Peace and Security

Thank you for joining us today.

I am happy to co-chair this Replenishment Conference for the Peacebuilding Fund.

The scale of turmoil around the world requires concerted efforts to ease tensions and prevent further escalation.

The unprecedented challenge of COVID-19 has further exacerbated situations that were deteriorating even before the pandemic.

I have, as you know, appealed for a global ceasefire to focus on our common enemy, the pandemic.

We need a renewed approach to multilateralism and international cooperation.

[All-English version; scroll down for bilingual as delivered version]

Happy New Year!

I thank the Tunisian Presidency for organizing this debate.

Addressing the links between fragility and conflict is an essential component of international peace and security.

Fragility and conflict are among the greatest obstacles to implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict landscape was deteriorating.

Dear members of the press, it is for me an enormous pleasure to be back in Germany. Indeed because of COVID-19, I've had very few missions this year. But I really wanted to come and accept Germany's invitation of the President of the Bundestag to address the Bundestag because these are challenging times, but Germany is a reliable and generous and an exemplary party when we face these challenging times.  
 

[Bilingual, as delivered]

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,

Let me begin by congratulating you on assuming the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of December and for your leadership as Chair of the African Union. 

Je souhaite également la bienvenue à mon cher ami M. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Président de la Commission de l’Union africaine, et qui est parmi nous aujourd’hui.

This year, we marked the 75th anniversary of the United Nations with tributes to the Organization’s achievements and calls to strengthen multilateralism to meet longstanding and new challenges.  
But our observance of this milestone would not be complete without recognition of the losses of the Second World War, which led to the formation of the United Nations itself.  

The millions who fell on the battlefield; 

The millions murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust; 

Welcome and thank you for joining this virtual meeting, which is a demonstration of our shared commitment to multilateralism and our global partnership, even in these challenging times. 

I am particularly grateful to those colleagues who are joining from time zones very different from ours.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to join you for the 11th ASEAN-UN Summit, and I want to congratulate Viet Nam for its solidarity as ASEAN Chair and as member of the UN Security Council

I wish to start by expressing my deepest condolences on the loss of lives caused by the recent floods and landslides in Viet Nam. The United Nations stands with you.

As we mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the international community is facing a ‘perfect storm’:

A global pandemic.

The climate emergency.

[English version; scroll down for French version]

Thank you, Mr. President.

Excellencies,

I thank you for this opportunity to brief you on Women, Peace and Security, twenty years after the landmark Security Council resolution 1325. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest test the international community has faced since the Second World War.

In March, I appealed for an immediate global ceasefire so that we could focus on our common enemy: the COVID-19 virus. I built on this call in my address to the General Assembly last month.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,

I welcome the signing of a ceasefire agreement by the Libyan parties in Geneva today under the auspices of the United Nations.

This is a fundamental step toward peace and stability in Libya.

I congratulate the parties for putting the interest of their nation ahead of their differences.

I thank my [Acting] Special Representative for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Ms. Stephanie Williams, who accompanied the Libyan parties in this effort.

Now, too many people have suffered for too long.

Let me begin by thanking Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian Federation for this initiative.  

Given the complex and multifaceted challenges in the Persian Gulf region, it is important to reflect more deeply on how the international community — particularly the Security Council —can work in unison to promote peace and security in this vital part of the world. 

I remain extremely concerned about the situation in Yemen, a local conflict that has become regionalized over time.