The United Kingdom welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2350 today.

It is a good demonstration of how the UN should be sustaining peace through selecting the right tools at the right time for the right ends. As we argued on Tuesday, the Haiti of today is not the Haiti of 2004. It is a country on a trajectory towards greater stability. Peacekeeping troops performing a stabilisation role are no longer the right tool in Haiti. This resolution brings MINUSTAH to a close, and I welcome that. And we thank all of the troops, and all of the troop-contributing countries, for their service to MINUSTAH.

The United Nations holds other tools that are required for today’s Haiti. UN police units are still needed to uphold the security achieved to date – though ensuring that Haiti’s national police are able to perform this role themselves must now be the UN’s primary focus. Support for Haiti’s security capacities will not, alone, sustain peace in the country. As history has told us time and time again, it is the rule of law and the protection of human rights – not the capacity to use force – that delivers long-term stability. It is welcome that this resolution launches a new peace operation, MINUJUSTH, with sufficient mandate and authorisation to work towards these very ends.

Ultimately, however, the new mission has one overarching objective, which should be to work tirelessly to establish the conditions for its own redundancy. MINUJUSTH should be working towards a careful exit through the phased handover of responsibilities to the Haitian government and greater reliance on the tools of the UN country team. I’m glad that an exit plan will be developed from the very start of its deployment.

Haiti is still fragile. It needs the UN’s support, through a new peace operation in the short-term and the use of other UN tools soon after that. We can never have an absolute guarantee of continued stability in any context. The experience of peacekeeping withdraws in Haiti’s recent past loom large. But fear of the worst outcome should not restrain us from pursuing the best, which is a peaceful, just and stable Haiti standing proudly on her own two feet.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President, for convening this important meeting, and also for maintaining this Council’s focus on conflict prevention in Africa. I join others in thanking Special Envoy Said Djinnit for his briefing. But also for the critical role that you play in making preventative diplomacy active. And also for the role that you play in including women in peace processes as Sweden and others have said.

Said, as you and others have made clear today, the Great Lakes region continues to face many challenges.

In response, it’s clear that a structured approach to regional stability is needed. We support work to reform and reinvigorate the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework. It needs active engagement from its members and guarantors to have high impact. And that impact, as we’ve heard, is vital.

Today I personally want to focus on two countries in the region; the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. As we heard last month, the situation in DRC remains deeply troubling. I pay tribute to CENCO for their mediation efforts. But it is up to the government and the opposition to deliver the 31st of December Agreement in letter and in spirit, with purposeful speed.

What we’ve actually seen is stalling, and obfuscation, particularly by the government. This is not only hindering implementation of the agreement, but it is distracting attention from the real prize that is at stake; peaceful and credible elections to take place this year, enabling the first democratic transition of power in the country’s history.

Sadly, the obstacles to this goal go beyond inertia. The appointment of a new Prime Minister by President Kabila last week was an active step, and I agree with France it is a worrying one. It went against both the spirit and the letter of the Agreement. This appointment will not help to restore the broad national consensus that lies at the heart of the Agreement.

Until that consensus is built, the uncertainty of DRC’s politics risks being mirrored in the security situation, which continues to deteriorate. We are particularly concerned about the increase in violence and reports of atrocities in the Kasaii region. This underlines the importance of MINUSCO, and the joint human rights office, investigating violations and abuses of human rights and international law. Those who commit human rights violations will be held to account.

We are also concerned about the ongoing threat from armed groups, including the resurgence of the M23 in Eastern DRC and reiterate the need for dialogue, not just a military effort, in order to tackle armed groups. The resumption of talks between the Government of DRC and the M23 is vital, as is the implementation of the Nairobi declarations and repatriation of M23 and FLDR rebels. We support the Special Envoy in his efforts to make progress on these issues.

The presence of SPLA-IO elements in Eastern DRC is destabilising. We welcome efforts by SRSG Sidikou, as well as the SRSG, to find a solution and their engagement with regional partners. We need to find a regional solution urgently to avoid exacerbating tensions in fragile local communities. We ask that the Secretariat keep the Council updated.

