YouSaid · the spoken record

Sylvain-Goma

lines on the record: 33
first: 2010-03-19
most recent: 2011-11-14
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“I believe that their observations were useful once certain initiatives had been launched to ensure that the safety of roads and of the Gulf of Guinea could be guaranteed, lest the situation sink into the sort of case we know all too well and might call "Somalization". I would like to thank all States for their support, along with all the institutions such as the European Union and the United Nations system that have responded to our concerns.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“I wish therefore to say that the timing of resolution 2018 (2011) gives us further impetus to build on the initiatives of the East African Community (EAC), so much so that phase two has already begun, namely, by building synergy with the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS). We thank the United States for making their facilities at Garmisch, Germany, available, which enabled the chiefs of staff, their representatives, the heads of the communities and the two parties to come together to craft a model for the kind of synergy that should exist between ECOWAS and the Economic Community of Central African States.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“Without imposing new taxes, we will rely on levies collected through maritime operators, above all via the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa. I should add that, in terms of implementation, we have activated the space of zone D, which consists, as I said, of Cameroun, Gabon, Sfio Tome' and Principe and Equatorial Guinea. That will subsequently pave the way for the plan adopted by the four military chiefs of staff of those four States and, of course, approved by their respective higher authorities, and for assessing the results of the first phase of the maritime security plan and then for implementing phase two. We are encouraged by the results to date.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“We have three zones: in Zone A we have Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Angola as the pilot State; in Zone B, we have the Republic of the Congo and the Cabinda area of Angola, with the Republic of the Congo as the pilot; and then we have Zone D, with Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sfio Tome' and Principe, with Cameroun as the pilot State. Within that structure, a centre will be established in Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo, called the Centre for the Maintenance of Maritime Security, which will have links with the most important strategic agencies. We will place a coordinating maritime centre in each pilot State. Of course, concerns regarding the financing and operation of this machinery have been addressed.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“The strategic approach of our Heads of States emphasizes that security must involve the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX) and promote synergy with the Gulf of Guinea Commission and the Economic Community of West African States. I welcome the fact that resolution 2018 (2011) is perfectly aligned with the concerns I have mentioned and thus bodes well for the future. I will not reiterate our objectives; I simply wished to make a few comments on how we have set up our machinery.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“Moussa's enthusiasm in addressing those matters with the main actors from ECCAS. Clearly the issues are numerous. We agree that change is necessary in order to define our priorities and to consolidate our efforts in order to enable successful implementation of the measures available. In particular, I wish to emphasize one issue which is as important as the LRA file, and which has been addressed by the Council in resolution 2018 (2011). The Gulf of Guinea deserves the full, sustained attention that the Council can provide to it in the months and years ahead. It is important that information on this matter be provided on an updated basis from ECCAS on how it is being addressed. In December 2009, our Heads of States signed a protocol to protect vital maritime interests of ECCAS members in the Gulf of Guinea.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“As I stated in my introductory comments, I have reserved the right to take the floor on the question of working relations, cooperation and partnership with the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), which has just opened in Libreville. We have all read the report (S/2011/704) and followed the questions to which it has given rise. I will not address all of those issues, which include the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), small arms and light weapons under the Kinshasa Convention, drug trafficking, maritime security, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, elections, and general capacity-building. The Office has effected productive changes in those areas. I note that the secretariat of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) welcomes Mr.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“As the recently conducted African Union assessment mission suggested, if constraints necessitated that senior political officials consider a different approach from the one I have just outlined, then indeed other decisions may have to be taken, for peace has no price. Those are the comments I wished to make on this issue. In brief, the current capacity of ECCAS imposes constraints on it in connection with carrying out the peacebuilding Mission in Central Africa in accordance with the current mandate, including gradually drawing down MICOPAX prior to its full withdrawal in 2013. However, ECCAS stands ready to follow up any measures that may be called for by the African Union's senior political leaders.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“That will be reviewed prior to the end of the mandate given to the mission by ECCAS, in 2013. In that context, given that developments in the setting up by ECCAS, through the structures for regional brigades, require a great deal of caution, we will endeavour to ensure that the emphasis continues to be placed first on MICOPAX, bearing in mind the goals to which I have just referred in the area of training. We will also focus on the training of the armed forces against the backdrop of the contribution they will have to make in the context of the regional force that is still being put together to deal with the LRA. It is of course true that things are continuing to evolve and that the situation in Central Africa will continue to be of concern to ECCAS heads of State.