Remarks by Estonia at the Humanitarian Affairs Segment of ECOSOC
June 17, 2015
Thank you Mr. President,
Estonia aligns itself fully with the statement delivered by the European Union and would like to make some additional remarks.
Estonia, among international community stays committed to continue to adapt and respond to the ever-growing humanitarian needs in complex emergencies and natural disasters. We welcome ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment as a global platform enabling innovative and forward-thinking humanitarian action.
Our main responsibility lies with the affected communities and our common capability to act. Calling for more inclusive, interoperable and effective humanitarian action, leads us to work ever closer together in the frameworks of the World Humanitarian Summit, the post-2015 development agenda and disaster risk reduction, a new climate agreement and a new urban agenda. Nevertheless inclusiveness shouldn’t be the end in itself. We must also stay focused and committed to the core humanitarian values.
Estonia very much welcomes the Secretary-General’s report on “Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance of the United Nations.”
First allow me to stress that Estonia shares the grave concern about the ongoing violations of International Humanitarian Law, impunity, diminishing humanitarian space and access. It is of utmost importance to emphasize that humanitarian activities should remain exclusively humanitarian in nature and comply with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. We underscore the need for Member States, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to condemn instances of such violations more consistently and systematically. In this regard, Estonia strongly supports the ongoing initiatives looking into ways how to strengthen the compliance with the International Humanitarian Law and remains hopeful that the forthcoming Red Cross Conference and the World Humanitarian Summit will intensify efforts and accountability of both State and non-State actors to comply with the IHL.
Secondly, the humanitarian sector faces more emergencies caused by conflicts and an unprecedented number of protracted crises. Estonia remains deeply concerned by the growing number of conflict-induced displacements leading to ever increasing humanitarian challenges in Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia to mention just a few, and ever increasing humanitarian needs in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Close to us, Europe tackles a conflict-driven humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Estonia continues to do its utmost to mitigate the suffering of those vulnerable civilians.
We fully agree with the Secretary-General’s note that without a substantially higher political commitment to address the underlying causes of such humanitarian crises, the durable solution would not be possible.
Thirdly, a lot has been done. As noted in the Secretary-General’s report, many governments have improved their capacity to handle crises and the international humanitarian system is able to work in a more tailored manner to fill specific gaps. We must keep in mind a clear exit-strategy for humanitarian operations and stress the need for better linkages with development, peace building, and climate change agendas.
Finally, we are all part of the humanitarian ecosystem where the sad reality of emergencies and crises are stretching the capacity of the humanitarian system over its limits. Estonia is looking forward for the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. With the view to the process leading up to it, we support the firm engagement to uphold the humanitarian principles and respect for the international humanitarian law, recognizing that the success of humanitarian action requires commitment and involvement of all actors.
Thank you Mr. President.