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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“Two days ago, the Government of Burundi announced its intention to set up a parliamentary commission to investigate the health conditions prevailing in the camps and to start dismantling those in the province of Bujumbura Rural within two weeks. I welcome this announcement, but urge the authorities to go further and abandon this inhumane and illegal policy altogether. So long as the camps exist, the Government must allow independent humanitarian agencies full access to them and must at all times ensure the safety of humanitarian workers, both international and local. No party in Burundi should assume that the justice of its cause or the iniquity of its opponents is as obvious to the rest of the world as they may seem to itself.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“Since September alone, over 300,000 innocent men, women and children in the region surrounding Bujumbura have been herded into camps where they are deprived not only of their freedom, but of the most elementary means of subsistence. The humanitarian impact of this policy has been disastrous. As the World Food Programme reported this week, thousands are now in special feeding programmes, and more are entering every day. But many sites are inaccessible by vehicle, which makes the delivery of assistance very difficult. We are on the verge of another humanitarian catastrophe, for which the world will undoubtedly hold the Government of Burundi responsible. I fully endorse the statement on this subject that was issued today by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“For all those reasons, I heartily welcome the involvement of President Mandela and place great hopes in his ability to revive the peace process. We in the United Nations Secretariat are determined to give whatever help we can, and I am sure the Council will wish to do the same. The appalling humanitarian consequences of the present political stalemate would in themselves provide sufficient reason to do so. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians have died over the past 10 years. The number of Burundian refugees has now reached 500,000 and is growing by the day. More than 800,000 people, 12 per cent of the country's population, are internally displaced, many of them as a result of a deliberate Government policy of forcibly relocating civilians in circumstances where this cannot be justified under international humanitarian law.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“Yet serious disagreements remain on some key issues - such as the future composition of the army, the electoral system and the transition period - while others - such as guarantees for the minority community and the question of reconciliation versus impunity - have yet to be seriously addressed. Also, we are all acutely aware of the unstable and volatile regional context in which this drama is taking place. We shall no doubt discuss that dimension in more detail next week when the Council considers the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But we cannot ignore it when discussing Burundi, which is not only affected by events in neighbouring countries but also has the potential to further destabilize the region, especially if violence continues to escalate, prompting more of the population to flee across the borders.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“Certainly in no other country is it so easy to imagine a repetition of what we have all sworn must never be repeated: ethnic killing on a genocidal scale. Again we see two ethnic groups locked in apparently implacable hostility to one another, a steadily escalating spiral of violence and killing and a faltering peace process in which the different parties pay lip service at best. Some progress has been achieved in the four commissions in Arusha and through consultations in Dar-es-Salaam. We all remember with gratitude the efforts made by the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere to push the process forward.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“Once again I congratulate you, Mr. President, on your success in using your presidency to focus world attention on Africa and its problems, and I join you in welcoming President Mandela to the Council Chamber. His presence with us today is a credit both to him and to you, Mr. President. It shows the dedication and seriousness which he brings to his new task as Facilitator of the peace efforts in Burundi, and it also shows how much he values the assistance the Council can give him as he undertakes that formidable task. By coming here he pays all of us a compliment and puts us under a strong obligation to show ourselves worthy of his faith. Mr. President, you have done well to make the conflict in Burundi the subject of this open meeting. Of all the many crises and conflicts confronting Africa today, perhaps none is more urgent.”