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“In no particular order, the first has to do with the desire of the Government of the Central African Republic to acknowledge that more than 20 years of peacekeeping missions on its territory had not been enough to focus on the training of the Forces armees centrafricaines (FACA). Secondly, ECCAS member States believe that the time has come to ensure that the forces of the Central African Republic can strengthen their capacity to take control of the security situation throughout the country. Taking those two concerns into consideration, MICOPAX officials and the ECCAS Council of Ministers took the decision to begin the gradual drawdown of the Mission, while continuing, in the two following years, the capacity-building previously agreed. Three hundred and ninety-nine force members will receive training in 2012.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“MICOPAX's efforts led the European Union assessment missions to determine that several positive steps had been taken, but that there were also concerns. In an official statement, the Central African Republic expressed its satisfaction with the cooperation that had taken place, in particular in connection with MICOPAX's ability to control certain aspects that could have jeopardized the presidential election. The work of ECCAS with the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in the Central African Republic has now reached the mid-point, making it possible for us to address two concerns.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“Final decisions will soon be taken by the Peace and Security Council, as the observer of the African Union has also just pointed out. How those issues affect the Economic Community of Central African States should be seen in the context of the fact that all of us are concerned about peace and security problems on the continent. For ECCAS in particular, however, they are of concern given that the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic are members of the Community. Given that fact, there can be no holding back when it comes to engaging on those issues. A mere look into the situation bears that out. In 2008, ECCAS undertook its first activities in the field by setting up the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in the Central African Republic (MICOPAX), which began its work on 1 January 2009.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“I would also like to take advantage of our presence in the Council to make some comments on the problems that concern us and efforts we are carrying out at ECCAS that we believe could benefit from cooperation with UNOCA. With regard to the LRA, ECCAS is aware of the developments that have just been recounted here. ECCAS has been involved in various meetings organized by the African Union, especially at Bangui. That has made it possible to take note of the developments in the activities between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and what is now South Sudan. The observer of the African Union has just spoken about possible developments, namely, the possibility of establishing a force and setting up an operations centre in order to put in place a framework for political follow-up.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“I should like at the outset, Sir, to welcome your assumption of the Council presidency this month, and to thank the Ambassador of Gabon for his efforts to facilitate my presence at this debate. We in Central Africa are proud of the establishment of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) in Libreville, and we welcome the invitation of the Secretary-General of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) to this debate to discuss the development of the Office's activities. With regard to the issues before the Security Council, I shall very briefly touch on a few aspects in connection with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), while speaking at greater length on the Gulf of Guinea.”
2011-11-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6657 (2011) · source
“We therefore need to deploy all our human ingenuity by working to prevent problems early in the chain and through concrete action on the ground on the legal, political and technological levels. If, however, we abandon the social and economic dimension, which fuels asymmetrical conflicts, all such efforts will be in vain. That is why our subregion believes that combating small arms and light weapons is one of the major pillars of the Millennium Development Goals.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“In order to achieve this ambitious project, our community is appealing to our international partners for their valuable assistance. In conclusion, I should like to emphasize that ECCAS believes that combating the proliferation and illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons is part and parcel of the comprehensive collective security strategy of the subregion. In that regard, we need to examine the chain linking the production and import of such weapons through to their use for criminal ends. Gaining the capacity to trace and control small arms and light weapons is thus an important part of our approach. Furthermore, a policy of crisis prevention, management and settlement, along with subregional and international police cooperation, will furnish the basic means of dealing with these problems.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Looking to the future, the community's efforts in this area will be focused on finalizing the legal instrument and its adoption by member States; boosting the active participation of national commissions on small arms and light weapons; implementing the border programme, especially in the area of cross-border security; drawing up and implementing a police cooperation mechanism to address the issue of the six lawless zones; operationalizing the Gulf of Guinea securitization strategy in coordination with the Economic Community of West African States and, of course, with our international partners; implementing the policy of security sector reform in order to ensure that State armaments are traceable; providing support of all types to ensure the success of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes at rates of around 90 per cent by 2015; and strengthening civil society organizations with regard to information, awareness-raising and social networking.