S/PV.8474 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Guinea-Bissau to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I warmly welcome His Excellency Mr. João Ribeiro Butiam Có, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities of Guinea-Bissau. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2019/187, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Côte d’Ivoire. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2019/115, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on developments in Guinea-Bissau and the activities of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. 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.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2458 (2019). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

I would first like to extend a warm welcome to His Excellency Mr. João Ribeiro Butiam Có, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. In its capacity as a penholder, Côte d’Ivoire welcomes the Security Council’s unanimous adoption of resolution 2458 (2019), which renews for one year the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). My delegation would like to thank the States members of the Security Council that participated, in a constructive spirit, in the consultations and negotiations on the text. They constantly bore in mind developments in the situation on the ground, which were characterized by the preparations for the holding of the legislative elections scheduled for 10 March, in the wake of the Security Council’s mission to Guinea-Bissau on 15 and 16 February. The resolution reflects both the Council’s strong consensus and its shared concerns about the situation in Guinea-Bissau. On closer look, beyond certain no less important questions, the resolution is distinct in emphasizing four major points, namely, the restructuring of UNIOGBIS, the importance of implementing the electoral cycle, support from international partners and the urgent need for Guinea-Bissau stakeholders to take their country’s destiny into their own hands. With regard to the reform of UNIOGBIS, the Security Council endorses the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the restructuring of the United Nations presence in Guinea-Bissau and a new hierarchy of tasks, as set out in his special report published in document S/2018/1086, on the UNIOGBIS strategic assessment requested by the Council in its previous resolution 2404 (2018). Through this new resolution, the Council endorses the principle of a reconfiguration of UNIOGBIS to be carried out in three stages. The first phase, referred to as the electoral phase, essentially aims at maintaining the current UNIOGBIS structure with a view to concretely supporting the organization of the legislative elections scheduled for 10 March and the presidential election later on in the year. As part of the second phase, UNIOGBIS is responsible for ensuring the proper conditions for the implementation of the reform programme, including the preparation of its transition plan, in coordination with the national authorities. The third phase will focus on implementing the transition plan for a gradual withdrawal and hand- over to the United Nations country team and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel. It should be emphasized, however, that the Council has refrained from imposing a strict and rigid timetable for carrying out the restructuring, so as to give it real flexibility to take into account developments on the ground. Moreover, in relation to the second track of the resolution, on the decisive nature of the organization of elections, the Security Council clearly underlines that the process of reconfiguring UNIOGBIS should take place after the completion of the 2019 electoral cycle, thereby highlighting the importance of the elections. In that regard, the Council urges Guinea- Bissau stakeholders to adhere strictly to the Conakry Agreement on the Implementation of the Economic Community of West African States Road Map for the Resolution of the Political Crisis in Guinea-Bissau, while also stressing the importance of holding truly free and fair parliamentary elections on 10 March, as well as the presidential election this year. Along those lines, and to signal the Council’s resolute commitment, were that necessary, the resolution reaffirms the central role of international partners — the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union and other countries — in the search for a peaceful way out of the crisis in Guinea-Bissau. In particular, it encourages them to strengthen cooperation with the Government of Guinea-Bissau and continue to work together for the stabilization of the country. In the same vein, the resolution particularly commends the effective leadership of ECOWAS and reiterates the support of the Security Council with regard to the determination of the West African subregional organization to take firm measures when it comes to the people whose acts would tend to disrupt the smooth conduct of the upcoming elections. Specifically with regard to national stakeholders, the resolution urges them once again to work to safeguard the still fragile gains along the path to stability and put the interests of the people of Guinea-Bissau before any other consideration. Finally, it is also important to recall the resolution’s emphasis on the crucial issue of combating drug trafficking and transnational crime. In that regard, the Council makes an urgent appeal to donors to ensure sufficient contributions for the implementation of the programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Guinea-Bissau. In conclusion, on its part, my delegation would like to solemnly appeal to the Security Council and bilateral and multilateral partners to continue to support Guinea-Bissau in the ultimate interests of the civilian population.

