Tag: Tariq Ahmad

The statement made by Tariq Ahmad, Lord Ahmad, the Foreign Office Minister, at the UN Security Council on 15 December 2022.

Thank you Mr President,

Before I go any further, may I join others and express the deepest condolences to my dear friend Simon Coveney, and all the people of Ireland at the tragic loss of a Peacekeeper in Lebanon, someone who was doing their job, and indeed in extending our prayers and best wishes for the recovery of those injured.

Once again, I join with him in our strong solidarity for those who represent this organisation on the world stage and some of the most difficult places in the world and ultimately, as we’ve seen tragically, pay with their lives. We pay tribute to their bravery and courage, and our prayers and best wishes go for the quick recovery of those injured.

Mr President, may I firstly thank you. It is a great pleasure to join the Security Council under your stewardship, and I pay tribute to India of its stewardship and contributions to this Security Council, particularly on this issue of counter terrorism during its tenure on the Security Council.

And, the Government of India deserves immense credit for the focus they have brought on the issue of Council’s counter terrorism and also what lies beneath, and what drives terrorism, which is a perverse ideology of extremism, and we must work together to counter this.

I join also in thanking our three briefers. Mr Voronkov, who I know well, I’m sorry we’re not seeing each other in person today, Mr Chen, and of course the inspiring testimony, bravery, and courage we heard from Anjali Viday Kulthe. Anjaliji, in the face of terrorism your bravery and courage is an inspiration and we thank you.

The meetings that India has led, particularly the excellent counter terrorism committee and meetings in Mumbai and New Delhi. I was delighted that my dear friend the Foreign Secretary was able to join and had set out our strong position of working together with India and indeed all international partners as we work together to counter the global threat of international terrorism. It is a threat, colleagues and friends, that is ever-evolving. It is a threat that is becoming ever more complex. And it requires collective and comprehensive solutions and responses.

Terrorist groups including in Al-Qaeda, who operate today in Afghanistan and beyond, the Daesh affiliated, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab to name but two, who are continuing to work across different parts of the world and inflict human suffering to innocent lives, innocent people, destroying communities around the world. But we also need to recognize and be cognisant of the fact that these terrorist organizations are increasingly employing new methods of radicalisation, the drivers of terrorism, and evolving tactics. They use innovative ways of technology.

Even in the United Kingdom, we continue to face this challenge. Young minds being corrupted, the circumvention of the front door as technology is used as a tool to radicalize young men and women. And these evolving tactics require a response from ourselves as well to ensure that we counter this abhorrent ideology. We must also make effective use of our sanctions regimes, to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons and financing.

We must adapt and evolve our own counter terrorism efforts, prevent terrorist exploitation, and indeed of vulnerable communities. Radicalization takes place through innovative technology means. We need to ensure we counter it through similar measures.

And as we tackle terrorism, we must be vigilant, and uphold three important principles:

Firstly, we urge all colleagues, friends, Member States to address the real drivers of terrorism and violent extremism using a ‘whole of society’ approach.

We must work with communities, with faith leaders, to address and eradicate the perverse ideologies which are used to drive these abhorrent crimes of terrorism. The United Kingdom is working with our partners to understand how the UN can better incorporate civil society perspectives into its work.

Secondly, our policy and programming should understand and address the gender dynamics of terrorism.

We know that terrorists and violent extremists are perpetrators of sexual violence.

Two weeks ago, I had the honor to hose on behalf of the United Kingdom an international conference on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, and to strengthen the global response.

I was honored to host amongst others Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, and many other survivors of sexual violence, who spoke about the need for governments to do more to end these atrocities.

And there is also an important solution. In hearing Anjaliji today and her bravery and courage, we need to ensure those who survive, those who experience the scourge of terrorism, that we work with them hand-in-glove to ensure they inform our policies and what we can also do in working together to eradicate extremist ideology.

We also, and I join with the Foreign Minister of Ireland, call upon why is it in 2022 we are having this conversation of involving more women. It seems almost illogical that women today have to be subject to debates of conversation so they’re involved in the main table, not in some side room, to find solutions. We need to address this, and address this now.

We need to ensure Member States everywhere involve women and take the lead in ensuring that they are very much pivotal to developing strategies to prevent and counter violent extremism and terrorism. Those strategies must address activity that specifically target women. Indeed, as potential perpetrators, victims, and influencers in their communities. And thirdly, I just wanted to touch on the importance of human rights in our responses.

As the Security Council, we have an obligation under international law to protect and promote human rights.

Therefore states must act within the bounds of such law when countering terrorism.

Otherwise, we undermine the very rights and freedoms that the UN was established to promote.

To conclude, Mr President, this Council has a vital and important role in tackling the scourge of terrorism which tragically continues to destroy innocent lives around the world today. And to those lives lost as we remembered them at the start of this meeting, we owe it to act together, and act now.

