Discurso do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Sérgio França Danese, em debate aberto do Conselho de Segurança sobre a Promoção de Parcerias Humanitárias Público-Privadas - 14 de setembro de 2023 (texto em inglês)
Statement by the Permanent Representative, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, at the UNSC Open Debate on Advancing public-private humanitarian partnership
September 14th, 2023
Thank you, Mister President, and welcome to our Council, Mr. President. I thank Albania for organizing this open debate. It is an opportunity for us to reflect on innovative ways to increase the effectiveness of humanitarian action. I also thank the briefers for their insightful remarks.
Humanitarian action is not a means to put a conflict to an end. It is a way to mitigate the suffering of the most vulnerable, often in contexts of war. The more effective the humanitarian aid is, the more lives can be spared, the more hope there will be after the conflict.
The 2005 humanitarian reform agenda was a crucial step in that direction. The cluster approach improved the distribution of tasks and made responsibilities clearer. Nevertheless, the clusters are not self-sufficient. Humanitarian providers do not operate in isolation from economic actors and from the communities they assist. They depend on suppliers, transportation and logistics, banks, information and communication technologies and a myriad of other services to discharge their responsibilities. Public-private partnerships are already a reality on the ground and exist out of sheer necessity. We must explore even further the private sector’s potential to support humanitarian assistance.
We must also ensure that the private sector will have appropriate conditions to participate in humanitarian assistance. For instance, in contexts where sanctions apply, the fear of being held criminally accountable have impelled banks and other companies to hinder the provision of neutral assistance by humanitarian providers. The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on counter-terrorism and human rights and on the impact of unilateral coercive measures have pointed out that reality in various reports.
Brazil reiterates the importance of resolution 2664 (2022), which addresses the causes of overcompliance of counter-terrorist financing regulations that impedes the provision of impartial humanitarian assistance. We are concerned about what we perceive as a trend towards the growing politicization of humanitarian responses and the selective application of international humanitarian law. This trend is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity, which are inherent to humanitarian action.
Mister President,
Brazil has seen an increase in the influx of refugees and migrants from different regions of the world. To rise up to the challenges brought by this situation, the Brazilian Government took several measures to assist those in need. Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, without any kind of discrimination, benefit from full access to public services, including health care and vaccination, regardless of migratory status. We have facilitated procedures to grant humanitarian visas to a number of nationalities. Our migration law has been reformed to facilitate regularization and socioeconomic integration. Our refugee law is well advanced and deeply rooted in humanitarian principles.
We have also established partnerships with the private sector to enable the integration of refugees and migrants into our society. We have created a database of refugees’ and migrants’ curricula vitae to which companies searching for employees have direct access. Furthermore, the Government helped to set up a fund, supported by private donors, to finance part of the so-called interiorization strategy. That aims to relocate Venezuelans who wish to do so from the northern border of Brazil to other cities in the country. In close partnership with civil society, international organizations and the private sector, it has already benefited more than 100,000 migrants, relocated to nearly 1,000 Brazilian cities throughout the country, offering them improved opportunities for socioeconomic integration.
Mister President,
A whole-of-society approach to humanitarian aid strengthens our power to assist people in the grip of conflict, natural disasters and forced displacement. Let us make full use of that powerful tool.
Thank you.