The Secretary-General’s report is a chilling reflection of our collective failure to protect civilians around the world.
Famine has returned to Sudan. Thousands of women and children have been killed in Gaza, and hostages are still held by Hamas following the appalling October 7 attacks. Civilian infrastructure has been further damaged in Ukraine.
It does not need to be this way.
This Council, and the international community, have the tools to protect civilians; we have an urgent duty to use them.
President, I will focus on three points.
First, in recent days, we have heard powerful accounts from senior UN officials of the gaps between the obligations of parties to conflict under international humanitarian law and their implementation.
These gaps are where harms to civilians arise every day in conflicts on this Council’s agenda. But they are also where dangerous precedents are set, which risk fostering impunity.
This Council should use the tools at its disposal to press all parties to conflict to comply with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and applicable International Human Rights Law.
Indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure need to stop.
There must also be an end to impunity.
The United Kingdom will continue to stand behind the International Criminal Court as the court of last resort for the most serious crimes of international concern.
Second, as we have heard, 2024 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers. We call for the full implementation of resolution 2730 on the protection of humanitarian personnel, premises and assets. And we underscore the vital importance of ensuring safe and unhindered humanitarian access.
Third, we need to ensure the UN can play its critical part in supporting the protection of civilians, especially through peace operations.
Peacekeepers must be properly trained and equipped to fulfil protection mandates, and those mandates must be respected by parties to conflict.
President, the United Kingdom is taking practical steps to advance the protection of civilians, including through ICRC’s Global IHL initiative.
And this month we published a practitioner’s handbook to support IHL compliance and better tackle conflict and hunger.
In conclusion, the UK remains fully committed to working with international partners, including in this Council, to uphold our shared obligations to the protection of civilians and to bring an end to impunity.
