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Thank you Madam President. On this last day of the Nigerian Presidency I want to thank you for your wise stewardship of the Council during the month of August. Since this wrap-up session is intended to cover a two-month period, let me also thank New Zealand for its energetic and impressive work in July. While the work of the Council is constrained by mandate cycles and recurrent debates on a number of key issues, New Zealand’s open debate on peace and security challenges facing small island developing states was a welcome breath of fresh air. We hope that Council’s engagement with SIDS regarding the specific security challenges these countries face will continue, and the opportunity for preventive action will not be lost on such crucial challenges as managing the effects of climate change, climate induced displacement, and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.

Stronger focus on prevention is more urgent than ever. The Council’s close monitoring of situations in Guinea Bissau, Burundi, Burkina Faso, and Myanmar goes in that direction. While not all of our signals have been heard by the political actors on the ground, the very fact that this Council follows the situation closely puts it in a better position to react quickly and effectively if and when needed.

Madam President,

In the beginning of this month the Council unanimously adopted resolution 2235 establishing the Joint Investigative Mechanism that will be mandated to identify those responsible for attacks involving chemical weapons in Syria. This is an important albeit only the first step towards accountability which is indispensable if we are truly committed to stamp out the use of chemical weapons anywhere once and for all. We thank the Secretary General for his recommendations regarding the setup of the mechanism and urge the Council to approve them without delay.

Justice and accountability cannot be relegated to some time later, because for many victims and their families that some time later may never be. Tackling impunity is crucial, be it Syria, Darfur, South Sudan, CAR, Iraq, Yemen, or any other conflict where crimes against humanity, war crimes, serious violations of IHL and human rights law have been perpetrated. Whoever the perpetrators may be, holding them to account would contribute to reconciliation and healing, ensure justice for the victims and importantly, send a strong deterrent message to the would-be rapists, marauders, and murderers.

In this respect, my delegation was profoundly disappointed with the outcome of the votes on draft resolutions on Srebrenica and the international tribunal on downing of MH17 last July. Vetoing resolutions addressing the issue of justice and accountability is an affront to the memory of the victims of those crimes and to the pain of their families. It also sends a very wrong signal regarding impunity.

On the other hand, this only highlights the urgency of addressing the use of veto in this Council. We appreciate the fact that an informal discussion was organized by the New Zealand Presidency on this matter in July. Lithuania supports the Political statement on the suspension of the veto in case of mass atrocities presented by France and Mexico as well as the Code of Conduct developed by the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) group.

One more point on accountability: this Council should remain strongly and continuously engaged on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse among the peacekeepers. The problem did not originate with MINUSCA. By allowing such abuses to continue, we put the very name and the credibility of UN peacekeeping and the UN itself at stake, contribute to deteriorating relations between PK missions and host countries and local populations, with a whole range of consequences, including greater risks for serving peacekeepers themselves.

As the former Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, said in February 2006 in the wake of a sexual exploitation scandal in DRC: “We dishonour these brave men and women when we fail to prevent or punish those from within their ranks who victimize the very people peacekeepers are meant to protect and serve.”

Several thousand peacekeepers have died in the line of duty over the years. PK missions are becoming more and more complex and dangerous. Many peacekeepers and civilian staff serve in difficult, minimalistic conditions, which I could witness myself just last week in CAR. It takes endurance and commitment to serve under such conditions. We therefore must make sure we do  justice to those many thousands of peacekeepers and mission staff  who serve with dedication by going strongly after the few in their ranks who have turned from protectors to predators.

While the United Nations do not have the authority to prosecute the crimes of sexual abuse and exploitation committed by peace-keepers, they can do more to promote a climate of accountability in other ways, building a durable, pervasive culture of accountability from the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top. We welcome the strong position on the matter taken by the UNSG and hope that they will make a real difference so that this Council does not have to come back to debate the shameful behavior of a few another ten years from now.