YouSaid · the spoken record

Sen

lines on the record: 256
first: 2004-09-13
most recent: 2009-03-19
sittings or episodes: 25
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 regard to capacity-building, India has trained more than 2,700 Afghan citizens in India. Since 2006, we have trained, annually, 500 Afghan public officials in short-term courses and 500 Afghan students in university-level courses in India. India is also implementing a capacity-development programme in public administration, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, to depute 30 Indian civil servants to assist in various Afghan ministries. In addition, India is including a strong capacity- development component in all its infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. As regards projects, apart from the completion of ongoing mega-infrastructure projects, India is now simultaneously focusing on small development projects. These include activities that require the participation of local communities.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“For that, a multi- pronged approach is required; on the one hand, we must invest in rebuilding infrastructure and generating employment, and on the other, we must progressively transfer the necessary skills and managerial authority to the Afghan people so that they can take on the ownership of those projects. For our part, I must underline that India's commitment to the rebuilding and development of Afghanistan remains unflinching. Our assistance programme, which has been in place since the Berlin conference, has now reached $750 million. Of that total pledge, India has already disbursed around $300 million in the implementation of various assistance projects since 2002. Our projects run the gamut of activities, ranging from capacity-building projects to infrastructure creation and reconstruction.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“That is to say, we in the international community must provide appropriate responses, including security enforcement and economic and development strategies that rapidly bring the benefits of governance and development to people in the worst-affected districts. We can ill afford partial solutions that provide only temporary relief in limited areas. Terrorism cannot be fought piecemeal. With regard to the interrelated aspect of addressing the development challenge, India believes that the good work being undertaken by the international community in Afghanistan can be sustained in the long term only if we invest in developing Afghan human resources.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“We look forward to further expansion as and when capacities are created. In that context, no challenge is more of a test of our collective resolve than that posed by the security situation. It is also the threat that could most quickly undermine our collective efforts in Afghanistan. Therefore, we cannot and must not underestimate the ferocity of the Taliban and Al-Qaida resurgence. India fully appreciates the Government of Afghanistan's position that the challenge of terrorism - in particular the growing trend of suicide attacks, cross-border infiltration, and the nexus between terrorism and drug trafficking - requires a robust international political solution and a stronger domestic military response. At the same time, as our Minister underscored, security challenges must be addressed realistically.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“Only if we succeed in all three tasks can we create the conditions that engender greater national ownership of security, reconstruction and development processes in the long term. It is an unavoidable reality that it is only in the long term that we can rebuild national institutions destroyed over the decades. Therefore, our collective goal must be to build upon the significant successes recorded thus far, while recognizing the fact that the road ahead is long. We must redouble our political and economic commitment to helping Afghanistan over the medium to long term and ensure that our determination is unshaken by short-term developments. The resolve displayed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in that context, in expanding its presence to 17 offices, is commendable.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“As the Minister of External Affairs of India noted two weeks ago, India is fully committed to implementing the benchmarks of the Afghanistan Compact and to addressing the interrelated security, political and development challenges facing Afghanistan. The central task in Afghanistan involves addressing, in the face of insecurity created by vicious terrorist violence, the socio-economic challenges that are the result of decades of strife, destruction and privation. The challenge before the international community is, on the one hand, to ensure security while helping resolve those problems, while on the other, to transform our respective high-level political commitments into operational strategies and concrete outcomes on the ground.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“Let me begin by expressing my appreciation, Sir, for your successful stewardship of the Security Council over the past fortnight. Let me also express my appreciation of the dedication shown by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Koenigs, and wish him all the very best for the future. Today's debate on Afghanistan is most opportune, taking place a fortnight after the high-level meeting chaired by the Secretary-General and President Karzai. Like that occasion, today's meeting affords us an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan.”
