LINKS BETWEEN PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT EMPHASIZED BY SPEAKERS AS GENERAL DEBATE CONTINUES IN PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
Press Release
GA/PK/146
LINKS BETWEEN PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT EMPHASIZED BY SPEAKERS AS GENERAL DEBATE CONTINUES IN PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
19970410 Concern Expressed over Recruitment and Assignment of Loaned And Sponsored Officers; Ghana Says Process Remains `Shrouded in Mystery'Development should be considered as an important corollary to peace- keeping and peacemaking, the representative of Jamaica told the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, as it continued its general debate this afternoon.
Commitment to the goals of international peace and security was meaningless without a commitment to foster sustained economic growth and sustainable development, she continued. When a community could meet vital social and economic needs of its population, a significant source of possible tension was removed. The link between peace and development could not be over-emphasized, she added.
The representative of Brazil said humanitarian relief must be viewed within the much broader framework of efforts to address the root causes of conflict. If left unresolved, the problems of poverty, economic and social inequality and unsustainable patterns of development were liable to lead to violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, widespread loss of life and property and the ultimate collapse of the fabric of society.
While humanitarian assistance was important and indispensable, the representative of Poland said, it addressed symptoms and not causes of existing crises and conflicts. With such crises or conflicts assuming international proportion, the ways and means to make the parties concerned speak to each other must be found in order to negotiate and to reach a peaceful solution.
Other speakers referred to their concern over the continued resort to loaned and sponsored officers for peace-keeping operations. The representative of Ghana expressed regret that despite numerous questions, "the recruitment and assignment of loaned and sponsored officers remained shrouded in mystery". The situation was not viewed favourably by the vast majority of States and the Secretariat could not continue to ignore those concerns, he added.
Also speaking in the general debate were the representatives of Indonesia, Slovakia, Mexico, Tunisia, India, Philippines, Chile and Kazakstan.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 11 April, to continue its general debate.
Special Committee Work Programme
The Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations met this afternoon to continue its general debate on all aspects of those operations. Under the mandate entrusted to it by General Assembly resolution 51/136 of 13 December 1996, the Committee was also to review the implementation of its previous proposals and consider new proposals so as to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to fulfil its peace-keeping responsibilities. (For background information, see Press Release GA/PK/145 of 10 April.)
Statements
ZBIGNIEW MATUSZEWSKI (Poland) said his Government welcomed progress in improving the United Nations peace-keeping rapid deployment capacity. It also agreed with the Secretary-General that a broader geographic base of available resources and proper mix of troops and supporting units were needed. The further development of the concept of a Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ), to which the Group of Friends of Rapid Deployment had been significantly contributing, was welcome. However, all those efforts addressed only one side of United Nations peace-keeping: the improvement of its preparedness to act swiftly when the need arises. On the other hand, how to evaluate that need and what specific means were to be employed in the given circumstances were questions that were increasingly difficult to answer.
He went on to say that while it was risky to speak about the future, it was reasonable to expect that the demand for United Nations peace-keeping operations would be at least equalled by the need to address the intra-State crises and armed conflicts, as well as the humanitarian requirements of groups of populations otherwise bound to suffer. Humanitarian assistance, however important and indispensable it was in any given place, addressed symptoms and not causes of existing crises and conflicts. With such crises or conflicts assuming international proportion, the ways and means to make the parties concerned speak to each other must be found in order to negotiate and to reach a peaceful solution. The United Nations should not doubt the links between its assistance in resolving the crises and the parties' willingness and ability to enter into, resume or continue meaningful tasks with a view to arriving at a mutually acceptable outcome.
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Great importance had to be attached to cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in Africa, he said, expressing support for the concept of enhancing African countries own capacities for peace-keeping operations. That subject needed to be explored further, especially with regard to its financial and various operational dimensions. While advocating an increased use of the potential regional organizations and arrangements, Poland was against a uniform model of cooperation between them and the United Nations. One of the most promising directions of further work in that area stemmed mainly from those bodies "proximity" to the conflicts and, consequently, their comparative advantages with respect to early-warning, conflict-prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation.
ANTONIUS AGUS SRIYONO (Indonesia) said that reforms undertaken by the Department of Peace-keeping Operations were of paramount importance to strengthen peace-keeping operations. Those initiatives included the establishment of a Policy and Analysis Unit and Lessons Learned Unit to re- examine the policy of peace-keeping and avoid mistakes of the past in future operations. Equally important was the establishment of the Training Unit. An important fact for effective peace-keeping was the input of troop-contributing countries on questions of determining mandates, reviewing operation plans and working out rules of engagement. He hoped that the step taken by the Security Council last year would lead to the consideration of establishing viable mechanisms to strengthen the relationship between the Council and troop- contributing countries.
He said that now was an opportune time to discuss the matter of operational demining. Mine-clearance activities in the context of peace- keeping operations could be carried out within the scope of their mandates and towards ensuring the safety and security of United Nations personnel. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs should remain the focal point for demining activities, he said, expressing support for an integrated approach to mine- clearance.
