Виступ заступника Міністра закордонних справ України С.Кислиці на брифінгу РБ ООН щодо ситуації в Колумбії

Mr. President,

I thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Colombia Jean Arnault for his update. Ukraine welcomes the Secretary-General’s first 90-day report on the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Colombia.

We hail the new Final Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) that brought an end to more than 50 years of armed conflict in Colombia. The parties’ ability to move forward and work together during the period between the plebiscite and the adoption of the revised peace agreement confirmed their determination to ensure a transition to peace that benefits all Colombians.

It is thanks to the broad debate that led to the revision of the agreement that key concerns of various sectors of Colombian society were addressed and the necessary compromise was found.

Now it is essential that an open dialogue that has led to the agreement continues. Swift implementation of this historic arrangement has to remain the main task for all parties involved. All political forces and all sectors of the Colombian society should be actively engaged in this crucial endeavor. Broader unity around the Peace Agreement is indispensable to achieve its goals as regards ceasefire and laying down of arms, as well as rural reform, combating illicit drugs and expansion of political participation.

The issue of establishing and functioning of the FARC camps as well as deployment of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism is also critical at this stage. In this regard we commend the Government´s commitment to redouble efforts to address these outstanding challenges.

We do realize that the transition from conflict to peace will be fraught with security, social, economic and political difficulties. Taking into account the complexity of the process we believe it is important to keep in focus the needs and best interests of children affected by conflict as well as a gender perspective.

Mr. President,

Ukraine reiterates its determination to support Colombia’s implementation of the Final Peace Agreement in accordance with resolutions 2261 (2016) and 2307 (2016), in particular the work of the UN Monitoring and Verification Mission for Colombia.

We commend efforts of international actors that are supporting Peace Agreement implementation, in particular of the Member States that have provided observers for the UN Mission, as well as the role played by guarantors and accompanying countries during the peace process.

The Security Council should continue to play a proactive role in supporting parties as they advance in implementing the provisions of the Final Agreement, as well as in ensuring effective functioning of the tripartite Monitoring and Verification Mechanism.

We hope that Colombian experience of engaging the UN as the international component of the tripartite mechanism should become an illustrative success story for the region and our Organization.