Mr. President,

Thank you for convening this meeting. Mr President   “until a more perfect time for all, the UN Charter is our best hope for a more perfect world, and why tbe UN is the Vatican of hope and the  Permanent Representatives its Arch- Angels”. Whether we can meaningfully hold on to that euphemism today in the context of Gaza is anybodies guess.

Today, we have come together to engage in constructive dialogue, fostering a meaningful exchange of ideas and experiences shedding light on whether the veto power has the potential to contribute towards plurality by providing a platform for diverse perspectives. It is believed that reforming the Security Council and ensuring greater inclusivity can further enhance plurality within the United Nations system.

The proliferation of the use of the veto in recent times has prevented the security council from exercising its functions with respect to some of the gravest threats  to international peace and  security, often in clear contravention of the purposes and principles of the UN charter. Even the threat of the veto has prevented the security council from addressing the situation that falls within its mandate, sometimes resulting even unprecedented humanitarian cost as we have seen in the case of Gaza.

Mr. President. We cannot ignore the fact that in accordance with article 24 one of the UN charter, the security council act on behalf of the entire UN membership. It is therefore accountable to all UN states represented in the UN General assembly. The veto prevents the security council from acting and the council fails with respect, I say, to perform its functions against the will of the quantitative majority required for council decisions in many cases, against the views of the overwhelming majority of the UN membership. It may be pertinent to observe that it is the GA that is referred to first  amongst the principle organs in article 7 and not any other arrangement and this constructions was by deliberate design.  It must also be appreciated that the security council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security as mandated by the GA, this responsibility is therefore not exclusive. The charter encourages complementarity between principal UN organs to conduct its affairs within the vires that it has been conferred with.

The debates on the power of the P5 on the exercise of the power of the veto  have been of great a academic value and contributed to the legal literature of the UN  in a  substantial manner for decades. It is believed that the veto power, exclusively held by the P5 is a feature that has attracted much debate of UN member states as it said  to be at cross purposes with a key element of what the UN  embodies, which is democracy.

In the meantime, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has informed us in the clearest terms of the dire plight surrounding both the Palestine civilian population and the organization itself.  The situation in Gaza has been highlighted by many others including in the presentation of the representative of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without borders) at the Security Council recently.

Mr. President

We must give due place to the fact that UNRWA has been a lifeline for Palestine refugees for the last 75 years.  Throughout the last 5 months UNRWA which has been the UN-mandated entity that has stood and operated in Gaza and provided aid to more than 1.9 million displaced Palestinians. It is an indictment on all those responsible that the Commissioner General Philip Lazzarini of this UN-mandated body had had to tell us, in his letter dated 22nd February, that the Agency has reached breaking point; that the last remaining hospitals are collapsing; and famine is imminent. His call was for a closure of the gap between the Agency’s mandate and its funding structure and for this Assembly to provide political support to sustain the organization must be given serious and immediate consideration. In this regard, we welcome the European Commission’s decision to release Euro 50 million out of its total budget of 82 million Euro for 2024.  

We take seriously the accusations levelled against 12 of UNRWA’s 30,000 employees who were allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks, and emphasize the need to have the matter comprehensively investigated in terms of the procedures established by law and appropriate legal sanctions be imposed  in tbe event of complicity. However, it must be borne in mind that this UN-mandated body is an irreplaceable actor providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank. We welcome the Secretary General’s decision to task an independent investigation into the allegations.  It is expected that all actors would cooperate and provide the evidence to enable a clear picture of what appears to be a serious complaint of an act that must be weeded out of the system.

As we speak, loss of life amongst the population in Gaza has increased to over 30,000 and over 70,000 injured.  The direction that the situation in the ground is taking may result in even more dying from the consequences of the siege and resulting starvation imposed in Gaza than from the aerial bombings and ground attacks.

On our part, the Government of Sri Lanka is pleased to announce that the Sri Lanka cabinet approved a proposal by President Wickremesinghe to create a fund to assist the affected children in Gaza. The government on its part will contribute 1 million dollars and the aid will be distributed through UN agencies.  

Mr. President

It is supremely ironic and certainly of dark humour that this tormenting and brutalization of the Palestinian children takes place as we discuss a Pact for the Future to be adopted in a Summit of the Future. What future and whose future may we ask, it is the lives of our future generations; isn’t it the lives of our children of today?  
In order to preserve social justice principles within the framework of the United Nations, it is paramount that comprehensive efforts beyond the veto power including, international cooperation, diplomacy, advocacy and sustainable development initiatives are met through constructive dialogue among member states that can foster the evolution of an environment  of social justice that can consequentially lead to a more equitable and just  world order.

It is time that we stand now with the people of Gaza and the Palestinian people and tbe peoples of a peace loving world as a whole. A ceasefire is a must now, for events of aggression  have gone on unabated to a point that the the flame of humanity in many of us cannot bare to keep it alight any more. It is also time for a lasting solution through early implementation of GA resolutions, where both Israel and Palestine can live side by side based on the 1967 borders in a two state structure.

Thank you!