I now give the floor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities of Guinea-Bissau.

As I begin my statement, Mr. President, I would like to reiterate the congratulations of Guinea-Bissau for the outstanding way in which your country, Equatorial Guinea, assumed the presidency of the Security Council during this particularly busy month of February. Your presidency, which ends today, will bear the hallmark of efficiency. Suffice it to mention the valuable and fruitful debate (see S/PV.8473) held yesterday at your initiative on cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in silencing the guns in Africa by 2020. In addition, the Council unanimously adopted landmark resolution 2457 (2019), which will go down in the annals of relations between the African Union and the United Nations. Allow me to also express our gratitude to you, Sir, and to all the members of the Council for the visit to Bissau on 15 and 16 February. The Council’s visit on the ground provided an opportunity for it to meet all the protagonists in the country’s political life as well as members of civil society. In the course of its visit, which was certainly brief but nevertheless rich in lessons, the Council was received by our country’s most senior officials, including in particular the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. José Mário Vaz, and Prime Minister Aristides Gomes, with whom members had frank and instructive exchanges. We wanted to participate in this meeting of the Council because it marks, on the one hand, the last renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) in its current configuration, after almost 20 years of presence in our country, and, on the other hand, because we wanted to take this opportunity both to express our gratitude to the Security Council for its support during all those years and to reiterate to Secretary-General António Guterres our great appreciation for his personal commitment on behalf of Guinea-Bissau and its people, as well as to assure him of our full support in carrying out the ongoing reforms of the United Nations system. Resolution 2458 (2019), which the Council just adopted, follows the recommendations of the Secretary- General for the reconfiguration of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea Bissau, the restructuring of the United Nations presence in our country and a new hierarchy of tasks. The changes and other structural adaptations and way of functioning set out are truly a new approach based on the experiences of the past and the reality on the ground. The restructuring clearly responds to a major concern for rationalization and the need for a greater impact on the course of events, including a real impact on the population and the socioeconomic development of our country. Since the opening of the United Nations Office in Guinea-Bissau in 1999, our country has experienced recurring political instability, which sometimes makes it difficult for some to illustrate the achievements of the United Nations in Guinea-Bissau. In that regard, we would like to reassure the members of the Security Council and the international community in general by emphatically saying that the presence of UNIOGBIS in our country has been of great value. We have witnessed and benefited during all the years from the constructive engagement of the different teams that have come to our country, as well as from the important role played by the successive Special Representatives of the Secretary-General. I would like, here and now, to pay tribute to them and thank them very sincerely on behalf of my country. This is also the time and place to pay tribute, on behalf of my country’s highest authorities, to His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and His Excellency President Alpha Condé of the Republic of Guinea, as well as to our subregional organization, the Economic Community of West African States, and all its leaders, to which we are grateful for their crucial role in maintaining peace and stability in Guinea Bissau. The active presence of our partners in Guinea- Bissau has greatly contributed to initiating several reforms, particularly in the areas of defence, security, justice, the rule of law, gender equality and the promotion of national reconciliation. With regard to the latter, which remains vital, I would like to underline the important contribution of UNIOGBIS to the preparation and the realization of the work that led to the signing by the political actors and civil society of a stability pact and code of conduct in view of the legislative elections scheduled for 10 March. We are in a process. It is therefore a question of continuing and deepening the reflection, with a view to enabling Guinea-Bissau to take ownership of the new, more dynamic, more effective and less costly approach to cooperation with the United Nations system as a whole. We hope that all the steps leading up to the closure of UNIOGBIS in 2020 will be completed according to the established plan. The transition phase should be a period during which the authorities of Guinea-Bissau are be able, through a permanent dialogue with the United Nations, to benefit more from the experience accumulated by the country team on the ground. This new form of cooperation must extend to all agencies, bodies, funds and programmes, in order to consolidate the gains already made in the areas I mentioned, and thereby enable our country, Guinea-Bissau, to create the conditions for harmonious, sustained and sustainable development in a climate of peace, security and lasting political stability.