United Nations Security Council
28 March 2007
The relationship between the UN and regional organisations,
in particular the AU, in the maintenance of international peace and security
Statement by HE the Hon Robert Hill
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of Australia to the United Nations
(Check against delivery)
Mr President,
Australia welcomes the opportunity to discuss these important issues. We congratulate South Africa, in particular, for initiating this open meeting.
It goes without saying that the UN, and particularly the Security Council, plays a vital role in the maintenance of international peace and security. But the UN cannot and does not provide assistance to every State threatened by conflict or instability.
Rightly, there is a growing recognition among States of the important contribution regional organisations and arrangements can make to the maintenance of international peace and security. Australia welcomes this trend.
Given the shared responsibilities and interwoven interests of their member States, regional organisations and arrangements are often uniquely placed to respond to challenges to regional peace and security. Their efforts should be complementary to the UN’s purposes and principles, and, as is proper, are often undertaken in close cooperation with the UN.
But there remains scope to enhance the interaction between the UN and regional organisations and arrangements. Australia welcomes regular dialogue between the UN and regional organisations and arrangements, including exchanges of information to avoid duplication of effort, sharing of operational experiences, joint training, and personnel exchanges.
Efforts by the UN and regional organisations and arrangements to maintain international peace and security must be complementary, and based on an assessment of comparative advantage. The UN and regional organisations should share experiences and lessons learned, not only concerning how to end conflict, but also concerning how to prevent conflict. Together, we must develop more proactive strategies for heading off the likely emergence, or often the re-emergence, of conflict.
Australia has played an active role in leading regional responses in our own region, in East Timor, Bougainville, Fiji and Solomon Islands. Participation of regional States, together with UN endorsement and involvement, helps to ensure the legitimacy of these operations, and continued regional support.
For example, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has assumed a leading role in efforts to return Fiji to democracy, consistent with the Nasonini Declaration on Regional Security adopted by PIF leaders in August 2002. That Declaration committed PIF States to ‘act collectively in response to security challenges including the adverse effects of globalisation such as transnational crimes, and unlawful challenges to national integrity and independence’.
As a further example, all sixteen members of the PIF have committed personnel to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). At their most recent meeting in Nadi in October 2006, PIF leaders agreed it was important for RAMSI to continue, acknowledging the strong contribution RAMSI had made to the restoration of security, governance and rehabilitation of the economy of Solomon Islands. Endorsement by the UN and the Commonwealth Secretariat demonstrated the wider level of international support for RAMSI.
In these and other examples, the contribution and participation of regional personnel results in a level of ownership, and belief in what are regional solutions to regional problems. The engagement of regional States to resolve a regional conflict helps to ensure appropriate treatment of cultural sensitivities on the ground, as neighbouring States are often more familiar with the cultural context in which they operate.
The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is the Asia-Pacific’s primary and most inclusive forum for multilateral security dialogue and cooperation. Australia is currently promoting within the ARF civilian-to-military and military-to-military cooperation on disaster relief. We plan to co-host with Indonesia in early 2008 an ARF exercise to develop standard operating procedures for use in regional disaster response.
Australia strongly supports collaboration between the UN and the ARF. We co-hosted with Malaysia the inaugural ARF Peacekeeping Experts Meeting in Malaysia in March 2007, where the Deputy Chief of the Integrated Training Service from the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations presented the keynote address.
In this context of our own extensive involvement in regional organisations and arrangements in the Asia-Pacific, Australia warmly welcomes the AU’s commitment to assist in the resolution of African conflicts. We applaud the AU’s significant role in efforts to resolve a number of serious conflicts, including through mediation and the provision of peacekeeping forces in Burundi, Darfur and now Somalia.
The AU should be a priority partner for the Security Council. Cooperation between the UN and the AU should continue to be enhanced, including through the provision of capacity-building support. And individual States and other regional organisations can also help to build AU capacity, which will be to the benefit of us all. In the days of a globalised world, peace and security in any one continent has flow-on benefits.
Australia looks forward to working with the UN and other States to share our experiences and lessons learned in helping regions to manage their conflicts, and to explore ways in which the UN can support regional organisations and arrangements. We encourage further interaction between the Secretariat, regional organisations and arrangements, and relevant States to develop these mechanisms.
Thank you, Mr President.