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Mr. President, I join other delegations in expressing my delegation’s appreciation to you personally and to your team for the efficient Presidency of the Council during this month. A good part of the work of the Council in January was carried out in the form of open debates and open briefings, including briefings by Chairs of the sanctions committees, and we appreciate that. We also welcome the continuing use of Arria formula meetings and interactive dialogues in the Council’s work.

Although start-of-the-month horizon scanning seems to have fallen out of grace, yesterday's initiative by DPA to brief the Council on the situation in Nepal was a useful reminder of why this genre is important. As the Council continues to cope with ever more crises, wider conflict geography, in the face of the largest numbers of those displaced and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance since WWII, a renewed focus on prevention is urgent. It is increasingly difficult to muster pledging funds and troops for peacekeeping operations. If we don’t improve UN’s early warning and conflict prevention capacities, the gap between the urgent needs and our ability to address those needs will continue to widen, with tragic consequences.

In this respect we welcome DPA’s continued use of informal briefings, AoBs, or any other formats that may serve the purpose in order to drawn the Council's attention at an early stage to potential crises and conflicts before they erupt, in order to work our early preventive responses. Being discussed by the Council should not be seen not as some sort of stigma, to be avoided at all costs until it is too late, but as a preventive remedy, with significant longer term gains.

Mr. President,

In Yemen things this month have taken a dramatic turn. The country, viewed as a success story only a year ago, has suffered a significant setback, with both the President and the Prime Minister resigning from their posts, and the country itself on the brink of fragmentation. The Council has been warned about the continuous spoiler activities of ex-president Saleh and the consequences of the further violent advances of the Houthis, including a growth in violent sectarianism, terrorists strengthening their foothold, and even the split of the state.  

The National Dialogue outcomes were the result of a legitimate and inclusive process and cannot simply be brushed aside if we are ever to achieve sustainable peace and development in Yemen. We need to push all political actors in Yemen to agree and - most importantly - comply with a new clear timeframe for the implementation of key stages in the transition. Whatever roadmap is agreed, it must be backed by credible means to ensure implementation. Otherwise the Council's pronouncements will continue to be perceived as no more than empty threats.

We find it very unfortunate that at this critical stage the Council has failed, a few days ago, to  come up with a statement on the latest developments in Yemen, unable to muster its unity when that unity was most needed. Next month the Council is to review Yemen sanctions regime, a regime that was created to help to prevent exactly what happened- to stop the spoilers from undermining the transition process, and did not. We believe a serious discussion is in order about where we go from here in order not to lose the Council’s credibility and impact on this very fragile and potentially explosive situation.

This month, the Council extended CAR sanctions regime. I wish to comment the excellent work of the Panel of Experts, which has produced an impressive report, and submitted 19 statements of cases. Although some positive signals have been seen emanating from CAR, the situation remains extremely fragile, as seen from the recent minister kidnappings and continuous human rights violations. Our inaction at this stage  would send a bad signal to all those who are still engaged in perpetrating abuse and fomenting violence, undercutting our ability to impact on the further developments of the situation in the country, and also raising doubts about how serious we are about tackling impunity. While we note ongoing discussions between the warring groups  of the Central African Republic, we believe that general amnesty or government posts should not be a reward for committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights.

Finally, Mr. President, let me turn briefly to the issue of Ukraine. A few days ago we held our 30th open briefing on the situation in this country. While this Council has managed to maintain a focus on the continuous deterioration of situation in eastern Ukraine and occupied Crimea, we have had no real impact on the ground. In spite of Ukraine’s efforts to keep the ceasefire alive, the militants have unilaterally abandoned the ceasefire and continue their attacks, with a growing number of civilian casualties. Russian weaponry and mercenaries, without which this conflict would have long expired, continue to flow freely across the border. In the meantime, while the events in Mariupol were exploding, Russia concluded a comprehensive agreement on “Alliance and Strategic Partnership” with Georgia’s break-away Abkhazia region, which means a de facto annexation of that territory in all but name. The Council's ability to respond to such situations is being tested, as is its credibility.

Let me conclude by joining my colleagues in wishing best success to the Chinese Presidency during the month of February. You can count on the support and cooperation of my delegation.