His Government supported the stand-by arrangement, he said. The establishment of a RDMHQ should be explored further, taking into account various implications. The discussions should be transparent and the Committee should be kept fully informed of the progress achieved.
For geographical, historical and cultural reasons, he said, regional organizations were uniquely placed to propose solutions to local conflicts. He also drew attention to the growing number of gratis or loaned officers in peace-keeping activities, which was creating an imbalance in staffing to the detriment of the developing countries. It was imperative for Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions, he stressed.
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IRENA BELOHORSKA (Slovakia) said maintaining international peace and security was and would remain a primary purpose of the United Nations, but the Organization could not succeed alone in that task. In matters of peace- keeping the international community must cooperate and coordinate its activities at all levels and at all times. It was encouraging to see that regional organizations were undertaking increasing responsibilities for the maintenance of peace and security in their regions.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Slovakia was a member, had been working to develop cooperative relations with the United Nations in conflict prevention and crisis management, she continued. That cooperation was particularly evident in the former Yugoslavia, where United Nations forces were still present in both Croatia and in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and were responsible for the International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovakia supported the efforts of the Secretary-General in that area, however, its position had always been based on the principle that activities undertaken by such organizations must be in strict accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. While that Chapter encouraged the peaceful settlement of local disputes before referring them to the Security Council, it explicitly underlined that no enforcement action should be undertaken without prior authorization of the Security Council.
PABLO MACEDO (Mexico) said he welcomed the expanded membership of the Committee. Peace-keeping was important to all States and he hoped there would soon be universal membership in the Committee. Peace-keepers were now carrying out operations that were increasingly removed from their original mandates. That was surprising considering the fact that peace-keeping operations were originally created to fulfil some lacunas in the Charter, given the paralysis of the Council.
Peace-keeping operations must be given a clear mandate by the Council, he said. While they could not cover all possible developments, it would be good to have information at hand. The Security Council should be able to consider reports from advisers directly, not filtered through the Secretariat. It could also benefit from non-governmental organizations that were active on the ground.
Developments in peace-keeping operations should not shrink the norms of law, he said. The first principle that must be respected was the principle of consent. A failure to respect that principle in the past had led inevitably to failure in the operation. Conditions could not and must not be imposed. A United Nations operation could only be requested by the concerned parties, except under strict applications of Article VII of the Charter, when certain principles of the Charter were being abused.
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The Council must establish parameters beyond which peace-keeping operations must not go, he said. The principle of territorial integrity of States must be respected, as well as the principles of impartiality of the operation and non-use of force except in self-defence. His delegation would participate actively in the deliberations of the Committee in a spirit of cooperation and good will.
HILLARY WILLIAMS (Jamaica) said that with the expansion of the Committee to more than 90 members, it was now time for consideration to be given to the expansion of the bureau of the Committee. If the bureau expanded, it could be more representative of the increased membership by including more representatives from developing countries, consistent with the significant number of those countries which were now members of the Committee.
The link between peace and development could not be over-emphasized, she said. It was only by addressing the root causes of instability, which often stemmed from poverty, deprivation and human misery, that lasting peace could be secured. Commitment to the goals of international peace and security was meaningless without a commitment to fostering sustained economic growth and sustainable development. Peace could be secured when all aspects of the human condition were addressed in a meaningful way. When a community could meet vital social and economic needs of its population, a significant source of possible tension was removed. Development must be considered as an important corollary to peace-keeping and peacemaking, she emphasized.
The situation in the central African region was deeply troubling to the entire international community, she said. The instability and humanitarian crisis in Zaire demanded urgent attention. She commended the efforts of the joint United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, Mohamed Sahnoun, and expressed the hope that the parties to the conflict would take effective action to bring an end to the suffering and misery in the region. The United Nations, as well as all members of the international community, must remain fully committed to achieving a lasting peace in the Great Lakes region.
SLAHEDDINE ABDELLAH (Tunisia) said he hoped that with the expansion of the Committee's membership, there would be an improvement in the guidelines used in the maintenance of peace. The principles of consent, impartiality and non-use of force except in self-defence were the basis of success in any peace-keeping operation. Any use of force to impose peace could only be conceived within the context of Chapter VII of the Charter and when all other methods had been exhausted. Peace-keeping operations were very costly and the cost could be avoided if appropriate preventive actions were taken, taking into account development activities. Social and economic causes had often led to the outbreak of conflict.
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In Africa, he said, the OAU had worked to prevent conflicts and to prevent their extension as well as possible. The early-warning system and the data bank set up with the help of the United Nations had been very helpful. However, lack of finances and resources had limited their capacities. There remained a great deal to be done to help the OAU to strengthen its regional role in conflict prevention and maintaining peace, and international cooperation was necessary in that regard.
He underscored the importance of the principle of transparency in peace- keeping operations. The Special Committee must remain the central forum in which all peace-keeping activities were taken up. It would be useful for the Committee to look at the ways the Organization could improve troop deployment. Tunisia would consent to participate in the arrangement for the rapid deployment mission. He hoped geographical representation would be taken into account in setting up the staff for that arrangement. He emphasized the need to strengthen even more consultations between the Council and troop- contributing countries. The strengthening of the role of those countries could be envisaged under Article 31 of the Charter, which opened up the possibility of States being consulted by the Council when it had before it a matter of interest to them.
