YouSaid · the spoken record

Secretary-General

lines on the record: 2,998
first: 1995-09-26
most recent: 2021-05-16
sittings or episodes: 363
sources: un-security-council

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“The Department of Peacekeeping Operations has expanded to cover 18 missions, with a historic high of 100,000 personnel in the field, and climbing. The total number of peace operations in which the United Nations is engaged in some form has risen to around 30. This globalized presence requires ever closer cooperation between the Security Council and the Secretariat - including, of course, the Secretary- General. Some of our most acute and persistent challenges are in Africa. One of my top priorities will be to step up efforts to address the crisis in Darfur, where the humanitarian situation is growing worse, despite all the declarations and proclamations of the international community over the past three years.”
2007-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5615 (2007) · source
“There is also unity among Council members with regard to the need to address conflict in a comprehensive manner, with development and human rights issues being accorded their proper priority. As your important statement just now made clear, Mr. President, the United Nations has an exceptionally challenging agenda ahead of it in 2007. We face an unprecedented demand for peacekeeping, as well as a range of growing demands for preventive diplomacy, good offices, peacebuilding and efforts in conflict management. The Council, and the Organization as a whole, are going through one of the busiest periods in our history, with a record number of peace operations, resolutions and reports over the past few years.”
2007-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5615 (2007) · source
“I thank you, Mr. President, and the members of the Council, for the kind words addressed to me and for this opportunity to meet with all of you today. I assure you of my wholehearted support and dedication in ensuring the efficient and successful work of the Council. Before I begin, I would like to pay tribute to the former Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his significant contributions to the work of the Organization over the past 10 years. I listened carefully to members of the Council in their interventions on this important subject, which is, after all, their primary responsibility under the Charter. I also observed that the members of the Council are united and speak with one voice on the need to View conflict management in a holistic manner: prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.”
2007-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5615 (2007) · source
“You know, perhaps better than anyone else, that I do so at a daunting time in world affairs. The international community faces a range of challenges, from Darfur to the Middle East, and other crises that trouble our world, from defending human rights to the need to move forward in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I look forward to working closely with the Security Council to ensure that the Organization lives up to the considerable expectations that the international community places on us. As the Council considers the perspectives of the Member States on threats to international peace and security, I am here to listen to all of you.”
2007-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5615 (2007) · source
“Thank you very much, Mr. President, for those kind words. I am honoured to be here, and I thank the President of the Security Council, His Excellency Ambassador Churkin, for this opportunity to meet with the members of the Council in this historic Chamber. As this is my first meeting with you, let me pay tribute to all Council members and extend, in this new year, my best wishes to all of you for a most successful 2007. In particular, let me acknowledge the presence of the new members, namely, Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa, which joined the Council at the same time as I joined the Organization. We have much to learn together. Allow me to assure all of you of my deep sense of mission, duty and dedication as I assume this high office.”
2007-01-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5615 (2007) · source
“But there is no cause for despair, either. While change for the worse is often dramatic, change for the better is generally incremental. Many conflicts have been peacefully resolved. Many have been at least brought under control, with hope for better times on the horizon. And I believe - though this is much harder to prove - that many have been prevented. At all events, it remains the sacred and exalting duty of this Organization to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. It has been my privilege to share this effort with the Security Council, both in success and in failure. I now relinquish that task, with relief but not without regret. And I pray that the Security Council will have ever greater success in the future.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“As I said last week, it is painful for me to leave office with the Middle East in such a fragile and dangerous condition. I do fervently hope that we are now at last close to rescuing the people of Darfur from their agony. The reports I have received from my envoy in Khartoum, Mr. Ould Abdallah, encourage me to think we may tomorrow receive a green light from President Bashir for a full ceasefire, a renewed effort to bring all parties into the political process, and deployment of the proposed hybrid African Union-United Nations force to protect the population. We will, however, need to see the document that Mr. Ould Abdallah will bring. But after so many disappointments, I must say that I take nothing for granted. What I do know is that the Council will continue to work, ably helped by my successor, on these and many other crises.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“The Council has also passed some very important thematic resolutions - I think especially of resolution 1325 (2000) on the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding - and it is generally much more cognizant of the need to prevent conflict, rather than wait to react after it occurs. We have all learned from some bitter experiences that we cannot afford to uncritically accept a Government's word when it assures us that all is well in its country, or that it has the situation under control. We have also learned that the Council needs to be fully briefed on issues of human rights, since gross violations of human rights not only occur during conflict but are often the harbingers of conflict. 