2007-10-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5760 (2007) · source
“Lastly, there is the aspect of creating a post- conflict consensus on the use of natural resources in the process of peace consolidation. To evolve recommendations and approaches on that aspect, we could perhaps formally task the Peacebuilding Commission, as a mechanism established by all States precisely for such purposes, with that responsibility. It should suffice, therefore, to underline the fact that effective and consensual exploitation of natural resources not only brings tangible benefits to all segments of society, but also provides the intangible benefit of creating a useful and desirable habit of cooperation among former foes in a post-conflict society.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Apart from that, we find some useful suggestions in the concept paper, such as authorizing a role for United Nations mission and United Nations peacekeeping forces in conflict-torn countries. However, such a mandate would need to be very carefully drawn up, both to limit their role to a supporting one, at best, to prevent other forms of potential misuse, and to ensure that neither the United Nations mission nor the peacekeeping forces are diverted from their core responsibilities. Questions of capacity, training and accountability will need to be addressed at the stage of planning such a mandate. Therefore, we would urge that evolving a consensus on those aspects be an exercise carried out with the widest-possible consultations, including with troop- contributing countries.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“In the instance of rough diamonds, that approach appears to have been successful because it approaches the problem at the level of extraction and from the standpoint of processing and trading. This is also perhaps because such an approach is inclusive enough to visualize a role for the entire international community, including civil society. The Kimberley Process also has merit in its approach to the trade in diamonds by creating a certification scheme that validates and regulates the production of rough diamonds. Last, but not least, such a mechanism avoids the pitfall of treating the issue of resources fuelling conflict as a matter purely related to peace and security. As a result, major diamond trading and processing nations such as India have engaged constructively and actively with the Kimberley Process.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Creative solutions are needed to the crisis 07-39374 of expectations and the disparities in economic development. Those cannot be divorced from international economic governance - making globalization fair, making the Doha Round truly development-oriented, and comprehensively reforming the IMF. With regard to resources prolonging conflict, it appears that the international community is arriving through trial and error at a useful approach, whose contours are only now becoming visible. A judicious mixture of sanctions to prevent the illegal exploitation of natural resources and certification schemes, such as the Kimberley Process, has begun to yield some results.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Rotberg and Easterly have both shown that five resource-rich countries in conflict were, during the preceding 10 years, more than 65 per cent of the time - and in the case of Sierra Leone, 83 per cent - under an IMF programme. In any treatment of the linkage between natural resources and conflict, the full and permanent sovereignty of each State over its natural resources is a key principle that is immutable. While conflict prevention through better management of the exploitation of resources is theoretically an idea worth considering, it is in practical terms fraught with legal and operational complexities. We are therefore of the View that the best method of preventing conflict prior to its outbreak lies in more comprehensively addressing the problems of inequality and economic deprivation.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“As in a Greek tragedy, the saviour is also the damned. That is the nature of the natural resource curse. Conflicts hold back development, but a certain kind of development also leads to conflict. Globalization sharpens inequality and regional imbalances, often stimulating natural-resource-rich regions of a country to try to break away. Similarly, deflationary policies and the elimination of subsidies encouraged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as trade liberalization encouraged by the World Trade Organization, have substantially reduced rural purchasing power and tipped the scales of the natural resource curse into conflict.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Let me begin by welcoming you, Sir, and by expressing appreciation for the Belgian presidency of the Security Council in the current month. India appreciates the opportunity afforded to Member States to participate in today's timely discussion on a subject of vital interest for all of us. The concept paper circulated by the Permanent Mission of Belgium earlier this month afforded us a most useful starting point for the discussion. The issue is important because so many developing countries are crucially dependent on natural resources; for instance, a third of Africa's export income is from natural resources. At the same time, those natural resources often cause and prolong conflict, leading to growth that is sometimes lower and poverty that is sometimes higher than in natural- resource-poor countries.”
