Tag: 2022

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 November 2022.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council briefing on the situation in the Central African Republic.

Thank you, President.

The United Kingdom welcomes the renewal of MINUSCA’s mandate and thanks France for its efforts as penholder to reconcile differing views of Council members.

Delegations made difficult compromises.

The United Kingdom is disappointed by the loss of agreed Responsibility to Protect language. But we maintain that the Government of the Central African Republic remains primarily responsible for the protection of all civilians from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and that this issue will remain a key factor in future conversations.

This mandate renewal takes place in a difficult political and security context, and MINUSCA itself is facing significant challenges. But the Mission retains a key role in helping to build long-term peace in the Central African Republic. And while we recognise the views expressed by our A3 partners and welcome recent overall reductions in violations of the Status of Forces Agreement, we remain deeply concerned by night flight restrictions imposed by the government.

Such restrictions limit MINUSCA’s ability to implement its mandate and jeopardise the safety and security of peacekeepers and of civilians. We support new language in the mandate to address this critical issue. And we call on the authorities to ensure MINUSCA’s freedom of movement, with unhindered and immediate access throughout the territory of the Central African Republic, including by air and at night, as set out in the Mission’s Status of Forces Agreement.

President, with this mandate MINUSCA can continue to provide effective support to long-term stability in the country. It is now up to the government to deliver on their stated commitments: to protect civilians and human rights; to take definitive steps on the peace agreement; and to uphold MINUSCA’s freedom of movement.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 November 2022.

A new agreement between the Governments of Montserrat and the United Kingdom comprises a protection against exchange rate fluctuations for the UK’s contribution to Montserrat’s annual recurrent budget, and new capital investments for essential equipment.

Recurrent Budget support

• The recent fluctuations in exchange rate and continued pressure on the cost of living has meant a reduction in real terms to the cash value of the UK’s support for Montserrat’s recurrent budget.
• In recognition of this, the UK Government has agreed to an uplift of up to £4.72m to ensure that Montserrat is protected for the rest of this financial year from currency exchange impacts; to enable continued delivery of public services for the people of Montserrat.
• This will enable the delivery of essential services which otherwise would have been at risk.
• However, there is still a need to prioritise spending in what are challenging economic times.

Governor Sarah Tucker expressed her thanks to the FCDO and UK Government for offering this much needed additional support to Montserrat during these exceptional times.

Referring to the budget support, Honourable Premier, Joseph Farrell said:

On behalf of the government and people of Montserrat I wish to express my sincere thanks to the FCDO and the United Kingdom Government for providing the additional funds towards our 2022/23 financial aid package, these monies will allow the government to continue providing essential services to the people on island.

Capital support

• The UK Government has agreed to provide an additional £3 million of funding for essential equipment.
• Specifically, this money will provide a foam fire engine for the airport, a new two megawatt generator to provide greater resilience to the Montserrat Utilities Limited’s (MUL) energy provision across Montserrat, and additional health service support including a CT scanner, 3D mammography unit, oxygen generator, emergency room and incubator equipment, and a medical incinerator. Procurement work will be completed by the end of this financial year.

Her Excellency the Governor, Sarah Tucker, said:

This new additional support will enable a more resilient power source, whilst we continue to develop greener energy alternatives, ensure our fire officers have the equipment they need to keep us safe, and, very importantly, bring forward the ability to offer CT scans and mammography here in Montserrat, enabling faster diagnosis and therefore faster more effective care.

Deputy Director of the Overseas Territories Directorate, Adam Pile, said:

This additional funding demonstrates the UK Government’s continued commitment to Montserrat, I am delighted that additional support has been provided for capital equipment and that we are able to protect Montserrat from the exchange rate volatility this year. Credit is due to the Financial Secretary and her team for all of their continued hard work and support.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 November 2022.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council briefing on UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Thank you President. My thanks here to Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, and to all our briefers for the presentations today. And let me take the opportunity to thank all our UN Police forces for their essential work in sometimes really tough conditions.

I am pleased today’s discussion is focusing on A4P and A4P+. UN Police have an important role to play in delivering whole-of-mission approaches to these reform priorities. So I will focus on the areas covered by the two Police Commissioners – protection of civilians and performance.

First, I thank Commissioner Fossen for her invaluable insight into implementing a protection of civilians mandate in UNMISS. We can sometimes forget when talking about Protection of Civilians how important unarmed approaches are. Of course, it is only part of the picture, and both armed and unarmed activity complement each other. We must consider the full range of tools to prevent and respond to civilian threats.

Peacekeepers need not only to protect civilians from physical violence, but provide a protective environment, and the space for mediation and dialogue. UNPOL are uniquely placed for this task. They are often the first and the last to meet with the local population during any intervention or response to a crisis. They need to establish strong relationships with those populations founded on trust.

Secondly, President, on performance. I thank Commissioner Berethe for speaking to this point in the MONUSCO context. Operating in any mission environment has its challenges, but MONUSCO is arguably one of the most challenging, as demonstrated by increased violence directed toward the Mission in recent months.

The UK welcomes the ongoing implementation of the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Accountability Framework and of CPAS to monitor and evaluate performance and review progress against mandate implementation. Better performance means better missions.

For UNPOL to operate and perform at its best, it needs to deliver the full range of policing roles it is mandated to fill. This should include capacity-building and development efforts of host-State police and justice and corrections institutions.

In line with the findings of the 2016 External Review of UNPOL, there could be more focus on institution building and specialist capabilities, not simply the number of personnel deployed. It is these skills that support sustainable peace and restoration of the Rule of Law.

Finally Mr President, our briefers and many speakers today have underlined the importance of the contribution UNPOL makes to the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. The UK strongly supports this, and welcomes the progress made to date.

We look forward to continuing to work together to strengthen UNPOL to deliver on its full potential. I thank you.