3 There is certainly no room for complacency.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“In fact, it is much easier to criticize the Council from outside than to take decisions in it. In spite of that, the Council's members have generally listened to me with surprising good grace. And I must also recognize that the work of the Council has been greatly strengthened during the 10 years of my service. The mandates it has given us have been more coherent, more robust when required, and often matched with something like the necessary resources required. And its members now follow up on their decisions with greater vigilance, demanding full reports from me and my colleagues on the missions they have mandated, and sometimes going to see for themselves on the spot how things are going.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“In my 10 years as Secretary-General, I have quite often allowed myself to make some critical remarks about this Council, particularly about its composition. I still hope that such composition will be modified, since I am convinced that, with a more democratic and representative character, the Council will gain even greater legitimacy, and its authority will be more widely respected. I have also occasionally criticized the Council's actions, or, more often, its failure to act. And I have tried, following the excellent example of the Brahimi Report, to tell the Council what it needs to know, not what it wants to hear. Yet I know that the "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security", with which the Charter endows the Council, is not an easy one to bear.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“But those of us who remember the anxious days of May 2000 know well that that was far from being a foregone conclusion. But today Sierra Leone is an example of what can be achieved by the United Nations and its Member States working closely together. The country is stable but still fragile. It needs our continued help in building effective State institutions, especially those dealing with security, human rights, justice, and the preparation for next year's elections, which will be a critical moment in the consolidation of peace. So, I thank the Council for agreeing to prolong the United Nations 06-67910 role in Sierra Leone. And I thank the Council for all the work it has done for peace and security around the world.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“Mr. President, let me thank you for those very kind words. And I thank you also for proposing the resolution that the Council has just passed, by which, needless to say, I am deeply honoured. Barring unforeseen crises in the next nine days - which in this Council, of all places, one should never rule out - today's meeting will be my last meeting with you as Secretary-General. I must thank the Council, not only for using this meeting to pass such a generous resolution, but also for making it coincide with another decision that you are about to adopt, namely the resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL). Sierra Leone is definitely one of the success stories of our work together.”
2006-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5607 (2006) · source
“Even the contours of what a solution would look like on the ground are well mapped out. I believe that we can break the current stalemate and make new strides towards peace. The United Nations and the Middle East are closely intertwined. The region has shaped this Organization like no other. The situation, the people and the thirst for peace are all very close to my heart. I know that they are close to yours as well. As a matter of urgency, let us match that concern with concerted action.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“Welcome moves towards democracy, such as elections, have simultaneously posed a quandary in bringing to power parties, individuals and movements that oppose the basis of current peacemaking approaches. The opportunity for negotiating a two-State solution will last for only so long. Should we fail to seize it, the people who most directly bear the brunt of this calamity will be consigned to new depths of suffering and grief. Other conflicts and problems will become that much harder to resolve, and extremists the world over will enjoy a boost to their recruiting efforts. The period ahead could well prove crucial. Every day brings defeats in the struggle for peace and reasons to give up. But we must not succumb to frustration. The principles on which peace must be based are known to all of us.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“But the Quartet needs to do more to restore faith not only in its own seriousness and effectiveness, but also in the Road Map's practicability, and to create the conditions for resuming a Viable peace process. It needs to find a way to institutionalize its consultations with the relevant regional partners. It needs to engage the parties directly in its deliberations. The time has come for the Quartet to be clearer at the outset on the parameters of an endgame deal. And it will have to be open to new ideas and initiatives. Tensions in the region are near the breaking point, I need not tell you, Mr. President. Extremism and populism are leaving less political space for moderates, including those States that have reached peace agreements with Israel.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“I believe in the right of the Palestinians to exercise their self-determination. They have been miserably abused and exploited, by Israel, by the Arab world, sometimes by their own leaders and perhaps even, at times, by the international community. They deserve to see fulfilled their simple ambition to live in freedom and dignity. The Road Map, endorsed by the Council in its resolution 1515 (2003), is still the reference point around which any effort to re-energize a political effort should be concentrated. Its sponsor, the Quartet, retains its validity because of its singular combination of legitimacy, political strength and financial and economic clout.