2007-06-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5705Resumption1 (2007) · source
“While preventing a far-reaching adverse change in the climate of the world we have to promote a far-reaching change for the better in the climate of the Security Council. This too requires procedures under Articles 108 and 109.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Nothing in the greenhouse gas profile of developing countries even remotely reflects a threat to international peace and security, yet their taking on greenhouse gas mitigation targets will adversely impact their development - development being the best adaptation to the adverse impact of climate change - and thereby increase insecurity. Conceptually and logically, even if one assumes that catastrophic scenarios are certain, which is not the case, the only context in which to discuss what can be done about the physical effects of climate change is, again, the Framework Convention. The Security Council does not have the expertise and may not have the mandate: to make an uncertain long-term prospect a security threat amounts to an informal amendment of the Charter. That can be done only through procedures outlined in Articles 108 and 109.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“For those delegations who are interested, I am appending to my written text some facts on India's implementation of sustainable development. The appropriate forum for discussing issues relating to climate change is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Insofar as international peace and security are concerned, developed countries reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption will considerably reduce such threats through a reduction in the need for privileged access to energy markets.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“For developing countries, a rapid increase in energy use per capita is imperative if national development goals and the Millennium Development Goals are to be realized. It is essential that developing countries have the policy space to address their energy needs in the light of their individual circumstances. At a conference in New Delhi earlier this year on Mahatma Gandhi's idea of non-violent resistance, one of our leaders said that to be equitable, economic growth has to be sustainable. To be sustainable, economic growth has, in turn, to be all-inclusive. It is actually sarvodaya, or the rise of all. Mahatma Gandhi insisted that such a rise must be respectful of land and in harmony with nature and the Earth's long-term future.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“However, a prerequisite for greenhouse gas abatement in the carbon market is enhanced, legally binding commitments by developed countries. Considered solely in the context of climate change, poverty alleviation is dependent on climate change adaptation measures. Far more important than an uncertain international security threat is the existential threat to many small island developing States, and it is, therefore, crucial to mobilize resources and technology for immediate adaptation measures there. To tackle the problems that may lead to conflict, action is required on resource flow, adaptation and technology. Diversion of official development assistance resources from economic growth and poverty eradication in developing countries is not the answer. Energy is a critical input for development.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“In marked contrast, a more immediate and quantifiable threat is from possible conflicts arising out of inadequate resources for development and poverty eradication, as well as out of competition for energy. By mitigating the potential for conflict, poverty eradication has positive implications for global peace and security. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries also has a potentially significant positive impact on security, by moderating the impetus for privileged access to energy markets. Efforts to impose greenhouse gas commitments on developing countries would simply have an adverse impact upon the prospects of growth in developing countries. On the other hand, cooperation by developing countries through the carbon market would be conducive to their growth.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Neither Nordhaus nor Professor Stern have overcome the uncertainty and difficulty of calibrating catastrophic scenarios. In fact, strong uncertainty is ignored. The result is thus to present a political argument as the outcome of an objective scientific modelling process. Nordhaus himself has concluded that the Stern review is a political document. That this objection applies equally to Nordhaus's work only makes it more telling. These catastrophic scenarios therefore cannot be treated as threshold events that are known in the real meaning of the word. Hence, their possible consequences in terms of border disputes, migration, energy supplies, societal stress and the like can hardly be discussed in any meaningful manner.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“In this topsy-turvy world, just as the Swiss linear formula in the World Trade Organization demands more than full reciprocity from developing countries, so also a careful reading of the Stern report on the economics of climate change suggests that between now and 2050, all the greenhouse gas abatements proposed would take place in developing countries, with developed countries taking credit for greenhouse gas reductions effected solely by commercial investments, with the increased cost of the energy service being borne by the developing countries and Clean Development Mechanism-type transfers of credits. This would negate the present global compact on climate change, affect growth in developing countries and increase insecurity. The Stern report has been read with interest in India. It cites Richard Nordhaus extensively.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“High per capita carbon emitters are in debt to those with low per capita carbon emissions because they are exploiting much more than their share of the environmental space: space in the carbon sink that does not belong to them. An international economic system that has historically been based on externalizing the consequences of pollution is both unjust and impracticable. The main responsibility to take action to reduce the threat of climate change rests with the developed countries, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, as enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Please, Madam, accept our warmest congratulations to a fellow Commonwealth country on holding the presidency of the Council and our appreciation of the manner in which your delegation is conducting the proceedings. Climate change issues loom large in today's global environment agenda. The international community needs to be vigilant about moves that would, so to speak, make global warming cool again. We have read with interest and attention the United Kingdom concept paper on energy, security and climate (S/2007/186, annex). We must confess, with all respect, that we have some major conceptual difficulties. We of course know the obvious: climate change is not a threat in the context of Article 39 of the Charter; nor can we contemplate Article-41 measures.”
