Thank you President, and my thanks go to the representatives from the UAE and others who called this important Council session.

The United Kingdom joins fellow Council Members in welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza announced last night. We express our thanks to Egypt, Qatar and the office of UN Special Coordinator, Tor Wennesland, for their mediation efforts. We now urge all parties to do their utmost to ensure the ceasefire is durable and prevents further violence.

These last few days we have once again seen tragic scenes in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

We strongly condemn the firing of over 1,100 rockets at civilians by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the ongoing campaign of terror attacks by the group, which has resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians, Israelis and Palestinians alike.

As my Foreign Secretary has been clear, the UK stands by Israel and its right to defend itself in the face of such terrorism and violence.

The United Kingdom expresses its deepest condolences to the families of innocent Palestinian civilians killed over the past three days, particularly the tragic deaths of children. The UK supports a timely and thorough investigation into all of these reports. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the cycle of violence, have taken too many lives.

We remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including lack of movement and access, damage to civilian infrastructure, and critical supplies, such as fuel for power plants to supply electricity, including for hospitals. We welcome Israel’s announcement that it is allowing humanitarian aid through to Gaza.  Immediate access for humanitarian relief is essential, and we expect that the ceasefire agreement will now allow for prompt restoration of movement and access for people and goods via the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings.

This escalation is yet another reminder of the urgent need for progress towards a Two State solution that ensures a safe and secure Israel, living alongside a Palestinian state based on 1967 lines, with Jerusalem the shared capital of both states.

Thank you President for convening this briefing.  And thank you to all our briefers for their valuable remarks.  I will make three points.

First, as our Kenyan colleague said, Africa is a continent of great potential. Yet the United Kingdom shares the deep concern expressed by others with regard to the scale of challenges that many countries in Africa are facing today.

Covid-19 has has made it harder to consolidate development gains.

Many countries have had to grapple with the impact of climate change and exacerbating humanitarian pressures.  The drought in the Horn of Africa and flooding in South Sudan are just the latest tragic examples.

On top of this, the global economic consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine have hit the continent hard, jeopardising hard-won peace and development gains.

Second, the UK remains committed to do its part to support African countries to fulfil their potential.  Through our new International Development Strategy, we are working with governments and civil society to help partners get on track for the Sustainable Development Goals.  This includes capacity building to strengthen institutions that work for the well-being of their citizens.

The UK remains a strong supporter of efforts to promote peace and manage conflicts across the continent.  We take our responsibilities in this Council seriously.  We work in close partnership with the AU, for example to reconfigure the AU Transition Mission in Somalia.

We have trained over 3,000 African peacekeepers in the last financial year through the British Peace Support Team in Africa.

And in July, we hosted the second UK-Ghana Security Dialogue where we agreed to support regional approaches to tackling growing risks of instability in coastal West African states.

The UK is the second largest donor to the Elsie Initiative Fund, having provided over $6 million since 2019, to increase the participation of uniformed women in UN peace operations.

Third, there are no shortcuts.  Development gains and fragile peace will be lost if large parts of a population are marginalised, or human rights are abused. Internationally, we need a model of cooperation that prioritises the values of openness and inclusion.  Peacebuilding and development must be people-centred if they are to be sustainable.

And as this Council has made clear, the meaningful participation of women in peace processes is central to building sustainable peace.

In closing President, the United Kingdom remains fully committed to peace and development in Africa.  We look forward to the continued partnership, between this Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the wider UN membership and regional organisations – to advance peace and development in Africa.

Thank you.