Statement of New Zealand at the General Assembly Debate, September 20, 2016
Statement of New Zealand, September 2016
The Council has put its weight behind many successes, from the adoption of the Iran deal to ending the long running war in Colombia.
Statement of New Zealand, September 2016
We acknowledge that the Council does not have a role in every crisis. But the reality is that we need the Council to respond when no one else can. This is why we have consistently called for Council action to revive the Middle East Peace Process.
Statement of New Zealand, September 2016
New Zealand is also working to make the Council more effective in Conflict prevention.
We want to make the Council better at responding to political crises before they spiral out of Contro.
There is no lack of mandate for conflict prevention. It's in the Charter.
There is no lack of information about escalating situations. We see the evidence of this - often in the most heart-breaking images in the media,
The problem is that we don't always have the will and we don't use the tools available to
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Many States block action, asserting sovereignty and ignoring the rest of the Charter. Others don't want to spend the money,
Most have bilateral or national interests. And leaders of countries in political crisis often don't want their actions to be on the Council's agenda.
But we cannot ignore the growing gap between the humanitarian costs of picking up the pieces after conflict and the amount the UN allocates to prevent conflict.
The shortfall is growing at an unsustainable rate, while the peace operations budget is increasing year on year.
But this is not about money. It is about saving lives.
Statement of New Zealand, September 2016
The internal politics within the Council and the sheer complexity of the Syria crisis have obstructed a unified Council response.
But we believe that no matter how difficult and sensitive the issues, the Council cannot watch the situation go from bad to worse for the Syrian people.
The Security Council was established to address crises like that which we see in Syria.
That is why New Zealand is using our Presidency of the Council to convene a leaders' level meeting tomorrow on Syria.
A meeting by itself won't stop the conflict. But after more than five years of brutal fighting, and horrific humanitarian suffering, we do not think it is credible for Leaders to come to New York and not address the stark realities driving the conflict.
We hope tomorrow's meeting will provide an opportunity for Council Leaders to take stock of developments, examine the fundamental issues at the heart of the Conflict, and discuss how we can move towards a sustainable political solution,
We also hope the meeting will be a chance for the Council to put its weight behind the ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Russia.
That agreement is the best chance we have had in some time to stop the fighting, get aid to those who need it, and get back on track for a political resolution to the crisis.