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“Most Israelis genuinely believe in peace with the Palestinians - perhaps not quite as the Palestinians envision it, but genuine nevertheless. Most Palestinians do not seek the destruction of Israel, only the end of occupation and their own State - perhaps in a slightly larger territory than Israelis would wish to concede, but a limited territory nevertheless. Our challenge is to convince the people on each side that these majorities exist on the other side, while showing that spoilers and rejectionists are a distinct minority. I believe that the fundamental aspirations of both peoples can be reconciled. I believe in the right of Israel to exist, and to exist in full and permanent security - free from terrorism, free from attack, free from even the threat of attack.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“But let us remember where this effort needs to take us: two States, Israel and Palestine, within secure, recognized and negotiated boundaries based on those of 4 June 1967; a broader peace encompassing Israel's other neighbours, namely, Lebanon and Syria; normal diplomatic and economic relations; arrangements that would allow both Israel and Palestine to establish their internationally recognized capitals in Jerusalem and would ensure access for people of all faiths to their holy places; a solution that respects the rights of Palestinian refugees and is consistent with the two-State solution and with the character of the States in the region. Reaching that destination is not as impossible as some might imagine.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“The parties themselves, at various times and through various diplomatic channels, have come close to bridging almost all of the gaps between them. There is every reason for the parties to try again, with principled, concerted help from the international community. We need a new and urgent push for peace. The road will be long, and much trust will have to be rebuilt along the way.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“What was done to Jews and others by the Nazis remains an undeniable tragedy, unique in human history. Today, Israelis are often confronted with words and actions that seem to confirm their fear that the goal of their adversaries is to extinguish their existence as a State and as a people. Therefore, those who want to be heard on Palestine should not deny or minimize that history or the connection that many Jews feel with their historic homeland. Rather, they should acknowledge Israel's security concerns and make clear that their criticism is rooted not in hatred or intolerance, but in a desire for justice, self-determination and peaceful coexistence. Perhaps the greatest irony in this sad story is that there is no serious question about the broad outline of a final settlement.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“But one should also ask whether such steps bring any tangible relief or benefit to the Palestinians. There have been decades of resolutions. There has been a proliferation of special committees, sessions and Secretariat divisions and units. Has any of that had an effect on Israel's policies, other than to strengthen the belief in Israel and among many of its supporters that this great Organization is too one-sided to be allowed a significant role in the Middle East peace process? Even worse, some of the rhetoric used in connection with the issue implies a refusal to concede the very legitimacy of Israel's existence, let alone the validity of its security concerns. We must never forget that Jews have very good historical reasons for taking seriously any threat to Israel's existence.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“I hope that the Council will take care to handle the issue in an impartial way, and not allow it to monopolize attention at the expense of other situations where there are no less grave Violations, or even worse ones. In the same vein, those who complain that the Security Council is guilty of a double standard - applying sanctions to Arab and Muslim Governments, but not to Israel - should take care that they themselves do not apply double standards in the other direction, by holding Israel to a standard of behaviour that they are unwilling to apply to other States, to Israel's adversaries or, indeed, to themselves. Some may feel satisfaction at repeatedly passing General Assembly resolutions or holding conferences that condemn Israel's behaviour.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“But Palestinians and their supporters will never be truly effective if they focus solely on Israel's transgressions, without conceding any justice or legitimacy to Israel's own concerns, and without being willing to admit that Israel's opponents have themselves committed appalling and inexcusable crimes. No resistance to occupation can justify terrorism. We should all be united in our unequivocal rejection of terror as a political instrument. I also believe that the actions of some United Nations bodies may themselves be counterproductive. The Human Rights Council, for example, has already held three special sessions focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“And, as we have seen, it does little to achieve the desired goal of stopping terrorist attacks. Israelis may reply that they are merely protecting themselves from terrorism, which they have every right to do. But that argument will carry less weight so long as the occupation in the West Bank becomes more burdensome and the settlement expansion continues. Israel would receive more understanding if its actions were clearly designed to help end an occupation, rather than to entrench it. We should all work with Israel to move beyond the unhappy status quo and reach a negotiated end to the occupation based on the principle of land for peace. It is completely right and understandable to support the Palestinian people, who have suffered so much.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“As a result, some tend to invest much of their trust in those who pursue the armed struggle rather than a peace process that does not seem to yield the coveted goal of an independent State. I agree with Israel and its supporters that there is a difference - moral as well as legal - between terrorists who deliberately target civilians, and regular soldiers who, in the course of military operations, unintentionally kill or wound civilians despite efforts to avoid such casualties. But the larger the number of civilian casualties during these operations, and the 3 more perfunctory the precautions taken to avoid such losses, the more this difference is diminished. The use of military force in densely populated civilian areas is a blunt instrument that only produces more death, destruction, recrimination and vengeance.