanitarian operations across the country. Discriminatory requirements placed on female Yemeni aid workers have also delayed and suspended critical missions and programmes.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

7. “The war in Ukraine continues to severely affect the civilian population both in Ukraine and beyond and is compounding already-existing global food insecurity. We are now witnessing a renewed period of violence in the country that will yield yet more deaths and destruction on an industrial scale. In all of those crises and complex humanitarian emergences, the protection of civilians and sustained humanitarian access and support must be safeguarded by the Security Council. Arbitrary, discriminatory and bureaucratic impediments that hinder the rapid delivery of vital aid are unacceptable, since, without timely humanitarian access, there can be no meaningful humanitarian response.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

8. “In Syria today, protracted conflict has reduced the basic and essential infrastructure — which populations rely on to survive — to rubble. The conflict has pushed children out of school and into early forced marriages. Cholera is widespread. Clean water sources have been defiled, agricultural land contaminated, and the electricity supply cut. The number of civilian deaths, including those of women and children, in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories including Gaza, remains unacceptable. The indiscriminate firing of rockets and the killing of civilians are also unacceptable. Demolitions, evictions and other violent incidents continue to heighten tensions and exacerbate an already perilous situation.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

9. “Millions are battling crisis levels of hunger resulting from the scourge of war and armed conflict, which is a grim reality that the Security Council acknowledged when it unanimously adopted resolution 2417 (2018). Since 15 April, more than 700,000 people have fled the Sudan in fear. The direct cause of fear is the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. People also fear that hospitals are being deliberately targeted in conflict zones, and they also fear being denied access to desperately needed humanitarian assistance. In Haiti, extreme levels of gang violence have worsened existing underlying crises, with 600 people killed in Port-au-Prince last month alone. Increasing numbers of women and children have become victims of homicide, sexual and gender-based violence and kidnappings.”

   2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source

10. “Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to the Swiss presidency of the Security Council for convening today’s meeting on the protection of civilians and extend my thanks to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, and all of the other previous speakers for their inspiring briefings this morning. The lives of millions of civilians worldwide continue to be impaired by a multitude of crises, including conflict-induced hunger, targeted violence, displacement and climate change. From the Central African Republic to Afghanistan, from Myanmar to Ethiopia, the correlation between conflict and hunger is evident.”

    2023-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9327 (2023) · source