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UN / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
STORY: UN / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
TRT: 2:51
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, flag outside United Nations headquarters
27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A global ceasefire would create conditions for a stronger response to the pandemic and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people and would open space for dialogue. I am encouraged by expressions of support. However, this support has not been translated into concrete action. In some cases, the pandemic may even create incentives for warring parties to press their advantage, or to strike hard while international attention is focused elsewhere. Both scenarios could lead to increases in violence. And civilians always pay the price.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
3. Wide shot, flag outside United Nations headquarters
27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
“Where armed conflict continues, COVID-19 makes the protection of civilians more challenging than ever – and our support more important than ever. It is only through respect for human rights and international humanitarian and refugee law that we can protect civilians, including health and humanitarian workers and infrastructure, and relieve pressure on health systems. But the prospects are bleak. My latest report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict shows little progress on the protection of civilians, and on compliance with international law, in 2019.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
5. Wide shot, flags outside United Nations headquarters
27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
“Civilians caught up in violence now face a new and deadly threat from COVID-19. The pandemic is amplifying and exploiting the fragilities of our world. Conflict is one of the greatest causes of that fragility. Protecting civilians requires us to do much more to ensure compliance with international law and accountability for violations. We must also do more to prevent, reduce and resolve conflicts.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
7. Wide shot, flag outside United Nations headquarters
27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
"You are obliged to proactively facilitate access and not pile mountains of bureaucratic and political obstacles on humanitarian organizations. You are not asked to tell humanitarian organizations who is in need, but rather to allow neutral and impartial organizations to do independent needs assessments in full transparency."
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
9. Wide shot, flags outside United Nations headquarters
27 MAY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and member of The Elders:
"This Council now represents the hope and aspirations of our global community for international peace and security. We must find the political will and commitment, though absent, and we, you, must act now."
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
11. Wide shot, flag outside United Nations headquarters
UN chief António Guterres said COVID-19 makes the protection of civilians in armed conflicts “more challenging than ever – and our support more important than ever.”
Addressing a virtual meeting of the Security Council today (27 May), Guterres said his latest report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict “shows little progress on the protection of civilians, and on compliance with international law, in 2019.” He added, “It is only through respect for human rights and international humanitarian and refugee law that we can protect civilians, including health and humanitarian workers and infrastructure, and relieve pressure on health systems; but the prospects are bleak.”
Guterres reported that more than 20,000 civilians were killed or injured in just ten conflicts, millions of people were displaced as a result of armed conflict, and tens of thousands of children were forced to take part in hostilities in 2019.
He said women and girls in places affected by conflict were subjected to appalling levels of sexual and gender-based violence, while conflict also remains the main driver of hunger around the world.
The Secretary-General stressed that his call for a global ceasefire in March was aimed at ending the fighting to allow the world to focus on ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A global ceasefire would create conditions for a stronger response to the pandemic and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people and would open space for dialogue. I am encouraged by expressions of support. However, this support has not been translated into concrete action. In some cases, the pandemic may even create incentives for warring parties to press their advantage, or to strike hard while international attention is focused elsewhere. Both scenarios could lead to increases in violence. And civilians always pay the price.”
Guterres repeated his call to States to develop national frameworks to strengthen the protection of civilians in armed conflict and urged them to move beyond rhetoric and close the accountability gap through national legislation and coordinated international action.
SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
“Civilians caught up in violence now face a new and deadly threat from COVID-19. The pandemic is amplifying and exploiting the fragilities of our world. Conflict is one of the greatest causes of that fragility. Protecting civilians requires us to do much more to ensure compliance with international law and accountability for violations. We must also do more to prevent, reduce and resolve conflicts.”
The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, said the Secretary-General’s report highlights the enormous violations and failures to protect civilians around the world. He underscored that divisions in the Security Council on humanitarian law and work was increasing suffering on frontlines. He noted that while the ICRC takes responsibility to deliver neutral and impartial humanitarian services, it is the Council’s responsibility to facilitate access to populations in need.
SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
"You are obliged to proactively facilitate access and not pile mountains of bureaucratic and political obstacles on humanitarian organizations. You are not asked to tell humanitarian organizations who is in need, but rather to allow neutral and impartial organizations to do independent needs assessments in full transparency."
Maurer stressed that the principals of international humanitarian law were put in place to protect people not to make political points.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and member of The Elders, said unless conflicts are ended any semblance of a just compact between states and their people to address inequities and injustices cannot be met and may be lost for generations to come. She underscored that the most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent conflict from occurring. She noted a conflict averted does not make headlines but saves lives and livelihoods, adding that it is less costly and easier to prevent conflicts than to end them.
Sirleaf said the international community simply cannot resign itself to a sense of hopelessness in settling for and accepting the continuation of these long conflicts as UN, its bodies, and especial the Security Council represent hope, after the end of World War II some 75 years ago.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and member of The Elders:
"This Council now represents the hope and aspirations of our global community for international peace and security. We must find the political will and commitment, though absent, and we, you, must act now."
The former President of Liberia said protecting human rights, ending impunity, and the use of preventive diplomacy are crucial to preventing conflicts.
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