Thank you for listening to de Pictures Media Radio. Welcome to Policy and Rights,
the show about government policy and human rights. Welcome back to Policy and
Write Terran Depictions Media Radio. I'm your host, Michael Kloggs. The U
n Security Council has come to a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and gazam
and it would appear that while the representatives of the United Nations are actually in
celebration of what is going on, that Israel is less than happy with it.
The as reported through the BBC that Israel canceled a delegations visit to the
White House after the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for the immediate ceasefire
and the release of how messages held by Hamas. The United States was the
sole abstention to the resolution, and the resolution otherwise passed with no nay votes.
You'll here hear that vote later on in this particular podcast. This resolution
could lead to a lot of lives saved and getting humanitarian efforts pass checkpoints so
that needed medication, food, water, clean water can be delivered to the
people. So okay, we're ready, Okay, thank you, good afternoon,
President Ravallo. Welcome to Washington, d C. It is good to
see you after we have talked on the phone. But it was my pleasure
to congratulate you by telephone on your election in September when we spoke in September,
and now, of course, it is my great pleasure and honor to
welcome you to the White House. During your campaign, you vowed to combat
corruption, You pledge to build a coalition to represent all Guatemalans and include members
of the indigenous community in the democratic process, and you committed to expand access
to health care and education, to combat the climate crisis, and to grow
your economy. And it was clear that the people of Guatemala voted resoundingly in
your election and for your message of reform. Your election has brought a sense
of optimism to the people of America and around the world. And despite the
challenges that have been posed to Guatemala's democratic process, the United State was allowed
to stand with you, mister President, following a free and fair election and
throughout your transition and the will of the people of Guatemala, by our observation
as triumph. For the past three years, I have led our administration's efforts
to address the root causes of migration from northern Central America and to create what
we have named the Root Causes strategy. That strategy rests on five pillars.
One to invest in economic development in the region, Two to combat corruption and
promote good governance, Three to respect human rights and labor rights in addition to
reduce violence, and finally, to address gender based violence. This work is
improving lives and livelihoods in the region and addressing the factors that drive people to
migrate to the United States. Mister President, I believe your presidency offers an
important opportunity for us to strengthen US Guatemalan relations and make further progress on each
of the five pillars I have outlined. In particular, Mister President, I
commend you for your steadfast commitment to combat corruption. Corruption, of course,
erodes trust in democracy and prevents governments from responding to the needs of their people.
Corruption is also an impediment to US investment and threatens economic growth, as
American business leaders need stability, predictability, and rule of law to make their
investments in countries like Guatemala worthwhile. And corruption, of course, empowers criminal
organizations and perpetuates violence, all factors that drive people to leave their home country.
Mister President, as you hold corrupt actors accountable and promote good governance,
we support you. Your leadership can help rebuild Guatemalan's peoples trust in their institutions
and give them a sense of hope and opportunity. Our work under the Root
Causes Strategy represents long term development efforts. The problems, of course, did
not occur overnight, and the solutions will not be achieved overnight. Yet we
have seen short term progress in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Thus far,
the Root Causes Strategy has helped as many as sixty three thousand farmers increase
their production and income has reached nearly three million youth through primary and secondary education.
We have trained more than eighteen thousand police officers and nearly twenty seven thousand
people to strengthen judicial systems, and we have supported thousands of labor and human
rights activists throughout the region. When I first started my work on Root Causes,
I recognized that we needed to involve the private sector in order to have
a lasting impact on irregular migration. A critical component of our strategy has been
to increase private sector investment in the region to help create jobs and expand economic
opportunity. I believe that public private partnerships are essential to combine the resources,
the experience, and the expertise of the private sector with the reach and the
capacity that only governments can provide, and growth and opportunity will far exceed what
either the public or private sector can do independently. To that end, we
have established Central America Forward, and innovative public private partnership that, over the
past three years, has been fueled by CEOs and philanthropic leaders around the world.