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon acknowledged as much. Israel has undergone a major cultural shift since the days of Oslo - all of Israel's major political parties now acknowledge that Israel needs to end the occupation, for its own sake and for the sake of its own security. Yet thousands of Israelis still live in territories occupied in 1967, and over a thousand more are added every month. As Palestinians watch this activity, they also see a barrier being built through their land, in contravention of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, as well as more than 500 checkpoints to control their movement, and the heavy presence of the Israel Defense Forces. Their despair at the occupation only grows, as does their determination to resist it.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“It is completely right and understandable that Israel and its supporters should seek to ensure its security by persuading Palestinians, and Arabs and Muslims more broadly, to alter their attitude and behaviour toward Israel. But they are not likely to succeed unless they themselves grasp and acknowledge the fundamental Palestinian grievance, namely, that the establishment of the State of Israel involved the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families, turning them into refugees, and was followed 19 years later by a military occupation that brought hundreds of thousands more Palestinians under Israeli rule. Israel is justifiably proud of its democracy and its efforts to build a society based on respect for the rule of law. But Israel's democracy can thrive only if the occupation over another people ends.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“I would therefore like to offer a few thoughts on what the parties themselves and outsiders - from the Quartet to this Council and other United Nations bodies - might do differently in search for peace, in particular peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which, while no panacea, will go a long way toward defusing tensions throughout the region. 06-65360 One of the most frustrating aspects of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is the apparent inability of many people on both sides to understand the position of the other and the unwillingness of some even to try. As a true friend and supporter of both sides, I would like to address frank messages to each.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“In each case, it is the parties involved who bear the primary responsibility for peace. No one can make peace for them; no peace can be imposed on them. No one should want peace more than they do. At the same time, the international community cannot escape its own responsibility to use its influence. The various conflicts and crises in the region have become ever more intertwined. Though deeply separate and distinct, the various arenas affect and shape each other, making conflict resolution and crisis management more difficult. The international community must develop a new understanding of the uncertainty engulfing the Middle East and then shoulder its full responsibility in resolving it and stabilizing the region.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“As last summer's fighting between Israel and Hizbollah showed, Lebanon remains a hostage to its own difficult history and captive of forces from within and from beyond its borders that wish to exploit its vulnerability. Casting our glance to other parts of the region, we see the Syrian Golan Heights still under Israeli control and concerns about Syria's relations with militant groups beyond its borders. Iraq is mired in unrelenting Violence. Iran's nuclear activities and possible ambitions have emerged as a source of deep concern to many in the region, and beyond it as well. All of this feeds, and is fed by, an alarming rise in extremism. Each of these conflicts has its own dynamics and causes. Each will require its own specific solution and its own process to produce a solution that will endure.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“The Palestinian Authority, paralysed by a debilitating political and financial crisis, is no longer able to provide security or basic services. Israelis, for their part, continue to live in fear of terrorism. They are dismayed by the inadequacy of Palestinian efforts to halt rocket attacks into southern 06-65360 Israel. And they are alarmed by a Hamas-led Government which is, at best, ambivalent about the two-State solution and, at worst, refuses to renounce violence and rejects the basic tenets of the approach to the conflict consistently favoured by a majority of Palestinians and enshrined in the Oslo Accords. In Lebanon, the country's political transformation is incomplete, and its leaders face a campaign of intimidation and destabilization.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“The situation is more complex, more fragile and more dangerous than it has been for a very long time. It was with this in mind that I took the initiative of preparing the report that is now in the Council's hands. My aim is to help us get out of the present morass and back to a viable peace process that will respond to the region's yearning for peace. Mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians has reached new heights. The Gaza Strip has become a cauldron of deepening poverty and frustration, despite the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements last year. In the West Bank, too, the situation is dire. Settlement activity and construction of the barrier continue. Israeli obstacles impede Palestinian movement throughout the area.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“Let me start, Mr. President, by thanking you for giving me the opportunity to present my report on the Middle East (S/2006/956). We are happy to see you here, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. As I told the General Assembly in September, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not just one regional conflict among many. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge, even for people far away. Yet, while the quest for peace has registered some important achievements over the years, a final settlement has defied the best efforts of several generations of world leaders. I, too, will leave office without an end to the prolonged agony. The Middle East today faces grim prospects. The region is in profound crisis.”