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“The third pillar of this programme seeks to ensure cross-border security and the fight against the trafficking of small arms and light weapons, which are a factor undermining neighbourly relations destabilizing economic development. After a period of latency, during which the subregion was profoundly affected by its numerous conflicts, ECCAS, relaunched in 1999, now has as its primary mandate the task of re-establishing stability, peace and security. To that end, the goal of combating and eliminating the proliferation and uncontrolled circulation of small arms and light weapons is now ensconced on our agenda.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“That is why disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes and programmes to combat small arms and light weapons, usually carried out with the aid of the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union, are now closely linked to the problem of security sector reform and involve cooperation among State and non-State actors at the local and subregional levels. The policy of reforming the security sectors of Central African States requires their security and defence forces to commit to strict control of the weapons they own. Furthermore, under the aegis of the African Union Border Programme, a ECCAS border programme was adopted in May 2009.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Taking all those countries together, one may estimate - and this is only an estimate - that about 7million small arms and light weapons, including those manufactured and acquired, have been in circulation in Central Africa over the past 15 years. Only 45 per cent of them have come under effective monitoring or have been destroyed. That means that a majority of the arms remain hidden for various reasons, including the possibility of a return to confrontations; illicit trafficking for commercial purposes; armed banditry, which often involves rape, hijacking, poaching, drug trafficking, pillaging of minerals and forest resources in the Congo Basin, crimes of passion and maritime piracy. I could continue. They are also used for poaching for the Wildlife trade and in illegal fishing activities, where explosives are often used.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Reducing the circulation of small arms and light weapons and controlling acquisitions and existing stockpiles have thus become a major part of the process to collect arms and to demobilize and reintegrate ex-combatants. But the DDR process is still far from satisfying our expectations, as it has not yet addressed the matter of criminal organizations, which are becoming more and more organized. It is important to emphasize that after the conflicts in Angola, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has not been possible to recover all of the arms used in those conflicts.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“As the Council is aware, for many years the triangle of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria has been the target of many acts of maritime piracy that have led to fears of the phenomenon of "Somali- ization" of this zone, which is strategic to the global supply of energy and to international trade. During joint patrols at sea and along the coast, hundreds of arms and considerable quantities of ivory, drugs and the proceeds of illegal fishing and other illicit products have been seized. Moreover, in most States in post-conflict situations, national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes have been implemented as part of strategies to emerge from conflict.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“That approach, which aligns legal instruments with an operational approach, sees the secretariat of the Economic Community of Central African States in the central role in controlling the circulation of small arms and light weapons in the subregion, along with the United Nations and the African Union, of course. The approach not only fosters harmonization and strengthening of regulations and institutions, but also insures the promotion of exchange of information for greater effectiveness of the actors in the field. Here it is appropriate to emphasize the encouraging results attained, in barely six months, in a test of the implementation of the strategy to secure the Vital interests of the member States of the Economic Community of Central African States in the Gulf of Guinea.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“At the level of the global collective security strategy of the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, actions have been taken to address threats in the lawless areas I noted earlier, starting with the cooperation agreement on police that was signed in April 1999 in Yaounde' among member States of the Committee of Police Chiefs of Central Africa. To complete that system, the 2007 Sao Tome and Principe initiative mobilized the Economic Community of Central African States to create a legal instrument for the community to combat the proliferation of and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, which will be adopted in the near future.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“I shall refer to eight of them: establishing in each State a national commission on small arms and light weapons; collecting and openly destroying small arms and light weapons used by rebels and other armed groups; strengthening and harmonizing national legislation and procedures on small arms and light weapons; enhancing the capacity of national security institutions to control small arms and light weapons; promoting traceability by creating registers and databanks; promoting the role of civil society in combating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons; implementing a regional policy of cross-border cooperation to combat proliferation of small arms and light weapons; and lastly, establishing an entity on small arms and light weapons within the secretariat of the Economic Community of Central African States.