2000-01-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4091 (2000) · source
“Later in this meeting the Council will be hearing more about the economic and social as well as the more strictly health-related aspects of the epidemic from my colleagues Mr. Jim Wolfensohn, Mr. Malloch Brown and Peter Piot. I believe their contributions - alongside your own, Mr. President, and those of other Members - will help make it clear to the whole world that the United Nations system, in all its parts, is giving Africa's problems the attention they need and which Africans deserve.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“A month ago, here at United Nations Headquarters, we held the first high-level meeting of African Governments and United Nations agencies directly involved in the fight against AIDS, along with donor Governments, private corporations and non-governmental organizations. I called on them to formulate, by next May, a response commensurate with the scale of the crisis, and I spelled out the specific responsibility of each partner in the struggle. It now gives me great pleasure to welcome this Council as an additional partner. Its role, I suggest, must be to prevent conflict from contributing to the spread of AIDS and from impeding the efforts that other partners are making to control it.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“The breakdown of health and education services, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, the displacement of whole populations: all these ensure that the epidemic spreads further and faster on the continent. In short, HIV/AIDS is not only an African problem. It is global and must be recognized as such. But within that international obligation the fight against AIDS in Africa is an immediate priority which must be part and parcel of our work for peace and security in that continent. As most African Governments have now understood, the first battle to be won in the war against AIDS is the battle to smash the wall of silence and stigma surrounding it.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“The impact of AIDS in that region is no less destructive than that of warfare itself. Indeed, by some measures it is far worse. Last year, AIDS killed about 10 times more people in Africa than did armed conflict. By overwhelming the continent's health services, by creating millions of orphans and by decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises, which in turn threaten political stability. It also threatens good governance through high death rates among the elites, both public and private. In already unstable societies, this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict, and conflict in turn provides fertile ground for further infections.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“On the contrary, there could be no better moment for the international community to rally to Africa's support. And within its month of Africa, it is entirely appropriate that the Council should be devoting its first session to the problem of AIDS. Some may say that such a topic should be left to other United Nations bodies. I believe, however, that the Council would not do itself justice if it held a month of Africa without discussing what Ambassador Holbrooke has called the number one problem facing Africa today. Not that AIDS is a purely African problem. There are many countries outside Africa, especially in Asia and Eastern Europe, where it is spreading at an alarming rate. But nowhere else has AIDS yet become a threat to economic, social and political stability on the scale that it now is in southern and eastern Africa.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, the food supplies of 10 million people are threatened by civil strife. And out of 11 million orphans left so far by the global AIDS epidemic, 90 per cent are African children. Those figures speak for themselves. They amply justify your country's decision to make this first month of a new era a month of Africa in the Security Council, just as the Organization of African Unity has declared this year the Year of Peace, Security and Solidarity in Africa. It is good that Africans are taking the lead, because the inspiration for genuine and viable peace must spring from within the peoples that are in conflict, and especially from their leaders. Many parts of the continent are making impressive progress. There is no need to give way to Afro- pessimism.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“For instance, environmental degradation, ethnic conflicts, bad or inadequate governance, widespread violations of human rights, illiteracy and ill health, the growing problem of inequality both within and between nations, and, above all, the exclusion of too many of the world's people from the benefits of globalization, whereby nearly half the human race is condemned to remain in lingering, stubborn poverty. No part of the world is exempt from these problems. But Africa, it seems, has more than its share. Of the 48 least developed countries in the world today, 33 are in Africa. Out of two dozen or more conflicts raging around the world, roughly half are in Africa. Fifteen sub-Saharan African countries are currently faced with exceptional food emergencies.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“Let me thank you, Mr. President, for your thoughtful statement. Your presence here today is a promising start indeed to the New Year and welcome evidence of your country's commitment to the United Nations. As we open this new millennium, many of us have much to be thankful for. Most of the world is at peace. Most of us are better educated than our parents or grandparents. We can expect to live longer lives, with greater freedom and a wider range of choices. But we also face new challenges, or old ones in new and alarming forms.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“But they could, if implemented consistently over time, make a real and perceptible difference in the quality of our work for peace and security in Africa. I offer them in the practical, down-to-eaith spirit in which you, Mr. President, have convened this meeting. I look forward with great interest to hearing your own comments and suggestions, as well as those of other Council members.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“In addition to these, I believe many of the ideas that emerged from last month's debate on conflict prevention may be particularly useful in Africa - for instance, missions with clear goals undertaken by the Council itself on the model of the mission to Jakarta and Dili last September; preventive action by the Council in response to matters brought to its attention by States or by the Secretary-General, including, in some cases, preventive deployment of forces with the consent of the host country; preventive disarmament or the establishment of demilitarized zones; and the improvement of regional capacities for early warning, as well as peacekeeping. The suggestions I have made are not dramatic.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“Fourthly, the Council could consider holding meetings - perhaps alternately here at Headquarters and, in appropriate cases, in Africa - to establish closer and more regular contact between the members of the Council and the heads and staff of various regional and subregional organizations.