GA/PK/209
Special Committee on
Peacekeeping Operations
222nd & 223rd Meetings (AM & PM)
Field Support Chief Stresses Importance Of Flexibility, Professionalism in Anticipating Security Challenges
The overall structure and systems on which United Nations peacekeeping relied were “not always optimal” and it was a common duty among all stakeholders — Headquarters, regional organizations, United Nations agencies and Member States alike — to determine which components could be improved in the coming years, Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today.
“The stakes are high” and the challenges were constantly evolving, Mr. Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, emphasized at the start of the Special Committee’s 2012 substantive session. Some missions had been charged with a traditional role, such as monitoring a ceasefire, while others had taken on the implementation of peace agreements, the protection of civilians, the facilitation of humanitarian assistance and support for electoral processes. While that multidimensional response to conflict had made peacekeeping more robust, it also required identifying diverse capacities and building global partnerships, he noted.
With that in mind, it was essential that mission leaders be empowered to lead through better implementation of the architecture underpinning “command-and-control” arrangements, he said. Gaps in critical assets, such as military helicopters, must be closed, especially in South Sudan’s Jonglei State and in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. A study was under way to determine the feasibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles in South Sudan, he said, noting a belief that their use during the crisis in Jonglei State would have helped the Government of South Sudan protect civilians.
Further, leadership must be able to count on realistic, achievable mandates from the Security Council, adequate resources and professional execution of mandated tasks, he said. A high priority in the year ahead would centre on the conduct of peacekeepers and redoubled efforts to eliminate breaches of discipline, he said, emphasizing that his office needed the full support from Member States in ensuring compliance with the “zero tolerance” policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. For their part, the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support would work to ensure that all peacekeeping components were “well prepared, equipped and enabled to deliver”.
In that context, Susanna Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, said it was important to address — and anticipate — security challenges with flexibility and professionalism. Over the past year, the Department of Field Support had continued its implementation of the Global Field Support Strategy, moving towards managing field support through a professional, structured and systematic approach that could easily be adapted to a variety of operational environments.
Acting General Assembly President Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou ( Benin) said on behalf of President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser that, going forward, there would be a need to maximize the use of national capacities from the beginning by providing rapid international civilian assistance. The United Nations would work closely with host countries, which bore primary responsibility for the security of their own territories.
Special Committee Chair U. Joy Ogwu ( Nigeria) said the changing dynamics in the scope and complexity of peacekeeping operations underlined the need to handle each situation according to its “uniqueness”, while bearing in mind the paramount safety of United Nations peacekeepers. The ascendance of specialist peacekeepers over generalists called for a total reorientation for pre-deployment and deployment training, as well as enhancing the national capacities of troop contributors.
On that point, several of the more than 15 speakers participating in today’s general debate said that the role of troop- and police-contributing countries should remain a top priority, emphasizing that their participation in policy formulation and decision-making from the start was vital to the effectiveness of any partnership. India’s delegate described the United Nations approach to peacekeeping as “Headquarter-driven”, calling for a fair division of intellectual and field burdens in peacekeeping, which would strengthen the democratic core of the existing peacekeeping partnership by making it participative and representative. “Our thoughts and theories lack fair representation of the views of the wider membership,” he pointed out.
Other speakers stressed that, while guidance was welcome, too many Secretariat directives on what peacekeeping could and could not do, “killed its very purpose”. Morocco’s representative said peacekeepers had become overburdened in a way that diverted them from maintaining peace. “Peacekeepers are not engineers, they are not doctors; they are certainly not advisers to local populations,” he said. “Let us refocus on what they do best.”
In other business during today’s meeting, the Special Committee re-elected Ms. Ogwu ( Nigeria), by acclamation, as Chair, Mohamed Sarwat Selim ( Egypt) as Rapporteur and the following as Vice Chairs: Mateo Estreme ( Argentina); Gilles Rivard ( Canada); Kazutoshi Aikawa ( Japan); and Zbigniew Szlęk ( Poland).
The Special Committee also decided to create a Working Group of the Whole to consider the recommendations to be included in its report to the Assembly, with Mr. Rivard ( Canada) as Chair.
It also adopted its provisional agenda, a draft programme of work for the current session, and approved, as orally revised, a draft decision on working methods, which took into account comments made at the Special Committee’s informal meeting on 2 February. The representatives of Morocco and Canada spoke after that action.
Speaking during the general debate were representatives of Egypt (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Chile (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), New Zealand (also on behalf of Canada and Australia), Thailand (on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations), Russian Federation, Senegal, Ukraine, Cuba, Norway, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Venezuela and Kenya. A representative of the European Union also delivered a statement.
The Special Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 22 February, to continue its general debate.