Explanation of Vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward on the Security Council resolution on Afghanistan

Thank you, Mr President. Today this Council has spoken clearly on the situation in Afghanistan and set out its minimum expectations of the Taliban.

The immediate priority is ensuring that all those who wish to leave Afghanistan can do so safely. We have been clear that the Taliban must adhere to their own stated commitments to ensure safe passage, beyond 31 August.

Second, Afghanistan can never again become a safe haven for terrorists. We have condemned unequivocally the attack on Kabul airport last week, and we reiterate our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved and to the injured. A coordinated approach will be vital to counter any extremist threat emanating from Afghanistan, and we call on the Taliban to uphold the commitments contained in the Doha agreement.

Third, the humanitarian situation requires urgent attention. We are coordinating closely with partners to strengthen efforts to support humanitarian assistance and ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian workers and organisations.

Finally, the gains of the last 20 years must be protected, and human rights, including those of women and children and minorities, safeguarded. This resolution lays down a marker that the international community will be watching closely.

Today’s resolution is an important step towards a unified international response to the situation in Afghanistan. We will continue to build on this to ensure the Council holds the Taliban accountable on its commitments. The Taliban will be judged the international community on the basis of their actions on the ground, not their words.

Thank you, Mr President.

Thank you Mr President, and my thanks to Special Coordinator Wennesland for his briefing.

Let me start by once again reinforcing the need to prevent a further escalation in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to restore calm. We share concerns about the recent tensions in Gaza and call on all parties to take steps to avoid exacerbating tensions and to maintain the cessation of hostilities. The United Kingdom condemns unequivocally Hamas’ indiscriminate attacks against Israel, including the use of incendiary balloons. We call upon Hamas and other terrorist groups to permanently end their rocket fire against Israel.

Our attention must remain on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the impact on Palestinians living there. It remains vital that Israel ensures regularised access into and out of Gaza, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, especially for humanitarian actors and goods, reconstruction materials, and for medical purposes.

In the West Bank, we should all be troubled by the high number of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli Forces in recent weeks. Since our most recent debate on 28 July, 9 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including two children. We urge the Israeli authorities to conduct transparent and comprehensive investigations, and to hold those responsible to account.

In regards to the handling of recent protests, we call on the Palestinian Authority to adhere to international standards on freedom of expression, association and assembly and urge respect for human rights. The use of violence against peaceful human rights defenders, activists and protesters, and the mistreatment of those detained is unacceptable.

In Jerusalem, we remain concerned by the high number of evictions and demolitions, including in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and al Walaja. Unfortunately, in 2021 we have seen the pace of these unilateral Israeli actions increase across the West Bank. We urge Israel to refrain from actions which displace Palestinians from their homes, act as a driver for conflict and are, in all but the most exceptional circumstances, illegal under international law. It is also vital to maintain calm on Al Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount and to uphold the historic Status Quo.

Mr President, against this fragile backdrop, we continue to see signs of hope. We were pleased to see Palestinian and Israeli firefighters working together to extinguish fires in Jerusalem. We want to see greater coordination and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians, particularly on economic initiatives, to help pave a pathway toward peace. The first anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords this month is a reminder that the advancement of peace is possible.

We welcome and urge continued engagement between the new Israeli Government and the Palestinian leadership and call on both parties to work together to tackle immediate and long-term threats to peace and stability. Our collective goal remains a two-state solution, based on 1967 lines.

The United Kingdom stands ready to support.

Chair, Distinguished Delegates,

The United Kingdom is pleased to address the Committee on our activities in the field of ‘Space for Sustainable Development’ – which feels particularly significant during this pivotal year of climate action, in which the UK is delighted to hold the presidency of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties, in partnership with Italy.

The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme – IPP – utilises the UK space sector’s capabilities in satellite technology and data services to develop space-enabled solutions in partnership with developing countries which deliver real benefits to people on the ground and, ultimately, make the case for investment in space to policymakers.

Now over five years into its tenure, IPP has a portfolio of 43 projects grant-funded in 47 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America & Caribbean, two prestigious space awards (including the 2020 Group on Earth Observations’ SDG Award for commitments to sustainable development), and is helping nations to achieve their UN Sustainable Development Goals.

IPP projects are achieving sustainable change and some examples of this include:

1. A pioneering dengue fever forecasting system called D-MOSS incorporating Earth observation data, in-situ observations and seasonal climate forecasts, allowing government officials in Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries to better manage outbreaks and improve planning and prevention measures.
2. The RE-SAT project which has developed an energy planning tool in partnership with the Seychelles, enabling them to rely less on expensive fossil fuel electricity generation and more on abundant resources of solar and wind renewables and ultimately reach their target of 15% renewable energy by 2030. This is now being implemented in other Small Island Developing States across the Caribbean and Pacific.
3. A transcontinental forest mapping and monitoring project, called Forests 2020, helped develop a National Map of Forests and Land Use for Ghana. This was launched earlier this year by their National Forestry Commission and will be formally adopted as a national product for the use of climate reporting and zero deforestation supply chains in both the forest sector and for commodity exports.
4. And the Earth and Sea Observation System (EASOS) MarineWatch tool which has helped to identify and map the trajectory of three oil spills, improving the response to and policing of marine pollution – in addition to environmental benefits, clean-up costs saved by early intervention are estimated to be over £3 million.

There are also many programme-wide impacts which have supported sustainable development and demonstrate the case for investment in space solutions. Specific examples include:

• IPP’s forestry projects in partnership with Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, almost 40 million hectares of forest are already being monitored using Earth observation solutions, while an estimated one million hectares of deforestation has been avoided.
• Over 47,000 farmers have already been directly engaged in IPP to map field boundaries, test decision-support tools and begin implementing agronomic advice as a result of IPP’s agriculture projects with Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
• IPP tools from projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Fiji, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Vietnam have been applied to over a dozen natural disaster situations, including volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and even evacuation centres set up to cope with population displacement due to armed conflicts.
• And many lives have been saved by IPP-funded satellite communications tools, which have supported search and rescue operations of small-scale fishing vessels in South Africa and Madagascar and delivered video training to health workers in remote areas of Nigeria, providing life-saving care to pregnant women and their infants.

The full extent of IPP achievements since 2016 will be evaluated at the end of this year and we stand ready to report on this with members of the Committee.

While this all tells a positive story, the Coronavirus pandemic has, of course, impacted global governments’ ability to invest in aid initiatives. However, the UK remains a world-leading donor and is keen to maximise the impact of ongoing collaborative work to ensure sustainability, and to explore areas of mutual interest for future partnerships.

The UK’s membership of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters since 2005 also reflects this outlook, and we are proud to be part of this collaborative which has seen over 700 activations since the Millennium. These include activations for natural disasters for which space tools developed through IPP have provided support – including swift provision of maps and analysis reports to partners by the CommonSensing climate resilience project when Cyclone Harold struck Pacific Island nations in April 2020.

IPP is therefore an excellent representation of the UK’s mission to be a force for good in the world and we stand ready to explore areas of mutual interest for future partnerships and collaboration.

Finally, we look forward to using the review phases stemming from the Space 2030 Agenda as further opportunities to showcase how international cooperation on this important topic can assist all countries to realise their SDG targets.