S/PV.9391 Security Council

I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Her Excellency Dame Barbara Woodward, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for her service as President of the Council for the month of July. I am sure I speak for all members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Woodward and her team for the great diplomatic skill with which they conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2023/571, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 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 2694 (2023). I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the vote.

We would like to thank all Council members for their cooperation and constructive engagement during negotiations. We would also like to thank the delegation of Colombia and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for their positive engagement on the draft resolution. The unanimous adoption of this resolution today demonstrates the continued commitment of the Security Council to peace in Colombia. The United Kingdom welcomes the expansion of the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, and we remain committed to supporting Colombia along its path to peace and security for all its people.

It is always rewarding to see consensus in the Security Council. (spoke in Spanish) Brazil celebrates, with the other members of the Security Council, the unanimous adoption of the expansion of the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia. I am particularly grateful to the penholder, the United Kingdom, for their excellent and tireless work to achieve this auspicious end. As a guarantor country, Brazil welcomes the Council’s decision to authorize the Mission to verify the implementation of the ceasefire agreement with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional. Furthermore, we hope that a similar agreement will be reached as soon as possible with the Estado Mayor Central group, with verifiable protocols. Brazil fully supports the strategy of President Petro Urrego’s Government to achieve total peace in Colombia and recognizes the need for additional talks to extend the benefits of peace to the entire country. The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia can play a particularly important role in supporting the dialogue process and ceasefire agreements with different armed groups. We therefore believe that the resolution adopted today will have an important effect in stimulating further progress on the ground. As we have stressed on other occasions, the Security Council’s work on the Colombia issue responds to the aspirations and needs expressed by the Colombian Government. We are all pleased to note that the sovereign will of that country is fully reflected in the resolution just adopted. In this, we have an example of coordinated and consensual action between a sovereign State and the Security Council, which should be valued and emulated. Brazil once again congratulates the Colombian Government and people for their tireless efforts to find and consolidate a path of peace and sustainable development. That is the only path that guarantees the rule of law and the well-being of all Colombians. For Brazil, today, the Mission being renewed by the Security Council is an extraordinary contribution to the consolidation of that path. Congratulations, therefore, to the brotherly people of Colombia and its Government.

As this is the first official meeting of the Council for this month, I would like to take this opportunity to express our congratulations to the United States on the assumption of the presidency for this month. I would also like to thank the United Kingdom for their work as President last month. The Security Council just unanimously adopted resolution 2694 (2023), authorizing the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia to participate in the verification of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Colombia and Ejército de Liberación Nacional. The Council’s adoption of this resolution one day before the ceasefire agreement comes into effect fully reflects its firm support for the Colombian peace process and its deep appreciation for the Colombian Government’s efforts to achieve a total peace through dialogue and negotiations. China hopes that the Mission will earnestly fulfil its mandate under the resolution, work closely with the Colombian Government and play a more positive and constructive role in advancing the peace process in the country. We also hope that the Mission will adopt a scientifically sound approach in strengthening its financial and human resources management and improve its efficiency and effectiveness. The peace process in Colombia has set a very good example for ending conflict and rebuilding peace through dialogue. We believe that, with the support of the United Nations, the people and the Government of Colombia will continue to make further progress in the full implementation of the peace agreements and the active promotion of the vision of total peace. China is ready to work with the international community to continue to support the Colombia-led and Colombia-owned peace process and to help the Colombian people to move forward towards the goal of total peace, stability and development.

The Russian Federation voted in favour of resolution 2694 (2023), prepared by our British colleagues, on the expansion of the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia. We believe this is a very timely decision of the Council, as it comes on the eve of the full entry into force of the bilateral ceasefire agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional. The special political Mission should play a key role in the verification and monitoring of the parties’ compliance with the agreements reached with the support of Cuba as a guarantor country of the peace process. We also reaffirm our willingness to consider the possibility of providing a further mandate to the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia if Bogotá reaches an agreement with the Estado Mayor Central Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. We trust that the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, led by Carlos Ruiz Massieu, will, as always, take a responsible approach to the new challenges and will continue to support peacebuilding in Colombia.