I am pleased to announce that as of today, this partnership has generated
more than five point two billion dollars in private sector commitments, with more than
fifty companies representing financial services, textiles, apparel, agriculture, technology, and
telecommunications. Central America Forward has thus far created seventy thousand new jobs throughout the
region, provided skills training for more than one million people, brought more than
two and a half million people into the formal financial economy, and connected more
than four and a half million people to the Internet. Today's announcement of more
than one billion in new investments includes energy transmission projects to connect people to the
grid and initiative to transport crops from small farms to new and larger markets,
construction of a new industrial park, and digital financial inclusion and workforce development programs.
Our partnership has also created what we have named in Her Hands, which
is an initiative to advance economic security for women, launched the Good Governance Good
Jobs Declaration, which includes a corporate pledge on the rule of law to support
labor rights, combat corruption, and increase transparency. We have sent a team
to Honduras to explore development of infrastructure projects and to expand an economic corridor.
And we started Central America Service Corps, which will provide vulnerable youth with training
and opportunities for paid community service projects. In conclusion, President Aravallo, I
am pleased that you will join in convening a meeting that we will host later
today with leaders from the private sector and civil society to continue this important work.
And I look forward to a productive visit today and to a productive partnership
which of course relies on the importance and the mutual and I believe shared priority
of transparency and candor to achieve our mutual interest to the benefit of all of
our people. I thank you, mister President. Thank you. Thank you
very much, Madam Vice President, thank you very much for the invitation.
Is an honor to be here today, and thank you very much for your
leadership in helping us develop this new moment of promising new partnership between Gatemala and
the United States. I view this as a historic moment in relations between our
two countries, which serve basic values and common interests and confront many joint challenges.
Your ongoing work, which you have described in terms of the initiatives that
you have been leading for the Central American region for several years now, are
welcomed by all of us who want to strengthen the ties between Gatemalan increase prosperity
in our region in general. I also want, on behalf of all Watemalans
to express my deep appreciation for the support that the United States provided to our
country during our difficult electoral process and presidential transition. The actions of the United
States and the international community in support of democracy and rule of law were critical
to ensuring that the popular will of the Guatemalan people prevails. This meeting today
reflects what we believe will be continuing strong support from the United States for our
efforts to consolidate democracy, strengthen public institutions, and fight corruption, and promote
economic prosperity and sustainable development that benefits all Watemalons. We recognize that, just
like the majority of Whatatemalans, our supporters in the United States and in the
international community have great expectations for what can be achieved in Guatemala in the next
few years. My government is committed to doing everything it can to meet those
expectations and to deliver results in the short, medium, and long term.
And we also recognize that many of the problems we face are structural and long
standing and cannot be solved in a short period of time, nor without support
and cooperation from the United States and other key international partners. So, as
I said, this is a truly historic moment that offers great promise for strengthening
our collaboration and advancing together as strategic partners on the basis of shared values and
common interests. We will maintain our commitment as governments to foster engagement across sectors
to build a new, democratic, and most more prosperous Gatemala that offers opportunities
for all to live and to thrive. Thank you very much, Madam welcome
again. Thank you. The nine thousand and five hundred and eighty sixth Meeting
of the Security Council is called to order. At the outset of the meeting,
I should like, at a request of the delegation of the Russian Federation
and on behalf of the members of the Security Council, to ask that all
those present now stand and join in observing a minute of silence, to present
its condolences and sympathy to the government and people of Russia and in the memory
of victims of the Heinus and the cowardly terror terrorist attack at the Concert Hall
in Moscow region the Russian Federation on twenty second of March. I now invite
you to stand and observe a minute of silence. Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
dear friends, I would like to make a statement on behalf of the
elected members of the Security Council, who are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana and
Japan, Malta, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland and
my own country, Mozambique. It is an historical day for the Council.