Turning to the concerning situation in Burundi; the regime claims that normality is returning to the country. It is not. A climate of fear persists as disappearances, arbitrary arrests and killings continue almost daily. The government still shows no sign of acting in the interests of its people, and seems to be concerned only with clinging on to power. Moves by President Nkurunziza to enable him to remain in power for a fourth term, and possibly beyond, risk bringing the country to the brink once again. The government’s refusal to engage with the international community is especially worrying. And some of the language and activity of the Imbonerakure, as others have said earlier in this session, is truly horrific.

Here, in this open session, I call on the government of Burundi to participate fully in the talks being led by former-President Mkapa. These talks, which must be open and sincere as France has said, remain the best hope of resolving the crisis peacefully. We urge the government to enable implementation of resolution 2303, that this Council passed, and to allow the OHCHR to conduct its work without hindrance and to cooperate fully with the Commission of Inquiry, which was mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council. I agree with Egypt and Sweden that the Peacebuilding Commission has an important role to play in all of this.

Madam President,

We know how difficult it is to bring peace and stability to a country or a region after conflict. But we also know that it can be done, and that there is nothing inevitable about the future. The governments of DRC and Burundi can step back from their current course, they can take decisions in the interests of their people, and they can avoid bloodshed and instability in this very fragile region.

It is the duty of all countries in this Council to support that course and to do all we can to implement our own resolutions. Given the significance that Ethiopia has already talked about in terms of the wider strategic posture of this region, it is really important that we all do our best right now.

Thank you.

Thank you Madam President.

The conflict that has ravaged Syria has lasted for more than six years. For the people of Syria that must feel like an eternity. Here in this chamber we only get so many moments to act. Only so many moments to show them that hope is not dead; for the world to unite in condemnation of war crimes. Today was one of those moments.

What happened in Khan Sheikhoun last week was the worst of human acts. UK scientists have now analysed samples obtained from Khan Sheikhoun. And these samples have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, or a sarin-like substance. We therefore share the US assessment that it is highly likely that the regime was responsible for a sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

We recognise the need for a thorough, swift, independent investigation. Russia’s Foreign Minister has this afternoon also called for such an investigation. Yet Russia has vetoed a resolution that would support that investigation. Their messages are mixed, their aims confused. The OPCW fact finding mission, and the Syrian people, need our political support – something that we should have been able to give as a Security Council. The UK will continue to give this support, and regardless of today’s votes the work of the OPCW will continue.

We’ve once again encountered a Russian veto, the 8th time that Russia has used its veto to protect the Syrian regime. This one is even more regrettable given that Russia was the architect of the 2013 agreement to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons programme, an initiative that has demonstrably failed.

Russia cannot now possibly claim that it opposes the use of chemical weapons. Russia has seen the same pictures that we all saw just days ago in this chamber. How could anyone look at the faces of lifeless children and choose to veto a resolution condemning those deaths?

It is indefensible that Russia has chosen to protect the perpetrators of these attacks rather than work with the rest of the international community to condemn them.

When those images and videos were broadcast across screens around the world, my team received a message from another child. From Bana Alabed, the 7 year old Syrian girl from Aleppo, who, with the help of her mother, has given the world a window into the conflict through Twitter.

The message she sent was simple: “You can make a difference. Demand justice for the children.” She is one voice, but one that echoes the views of millions of Syrians. “Demand justice for the children” – the heartbreaking truth is that a little girl’s plea will not be heard in this Chamber. Not today.

But regardless of the veto today, trust these words: we will hold the regime to account. We will continue to work with our international partners to put an end to any use of chemical weapons and to seek justice for all the victims of these heinous chemical attacks. We will gather in the OPCW in The Hague tomorrow to discuss how best to support a credible international investigation that establishes who was responsible and paves the way to hold the culprits to account.

The catastrophe in Syria is not the way it has to be. Yesterday Foreign Ministers from the G7 and key Regional Countries came together in Italy to discuss how to move forward from last week’s tragedy. They gave strong support to Secretary Tillerson’s visit to Moscow today to discuss how Russia could work with the international community to end the tragedy of the war in Syria.