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“A third kind of working group that can be useful is one that brings together members that are interested in a particular aspect of conflict prevention or containment and that would accept a specific mandate to work with the Secretariat in following up some of the Council's initiatives, with a clearly defined outcome in view. The model here would be Ambassador Fowler's group, which has done excellent work tracking the economic resources that fuel certain conflicts and which is looking for ways to enforce sanctions and embargoes once the Council has decided on them. Other problems, such as the traffic in small arms, would surely merit the same approach.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“One way of doing this would be to use contact groups of interested members that would undertake to follow through on proposed action on specific conflicts. A start has been made with the group established for Somalia. In some cases it may be appropriate to establish a joint working group, bringing together members of the Council, the Secretariat and the relevant regional or subregional organization. This would be especially suitable, perhaps, when there is a need to ensure that decisions such as the deployment of peacekeeping troops are implemented with a minimum of delay.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“No organization can consistently deliver quality performance if it is obliged to live from hand to mouth. It should be one of the highest priorities of the Council to find better and more efficient ways of funding peacekeeping operations. Mr. President, you asked what additional instruments the Council can bring to bear to help solve and, where possible, to prevent conflicts in Africa. In suggesting a few such instruments, I have in mind particularly the need for the Council to show sustained and effective interest in African conflicts, or potential conflicts, and to avoid giving the appearance of sporadic or purely rhetorical reactions to crises without any follow-up. It is vital that once the Council has taken an initiative or adopted a resolution it remains fully engaged in following up and supporting its implementation.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“In the case of Sierra Leone I should like to emphasize that, as indicated in previous reports to the Council, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) will require additional resources if ECOMOG confirms its expressed intention to withdraw all its troops from the country. Regional and subregional organizations in Africa simply do not have those resources at present. They are obliged to finance their peacekeeping activities through trust funds and, regrettably, these trust funds do not attract donations on anything like the scale needed. The United Nations itself is not much better placed when, as is now so often the case, we are told to finance our operations through voluntary contributions. I believe the increasing resort to this practice is contrary to the spirit of the Charter, and it is also inefficient.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“The same observation applies to the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which has done invaluable work in West Africa - notably in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau. But, at least in the two former cases, it has had to rely heavily on support from individual States in the region - States whose peoples can ill afford such sacrifices. The Council should consider as a matter of urgency how such regional operations can be more fairly and efficiently financed. Indeed, I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of ensuring that wherever responsibility is assigned, adequate resources are also provided to carry out that responsibility.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“In these circumstances there is always a tendency for ceasefires to break down and for the region to slide back into war. That is why the most immediate and practical decision I am looking for from the Council is to act promptly in the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the fragile ceasefire is further eroded. But it is no less urgent that necessary resources be made available to the Joint Military Commission to enable it to play the role foreseen for it under the Lusaka accord. We have already convened two meetings with potential donors to highlight this need. We should now explore jointly with the OAU how we can make the Joint Military Commission more effective and align it more closely with the work of the peacekeepers.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“Even the Europeans, who are better equipped in so many respects, have had significant help from others in keeping the peace within their region. A region such as Africa is therefore even more entitled to expect help in strengthening the capacity of its regional and subregional institutions. This was a need which I highlighted in my report last year. We in the Secretariat are doing what we can. We have intensified our own cooperation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and are working especially closely with them in helping implement the Lusaka accord on the Democratic Republic of Congo. If the results have so far been disappointing, that is partly for lack of a clear will to implement the accord among the parties. But it is also a question of resources.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“This is particularly important in the area of peacekeeping. During this decade peacekeeping has acquired a strong regional dimension virtually everywhere it has been practised. Asians took the lead in Cambodia, as they did again in East Timor. Similarly, in Bosnia and Kosovo peacekeeping has been seen primarily as a task for Europeans. It is only natural that African States are expected to play a leading role in their own back yards, and in many instances they have risen bravely to the challenge. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) especially has made heroic efforts in the extraordinarily difficult circumstances in Liberia and Sierra Leone. What is not natural, or indeed fair, is to expect Africans to carry out these tasks without help.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“Mr. President, let me welcome you to Headquarters today. May I first say how much I appreciate the sustained attention which both the Council and the General Assembly are giving to African issues. If meetings alone could solve Africa's problems we would have none, but, alas, they do not, which is why I appreciate even more, Mr. President, the effort you have made to give this meeting a practical and operational character, aimed at making a difference not just in words but in action. As I told the General Assembly last week, the United Nations could hardly be any more broadly engaged in Africa than it is already. What we need now is to be engaged more effectively. I also believe you are right, Mr. President, to focus, in the first instance, on the need for better coordination between the Council and regional and subregional organizations.”