For the first time ever, we sponsored and the Council adopted the resolution on
the question of Palestine. We are happy that the Council has successfully adopted the
marching needed resolution to demand the immediate ceasfire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
It also demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in
the relation to all persons that they detaine. It is our hope, it
is the hope of the Eten that the resolution adopted today will be implemented in
good faith by all parties and will help is the suffering of the population in
Gaza. Humanitarian aid must flow immediately and without delay. We also hope that
this resolution will pave the way for more positive perspectives towards the lasting piece in
the Middle East. Finally, we would like to hail the determination, unity,
coision and commitment of all members of the Ten Group in tabling the text
and conducting an inclusive and transparent discussions throughout the process that, with the cooperation
of Department members, has led us today to achieve this important goal. I
thank you in her remarks, thank you very much investment and that is the
tim from Al Jazeera English in her remarks to the Security Council following the adoption
of the ceasefire. Ambassador of the United States, Lynda Thomas Greenfield mentioned that
this is a non binding resolution. What is your reaction to those comments?
I will invite other colleagues to respond. Under the chatter, all Security Council
resolutions are binding and every Member States are under the obligation to implement those resolutions.
But I still invite the Maybe legally speaking, it's non binding because in
accordance with the UN Charter or Skills, county decisions must be implemented and legally
binding. But this resolution did not use the word decide and it did not
invoke Chapter seven of the Charter. So legally speaking, it may not be
legally binding. But morally I mean, as I said in my statement,
it just reflects the consensus of the international community, so it should be implemented.
All United the Nations Security Council resolutions are binding in mandatory. I have
been a member of the National Law Permission for fifteen years and President and I
know what I'm saying. Thank you, okay, I I yes, if
I could add, fortunately, just to say that it's an important day for
eating unity. And so the question about the binding nature of resolution is a
legal one, and following the view of the Parimentary President of Mozambique, who
was a member and chair of the ILC. Being a legal practitioner myself and
being part of the sixth Committee for over five years, I would say it
is binding. And it's not just my words, it's also the words of
the International Court up Justice in the Advice Your Opinion on nineteen seventy one Advice
to Opinion given by the ICG. So I think it should be clear to
everyone that this resolution is binding on the parties. Thank you. Can I
follow up on comments about Chapter seven and how if it's not a Chapter seven
resolution, it's not legally binding, as the ambassador from Republic of Career has
mentioned answer already, thank you, thank you very much, thank you,
But I invite you to have some international law with me. The provisional agenda
for this meeting is the situation in the Middle East, including the Parestinian question.
Agenda is adopted in accordance with Brus thirty seven of the Council's Provinsional Rules
of Processure. I invite the depresented representatives of Israel and Yemen to participate in
this meeting. It is so decided I propose that the Council will invite the
Permanent Observa of the observer State of Palestine to the United Nations to participate in
the meeting in accordance with the provisional rules of procedure and the previous practice in
this regard. There be no objections. It is so decided. The Security
Council will now begin its consideration of Item two of the agenda. Members of
the Council have before them document s RUSH twenty twenty fourth RUSH two hundred and
fifty four, the texts of the draft to resolution submitted by Aligeria, Ecuador,
Guyana, Japan, Marta, Mozambique, Republic of Korea, Sierra Jone,
Slovenia and Switzerland. The Council is ready to proceed proceed to The Council
is ready to proceed to the vote on the drafted resolution before it. I
now give the fraA to those members of the Council who wish to make statements
before the vote. I give the fraA to the Representative of Mozambique. As
a president, I have the honor to introduce this draft resolution on behalf of
the ten elected members of the Security Council, namely Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana,
Japan, Malta, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland,
and my own country, Mozambique. We wish to command the Presidency of
Japan for convening this meeting in order to take action on this important resolution on
the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. We express our deep appreciation to
all members of this Council for their efforts and the inputs on this draft resolution
aimed at ending the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip. So President, the
situation in Gaza is a matter of grave concern to the entire international community.
Indeed, the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip and its catastrophic consequences
are a clear threat to international peace and security. In this context, the
E ten felt compelled to table this draft resolution before you. The fifteen members
of this Council individually and collectively have a mandate under the Charter to work for
the maintenance of international peace and security, and their actions impact the entire international
community. This is the strong conviction that led to the drafting of the text
that we are considering this morning. This Council has been consistently unanimous in its
agreement on the obligation of the parties in conflict to respect international law, including
international humanitarian law and international human rights LAWD ten have always supported the call for
an immediate ceisfiring Gaza as a fundamental step. For this reason and in respect
for the holy month of Ramadan, we have proposed the present resolution that it
demands an immediate ceasefire during this second period, leading to a permanent and sustainable
ceasefire. At the same time, the draft resolution demands the immediate and unconditional
release of all hostages and emphasizes that humanitarian access must be allowed to address their
medical and other humanitarian needs. These have been among our key demands for weeks.