Russia has the sort of influence over the regime that could bring to an end the regime’s use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs and could lead to a real ceasefire that then leads to the resumption of serious political negotiations on a political transition. Those Foreign Ministers indicated that if Russia took these steps, the international [community] would be ready to work with Russia to bring peace to Syria, defeat Da’esh and terrorism, and reconstruct Syria.

So this is the choice Moscow has in front of it. The world now waits to see if Russia will respond to the G7 and assume its responsibilities as a Permanent Member of the Security Council to help put a stop to the Asad regime’s use of chemical weapons and to work with the international community to bring this tragedy to an end.

Thank you.

DfE recommends a deal that makes buying printers easier and saves schools money. The first schools to use the new buying framework saved more than 40% on their previous contract prices.

The deal is one of many in the schools’ buying strategy that aim to make buying easier and offer the best value for schools.

This is a single-supplier deal for Canon UK products. Canon has made the ordering process simple with easy-to-use search and comparison tools. After registering schools have only to choose their preferred device and, if required, select any additional items offered. Canon has a dedicated schools help desk.

Schools do not have to obtain 3 quotes when using the deal as this was done during the framework competition process. Schools needing to check whether this deal meets their local procurement rules should contact us: Schools.ICTSUPPORT@education.gov.uk.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS), Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) and YPO Framework for Multifunctional Devices (MFDs) jointly created the framework (RM3781).

The framework has 2 ‘lots’ (deals) which may be of interest to schools:

Lot 1: ‘Print equipment’ described above.

Lot 2: ‘Multifunctional devices’ may also be of interest to schools. It has multiple suppliers so the school must run a further competition. This lot may appeal to schools working in collaboration, or to a multi-academy trust running an aggregation for their schools, as there is potential for further price reductions due to higher device volumes.

Comments from some schools who have already used the deal:

Ross Bowell at Wimborne Academy Trust:

We are using the new CCS framework across our trust for our MFD requirements.

Lot 1 works very well for small schools such as ours with straightforward printing and scanning needs.

We have seen lower black and white print costs but when we tested the total life costs including colour printing and lease costs against other frameworks and suppliers we found the CCS route to be the best value.

The customer support from Canon has been excellent to date and considerably better than our experience on the previous CCS framework.

Nicola Hall at Walnut Tree Walk Primary School:

I thought the process was very straightforward – so straightforward I had to check what I was doing was correct!

Much easier to understand and see what our payments would be.

The prices were amazing in comparison to what we were paying, so pleasantly surprised.

Best deal by far.

• Part of an ongoing tour of prisons and probation areas to get to the heart of the daily challenges staff face
• Minister Gyimah thanks staff at Staffordshire and West Midlands Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) for their vital work in delivering major reforms to improve safety and reduce reoffending
• The CRC provides employment and education training, housing and welfare services, and drug rehabilitation – turning offenders away from crime

Justice Minister Sam Gyimah today visited Staffordshire and West Midlands CRC to see the work probation staff are doing to reform offenders and turn their lives around.

The CRC is run by the Reducing Reoffending Partnership – a joint enterprise bringing together the best of the private and voluntary sector. They support and closely monitor offenders, working one-to-one with them to assess and address their needs including accommodation, education, training and employment, drugs and alcohol, and health.

The minister saw staff delivering employment and education training, housing and welfare services, and drug rehabilitation – teaching offenders the tools they need to turn away from crime.

He also met with the CRC CEO, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s senior contract manager, and the head of performance for the local National Probation Service. They discussed how probation services are being delivered in the Midlands, and the CRC’s new operating model, which has seen them go from strength to strength this year.

Speaking after the visit to the CRC, Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said:

Probation officers do a vital job in helping offenders turn their lives around and reduce reoffending.

It was great to meet the team at Staffordshire and West Midlands CRC, and the offenders they support, to see how the work they do helps them lead crime free lives. I was especially pleased to meet their impressive CEO, Chris Blackwell, who is driving forward positive changes which support our reform agenda.

We are committed to improving our probation service and are carrying out a comprehensive review to improve outcomes for offenders and communities.

The CRC provide a Through the Gate service to support prisoners in the run up to, and after, their release from custody. The CRC works closely with the St Giles Trust to train prisoners to act as role models and encourage fellow offenders to engage with all the services available to them.