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UN / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
STORY: UN / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
TRT: 02:27
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 MAY 2018, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
22 MAY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent and end them. And this is why conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding are, and will remain, the highest priorities for the whole United Nations system.”
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Conflict around the world is unleashing relentless horror and suffering for millions of civilians, women, girls, men and boys. More than 128 million people around the world need immediate humanitarian aid, and this staggering figure is mainly driven by conflict.”
6. Med shot, Hanaa Edwar, Iraqi Al-Amal Association
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“I urge Council Members not to allow political differences to prevent or undermine action to protect civilians. This is vital not only to save lives and safeguard our common humanity. Protecting civilians in conflict is also the only way to lay the foundations for sustained peace.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Yves Daccord, Director-General of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
“There is clearly still a long way to go before the various normative and policy achievements regarding protection of civilians are felt where they really matter. Not on paper, but on the ground.
The ICRC therefore urges States to take decisive action in the four particular areas that I highlighted. To avoid the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas. To counter a wide range of threats to health care. To ensure humane treatment and conditions of detention for all detainees. And to commit to preventing people from going missing and properly accounting for those who do.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacek Krzysztof, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland:
“It is important that all states and non-state parties to the conflicts comply with their legal obligations. Moreover, it is crucial to implement good practices in this field. An example of such good practices is that Intergovernmental Commission on International Humanitarian Law, which Poland established like several other countries, in order to ensure that humanitarian law is implemented throughout the whole judicial system.”
11. Wide shot, Council
Addressing a Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Secretary-General António Guterres today (22 May) stressed that “the most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent conflicts and to end them.”
Guterres reiterated that “conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding are, and will remain, the highest priorities for the whole United Nations system.”
The Secretary-General noted that “conflict around the world is unleashing relentless horror and suffering for millions of civilians, women, girls, men and boys.” He said, “more than 128 million people around the world need immediate humanitarian aid, and this staggering figure is mainly driven by conflict.”
He urged Council Members “not to allow political differences to prevent or undermine action to protect civilians.”
Guterres said this was “vital not only to save lives and safeguard our common humanity” as “protecting civilians in conflict is also the only way to lay the foundations for sustained peace.”
He called on Member States to develop national policies to protect civilians in conflict and to ensure accountability for serious violations against them.
The Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Yves Daccord, told the Council “there is clearly still a long way to go before the various normative and policy achievements regarding protection of civilians are felt where they really matter. Not on paper, but on the ground.”
He highlighted four particular areas, namely: “To avoid the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas. To counter a wide range of threats to health care. To ensure humane treatment and conditions of detention for all detainees. And to commit to preventing people from going missing and properly accounting for those who do.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Jacek Krzysztof, told the Council it was “important that all states and non-state parties to the conflicts comply with their legal obligations” and said it was “crucial to implement good practices in this field.”
Poland holds the presidency of the Council for the month of May.
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