76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
UN Security Council open debate on Peace and Security through preventive diplomacy
Delivered by Ambassador Sven Jürgenson
November 16, New York
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I join others in thanking the Mexican presidency for organizing today’s open debate, as well as the esteemed briefers for sharing their insights.
The topic of preventive diplomacy remains of utmost importance to this organisation and most of all to the people on the ground. The proliferation and prolongation of conflicts today requires the UN to step up its efforts on the prevention front.
As prevention involves action taken to prevent disputes from escalating into conflicts, we cannot underestimate the role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in maintaining peace. Estonia values the discussions held in the Council annually with the President of the ICJ. As we have pointed out on those and other occasions, Estonia believes that more frequent and timely resort to the ICJ by the Council would contribute to resolving disputes and thereby promote international peace and security. Another important element in terms of prevention is the necessity of members of the Council to apply initiatives that aim to deter the use of veto in cases related to the commission of atrocity crimes.
Mr President,
Allow me to quickly highlight three areas that Estonia considers important in the context of addressing root causes. First is climate change, an area that the international community needs to take more seriously, including the Security Council by mandating the Secretary-General to report on the impacts of climate change on international security. Secondly, adherence to the rule of law, accountability and human rights makes societies more resilient and is essential for maintaining peace and security. Human rights need to be put at the core of our actions. The third element that needs to be ensured is inclusivity, in terms of gender equality and engaging persons belonging to marginalized groups. It has been proven that societies are more peaceful and peace more lasting when women are substantially involved. A safe and diverse civil society space remains a vital component of resilient communities.
The Security Council needs to keep these elements in mind when drawing up and reviewing the robust mandates it establishes. At the same time, it is clear than none of these and other issues of international concern are effectively tackled by one branch of the UN only.
Estonia further acknowledges the interdependence of security, sustainable development and human rights, and in this light recognises the need for all UN organs and agencies to pursue preventive strategies and to take action. We recognise that the Secretary-General has raised the afore-mentioned issues in his comprehensive report „Our common agenda“ that we have recently discussed in the General Assembly.
In order for the UN to be relevant and credible, it also needs to adapt to new challenges. Preventive diplomacy needs to include being open to new topics that we now consider to be part of peace and security, to make sure that its current tools are the most effective and being willing to employ new tools to tackle emerging issues.
Mr President,
Estonia values the regular exchanges by the Security Council with the representatives of other principal organs of the UN. Communication, both in public and private, is of vital importance. However, more often than not, the issues do not lie in the lack of information – the early warning, but in lack of early, in unison action.
In this light, Estonia condemns the continuation of massive repressions by Belarusian authorities against its people and instrumentalising migration on a large scale for political purposes in order to distract from human rights violations and brutal repression in the country. We call on the Belarusian regime to immediately stop such practices and other hybrid threats to people’s lives and health, including continuously blocking access to humanitarian aid.
Finally, we recognise that the UN has to be able to offer solutions to the most urgent issues that the humankind is facing. While we hope that the Security Council continues to discuss the topic of prevention, we expect that the Council will take more meaningful action on delivering on its prevention mandate along with the other UN principal organs to spare societies from lapsing into conflict and suffering.
Thank you.
