Statement by Colonel Christopher Simonds, Military Adviser to the Permanent Mission of Canada, on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the United Nations Fourth Committee on Item 33: Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peacekeeping Operations in all their aspects, delivered on 27 October 2009.
(as delivered)
Mr Chairman,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the CANZ group of countries – Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In the first instance, I would like to thank the Under-Secretary General for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Alain Le Roy and the Under-Secretary General for the Department of Field Support, Ms. Susana Malcorra, for their informative presentations.
Mr. Chairman,
The ongoing evolution in the nature of peacekeeping operations and their supporting activities continue to put our deployed forces to the test. More and more, conflict situations are characterized by multi-dimensional challenges and asymmetric threats. The recent reprehensible attacks on a UNAMID convoy in El Geneina, West Darfur which left one peacekeeper dead and two others injured, and on the UN-mandated, African Union-led mission in Somalia, which claimed the lives of over 20 individuals and injured scores more, are a clear reflection of the dangerous and unpredictable environments in which we now expect soldiers, police and civilians to function on a routine basis. The attack on AMISOM was all the more poignant, as the perpetrators masked themselves in the guise of representatives of this very institution. These attacks remind us of the risks which peacekeepers now commonly face.
Against this setting, we have witnessed some important strides in improving the ability to plan for and manage peacekeeping operations. CANZ stresses the need to maintain this momentum in order to ensure peacekeeping continues to keep pace with the changing realities on the ground.
Mr. Chairman,
CANZ is encouraged by the release of the DPKO/DFS discussion paper, ‘A New Partnership Agenda – Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping’. The underlying principles and recommendations articulated in the discussion paper merit broad and substantive discussion amongst the Member States, particularly considering the complex challenges faced by peacekeeping missions in the field. CANZ welcomes the paper’s fundamental treatise, that of partnership amongst the varied bodies which play instrumental roles in planning for, managing and ultimately executing peacekeeping operations.
Essential to providing the basic framework for success for any peacekeeping operation is unity of purpose. The foundation for this must be a common understanding and agreement amongst all parties on the goals and objectives of a peacekeeping mission, what it can be expected to achieve, and in what time frame. Consistent with one of the document’s over-riding themes, CANZ continues to support the enhancement of the partnerships between the Security Council, the Secretariat and Member States, as well as between the UN and regional organizations. We welcome efforts of the Secretariat and the Security Council to increase the frequency and level of their briefings and discussions with Member States, and in particular with troop and police contributing countries, on missions and mission mandates. In this regard, CANZ urges the Security Council and the Secretariat to continue to build on these consultation mechanisms through continuous dialogue. Regular consultation during the life cycle of a mission is a positive first step in building the trust and confidence necessary for establishing unity of purpose.
Mission mandates, the basis for effective peacekeeping, need to be clear and achievable from the outset. In addition, mandate renewals need to entail a full, cooperative confirmation of directives and rationales, rather than simply adding new and possibly conflicting tasks onto existing ones. Ensuring that missions are adequately resourced for success is an essential precursor for any deployment. Mission planning, including Technical Assessment Missions, must take into account a realistic view of both resource requirements and resource constraints, while not allowing potential limitations in available forces to prejudge the feasibility of missions for which there is a clearly identified need. As far as possible, mandates should include benchmarks for evaluating progress that can assist, along with Technical Assessment Missions, decisions about re-shaping or ending deployments.
Mr. Chairman,
CANZ would like to draw attention to the statement of Mr Le Roy during the Security Council’s open debate on peacekeeping in August of this year, where he identified three critical issues noted in the New Horizon discussion paper where a common understanding does not exist; these are, robust peacekeeping, protection of civilians, and peacebuilding. The recent attacks on peacekeepers are a sad but timely indicator of the essential need to come to a consensus on these subjects.
The prevalence of the lingering forces of war and violence in post-conflict situations, where capable state institutions are still developing, argues for peacekeepers to have the effective means to deter or prevent militant attempts to undermine progress in peace efforts. As a result of these threats, peacekeeping forces, both military and police, are being called upon to execute a wider range of tasks than traditional missions have demanded. A robust approach to peacekeeping requires both mandates and force constructs to be designed to optimize flexibility, responsiveness and mobility. Equally, inherent adaptability to changing conditions on the ground must be an essential characteristic of any mission.
In order to ensure that the mission objectives established by the Security Council can be met in these circumstances, Member States need to come to a shared understanding on the tasks peacekeepers may be expected to perform, and what implications robust peacekeeping may have on operational requirements. CANZ looks forward to further discussions with the Secretariat and other Member States to develop such a shared understanding on these requirements.
Consistent with the contemporary operational environment, it is essential that modern technologies be exploited fully to provide force commanders with timely and accurate information in order to effectively pre-empt or react to threats to security. Additionally, forces require the mobility to effectively address these threats, often over extremes of terrain and distance. In this regard, CANZ remains interested in the Secretariat’s analysis and recommendations with respect to the management and use of military utility helicopters in peacekeeping missions.
Mr. Chairman,
Although the UN Security Council has mandated the protection of civilians in peacekeeping missions since 1999, it remains one of the least understood concepts for peacekeepers to implement on the ground. CANZ maintains its concern that military and police personnel tasked to protect civilians do not have appropriate guidance to effectively implement protection mandates. The lack of operational guidance also limits due consideration of the resources necessary to implement a protection mandate throughout the life cycle of a mission, which puts at risk the safety and security of the deployed peacekeepers, as well as the civilians they are tasked to protect. The development of operational norms and standards is an essential component of providing clear and achievable guidance to deployed operations. We therefore request that DPKO, in consultation with the wider UN community, commence developing operational guidelines and training standards, as a matter of priority, to assist mission personnel to effectively implement protection mandates.
