Summary: EU Presidency Statement - Comprehensive review of Peacekeeping Operations (21 October 2005: New York)
UK Statement on Behalf of the European Union by Mr Adam Thomson, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UNITED KINGDOM MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (4th Committee) on the Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peacekeeping Operations In All Their Aspects, New York
EU 4TH COMMITTEE STATEMENT: 21st OCTOBER 2005
Mr Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA country Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this
statement.
United Nations peacekeeping has evolved considerably since the Brahimi recommendations of 2000. The last 2½ years in particular have seen an unprecedented surge in activity. Five new UN peacekeeping operations and reinforcement to existing missions has doubled the number of troops and police deployed to almost 70,000. This figure continues to rise as the UN Mission in Sudan deploys. The EU commends the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for the manner in which it has dealt with the
peacekeeping surge in partnership with troop and police contributors. The EU also reaffirms its own enduring commitment to maintaining peace, both through our financial contribution of over 40% of the assessed peacekeeping budget and through the deployment of troops and police to UN and other international peace missions.
But the evolution has been more than quantitative, as the nature of peacekeeping operations has become increasingly multi-dimensional. This has highlighted the need for a more integrated approach and a greater degree of civil-military co-ordination as well as co-ordination between the UN and international actors in order to produce a coherent and timely response. The World Summit recognised this evolution and has placed a responsibility on all of us to effect the necessary change. The EU looks
forward to working closely with the UN and the international community in this respect, and wishes to highlight four areas, which it sees as a priority over the next 12 months: enhancing the UN's operational capability; co-operation and capacity building with regional organisations and actors; building a sustainable peace; and misconduct.
Enhancing Operational Capability
The UN's operational capability continues to improve incrementally, and indeed this year, we have seen a number of current initiatives take effect. The EU welcomes and supports the ongoing efforts of DPKO to implement the Standard Training Modules (STM) and Senior Mission Leadership courses to better prepare peacekeepers and senior mission staff for operations, as well as the decision announced yesterday to create an Integrated Training Service. Collective pre-deployment training for mission
headquarters has also contributed to more effective mission start-up. In addition the EU welcomes the wider use of pre-existing headquarters in the initial phase of a peacekeeping operation to achieve the necessary degree of command, control and cohesion in implementing complex mandates.
The EU fully supports the World Summit decision to endorse the creation of an initial operating capability for a standing police capacity, which will provide both a start-up capability for the policing component of peacekeeping missions and assist existing missions through the provision of advice and expertise. This represents a step-change in UN policing efforts, which will enhance its capacity in an area of growing importance and complexity. The EU looks forward to this concept becoming
operational in July 2006.
The Summit also urged further development of proposals for enhanced rapidly deployable capacities to reinforce peacekeeping operations in crisis. The EU notes that a collaborative work is underway between DPKO and troop contributors and recognises that there are a number of options to meet this capability gap. These include the creation of a UN strategic reserve proposed by Under Secretary General Guehenno, the use of temporary reinforcements from neighbouring missions, or the possibility of
employing existing high readiness forces through strategic international partnerships, such as the EU Battlegroups under appropriate circumstances. The EU looks forward to the development of a detailed proposal for consideration by the next session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping, underlining the need for complementarity with the efforts of the EU and other regional entities concerning rapid deployment, standby and bridging capacities.
As part of this work the EU welcomes the comprehensive review of the UN Standby Arrangements System announced yesterday, with the objective of making it a genuinely usable tool for generating rapidly deployable forces. The EU would also wish to see wider and more detailed consideration by DPKO of inter-mission support, both in terms of reinforcement, use of assets and joint operations where borders are contiguous.
A further issue in relation to enhancing the UN's operational capability is that of information gathering and intelligence-led operations. The events of the last 12 months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have demonstrated the need for the UN to have an effective information gathering capability at the operational level to ensure the safety and security of its personnel and implement its mandate. The EU has offered MONUC the use of its satellite centre for this purpose. The EU regrets
that it has still not been possible to fully implement the Joint Mission Analysis Cell concept across all UN missions and would welcome an update from DPKO on plans to achieve this and other measures for a more effective operational capability. Now that the Department of Safety and Security has established itself, the EU would also welcome greater clarity on the linkages and division of responsibility with DPKO at both the operational and strategic level.
Co-operation with Regional Organisations and Actors, and Capacity-Building
The Summit recognised the important contribution to peace and security by regional organisations, and the need to forge predictable relationships with the UN pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Charter. The EU's Operation Artemis in the DRC in 2003 has shown what can be achieved, clearly demonstrating the engagement of the EU in support of more effective multilateralism, through the development of its crisis management capabilities. Today the EU remains very much engaged in the DRC using its full
policy mix notably through EUPol and EUSec, as well as support to army restructuring ("centres de brassages") and to the electoral process. Over the last 12 months, the vital role being played by the AU mission in Darfur provides a clear example both of their potential and the need for such strategic partnerships. The EU, UN and more recently NATO have all offered substantive support to AMIS, along with the US, Canada and other bi-lateral partners, and we should seek to build on this
foundation.