Thank you Mr President.

The speech made by Tariq Ahmad, Lord Ahmad, in New York, United States, on 22 September 2022.

I am sincerely grateful to Norway for bringing us together and to the Government of Israel and Palestinian Authority for their participation.

Let me begin by expressing our deep concern over the grave economic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

If we are to achieve peace and stability in the region, it is of course vital that the Palestinian Authority and UNWRA are on a stable financial footing.

The United Kingdom is committed to supporting this.

We will continue to work directly with both parties to help boost economic development, trade and investment.

This includes offering technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority and supporting Palestinian companies to boost exports, among other things.

We were pleased to hear about the success of the E-VAT pilot and welcome Israel’s commitment to rolling out the system to all Israeli businesses.

As we know, this has the potential to raise more than $100 million per year for the Palestinian Authority.

It is a clear signal of the value of cooperation between the parties and the donor community.

We also welcome the Government of Israel’s efforts to enable electronic payments to Palestinians working in Israel.

And we are glad to see the positive steps taken by the Palestinian Authority, as outlined by Finance Minister Bishara, to reduce the public sector wage bill.

Madame Chair,

While we welcome commitments made by the parties and the spirit of cooperation they bring today, progress has not been as fast as we would have liked.

We need much quicker progress on fiscal reforms, and efforts to reduce barriers to trade and investment in the West Bank, if we stand any hope of reviving economic growth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

We call on the Government of Israel to undertake reforms to the clearance revenue mechanism and to renew efforts to tackle the restrictions and costs facing Palestinian businesses.

We would also like Israel to take a decision on the handling fee on Palestinian Authority fuel purchases – which is disproportionate, in our view.

We urge the Palestinian Authority to bolster work with partners, including the International Monetary Fund, on the reforms necessary to address the fiscal crisis and build a more stable future.

We must also retain focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need for economic recovery and reconstruction.

Only last month, we saw yet another escalation of violence on the strip.

We welcome the increase in permits for Gazans to work in Israel but unemployment remains unacceptably high.

We urge Israel to continue increasing work permits and reducing restrictions in order to create more jobs.

Madame Chair,

There is no hope of making progress on these issues without ministerial level engagement and dialogue, and we would like to see this stepped up.

We welcome the parties’ commitments to re-establishing the Joint Economic Committee as the key body for decision-making, and call for this meeting to take place urgently.

The UK will do all we can to support the parties to work together to address challenges and strengthen Palestinian Authority institutions for the future.

Madame Chair,

While we have rightly focussed on the economic situation today, I must also address the bigger picture. We are gravely concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and the risk of instability.

The UK calls on both parties to refrain from taking actions that undermine the prospect for peace.

This includes all unilateral and provocative acts, and breaches of international law.

These take us further from a negotiated two-state solution, and the long-term peace and stability that Israelis and Palestinians so deserve.

The UK will do all we can to support progress towards that goal.

The speech made by Tariq Ahmad, Baron Ahmad, in New York on 22 September 2022.

I am grateful to Sweden, Jordan and the UN Secretary-General for bringing us together.

Let me begin by thanking UNRWA for your tireless work to support Palestinian refugees.

You play an important role in helping to maintain stability in an increasingly fragile region, and the UK will continue to support you in every way we can.

We announced a new multi-year funding agreement with UNRWA earlier this year.

This year, we will provide £15m of funding to help you continue delivering high-quality services.

I hope that all donors will consider similar predictable multi-year funding so that UNWRA can continue its vital work.

We are, however, alive to the real financial challenges the agency faces.

We commend your efforts to get on to a more viable financial footing and address the chronic funding shortfall.

But these efforts alone will not be enough.

We urge UNWRA to continue work on a robust and realistic plan for resource mobilisation, and on clear contingency plans to manage future financial challenges.

Member States should continue to think creatively about opportunities to support UNRWA to resolve its perennial financial crisis and deliver on its mandate. This includes reviewing opportunities outlined in the 2017 paper by the UN Secretary General.

Let me finish by reiterating that a negotiated, two-state solution is the only viable means of bringing the peace and stability that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve.

Until that day, the UK will continue to support UNRWA and its vital work.

The statement made by Tariq Ahmad, Lord Ahmad, at the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September 2022.

The statement made by Tariq Ahmad, Lord Ahmad, the Foreign Office Minister, on 21 September 2022.

The death of Mahsa Amini in Iran following her arrest for alleged dress code violations is shocking. We are extremely concerned at reports of serious mistreatment of Ms Amini, and many others, by the security forces.

We urge the Iranian government to investigate the circumstances of her death with rigour and transparency, and to hold to account anyone responsible.

We call on Iran to respect the right to peaceful assembly, to exercise restraint and to release unfairly detained protesters. The use of violence in response to the expression of fundamental rights, by women or any other members of Iranian society, is wholly unjustifiable.