I would like to thank Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert for her briefing.
We reiterate our solidarity and support to the Iraqi Government and people, who continue to face political, economic and security challenges. We believe that the solution to most of those challenges lies in dialogue – both on national and regional level.
We welcome Prime Minister Kadhimi’s call for an Iraqi National Dialogue. An inclusive dialogue between all political forces, communities and groups of society, including women and youth, will strengthen the social fabric and promote reconciliation.
The planned parliamentary elections are a crucial element in the path towards stability and restoring trust in Iraq’s political system. We call upon all Iraqi stakeholders to contribute to a conducive environment for holding credible, transparent and inclusive elections. The establishment of a higher committee to promote and monitor women’s electoral participation and to prevent violence against women candidates is a welcome step.
The continued role of UNAMI in supporting Iraq with the electoral preparations and processes is essential and contributes to Iraq’s readiness for the elections. The Council must carefully consider the best feasible way to respond to Iraq’s request for election observation.
We welcome the adoption of the Yazidi Female Survivors Law by the Iraqi Parliament, as it is an important step towards reconciliation and accountability and addresses the important issue of conflict related sexual violence. We also urge the Government of Iraq to take further steps to ensure accountability for violations against protesters, civil society activists and journalists, stressing the importance of protecting freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
It is deeply worrying that attacks against diplomatic missions and the personnel of the Global Coalition against Daesh continue. We strongly condemn such attacks and reiterate our continued support for Iraq’s fight against Daesh. We also reiterate the need for all actors to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and to refrain from any military action, which would threaten the stability of Iraq. We also call upon the Government of Iraq for additional measures to ensure state control over all armed forces.
We fully support the steps of the Government of Iraq towards urgently needed reforms to improve the socio-economic situation and governance and reiterate our call to implement the measures proposed in the White Paper.
Finally, we welcome the agreement between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government on the Federal Budget Law, which is another successful example of solving disagreements through dialogue and will hopefully contribute to increased economic and political stability for the whole country.