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Concerning subregional initiatives, I will note that, on the basis of that Programme, the ECCAS secretariat, with the support of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, held a seminar in Bangui, in August 2002, on raising awareness of the implementation of the United Nations Programme in the ECCAS region. Then, from 12 to 14 May 2003, the implementation seminar was organized in Brazzaville. The results of that seminar led to adoption of a body of recommendations that the States have committed themselves to implement.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Since then, at the instigation of the former Organization of African Unity, the Economic Community of Central African States has been acting with a double view: responsible support to international community initiatives, and taking subregional initiatives. With regard to supporting initiatives of the international community, the Central African States adopted, as part of Africa's contribution to the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, the Bamako Declaration of 2000. They established, in 2003, the programme on Central Africa's priority activities to implement the United Nations Programme.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“That led to establishment of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, in 1992. Subsequently, as a result of the Committee's work, an historic decision was taken in Yaounde in July 1999 to establish the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, which was set up in February 2000, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. With regard to the matters being debated, the Protocol on COPAX includes the following issues in its article 6: combating cross-border crime, international terrorism, the uncontrolled proliferation and illicit trafficking of arms, ammunition, explosives and all other related materials.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Recently, fundamentalist religious movements in the Cameroon- Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea and Chad-Sudan-Central African Republic triangles have also been the source of small arms and light weapons. All sectors of society possess these weapons. Worse yet, that includes women and children. This is leading to a new social conflict involving the traditional family structure. That alarming development has prompted the organs of the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX) and the institutions of the international community to take action to reduce the phenomenon. With regard to actions taken at the regional level, the heads of States of Central Africa have, through the Yaounde process, turned to the United Nations for assistance in order to prevent, control and settle conflicts in the subregion.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“A closer look reveals that the porous nature of the borders is conducive to allowing rebel movements to fall back and regroup. That is a structural element of the chaotic circulation of small arms and light weapons. Moreover, such lawless areas remain infested by nascent rebellion movements and host to entire roaming armies following the end of a conflict. The technical characteristics of those weapons reveal that nearly 80 per cent of them come from either China or the countries of the former Warsaw Pact. Traffickers exploit the ease of using and maintaining such weapons, which means that there are endless sources of them. There are also numerous stockpiles of such weapons - of the armies and defence forces of States in crisis, those who support rebel movements and international arms dealers.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Given their scale, gravity and widespread nature, the crises being experienced by the subregion have a cumulative effect. That includes the rise and growth of armed rebellion and criminal organizations, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, drug trafficking, massive displacements of peoples, the deterioration in educational and health systems, poverty and promiscuity. At the level of global security, Central Africa is home to six lawless regions, all of which are part of triangular borders: Chad-Central African Republic- Sudan, Chad-Cameroon-Central African Republic, Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria, Angola-Congo- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central-African Republic-Congo-Democratic Republic of the Congo/Congo River, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo-Burundi-Rwanda/Great Lakes region.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“Because the source of such weapons cannot be verified, and because they are easy to use and can be easily transported, as Kofi Annan has said, those engines of untold suffering are everywhere. They can be found within families and States and along borders. They destabilize family relations, ruin people's lives, undermine good-neighbourly relations between States and drain momentum from regional integration efforts. That is the dire picture that I wish to share with the Council of the problem of small arms and light weapons in our subregion. In order to illustrate the scope of this phenomenon, people point to the fact that threats to the internal and national security of the States of the region far exceed the capacities of our countries and Community to eradicate them.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source
“I thank you, Mr. President, for inviting me to be here. I would also like to acknowledge the presence of the Deputy Secretary-General. At the heart of a continent in which instances of fratricidal war are the subject of the international community's concern, Central Africa has been a major source of crises for the past 15 years. Of the 10 countries that comprise the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), seven are in post- conflict situations today, while the other three have not been spared the upheavals of political violence and runaway criminality. In that regard, the scourge of small arms and light weapons is a major factor in the proliferation and chaotic circulation of such weapons.”
2010-03-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6288 (2010) · source