The EU is fully committed to the continued development of the EU-UN Joint Declaration on co-operation in crisis management. The EU has developed a global approach to crisis management: one which is neither exclusively civilian nor exclusively military. Our doctrine departs from a vision of the world based on shared interests and on the will to defend them through indispensable partnerships. We therefore welcome discussion on how we might broaden such co-operation to include the AU and other
partners. There is scope for enhanced co-operation and partnership in a range of areas; rapid deployment, shared doctrine, planning expertise and training are just examples. The dialogue on cross-cutting issues such as rule of law, DDR, SSR, and gender could also be enhanced. Establishing a framework to operationalise such practical co-operation would do much to enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of international peacekeeping efforts.
A subset of this issue is capacity building for the African Union and the African sub-regional organisations, where the Summit expressed support for the development and implementation of a ten year plan. The EU continues to contribute to both AMIS and wider AU capacity building through the Peace Facility with 98 million euros committed to date. In conjunction with the AU, the G8 are also devoting substantial effort to support the development of the African Standby Force. However, we must ensure
these efforts are co-ordinated, and above all delivering what the AU requires. This links to my earlier remarks on the need for a framework for wider co-operation.
Building a sustainable peace
As the World Summit recognised, development, peace and security and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The EU strongly believes that in order to build sustainable peace, peacebuilding activities need to start from the very outset and alongside more traditional peacekeeping activities. Action to re-establish of the rule of law, take forward DDR, rebuild of government institutions, strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights, kick-start economic recovery and
promote gender equality will underpin efforts on the security side and vice versa.
Unfortunately, efforts of the international community in peacebuilding have all too often been marked by piecemeal and uncoordinated action, and lacking in national ownership. In too many countries this has produced only a fragile peace that has unravelled over time, resulting in a relapse into conflict. The Peacebuilding Commission, which our leaders agreed to establish at the Summit, seeks to fill these gaps. It will promote better co-ordination both within the UN and between the UN and other
international actors such as the BWI, donors, troop contributors and regional organisations and sustain political attention and financing for the country. The EU is keen to see the Commission established by the end of this year and trusts that DPKO will play a full role in support of the work of the Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office.
A key supporting element to ensuring more coherent activity in UN missions, is integrated mission planning. The EU welcomes the work that is now being taken forward by DPKO, UNDG and ECHA to define a model for UN integrated planning and to strengthen capacity for integrated planning so that the development and humanitarian agencies and DPKO will be able to plan more effectively together. As part of the process of mission planning, the EU also calls upon DPKO to enter into dialogue with
potential troop contributors much earlier in the development of the mission concept of operations to facilitate national military planning and force generation, thus reducing deployment times.
Misconduct
The EU condemns, in the strongest terms all acts of sexual abuse and exploitation committed by United Nations peacekeeping personnel and emphasises once again that misconduct by peacekeeping personnel is unacceptable and must not be tolerated by the UN or Member States. We reiterate the importance of urgent action on sexual exploitation and abuse. In this regard we welcome the recent proposal to amend MoUs to reflect the responsibilities of TCCs. However, while there has been some welcome
progress in tackling this difficult and sensitive issue, sexual exploitation and abuse remains a significant problem in many missions. Both DPKO and we as TCCs need to do much more to implement the decisions we took earlier this year in the C34 including the enforcement of the Secretary General's zero tolerance policy with a particular emphasis on effective prevention; a responsibility which managers and commanders must not shirk. Together we must do our utmost to solve this problem and be much
more transparent in the way we handle it. If we fail to do so, we do nothing less than risk the success of the mission and put the future of UN peacekeeping in jeopardy.
The EU also looks forward to receiving the Secretary General's proposal for a comprehensive approach to victims assistance as requested in the Summit Outcome document and urges the timely implementation of the recommendations in the report of the C-34.
A crucial factor in preventing misconduct is capacity building in the area of human rights and the widespread mainstreaming of gender awareness across peacekeeping missions. Systematic change is needed so that gender issues are included in pre mission planning and mission implementation, as well as crucially continuing into the post-mission phase. The EU urges DPKO to work with the UN Country Team to ensure that sufficient human rights and gender expertise remains in countries to assist the
national government when a peacekeeping mission withdraws.
Mr Chairman,
In closing, I restate the EU's appreciation of the efforts of DPKO in weathering the challenges of the recent peacekeeping surge and for continuing to manage the complexities of 18 concurrent missions. There is much that now needs to be done to follow up on the work of the Summit, if we are ensure that UN peacekeeping is equal to the challenges of increasingly complex, multi-dimensional operations. In this context, we welcome the proposal of the Bureau of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping
for a more interactive committee process in the coming session, which focuses on substantive discussion of these issues.
Finally 5 years on from Brahimi and in light of the recent Summit's conclusions it is timely for USG Guehenno to review the structure and operation of DPKO to ensure that it is equipped and ready for the challenges which lie ahead. We support fully his decision announced yesterday to do just that.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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