1999-12-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4081 (1999) · source
“In that address I noted that armed intervention is itself a result of the failure of prevention, and I stressed the value of deterrence in preventing conflict. Let me repeat, then, that nothing would be more effective in deterring States and other parties from resorting to the extreme measures that characterize too many present-day conflicts than a clear demonstration that the Council is indeed prepared to take decisive action when faced with crimes against humanity. It is my hope that this meeting today will help the United Nations forge a consensus on these Vital questions and restore prevention to its rightful place as the first responsibility of the Security Council and of the Organization as a whole.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“And I hope that before long we shall be able to do it worldwide through the International Criminal Court. But it is perhaps even more important to do it on the collective level - and that is where the Council has its gravest responsibility. I really believe that, thanks to the prompt and effective decisions taken by the Council in 1990 and 1991, States all over the world are today in less danger of being treated as Kuwait was then. But we have also observed that these days many of the gravest conflicts which come to require the attention of the Council year after year occur not between States, but within them. That is why in my address to the General Assembly two months ago I appealed for a new consensus on intervention, defined in the broadest sense.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“The Council may wish to take the initiative in organizing discussion of the many and complex issues involved at the highest level, perhaps at a meeting to be held during next year's Millennium Summit. Allow me to conclude with one final thought. In the domestic affairs of our Member States, conflict prevention is usually described as the maintenance of order. A key role in maintaining order is played by deterrence. Citizens are deterred from disturbing the peace by the knowledge that if they do so they are liable to be arrested and brought before a court. I believe deterrence also has an important role to play in maintaining international order. On the individual level, we are seeking to do that through the Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“Many of these fall within the terms of reference of other parts of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, the United Nations Development Programme, the Economic and Social Council and even the International Court of Justice. Effective action will often require joint action by many different organs and agencies, just as it requires joint action by different government departments within Member States. These different agencies often have separate agendas, and in the past have not been used to thinking - let alone working - together. This is now improving, but there is still scope for much closer coordination of policy among them, and also, in many cases, between them and non-govemmental organizations or the private sector.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“It is they that must adopt enlightened economic and social policies that do not allow any group of the population to feel they are systematically excluded from their share of the country's wealth or denied any say in decisions affecting their lives. While war is the worst enemy of development, healthy and balanced development is the best form of long-term conflict prevention. If any of those present recognize that statement, it is because I said it last month in an address to the staff of the World Bank. That was, I believe, an appropriate forum in which to broach that subject. For all its awesome authority, the Council alone cannot help Member States to remove the long-term causes of conflict.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“The past decade has provided ample evidence that when dissent and differences are channelled through peaceful means conflict can be avoided. But when they are met with repression and Violence they grow stronger, more powerful and more violent. Ultimately, therefore, it is the responsibility of each and every Member State to prevent conflict by practising good governance. It is Member States that must resolve internal differences peacefully and through negotiations. It is they that must allow dissent, establish the rule of law, protect the rights of minorities and ensure that elections are free and fair.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“Finally, the United Nations needs to address the issue of resources. Cost-effective preventive action is not cost- free, yet, regrettably, there is an endemic paucity of resources for it. I think we all realize that operational preventive measures such as I have just outlined, while they must always be tried, will often be too late to make much difference. In the longer term it is even more important to address the deep-rooted causes of conflicts, which often lie in the social and economic sphere. Poverty, repression and undemocratic government, endemic underdevelopment, weak or non-existent institutions, political and economic discrimination between ethnic or religious communities: these are the long-term causes of many conflicts.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“Among the steps which the Council could take are the following: greater use of fact-finding missions, either by the Secretary-General or by the Council itself, at much earlier stages of a dispute - in accordance with the Council's Charter responsibility to "investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute" and "endanger the maintenance of international peace and security"; encouraging States which become aware of potential conflict within or among their neighbours to bring the issue promptly to the Council's attention; giving urgent attention to the problems of States which suffer acute economic, environmental and security strains, with consequent risks to their internal stability, because they are hosting large refugee populations from neighbouring countries - Guinea, with 500,000 refugees currently in its territory from Liberia and Sierra Leone, would be a strong candidate for such attention in the immediate future; establishing an informal working group, or a subsidiary organ, to study early warning and prevention issues and report back; and instituting regular meetings on prevention, at which the Council would identify areas that will require urgent preventive action.