CANZ supports the ongoing attention that the Secretariat and the Security Council continue to give to the protection of civilians. We look forward to the forthcoming independently commissioned DPKO-OCHA study on protection of civilians, which will provide a much-needed body of evidence to further inform the development of norms and standards. We also look forward to the Secretary-General’s response to the Special Committee’s request earlier this year for an assessment of the adequacy of the provisions of resources, training and concepts of operations, based on lessons learned, to achieve protection mandates. CANZ hopes that these studies will be able to build upon and share some of the lessons being learned in the field, to ensure all peacekeepers are better equipped to meet the expectations of the entire international community in protecting civilians.
Mr. Chairman,
Peacekeeping operations cannot be seen as a substitute for diplomacy or political solutions to conflicts. Indeed, the sustainability of stable security environments established through peacekeeping activities is wholly dependent upon commensurately improving political and economic situations. Establishing peacebuilding priorities frames the activities which must be conducted in order to optimize stabilization efforts. CANZ is encouraged by greater coordination both within the Secretariat and at the country level in addressing post-conflict situations through better integrated political, security and development efforts. We welcome the efforts of the Peace Building Commission, the encouraging results that it has achieved in the overall effort to consolidate post-conflict recovery and rehabilitation, and the strengthening of foundations for socio-economic development in the countries on its agenda. It is critical in this respect that the Peacebuilding Support Office be engaged at an early stage in the development of strategies for sequencing, resourcing and implementing mandated early safety and security stabilization tasks, as requested by the Special Committee in March 2009. The development of indicators and benchmarks of progress is also required to form the basis of a transition policy that would clarify when and how a peacekeeping mission evolves into a peacebuilding one. It is important to progress the various initiatives with a view to enhancing the coherence of political, security and development work, particularly the acceleration of the pace of the latter.
Mr. Chairman,
As the demand for peacekeeping operations continues to grow, regional organisations have demonstrated their importance in managing, and providing further support to peacekeeping operations, as demonstrated by the work of the African Union in Somalia. CANZ is committed to supporting the development of peacekeeping capacities of regional organizations. It is critical that the UN support the efforts of regional organisations and those assisting them, by demonstrating leadership in developing the guidance necessary to ensure commonality of standards and procedures.
Mr Chairman,
The growing importance of the role of police in missions in supporting security sector development and reform highlights the fundamental principle of police primacy in the maintenance of law and order of. In this context, recognising the findings of the 2008 audit of UN police operations management and the report of the Panel of Experts on the Standing Police Capacity, CANZ urges the Secretariat to pursue a greater degree of coordination with Police Contributing Countries in all stages of peacekeeping operations.
The work done to date in the development of Formed Police Unit capacities is welcomed by the CANZ Group. While the results are encouraging, we urge the Secretariat to continue efforts to strengthen police operations and enhance standardisation amongst deployed organisations. This includes the development of policies, doctrine, operating guidelines, recruiting and evaluation criteria, as well as common pre-deployment training. In addition, mission planners must recognize the evolving nature of the criminal threats that exist in the post-conflict environments in which peacekeeping occurs. It is essential that requirements for specific police experts, whether in the field of counter-narcotics, organised crime, or logistics, be identified and provided to missions. Indeed, the Secretariat must also capitalize on the lessons learned from specific missions which could have utility in other regions. The Transnational Organised Crime Coordination Unit concept in use in Sierra Leone is one example which may have application in other UN missions early in the security sector reform and rule of law planning process.
Mr Chairman,
Turning to the support to peacekeeping operations, CANZ welcomes the direction proposed by the DFS mid-point paper on a new support strategy. We are encouraged by many of the core themes outlined in the paper and look forward to DFS continuing to engage Member States as detailed analysis progresses. CANZ is eager to see the completed comprehensive Support Strategy, due by end-2009, which will allow for detailed discussion of the proposals and the development of an implementation plan that sees a phased approach of agreed initiatives by priority. As operations inherently rely upon support activities to maximize effectiveness, it is essential that the development of the new Strategy keep pace with the discussions on the new partnership agenda.
Mr. Chairman,
In considering the institutional capacity of the Secretariat to effectively manage and sustain peacekeeping operations, CANZ is encouraged by the continued strengthening of the organization’s operational capabilities. We look forward to the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of the strengthening of the Office of Military Affairs and its impact on the organization and capacities of the Office. It will be important that the report clearly articulate the strategic and operational benefits accrued to date and the expected results from continued capability enhancement. Clear objectives for strengthening capacity must be established and identified and must be linked to defined benchmarks against which improvement can be measured. In this regard, the Member States will be able to truly evaluate progress and assess deficiencies. In addition, CANZ looks forward to seeing how the Secretariat plans to manage surge and stand-up capacity requirements, and the further development of the Integrated Mission Planning Process. We continue to encourage the Secretariat to examine its Human Resource processes with a view to improving the timeliness of the recruitment and appointment of new staff.
Mr. Chairman,
The discussions over the past year, culminating in the release of a comprehensive proposal for change in how peacekeeping operations are shaped, planned for, executed on the ground and supported, present Member States the opportunity to engage fully in meaningful and detailed discussion and to arrive at decisions on the future of UN peacekeeping. CANZ have been active supporters of UN peacekeeping from its very beginning and are committed to continuing to work with our fellow Member States and the Secretariat to create the optimal conditions for mission success. Recognition of the evolving nature of the peacekeeping environment is but the first step. What must follow is a full examination of both the DPKO/DFS discussion paper and the Support Strategy with a view to achieving a consensus on charting the new horizons embodied within them.