2007-04-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5663Resumption1 (2007) · source
“Not only have we extended financial assistance, in excess of $650 million, to fund infrastructure projects and to assist with the national budget process, we are also expanding our involvement in the capacity-building process, both through traditional training programmes and through innovative public-private partnerships that involve our apex Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Thus, our assistance spans the range of activity, from basic infrastructure such as roads, power, dams and telecom to rapidly implemented, community-based, small-scale projects, and training and capacity-building programmes. To summarize our approach, we seek to help Afghanistan create the infrastructure of a modern State while, at the same time, going beyond monetary assistance to provide the Afghan people the wherewithal to help themselves.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Afghanistan's entry into the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, at its last Summit in Dhaka, was a manifestation of this. We believe that Afghanistan can and must be provided with the means to re-establish itself as the crossroads of Asia, and as one of the future transport hubs and energy bridges of our region. In conclusion, let me also reiterate our firm commitment to our partnership with Afghanistan, which today covers a multidimensional cooperation programme that harmonizes with the priorities of the Afghan Government.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Not only is it necessary to implement policies to stop cultivation, but it is also important to focus on simultaneously implementing crop substitution programmes and improving border management mechanisms. It will take a coordinated effort by the Government and people of Afghanistan, as well as by regional players, to effectively address this particular challenge. India's support for a sovereign, stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan is consistent and well known. We see a resurgent, stable, sovereign and peaceful Afghanistan as an essential element in the emerging mosaic of regional cooperation underpinning our world. It is also part of a process that reclaims for the people of Afghanistan their rightful place in our collective future.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Indeed, the New Delhi Declaration of the Second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan notes that a "strategy for development for Afghanistan which is based on cooperation with regional countries creates significant possibilities for reducing poverty and for achieving the Afghanistan Compact benchmarks and Millennium Development Goals in the entire region". Towards this end, it outlines a number of useful suggestions for the countries of the region to coordinate policies for exploiting shared resources like water, agriculture and energy, to develop capacity- building programmes, and to expand trade and transport linkages, in order to design and build appropriate regional projects. Similarly, we believe that more work needs to be done to reverse the expansion of narcotics production.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“All of these contribute to the effort to create credible and sustained opportunities to build upon the growing constituency for peace in Afghanistan and across the region. Nevertheless, they must be accompanied by firm measures to enforce peace. It was fortuitous that the Security Council mission Visited our region a few days prior to the second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, which India had the honour to host, jointly with our Afghan brothers, in New Delhi last month. The regional dimension is explicitly recognized in the report of the mission, in context of finding ways to help Afghanistan overcome the challenges before it.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Therefore, we believe that the cost of tolerating the spiralling Violence is infinitely higher than any costs we might bear in quelling it through firm law enforcement action. The consequences of collective inaction may well be borne by the international community in general, but will certainly be borne by the States of the region in particular. It is in this context that India emphasizes the need to simultaneously implement firm and effective law enforcement measures, security sector reform programmes, capacity-building measures and regional cooperation in all fields. Similarly, the growth of representative political parties and the broad-basing of the culture of democratic political activism, which is already under way, are developments that should be fostered, since they also greatly help in checking terrorism.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“While the report of the Council mission suggests that insurgency is largely confined to one third of Afghanistan, the situation remains precarious. The statistics of the International Security Assistance Force itself show that in recent months security incidents have escalated by as much as 70 per cent and 50 per cent in Paktika and Khost provinces. Therefore, it is not clear that efforts to negotiate peace in the more troubled Afghan provinces are succeeding; indeed, terrorist violence spreading elsewhere may suggest the opposite. Moreover, the growing incidence of suicide bombings shows the increasing spread of an ideology and tactics typical of Al-Qaida, which are not part of the Afghan cultural and religious tradition.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“In focusing on rebuilding and strengthening Afghan State institutions, the roots of insecurity should not be forgotten. The report (S/2005/935) refers to Operation Medusa. As we know, a greater number of people than the number of those killed in Operation Medusa became active again. Therefore, Operation Medusa has not even contained, let alone eliminated, Medusa herself; the snakes are still swirling because of the cross-border dimension. That reinforces the importance of this aspect, and historical experience shows that unless it is addressed, attempts at stability or security will be unavailing. It is therefore important to confront, rather than to strike deals with, the Taliban, which is really tantamount - if I may continue to use the metaphor - to looking at the image of Medusa in the shield without striking at Medusa herself.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“There is no doubt that the most pressing task before us is to overcome the challenge of insecurity. We have heard several arguments suggesting that the lack of effective governance in Afghanistan, widespread corruption, the inefficiency of the police service, the growing narcotics trade and continued warlordism in the provinces all contribute to the security problem. That may well be true, but to focus on those as the cause of the security problems is, in our judgement, to miss the point. Those are factors which thrive on insecurity and serve to exacerbate it. They are not causes of insecurity. Instead, it is the revival of the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other extremist groups, and the existence of cross-border safe havens for such groups, that are the real cause of insecurity.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“We share the mission's positive assessment of the achievements of the Government of President Karzai and the people of Afghanistan over the past five years. The establishment of genuinely democratically elected representative institutions and sustained economic growth, as well as growing trade and economic cooperation, investment in core infrastructure projects and the implementation of education, health and rural development programmes, are praiseworthy, particularly as they were achieved in the face of adversity. At the same time, the support of the international community has been substantial and fairly consistent. India is happy to continue playing a role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, given our historic ties with the Afghan people.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Let me begin by congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. This discussion is timely, coming as it does in the midst of heightened international focus on Afghanistan and the surrounding region. Any discussion on Afghanistan must begin from the central premise that the international community has an abiding responsibility to assist Afghanistan in consolidating democratic governance, peace, stability and long-term employment-led development, while delivering humanitarian assistance in the interim. Our Views are set forth in that context. We have carefully read the report of the Security Council mission and the earlier report of the Secretary- General on the situation in Afghanistan.”
