コロンビア安保理アリアフォーミュラ会合における石兼大使ステートメント
令和4年7月14日
Mr. President,
I thank Colombia, Norway, and Ireland for organizing this meeting. I also appreciate all the briefers for their inputs. This meeting is timely, as it comes shortly after the Colombian presidential elections which were conducted in a peaceful manner and resulted in change of governments. I believe that Colombia’s efforts, with the help of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, are a great example of the transitional justice process, which the international community, including Japan, continues to support.
In this connection, I would like to highlight three points:
First, one of the lessons from Colombia’s comprehensive approach to the Peace Agreement is the importance of taking a people-centered approach, especially for victims, who need to be protected and empowered through the process of transitional justice. To this end, Japan has been supporting Colombia in its rehabilitation by providing 3 million dollars of grant aid as well as technical capacity-building through a training program by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Second, building strong judicial institutions is key to ensuring the rule of law and preventing violence, which remains a challenge in Colombia. In this regard, we commend Colombia’s efforts to reinforce its national judicial system. It is highly relevant that today’s meeting is focusing on transitional justice, and we hope that today’s discussions will help Colombia further advance its efforts.
Third, fostering partnerships facilitates the transitional justice process. South-South and Triangular Cooperation, conducted with due respect for national sovereignty, are good examples of such partnerships. As a joint peacebuilding activity, Colombia, Japan and Cambodia came together in a tripartite cooperation to assess Colombia’s needs on mine action and to provide relevant capacity-building led by Cambodia on mine clearing.
I would also like to emphasize the role of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) as an effective tool to expand partnerships. The PBC was established precisely “to bring together all relevant actors to marshal resources and to advise on and propose integrated strategies” to build and sustain peace. Japan had the enormous privilege to serve as Vice-Chair of the PBC in 2020, under the Colombian Chair, with our dear friend Ambassador Guillermo De Soto. The meeting of the PBC on Colombia held on 13 April was a great opportunity to explore further possible arrangements with all available resources.
To conclude, Japan continuously supports the role of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, and I would like to assure you of Japan’s full commitment to supporting Colombia, in partnership with the UN and other stakeholders.
I thank you.