S/PV.7436 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Côte d’Ivoire to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2015/288, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France. I wish to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2015/252, which contains a letter dated 13 April 2015 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1572 (2004) concerning Côte d’Ivoire addressed to the President of the Security Council. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. In favour: Angola, Chad, Chile, China, France, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2219 (2015). I now give the floor to the representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

Throughout these negotiations, my delegation has noted the markedly cautious posture of Council members with regard to the need to provide greater flexibility to the sanctions regime concerning Côte d’Ivoire, in particular as the country enters the final stretch leading to the holding of general elections in 2015. Côte d’Ivoire would like to reassure the Council that my Government will do its utmost to ensure that the upcoming elections, which will be open, transparent and inclusive, are held in a peaceful environment. I can already confirm that the Independent Electoral Commission is session with all its members and political parties, and continues to embed itself at the local level, as well as here in New York, where we are preparing to welcome a delegation from the Commission. The Commission will continue to update its electoral lists. The political parties are expected to receive financial support in the context of the electoral campaign, and the Forces républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire are working in close cooperation with the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) to secure the entire electoral process, including the transfer of summary records. My delegation takes note of resolution 2219 (2015) that was just adopted. We note that it is identical in many ways to resolution 2513 (2014), in which the Council unanimously recognized that undeniable progress had been achieved on the ground by the Ivorian Government. My delegation therefore has mixed feelings, but in a constructive spirit we remain hopeful that, at its next meeting on the sanctions imposed on Côte d’Ivoire, the Council will be able to reach an assessment and a decision that truly reflect the efforts of my country’s authorities. In spite of these feelings, my delegation welcomes the significant progress noted in the resolution’s preamble regarding peace and security, and particularly in the implementation of security sector reform, the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, and the Government’s efforts in the areas of justice and national reconciliation. In terms of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process and security sector reform, it is important to note that they have always enjoyed the overt political support of the Ivorian authorities, and that to date the implementation rate of the process is far higher than the overall rate for the continent as a whole. We have seen 78 per cent implementation of the DDR process and 90 per cent in the area of urgent reforms to the security sector. Aware that many challenges lie ahead, particularly in terms of peace, security and stabilization, my Government will spare no effort to make this dynamic and the hope that it fosters are felt in the everyday lives of the Ivorian population. Peace and security are a very visible reality in Côte d’Ivoire, and the authorities intend to do their all to consolidate the gains of this climate of peace, which is so vital to the development of any country, in compliance, of course, with the pertinent Security Council resolutions. I take the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the Ivorian Government to full, sincere cooperation with the Security Council and its various mechanisms in order to allow my country to meet all the challenges before it, including the protection our population and the strengthening of border security. In so doing, my country will make its contribution to efforts to secure the subregion in the face of the growing number of terrorist threats, such as the jihadist movements in Mali and Boko Haram in Nigeria. Along those lines, we will need to continue marking and tracing all our weapons and other munitions and, above all, insist tirelessly on training and capacity-building in the areas of stockpile management and security. In the light of the remarkable progress noted in the report of the Group of Experts in the areas of security, disarmament and the collection and marking of weapons, we need to seriously consider the complete lifting of the sanctions regime. I invite Council members to align themselves with this initiative, given that, as far as the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire is concerned, Côte d’Ivoire has no desire to remain under embargo any longer. I also call on the Council to pursue its efforts to to pursue the reduction of UNOCI personnel that has already begun with a view to a complete withdrawal by early 2017. These issues will inevitably be raised and debated in the aftermath of the presidential elections in October. Côte d’Ivoire is hard at work. It intends to recover its former prosperity and, above all, its natural calling as a pole of stability and economic growth in the West Africa subregion.

There are no more names on the list of speakers. Before adjourning the meeting, I would like to express the sincere appreciation of the delegation of Jordan to the members of the Council, especially my colleagues the Permanent Representatives and their respective staff, and to the Secretariat for all of the support they have given us. Indeed, it has been a very busy month, and it is not over yet. However, we have reached consensus on several important issues within our purview. We could not have done it without the hard work, support and positive contributions of every delegation, representatives of the Secretariat and all relevant Conference Services staff. As we end our presidency, on behalf of the Council, I would like to wish the delegation of Lithuania success in the month of May.