2006-12-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5581 (2006) · source
“Finally, there is the national level, where it is essential that international institutions and partners support the efforts of countries emerging from conflict through highly concessional aid; debt waivers; assistance with the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants; employment generation strategies; and the extension of appropriate technologies. It is only through integrated action at all these levels that the consolidation of peace can be made effective and durable.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“At one level, the Peacebuilding Commission will implement its mandate of proposing integrated strategies for post- 06-46 124 conflict peacebuilding and recovery, ensuring predictable financing and developing best practices for cooperation among relevant actors and stakeholders. At another level, effective regional initiatives are essential. In that context, we fully support the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union in cooperating to address questions related to peace and security in West Africa.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“But it is also important to look at the recent past. There, one finds that - to cite one example in West Africa - Sierra Leone, which collapsed in civil war in 1990, was under an extensive International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme from 1994 to 1998. When civil war broke out again, it had spent 83 per cent of the period under an IMF programme. Therefore, the reform of international institutions - in particular the Bretton Woods institutions - to increase the voice and participation of developing countries is absolutely essential. Lastly, it is essential that the process of peace consolidation be implemented at various levels.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“But, in spite of that, it is essential that embryonic national ownership be respected through clear guidelines for ascertaining and respecting the views of civil society and community representatives. That brings me to good governance. Strong local, regional and national institutions are fundamental for societal transformation. Without legitimate laws, justice cannot be effective; without minimum standards of social equality, one cannot guarantee principles of justice and fairness. Thus, it is essential that good governance prescribed for recipient countries should also be practiced by the international institutions doing the prescribing. The two speakers before me pointed to success stories in, for example, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. We are engaged in Guinea-Bissau and, to some extent, in Sierra Leone.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“Hence the Peacebuilding Commission must not only work with the Security Council but also, and above all, take into consideration inputs from other United Nations bodies and work under the overall guidance of the General Assembly. Effective coordination and consultation with regional groups and organizations must be encouraged as part of that effort. Another key element for peace consolidation is the development of an overall country strategy framework to deal with post-conflict recovery and reconstruction. What is crucial here is national ownership, as many speakers before me have pointed out. It is the only pragmatic answer to a practical problem. In order to ensure that peacekeeping blends into peacebuilding, it may occasionally be necessary to operate without clear-cut national authority.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“9), which involves a concessional credit of $500 million along with technology transfers to countries in the West African region; further cooperation with the New Partnership for Africa's Development; and the satellite and fibre-optic connectivity mission for the entire African continent, announced by our President. Another essential pillar of the process of economic transformation involves the development of effective mechanisms to resolve social tensions arising from the legacy of conflict. Such mechanisms include rehabilitation, reconciliation and reconstruction. It also includes the development of credible institutions of governance; stable political structures, including political parties; and credible strategies to effectively mobilize human and material resources.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“Fundamental to a successful and long-term preventive approach are sound macroeconomic policies promoting sustained employment-driven growth. Expenditure on social sector programmes of poverty eradication, education - in particular the education of women - immunization and basic health and basic infrastructure creates conditions for sustained economic growth. In that context, I am tempted to note that developing societies such as ours do not live on bread alone, but equally on solidarity. India and others have written off the debt of the seven highly indebted poor countries. India will continue its economic and scientific initiatives, such as the Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement (TEAM.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“The latter often involves a long-term commitment to help vulnerable and poor countries develop human and institutional resources through increased development assistance. While peacebuilding focuses on preventing conditions that foster conflict, development focuses on the structural conditions that prevent growth and equity and thereby provide breeding grounds for conflict. Peacekeeping and peacebuilding must be part of the same continuum, if peacekeeping is to succeed. Interestingly, studies show that military interventions in conflict-ridden areas are actually more expensive than preventive approaches. Estimates show that the international community spent approximately $200 billion on seven major interventions in the 1990s, while it is estimated that a successful preventive approach would have cost nearly $130 billion less.