2006-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5584 (2006) · source
“I hope that the Council will consolidate the gains that have been made and will move forward to cover all situations of concern and all grave violations. The tangible gains of the past few years show that, when there is political will in the Council, we can make life better for the millions of children trapped in situations of armed conflict.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights are also playing active roles in the monitoring and reporting mechanism. My Special Representative has just finalized a two-year strategic framework to assist her in better fulfilling her special role as an independent moral voice. Not so long ago, the problem faced by children in situations of armed conflict was, in important respects, an invisible issue. Little was known, and even less was said. The initiatives I have just described represent 06-63086 significant progress. Yet, we have only begun to scratch the surface.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“Those measures have led warring parties to come forward and to agree to concrete action plans to respect the rights of children. By now the Council will have received the report on the independent assessment of the monitoring and reporting mechanism. I urge the Council to consider the recommendations that have been made to strengthen the monitoring process. The United Nations system will continue to do its part in this effort. UNICEF has made protection an essential ingredient of its work and is taking the lead in the field. Department of Peacekeeping Operations child protection advisers have been attached to several peacekeeping operations, reporting to the respective Special Representatives.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“For the first time, a former head of State, Charles Taylor, is being brought to account, for violations committed against children during the conflict in Liberia. It is incumbent upon all of us to sustain that political and practical momentum, and to keep a close eye on situations of concern. To that end, last year, the Security Council called for the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism. The mechanism is now at work in seven countries and is providing timely and reliable information to a Task Force chaired by my Special Representative. That information forms the basis of my bimonthly reports to the Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and has resulted in targeted measures against offending parties.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“Its resolutions have highlighted six grave violations, drawn from international humanitarian law, that concern children affected by armed conflict: killing and maiming, abduction, child soldiers, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and the 06-63086 denial of humanitarian access. Today, the international community is shifting its focus from the elaboration of standards to the provision of real protection. In the past year alone, we have seen encouraging signals that impunity for crimes against children will no longer be tolerated. The ICC is prosecuting Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years and using them to participate actively in hostilities.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“The past decade has also seen important gains in the elaboration of international legal standards for the protection of children. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) classifies the recruitment of children into fighting forces as a war crime and a crime against humanity. The International Labour Organization's Convention No. 182 defines child soldiering as one of the worst forms of child labour. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the African Child outlaws child soldiering. And the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict established 18 as the minimum age for children's participation in hostilities. The Security Council itself has been part of this progress.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“First of all, Mr. President, let me thank you and your delegation for organizing this debate on an important topic. I think we can all look forward to a very constructive discussion. The protection of children caught up in armed conflict has been among my main priorities as Secretary-General. During the past 10 years, we have tried to place the issue firmly on the international agenda. Since 1998, when the first Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict began his work and the Council held its first open debate on the subject, this issue has gained greater visibility. The Council's annual debates have benefited from the participation of non-governmental organizations - and, at times, children themselves - and have demonstrated that there is a gathering will to act against those who recruit and continue to use child soldiers.”
