S/PV.7836 Security Council

I welcome the presence of the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki Moon, at 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/2016/1051, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. May I take it that it is the wish of the Security Council to adopt draft resolution S/2016/1051 by acclamation? There being no objection, I declare the draft resolution adopted by acclamation, as resolution 2324 (2016). I shall now make a statement on behalf of the Council. Mr. Secretary-General, it is a great honour to convey to Your Excellency, on behalf of the members of the Security Council, our profound gratitude for the continuous support you have provided to the Council in the discharge of its primary duty, the maintenance of international peace and security. During the course of your two terms, you have shared in the efforts of the Council, brought potential threats to its attention, and called on us to overcome our differences when needed, making best use of the authority and powers granted to the Secretary-General by the Charter of the United Nations. Today, we pay tribute to the perseverance, devotion and flexibility that you have shown in the performance of your duties, and to your unrelenting determination to serve “We the peoples” above any other consideration, as you committed to do when you took the oath of office 10 years ago. Two remarkable successes should be highlighted from your vast legacy: the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, both arising from your negotiating skills and diplomatic acumen, and both reflecting the driving force of your action — promoting solidarity throughout the world and among different generations so that the men and women of tomorrow might inherit a sustainable planet and a safer world. You have also embraced the cause of human rights, advocating for fairer and more egalitarian societies where the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all human beings are fully recognized, protected and promoted. Under your leadership, the Human Rights Council was created and UN-Women established, and you appointed the first Special Envoy on Youth. Thanks to you, Mr. Secretary-General, the most vulnerable or marginalized have been increasingly heard and assisted by the United Nations. During the decade in which you have been at the helm of the Organization, you have worked tirelessly to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most. You held the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul this spring to remind the world that 130 million people today need humanitarian assistance to survive. You have been at the forefront in placing the issue of refugees and migrants at the heart of the concerns of the international community. You have also advocated for a collective action to more equitably share responsibility and to reinforce our common effort in addressing this issue. Finally, Mr. Secretary-General, you have not ceased promoting action to relieve the suffering of those populations in need. Under your guidance and leadership, the United Nations has undertaken multiple reforms. I would like to emphasize, given its particular relevance to the Council, the three reviews carried out in 2015 on peace operations, the peacebuilding architecture, and the women, peace and security agenda. All three call for greater efforts in the area of prevention, for increasing the efficiency of peacekeeping operations and for a greater commitment to accountability. In that regard, we very much appreciate the zero-tolerance policy with respect to sexual exploitation and abuse by Blue Helmets that you have launched with such determination and which redounds to the legitimacy and credibility of our peacekeeping operations and indeed the entire United Nations system. Those achievements are a testament to the moral authority and institutional potential that the Office of the Secretary-General possesses. They demonstrate clearly that no aim is too high and no agenda too ambitious as long as it is accompanied by an unwavering commitment to the Charter of the United Nations. Today’s world is very different from that of 10 years ago, when you took office as Secretary- General. At the helm of the Secretariat, you have ensured that the Organization has made the most of technological advances and has prepared itself to meet the challenges of globalization, technological change and new and emerging threats. Now that your mandate is ending, it is only right that we commend your untiring efforts to remain in direct contact with all our world leaders, to listen and offer your good offices and to strengthen United Nations collaboration with regional organizations all over the globe. You have also encouraged the United Nations system to open up to partnerships with the private sector and reinforced collaboration with the academic world, as well as strengthening the participation and involvement of civil society in the Organization’s daily work. In a few days you will pass the baton to your successor, Mr. António Guterres, and we are confident that he will perform the duties entrusted to him in an exemplary manner. He can count on our wholehearted support as he tackles his responsibilities. That universal author Miguel de Cervantes, who died 400 years ago this year, said that good deeds never lack a reward. On behalf of the Security Council, and in the confidence that this promise will undoubtedly come true, I would like to offer you our warmest wishes for prosperity, health and success in the new stage of your life that is about to begin. (spoke in Korean; translation provided by the delegation) I thank you for all your efforts and wish you good luck in your future endeavours. (spoke in Spanish) I do not know if you understood any of that, but it was meant very affectionately. I now give the floor to the Secretary-General.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership and your excellent Korean pronunciation. I am very touched. I would like to thank the Council for this tribute. I am deeply honoured by the recognition I have been given. It has been a great privilege to work with all the Security Council members over the past 10 years. The Council’s role in maintaining international peace and security is as daunting and necessary as it was 70 years ago, when the United Nations was founded. Over the past decade, I have witnessed at first-hand the Council’s capacity for innovative thinking. During my tenure, it established more than a dozen peacekeeping operations and special political missions, some of them incorporating novel approaches in order to respond to complex situations. The Council’s decision to establish the Force Intervention Brigade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo set an important precedent in addressing the challenges in the eastern part of that country. The United Nations Mission in Nepal played a key role in supporting the country’s peace process and the free and fair election of its Constituent Assembly in 2008, culminating in the completion of the Mission’s mandate in 2011. Other successes include the paths to stability that have been found in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. We also deepened partnerships with regional organizations, particularly the African Union. During my tenure, the Council has also consolidated the normative framework in relation to some very important cross-cutting items. I would particularly like to highlight its mainstreaming of the subject of women and peace and security into its agenda. I encourage it to continue its important work in that regard, and I know that my successor, António Guterres, will be a most determined ally in that. I would also like to commend the progress that the Council has made in addressing sexual violence in conflict. While Council reform continues to be discussed in intergovernmental negotiations, the Council has increased its flexibility, transparency and efficiency. I urge it to continue its work to advance not just early warning but early preventive action, including through a greater focus on human rights and greater involvement on the part of civil society. I would like to conclude by emphasizing that the Council is strongest when it is united. Some striking examples of that include the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, formed to achieve the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria, and the establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to fight the epidemic in West Africa. But where unity is lacking, such as on the question of Western Sahara, the consequences can be profound, and in the case of South Sudan, even catastrophic. However, my deepest regret as I leave office is the continuing nightmare in Syria. I once again plead with all the members of the Council to cooperate and fulfil their collective responsibility to protect Syrian civilians. The Security Council holds the key to peace and progress for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. It has been a privilege and an honour to serve it. I thank the Council for supporting me and our indispensable Organization.

I thank the Secretary-General for his statement. I think I can say that the sustained applause he has received is an indication of the degree of sympathy and affection felt by the members of the Security Council and the General Assembly, since it breaks with the tradition of not applauding in the Chamber. I thank the Secretary-General once again for his statement and his continued collaboration.