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Chairing the Security Council debate on the protection of civilians
Switzerland holds the presidency of the UN Security Council in May. On 22 May, at UN headquarters, Alain Berset opens “Digital Dilemmas”, a multimedia experience organised by Switzerland and the ICRC, with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger and Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. Some 75 guests, including Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi. Visitors put themselves in the place of a civilian or a humanitarian worker facing the digital risks of war: disinformation, surveillance, personal data that turn civilians into targets. “How would you decide?”
On 23 May, he chairs the Security Council’s high-level open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with António Guterres, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger and a civil society representative from the Lake Chad Basin. “We have the legal, political and operational instruments to protect civilians from armed conflict.” He refers to Resolutions 2417 (2018), which condemns the use of starvation as a weapon, and 2573 (2021), on civilian infrastructure.
He proposes five avenues: stop attacks on indispensable objects, guarantee full and unimpeded humanitarian access, hold accountable those who starve civilians, fully involve women, protect the population when peace missions withdraw. In conflict, shortages of water, food and care kill more people than the fighting itself.
Monday 22 May 2023 — New York
- Visit and official opening of the exhibition “Digital Dilemmas” at UN headquarters, with Amina Mohammed and Mirjana Spoljaric Egger
Tuesday 23 May 2023 — New York
- Press briefing for the Swiss media
- Meeting with António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
- Chairing of the high-level open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict
- Press statement outside the Security Council chamber
- Meeting with George Vella, President of Malta
- High-level lunch on the protection of civilians, with the presidents of Malta and Mozambique among others; exchange with Mauro Vieira, Brazilian Foreign Minister
Speeches on this site
- Protection des civils dans les conflits armés (in French, French-language page)
- Exposition « Digital Dilemmas » au siège des Nations Unies (in English, French-language page)
Sources