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“In other words, how can regional organizations and the United Nations prevent States emerging from old conflicts from lapsing into new conflict situations? We agree that, in this context, we must promote sustained, equitable and employment-driven economic growth, as that is an inextricable part of the process of building durable peace. The effort to achieve these goals needs to be managed institutionally and driven internationally. It is this that gives relevance to the newly established Peacebuilding Commission. We believe that conflict prevention must include operational prevention efforts, which include responses to immediate and pressing crises through preventive diplomacy and structural prevention, which implies long-term structural preventive measures to prevent crises from arising or prevent them from recurring.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“Such expenditure not only crowds out other public spending but, on a worldwide basis, has come to exceed spending on international development assistance. Furthermore, given the current international economic order, the advantages obtained through employment generation in parts of Africa have been squandered through negative resource flows, low commodity prices, a lack of access to international markets and the debt trap. In other words, global conditions make it likely that the vicious circle of conflict-peace-conflict becomes self-sustaining. Thus, the creation of peace has rarely ensured that peace will endure. The overarching question before the world today is how to find ways to consolidate peace.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“To save time, I shall not adhere entirely to my written text. The history of conflict in West Africa has shown that stability can be imposed for a while by force of arms and the determined involvement of the world. But history also tells us that such stability is often short- lived. Peace achieved through force of arms is often, to quote the Secretary-General, a situation that is stable but fragile. Indeed, recent World Bank studies emphasize that countries that have suffered conflict in the recent past are also likely to see conflict return: the risk that the country will fall back into conflict within the first five years of the end of a conflict is nearly 50 per cent. That worrisome statistic is made worse by the fact that armed conflict inevitably increases military expenditure in the countries involved.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“It gives me great pleasure to participate in this open debate on the theme of peace consolidation in West Africa. This initiative of the Ghanaian presidency of the Security Council is timely and meaningful, and we welcome it. It was to be expected from a nation that has consistently made noteworthy contributions to peace, not only in its own region, but internationally as well. For me personally and for my country, it is an added pleasure to address the Foreign Minister of Ghana presiding today, given our traditionally close bilateral relations and our experience of the wisdom and insight that Nana Akufo- Addo has always brought to any international forum he has graced with his presence. I have also been asked by our Minister of State, Anand Sharma, to convey to you, Sir, his personal greetings and warmest good wishes.”
2006-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5509Resumption1 (2006) · source
“Our commitment to the Palestinian cause was articulated by Mahatma Gandhi, J awaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and other leaders. What Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the great founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, wrote in a letter dated 11 July 1947 to Albert Einstein remains relevant: "I do not myself see how this problem can be resolved by violence and conflict on one side or the other. Even if such violence and conflict achieve certain ends for the moment, they must necessarily be temporary. I do earnestly hope that some kind of agreement might be arrived at between the Arabs and the Jews. I do not think even an outside power can impose its will for long or enforce some new arrangements against the will of the parties concerned."”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493Resumption1 (2006) · source
“It is our firm belief that a negotiated outcome of this longstanding conflict is the only way to ensure long-term peace, security and stability in the region, leading to the establishment of a viable, united and sovereign State of Palestine, living in peaceful coexistence and harmony with the State of Israel. In conclusion, it is vital that the international community act to put an immediate end to the hostilities and to ensure that the conflict does not widen and engulf the entire region. We support the role of the regional powers in finding a solution to the crisis, as solutions imposed through unilateral measures may not prove enduring. A comprehensive solution to the situation in West Asia, based on the relevant Security Council resolutions, offers the best way forward.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493Resumption1 (2006) · source
“The assistance will be primarily in the form of life-saving drugs and medical supplies requested by the Palestinian authorities. We support the Secretary-General's call for an immediate cessation of indiscriminate and disproportionate violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a reopening of the closed crossing points. It is unfortunate that President Abbas was held incommunicado in Gaza for the last three weeks and not allowed to meet anyone. The international community needs to support a peace track for Gaza and President's Abbas's call for a proper dialogue with the Government of Israel.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493Resumption1 (2006) · source