The draft resolution further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international
law, as we said before, including international humanitarian law and human rights law.
The draft resolution also emphasizes the need for the parties to abide by the
partinent resolutions adopted by this Council, including resolutions twenty seven to twelve and the
twenty seven twenty of twenty twenty three. D ten have a consultative have adopted
a consultative approach during the negotiation process of this text. We have consulted extensively
and in good faith with all members of this Council in a frank, open
and flexible manner, with the aim of achieving a text that addresses the situation
in Gaza. The adoption of this draft resolution will certainly be another important step
this Council can build upon to comprehensively address the crisis in Gaza. Given it
the utmost urgency of the situation, we call upon all members of this Council,
All and each member of this Council to vote in favor of this resolution.
While this resolution is crucial, it is it's social that we continue working
towards a comprehensive ceasfire and a lasting piece in the region. I thank you,
said, I thank the Representative of Mozambique for their statement. I give
the fraward to the Representative of Russian Federation. Mister President, we are extremely
and disappointed about the way the work on the draft resolution in the last twenty
four hours was done. The fact that the word permanent in p. One
relating to a ceasefire is proposed to be replaced by a more weak wording with
something we learned about a little more than an hour before the beginning of the
meeting. That is unacceptable. We all received instructions for the vote on the
text that contain the word permanent, and we believe that that is a fundamental
importance. All of the remaining wording leaves too broad an area for interpretation,
which could allow Israel to resume its military operation in the Gaza Strip at any
moment following the expiry of the ceasefire, which we today hope will be established.
In order to avoid this scenario, we would like to make an oral
amendment to the text and return the word permanent inp. One. In so
doing, it would read as it read in the previously issued resolution, namely
demands in immediate ceasfire for the demands of Ramadan respected by all parties, leading
to a permanent, sustainable ceasfire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional the
release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address the medical
and other humilitarian needs. And further demands that the parties comply with their obligations
and the international law in relation to all persons they detained the wars. Thank
you, I thank the representative of Russian Federation for their statement members of the
Council have before them are proposed amendments submitted by Russian Federation to the texts of
the draft resolution contained in the document is RUSH twenty twenty four RUSH two hundred
and fifty four submitted by Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Marta,
Mozambique, Republic of Korea, Sierral, Slovenia and Switzerland. Juel thirty six
of the Council's Provisional Rules of Prussia states, in the area the following amendment
as to or deleached from the text of emotion or draft resolution, that amendment
shall be voted on first Accordingly, I intend to put the proposal proposed amendment
to the boat first read those in favor of proposed amendment please, they there
raised their hand against abstentions. The result of the voting is as f us
three votes in favor, one boat against abstentions. The proposed amendment has not
been adopted, having failed to obtain the required number of votes. Can I
shall put the draft resolution to the vote. Now? Will those in favor
of the draft resolution contained in document s RUSH twenty twenty four THRUSH two hundred
and fifty four preach there raise their hand. Those against have astension. The
result of the voting is as for US, fourteen votes in favor, zero
vote against, one abstention. The draft resolution has again, I don't that
a deserution twenty seven, twenty eight s er Thander twenty four. There's a
big question. Is this ceasefire resolution going to be binding? Will Israel and
the Hamas actually abide by it? Will will humanitarian efforts be able to get
in and help the people that actually need to be help those people who are
not involved in the fighting and caught in a crossfire. Will all those things
happen, and we'll have to keeping an eye and keep watching to make sure
it does actually happen. This is only one step in the process of helping
the people that the innocent people that live in the occupied areas of Palestine.
So thank you for listening today. You've been listening to policy and rights.
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