2006-11-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5573 (2006) · source
“During the meeting, I also reminded my Quartet partners that the Quartet itself must be more active and effective if confidence in the peace process is to be restored. I am glad to say the Quartet agreed that greater engagement is crucial - on the ground, with the parties and in the region. But the test will be action. The parties must now rise to their responsibilities; so must the Quartet and our partners in the region; and so must the Security Council. With all the tools at our disposal, let us work together to put in place a credible political process based on dialogue, parallel implementation of obligations, monitoring of performance and clarity as to the end goal. The time has come to rebuild the shattered bridge to peace.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“These same polls show that people understand that a two-State solution cannot be achieved through unilateral actions by either side. I am convinced that both the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Olmert, and the Palestinian President, Mr. Abbas, understand these realities and are searching for a way forward. I send both of them my strong support, as the Quartet did yesterday. The Quartet also encouraged efforts to form a Palestinian national unity government, in the hope that the programme of such a government will reflect Quartet principles and facilitate early engagement by 06-52982 the international community. President Abbas's wisdom in pursuing this path must be recognized. So must the efforts of Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“For their part, Israelis rightly demand an end to rocket attacks against the towns and kibbutzim of southern Israel, the return of the soldier captured on 25 June and a Palestinian Authority that accepts basic principles of peace and takes credible action to prevent attacks against Israel. Yet in the absence of a political process, which is the only way of bringing about lasting peace, Israelis naturally look to their own military to deal with security threats. It would be easy for the international community to declare that the parties are not ready for dialogue and that until they are there is little that can be done. But that would be deeply disappointing. It would also be unfair to the parties themselves. Poll after poll shows that people on both sides understand that there is no military solution to the conflict.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“Today we are dealing with a difficult situation in Gaza, where we see closures and a Palestinian Authority that is starved of resources. Palestinian schools, ministries and other institutions are now in sharp decline. Palestinian society is rapidly becoming poorer. If this were to continue and the Palestinian Authority were to collapse, the consequent fragmentation and radicalization of Palestinian society would be a terrible, perhaps irreversible, strategic setback. Today, Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank living under occupation have neither a State nor a functioning government. Is it any wonder that they look to the international community for protection, for help and for hope? And if this is not forthcoming, the young people of Palestine will, sadly, be attracted by the false promises of those who advocate violence.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“The bridge to peace must be wide enough to accommodate all who have a legitimate stake in the process, long enough to span the enormous gulf of mistrust that separates the parties and strong enough to withstand the efforts that will inevitably be made to sabotage it. Yesterday, I stressed to my Quartet partners that the existing bridge to peace is badly in need of repair. Its foundations seem weak, since both parties have failed to take the concrete actions needed to meet their existing obligations. And the destination on the far side - an end to the occupation that began in 1967 and a secure Israel at peace with all its neighbours, 06-52982 including a new Palestinian State - remains distant, ill-defined and, for many, almost unimaginable.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“At the same time, the role of the Security Council in bringing about the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah and charting the way towards a sustainable ceasefire through resolution 1701 (2006) showed that it can play a vital role in the search for peace in the region. Resolution 1701 (2006) rightly stressed the need to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on all the Council's earlier relevant resolutions. To do this, we must make progress on the issue at the heart of the conflict, which is the problem of Israel and Palestine. Large majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians desire peace. What they desperately need is a bridge to enable them to reach peace from their present sad state of conflict.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“Like no other conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge for people throughout the world. The narratives of the two sides - dispossession, prolonged occupation and denial of statehood on one side, terrorism and existential threats on the other - stir the fears and passions of people of many nations. And our continued failure to resolve this conflict calls into question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Security Council itself. The events of this summer have reminded us all how dangerous it is to leave the broader Arab-Israeli conflict unresolved and how interconnected the region's problems are.”
2006-09-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5530 (2006) · source
“Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations offers a framework for doing this with the requisite flexibility, accountability and legitimacy. I welcome, therefore, the deepening engagement of regional organizations in United Nations efforts for peace and security, and urge us all to continue to keep thinking of new ways - new ways to our cooperation and to the creation of a global collective security mechanism that protects people and lays the groundwork for lasting peace.”
2006-09-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5529 (2006) · source
“Not too long ago, the idea of more than 90,000 United Nations peacekeepers in the field, of an African standby force, or of a European Union police mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was unthinkable. They are reality today. Likewise, the breadth of our involvement in mediation efforts, the growing awareness of the fragility of post-conflict situations and the increased emphasis on prevention have also been major features in our work. The reality of the next decade is that the demand for peacekeeping and these other services will continue to grow and we must be ready. That means the time has come for us to take the regional-global partnership to a new level of clarity, practicality and seriousness. Chapter VIII exists for reasons that are as valid today as they were 61 years ago.”
2006-09-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5529 (2006) · source
“Their military and peacekeeping capacities have made it possible to respond more quickly at the outset of a crisis and at key moments. Their resources are proving to be a linchpin of post-conflict peace building. My report contains specific suggestions for building on this growing knowledge of each other's strengths. Much as we have strengthened our capacities over the years, it is essential that we do even more. The 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union is making progress, primarily because it has brought together, with a great sense of purpose, all relevant regional and subregional, in-area and out-of- area actors. With that example in mind, my report sets out a number of concrete recommendations for furthering this and other capacity-building efforts. We sometimes forget how quickly our world evolves.”
2006-09-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5529 (2006) · source