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“In particular, we are seeking to improve our early warning and analysis capabilities; improve coordination between the various departments, funds and agencies and intensify our cooperation with Governments as well as with regional organizations and non- governmental organizations. Our efforts, however, will fall short unless they are complemented by a renewed commitment to effective prevention on the part of the Council and of all Member States. I hope the Council will use this meeting to examine how it can make prevention a tangible part of its day-to-day work.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action." (Hamlet, Act Il], scene I) That is what we mean when we say that the crucial element of political will is lacking. There is no substitute for the recognition by the parties themselves that their actions are moving towards conflict, and that preventive action is needed. But there are ways in which we, as an Organization, could and should do more to make that clear to them. Over the past two years, I have tried to strengthen our capacity for preventive diplomacy, preventive disarmament, preventive deployment and both pre-conflict and post-conflict peace-building.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“But in a particular case, cogent arguments for refusing or delaying preventive action can always be found. Those directly involved may be unwilling to see the danger, or may resent interference from outsiders. This is especially likely to be true of States threatened with internal conflict. In some cases, one or more of the parties may actually believe that conflict will serve its interests. Outsiders, for their part, may well believe that the proposed action is unnecessary, or indeed that it will make matters worse. Thus, as Hamlet put it, "...”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“I am delighted to take part in this Vital meeting on one of the greatest challenges facing the United Nations, and one that, since the beginning of my role as Secretary-General, I have made a priority of my work: preventing armed conflict. It is clear that prevention is one of the main tasks of this Organization. And yet, far too often, we find ourselves dealing with the effects of conflict rather than its roots. As I wrote in the introduction to this year's annual report on the work of the Organization, we need to move "from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention". (A/54/l, para.61) The case for prevention hardly needs restating. Quite simply, it is cost-effective, in financial as well as human terms. Most people now recognize this as a general proposition.”
1999-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4072 (1999) · source
“However imperfectly, Africans have provided many important signs of their own yearning for peace, stability and development and of their willingness to work for it. The right kind of support now, carefully directed to those best able to use it, could help Africans turn a corner and set the stage for a brighter future. Let us seize this moment.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“It is reasonable to act more rapidly and more decisively on debt. It is reasonable to increase official development assistance. But what is reasonable and doable is far from a question of money alone. Training, technology, political engagement: there are many paths for partnership to follow. The over-arching point is that, by combining African efforts with those of the international community, we can give the cause of peace and development in Africa decisive new momentum. "Afro-pessimism" is a dead end. "Africa fatigue" is an affront to the very idea of a responsible international community. I said in my report last year that our work in Africa was both a process and a shared partnership.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“Whether we are speaking of peace and security issues or of closely related questions such as social development, environmental protection, human rights and human resources, it is essential to think in terms of partnerships with Africa: partnerships with the OAU, with other regional and subregional organizations, with civil society groups and individuals. Those nations making good-faith efforts and adopting enlightened policies deserve much greater support than they are now getting. Where the international community is committed to making a difference, it has shown that significant transformation can be achieved. There is no excuse for not doing what is reasonable and doable. It is reasonable, for example, to provide more resources for humanitarian assistance and post-conflict peace-building.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“As members move closer to a decision on these situations, I hope they will also keep the broadest possible picture in view. Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo need more than humanitarian palliatives. Each crisis situation in the world is different and must be decided on its own merits. But for the United Nations and this Council in particular to retain their credibility and the support of the world's peoples, the commitment to peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and other such action must be applied fairly and consistently, irrespective of region or nation.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“Members of the Council will not be surprised to hear me say that many Africans, remembering the failure to intervene effectively in Rwanda to stop the genocide, at times regard the Security Council as indifferent to the continent's plight. They are closely watching the Council's deliberations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and on Sierra Leone. In recent weeks, Africans have seen the Council approve a far-reaching operation for Kosovo and respond to the Violence in East Timor. They have listened while many world leaders, as well as myself, have welcomed, albeit cautiously, an evolving understanding of sovereignty that allows the international community to intervene more readily to halt massive and systematic violations of human rights.