SECRETARY-GENERAL TO CONVENE SECOND MEETING BETWEEN UN AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Press Release
SG/2020
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO CONVENE SECOND MEETING BETWEEN UN AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
19960212 Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali will convene the second meeting between the United Nations and regional organizations on cooperation in peacemaking, peace-keeping and other fields at Headquarters on 15 and 16 February. In addition, the meeting will consider cooperation in preventive diplomacy and post-conflict peace-building.Thirteen regional organizations, as well as the President of the General Assembly, Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), and the President of the Security Council for the month of February, Madeleine Albright (United States), are expected to attend.
The senior officials of regional organizations expected to attend include: Ajit Singh, Secretary-General, Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN); Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General, Caribbean Community (CARICOM); Ivan M. Korotchenya, Executive Secretary, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Secretary-General, Commonwealth Secretariat; Edouard E. Benjamin, Executive Secretary, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Francesco Paolo Fulci, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, representing the Presidency of the European Union, and representatives of the Commission; Mowaffak Allaf, Assistant Secretary-General, League of Arab States; Gebhardy von Moltke, Assistant Secretary-General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); Wilhelm Höynck, Secretary-General, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General, Organization of African Unity (OAU); César Gaviria, Secretary General, Organization of American States (OAS); Engin Ahmed Ansay, representing the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); and José Cutileiro, Secretary-General, Western European Union (WEU).
The meeting -- part of an ongoing effort initiated by the Secretary- General to enhance dialogue between the United Nations and regional organizations -- will provide an opportunity for an exchange of views in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping operations. Topics for discussion include evolving patterns of cooperation, principles for improved cooperation, peace-building and modalities for continuing dialogue between the United Nations and regional organizations.
Ten regional organizations attended the first meeting on cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in peace-keeping and other fields, convened by the Secretary-General on 1 August 1994. At that meeting, the participants discussed three main topics -- areas of intervention, principles of action and modalities for cooperation. It was agreed that, rather than a universal model for cooperation, it would be more appropriate to develop a flexible, pragmatic approach on a case-by-case basis. Lack of financial and other resources was cited by some participants as the most serious obstacle to initiating regional activities to promote peace. Exchange of information on emerging crises at an early stage was cited as the key to closer coordination between the United Nations and regional organizations.
Provision is made for cooperation with regional organizations in the United Nations Charter. Chapter VIII states that nothing in the Charter "precludes the existence of regional arrangements or agencies for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action, provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations". It further states, "The Security Council shall encourage the development of pacific settlement of local disputes through such arrangements or by such regional agencies either on the initiative of the States concerned or by reference from the Security Council."
In January 1993, the Security Council, while reaffirming its own primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, invited regional organizations and arrangements to study ways to strengthen their functions in this field and to further improve coordination of their efforts with those of the United Nations. In its resolution 48/42, the General Assembly welcomed the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop a set of guidelines governing cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. The Assembly has pursued the question of cooperation with regional organizations in its working groups on An Agenda for Peace.
In the Supplement to An Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General outlined five different forms of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations on peace and security questions: regular consultations, in some cases governed by formal agreements, including annual meetings or reports to the General Assembly; diplomatic support, such as cooperation between the United Nations and OSCE in Georgia/Abkhazia and in Nagorny Karabakh; operational support, such as that of NATO for the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during United Nations operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina; co-deployment, such as with CIS in Georgia and Tajikistan and with ECOWAS in Liberia; and joint operations, as with OAS in the human rights mission in Haiti. In his 1995 annual report on the work of the Organization, the Secretary-General noted that this cooperation serves to facilitate the work of
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the Security Council, delegating responsibility to the concerned States and organizations of the region concerned, thereby promoting the democratization of international relations.
In the supplement to An Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General also identified four principles governing such cooperation:
-- Agreed mechanisms for consultation should be established, but need not be formal.
-- The primacy of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security, as set out in the Charter, must be respected.
-- The division of labour must be clearly defined and agreed upon in order to avoid overlap and institutional rivalry where the United Nations and a regional organization are both working on the same conflict.
-- Consistency by members of regional organizations which are also Member States of the United Nations is needed in dealing with a common problem of interest to both organizations.
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