 |
| Security Council debates peacekeeping [UN Photo/JC McIlwaine] |
New York: The United Nations (UN) Security Council has endorsed an
approach to peacekeeping that focuses on laying the groundwork for lasting
stability in conflict-plagued countries, in the midst of a day-long meeting
opened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Though the unanimous adoption of resolution 2086 (2013), the
15-member body emphasized that "United Nations peacekeeping activities
should be conducted in a manner so as to facilitate post-conflict peace
building, prevention of relapse of armed conflict and progress toward
sustainable peace and development."
Endorsing an approach that goes well beyond the basic tasks
of monitoring ceasefires and peace processes, the resolution states that
multidimensional peacekeeping missions may be mandated to support a range of
activities that aimed at future stability.
Such efforts included the strengthening of national security
sectors, the implementation of programs to reintegrate ex-combatants into
civilian life, the strengthening of rule of law, reconciliation and inclusive
political processes, protection of civilians and their rights, building of
governance institutions and delivery of humanitarian aid.
With the aim of supporting national governments in those
efforts, the Council stressed the need for personnel with suitable skills and
the importance of wide partnerships among international, regional,
non-governmental and other organizations, with clear roles for all actors.
In his opening remarks, the Secretary-General called on UN
Member States to support this approach in an integrated, coherent manner.
He pointed out the need to do more than integrating the work
of the United Nations system. He said that "we have to coordinate with
other international partners", stressing however, that better coordination
has to extend to regional organizations, the World Bank, bilateral donors and
countries in the region, aligned with national priorities developed in
consultation with a broad cross-section of civil society.
And when it came to the security of the civilian population
Ban also noted that host states were "ultimately responsible for ensuring
the protection of civilians", pointing out that effective institutions
were "essential to this effort".
Ban said that the national counterparts "must take this
obligation seriously, as peacekeeping operations can never act as their
surrogate in protecting the civilians within their borders".
In his remarks, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Abbas Jilani who
chaired the meeting affirmed the importance of UN peacekeeping which he said
had saved tens of millions of lives around the globe. Jilani noted the success
of the multidimensional approach in missions such as the ones in Burundi,
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, yet, he said that "there are
situations where challenges are larger than the UN wherewithal. This calls for
a more calibrated response".
Mike Kelly, Australia's Parliamentary Secretary of Defence
said that while building national capacity his country had identified the need
for inclusive and transparent political mechanisms and processes as well as the
imperative of the evolving national institutions and good governance which can
minimize and hopefully eliminate corruption. Nothing is ore corrosive to the
progress of peace building".
While recognizing that one of the UN strengths was that it
could deploy "a truly multidisciplinary response" in a way that other
actors couldn't, he said that was only an asset "if the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts which requires deep and sustained intromission
cooperation".
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant noting that since 2009
the Secretary-General had "consistently" identified the need for the
UN to "broaden and deepen" the pool of civilian expertise complained
about the fact that recent figures showed that "over twenty percent of
civilian rule of law posts in UN missions remains vacant. This shortfall is
unacceptable and we must deal with it".
And French Ambassador Gerard Araud noted the need to be able
to "draw up exit strategies" from crisis ensuring a lasting return to
peace.
Araud said that Peacekeeping operations were "not aimed
at lasting forever" for this reason he said the organization "must
draw operational conclusions on the gap between peacekeeping and peace building
so that each stage of the United Nations presence prepares for the subsequent
stage in order to better to anticipate and predict exit strategies". -UNifeed