11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly (resumed) on Ukraine - 9th plenary meeting

Statement delivered by HE Ambassador Bob Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada

March 24, 2022 - UN General Assembly

Check against delivery

Thank you very much Mr. Vice President. I very much appreciate the opportunity to address the chamber today. Like many others I’d like to express deep condolences of the Government of Canada and of our delegation and many of us personally for the loss of Madeleine Albright. She was truly an outstanding public servant, she was a great leader for the United States, she was a great friend of Canada and indeed of our Foreign Minister who was with her when she was Secretary of State. And we shall miss her presence on the world stage. It’s a loss for all of us.

This is now a defining time for the United Nations.

The Russian Federation is continuing its illegal invasion of Ukraine, an unprovoked act of aggression against its neighbour. Russia has expressed no repentance and has carried on unabated since we last met to condemn its actions as a serious violation of the United Nations Charter. 

In the last few days the International Court of Justice has also ordered that Russia immediately suspend its military operation in Ukraine. And yet, a permanent member of the Security Council, creator of the Nuremberg process, signatory to the creation of the International Court of Justice, and to the Geneva Conventions, carries on as if there is no law, and there are no rules above them. 

We know now how serious the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in fact is. Scores of innocent civilians, including children, have been killed and injured. And the situation is not getting better it’s getting worse by the hour.

 We are witnessing before our very eyes the premeditated destruction of entire cities. What is happening in Mariupol right now tells you everything you need to know about this particularly cruel war of aggression.

Russia is laying siege to this city and to others, to its people, bombing hospitals and schools, and flatting entire apartment complexes. Expectant mothers, children, and the medical staff at the children’s hospital and maternity ward were slaughtered in a particularly gruesome attack on the 9^th of March. This is part of a horrific trend: in just 25 days, the United Nations has verified 52 attacks against health care centers in Ukraine.

Medical personnel and facilities are supposed to be protected under international humanitarian law. These attacks, and all attacks against civilians and against civilian areas, must stop.

There is no justification for these attacks, and there is nothing “special” about Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.  It is directed at whole cities, and peoples’ homes. But we also have to remember that as with any other armed conflict, it immediately gives rise to obligations for all parties under international humanitarian law.

These laws are designed to protect civilians, to limit suffering, and ensure those in need of aid receive it. These obligations cannot be willed or bargained away. They apply to Russia, and they apply to Ukraine. And they must be observed. 

The resolution before us – the Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine – Canada has been proud to join in cosponsoring with more than 80 countries, we affirm this by demanding full compliance with international humanitarian law, and for desperately-need humanitarian access.

If this resolution is passed, there will be no delay in the provision of humanitarian assistance, and there will be no division about the provision of humanitarian assistance.

More than 10 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes. Ten million. Think about that number for a minute. Ten million in 4 weeks. That is more people forcibly displaced by Russia’s military in Ukraine than the entire population of more than 100 states that are represented in this Assembly. Ten million in 4 weeks displaced. Of those, over three million refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of this war. This is creating huge strains on neighbouring countries, and that’s not an accident either – and adding unnecessarily to the already record numbers of refugees and displaced persons globally who have fled from Afghanistan, from Venezuela, the Sahel region, Syria, Myanmar, and so many other conflicts.

While we are focused today on Ukraine, we cannot not neglect these and other situations. Humanitarian needs everywhere deserve just as much care and attention. Canada will continue to respond to those needs, just as we respond to the catastrophe that is unfolding in Ukraine.

Mr. Vice-President,

It is important to remember that the impacts of this war of aggression by Russia on Ukraine are of course devastating Ukraine, that’s what they are intended to do, that’s what Russia has set out to do. To destroy to undermine the economy, the structure, the people, the cities, and the humanity of Ukraine. But they are also felt outside of the region as many people have said – in least-developed countries, and by vulnerable populations, around the world. 

Rising energy prices. Supply chain disruptions. Impacts on food security.

Food shortages leading to higher prices, to hardships, to instability, to malnutrition, to starvation, and yes to famine. 

 These impacts of Russia’s war of choice and that’s what it is, this is a war that has created all these impacts, and had all of these effects, they threaten such hard won progress on development that we made over the last decade, distract the world from its recovery from the COVID pandemic, and undermine efforts to combat climate change and achieve the SDGs.

But let us be clear: all these impacts and crises, as serious as they are can all be reduced tomorrow if Russia ends its war of aggression. Russia must end this war before more damage is caused.

The General Assembly, in its first resolution from this Emergency Special Session, deplored Russia’s actions as a violation of the Charter of the United Nations, its purposes, and its principles.

Russia’s war is not just against Ukraine. We must remember that. Ukraine is not the only victim of this war. The war goes against the principles and commitments we have collectively taken by signing up to the UN Charter. It is a war against peace, against progress, against the freedom of nations and of peoples to choose their own destinies.  We are the United Nations, we are not the empires at war.

Mr. Vice-President, dear colleagues, this is a war that President Putin cannot win.

Once again, and I stress this, Putin cannot win this war.

Russia has prevented the Security Council from discharging its fundamental duty: of protecting the world’s peace and security. Russia also prevented the Council through the threat of a veto from adopting a humanitarian resolution.

Once again, it is up to us now, to the General Assembly to defend the rules-based international system, within which the United Nations and its Charter play a central role.

We have before us today a resolution that we believe deserves the support of all countries. Canada calls on you to vote for it.

We have carefully listened, in this Assembly and during our conversations, to the concerns that all Member States expressed.  We were asked to address concerns about impacts on the Least Developed Countries; about the discrimination against any refugee fleeing Ukraine; about the safety of foreign students; about food security and the need to fully fund the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

The resolution that has been tabled does just that – in addition to demanding the protection of civilians, and safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

There has been a suggestion and we’ve heard it again today, that a humanitarian resolution should not say anything about the immediate cause of the crisis, or ascribe responsibility to any one party.  With great respect, Mr. Vice-President, we disagree. This is not a natural disaster.  The humanitarian crisis of this type is not a spontaneous event. It didn’t just happened. It happened because one country attacked deliberately, without provocation, another country. It is the direct result of a deliberate decision by the Russian Federation to invade Ukraine. To put it in simplest terms, we cannot talk about Moby-Dick without mentioning that it’s a whale. We can’t do it. We can’t pretend it didn’t happened. We can’t just set it aside and say that’s of no importance.

If we do not identify the aggressor and do not insist that it uphold its obligation to fully respect international law and comply with the legally binding order of the International Court of Justice, then, I would argue, we have failed to do our job.  A ceasefire and a withdrawal of occupying troops is necessary to take the next steps. 

The Swiss founder of the International Red Cross Henri Dunant was so stricken by the human devastation on the battlefield at Solferino that he began his exemplary work leading to the founding principles of humanitarian aid and the obligations of all in times of war.

It is said that his last words before his death were "where is humanity?" »

Today we must answer: "we are here".

We will be voting yes today on this resolution for this reason – for humanity.

We vote yes for humanity not in the name of being able to solve all the problems of the world, because we cannot do that, but rather because we have to take the footsteps to peace, truth, justice, and reconciliation.  And yes sometimes we have to say difficult things. And we cannot avoid the facts and the reality of this situation. The Canadian poet Leonard Cohen put it this way:

“There are no perfect offerings

There is a crack in everything

That’s where the light gets in”

Let us keep our eyes on the light, and let us face the time ahead in love and solidarity with one another, despite our differences, we will get there. But we do it with honesty, with courage and solidarity.

Thank you, Mr.Vice-President.