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“Yet anarchy does not reign in much of Somalia. There are areas where the absence of law and order has attracted criminals and subversives. A United Nations Children's Fund doctor was murdered recently, and humanitarian agencies temporarily suspended their operations. But there are also areas where ordinary Somalis, tired of warlords and of the violence they breed, are seeking reconciliation. Regions of relative stability and coherent leadership are emerging in the north-west and the north-east. The international community is beginning to acknowledge these gains. Indeed, they are examples for other regions to follow, and if carefully nurtured they could lead to broader national reconciliation.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“Last week, President Chiluba of Zambia provided the Security Council with a comprehensive briefing on that effort, which he carried out on behalf of the States of the Southern African Development Community. The parties to both of those agreements must now live up to their commitments. The United Nations facilitated this diplomatic work. Last week, I proposed to the Council the deployment of an up-to-6,000-strong peacekeeping operation to Sierra Leone. With the initial deployment of liaison officers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I am now studying further steps that could be taken to encourage peace in that country. I should also like to mention the situation in Somalia. In my report to the Council last month, I stated that, as a country without a central government, Somalia remained unique.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“But this is no substitute for the political and military engagement, both African and international, needed to bring stability and to address the root causes of these upheavals. Sierra Leone provides an important example of Africans taking the lead in conflict resolution. The Economic Community of West African States sent peacekeepers to Sierra Leone and patiently brokered the Lorne Agreement bringing an end to the conflict there. The agreement is far from perfect, but it responds to the real desire for peace in that country and gives it a new lease of life following some of the most stark and brutal human rights violations the world has seen in recent years. Another successful, albeit fragile, African-led mediation effort has resulted in the signing of the Lusaka peace agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“But until Africa gets a handle on its conflicts such progress will remain tenuous, even in nations far from the fighting. Few African countries can match Angola's natural wealth, or, sadly, the poverty of its war-weary people. Yet the parties there persist in fighting long past the time when either should be placing faith in a military solution. The people of the Sudan have also suffered far too much and far too long, yet there are few signs that their ordeal will end any time soon. Ethiopia and Eritrea have allowed their new enmities to shatter what had been a very promising break with the past. We must ensure access for humanitarian relief to victims of all these crises.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“The return to civilian rule in Nigeria has transformed that nation's prospects. Both Liberia and Mali have recently carried out the large-scale destruction of small arms. Algeria is taking important steps to move away from the civil strife that has paralysed its development and caused so much suffering. And at this year's Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Algiers, Africa's leaders insisted - in a welcome change from an earlier era - on the principle that Governments which came to power through unconstitutional means could no longer expect to be received as equals in an assembly of elected heads of State. I am sure that the day will come when the General Assembly of the United Nations will follow Africa's lead, and apply similarly stringent standards to all its members.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“Many African nations are liberalizing trade and exchange controls, privatizing moribund State industries, building up communications infrastructures and reforming their legal and regulatory frameworks. Africa possesses land and labour resources that foreign investors find attractive. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently published a study showing that investment in Africa brings a higher return to American and Japanese companies than any other region of the world. Africans are also taking charge of their political fortunes, and they are willing to acknowledge past mistakes. A majority of Africans now live under democratic systems. South Africa has just seen its second peaceful and democratic presidential election, and Mozambique will have its second presidential poll next month.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source
“There are places where whole economies have come to depend on the perpetuation of war; where political power has been attained by Violent, undemocratic means; where poor governance deprives people of basic needs; where silence about AIDS exacerbates the epidemic; where corruption thwarts economic growth; and where crushing debt burdens, trade barriers and declining international aid make it extremely hard for African nations to attract investment and stave off marginalization from the global economy. There are, in short, places where the widely held View of Africa as a region in perpetual crisis is not just an image, but an all-too-grim and painful reality. But there are also places - more than is commonly recognized - where we are witnessing dramatic changes for the better.”
1999-09-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049 (1999) · source