RAJAT SAHA (India) said for the first time in many years, the peace- keeping assessments for 1997 would be lower than the amount appropriated for the regular budget. That was clearly indicative that the post-cold war phase of rapid expansion of peace-keeping operations in terms of number and scope was phasing out. It was acknowledged that while peace-keeping operations, notwithstanding the current downturn, would remain a significant arm of the United Nations, they required constant review and restructuring in the context of changing circumstances. All Member States would benefit from a clear and transparent understanding of how the changed environment had and would impact on the manner of mounting and maintaining peace-keeping operations.
Peace-keeping was a practical invention, and therefore it needed to take into account the lessons learned from the past in order to build for the future, he said. Now was opportune time to pursue that path so that future peace-keeping operations would be established and conducted on an even surer footing and with almost assured success. While India was fully committed to the principles of prior consent, non-intrusiveness, clear mandates, defined time-frames, mandate termination requirements, differentiation between peace- keeping and peace enforcement, and so on, it also remained willing to constructively consider what others felt were principles of general as well as specific concern. That exercise was principally an intergovernmental responsibility, and the Committee was the proper forum for it.
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The multifarious implications of the financial situation of peace- keeping operations needed to be considered in a holistic manner, he said. On previous occasions it had been stressed that Member States' contributions must be paid in full, on time and without conditions. Inability to do that triggers numerous consequences, such as delays in reimbursements to troop contributors, the resort to trust funds for mandated operations, the acceptance of so-called gratis staff, and so on. The net result was the undermining of the essence and effectiveness of United Nations peace-keeping operations.
He went on to say that an area of fundamental concern to the vast majority of troop contributors, but one which had unfortunately been a victim of neglect, was the issue of equal and standardized compensation rates for peace-keepers killed or disabled in action while serving the United Nations. Equity and justice necessitated an appropriate recommendation from the Committee of the principle of equality among peace-keepers, at least in terms of compensation when they made the ultimate sacrifice. The Committee should not continue to discriminate amongst the sacrifices of those who had paid dearly in the cause of international peace and security.
MARIA LOURDES V. RAMIRO-LOPEZ (Philippines) said her Government sought a reaffirmation by the Committee that it would continue to be the focus of all United Nations activity with respect to Member States' participation in the discussion, supervision, examination and re-evaluation of peace-keeping operations, as well as the main contact between delegations and the Department of Peace-keeping Operations. Given the increase in the membership of the Committee, there should be a commensurate expansion of its bureau, with equitable geographic representation.
She attached great importance to the concept of a code of conduct governing peace-keeping operations that would incorporate the guiding principles identified by the Non-Aligned Movement, which were mainly adherence to the provisions of the Charter and of relevant international instruments. The declaration embodying the proposed code should provide guidance for peace- keeping in various "gray areas", including violation of cease-fires, partial as opposed to full consent of the parties, belligerence against United Nations forces and unclear status of political authority.
She underscored her disappointment with the state of financial affairs of the United Nations as a whole which impacted on the effectiveness of peace- keeping operations. Much of the difficulty stemmed from the non-payment of owed contributions by certain developed countries. She was also concerned with the need for further transparency and awaited a comprehensive response from the Department of Peace-keeping Operations with respect to inquiries made over the past year with regard to staffing and financial issues. The Committee might consider modifying its work methods and hold a brief
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additional session of about a week's duration proximate to the start of the General Assembly in order to update itself on developments in peace-keeping.
JUAN LARRAIN (Chile) said the reality facing peace-keeping operations today was the urgent need to adjust and improve procedures, and therefore his delegation welcomed the increase in membership of the Committee. Although that measure was important, the members should continue to search for ways of enhancing the transparency of the Committee. His delegation believed that the procedure of establishing consultations between the Security Council and troop-contributing countries was a significant progress. However, that procedure should be given formal recognition so that the countries contributing troops would acquire the legitimate right to be heard by the Council. It was also essential to continue to improve the United Nations capacity to deploy troops in the field rapidly. His delegation supported the work, headed by the Netherlands and Canada, to develop an integrated approach to enhance effectiveness and timing, as well as to protect human life and improve all arrangements for troop deployment.
The United Nations needed to strengthen cooperation with regional bodies, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of its peace-keeping operations, he said. It should also coordinate with humanitarian assistance agencies, including both United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations, whose roles on the ground were of the utmost importance but were sometimes forgotten. Regarding the payments to troop-contributing countries, his delegation believed that matters could be resolved only once Member States fully discharged their responsibilities.
The promotion and maintenance of world peace had always been a part of Chile's foreign policy, he said. His Government had recently promulgated a policy that would help facilitate Chile's participation in peace-keeping operations. While his Government was committed to the enormously significant issues of peace and international security, it also nourished the hope that one day the United Nations would dedicate all its efforts to promoting social development and improving the standard of living of all the people of the world.
JACK B. WILMOT (Ghana) said that his country was among the first five countries to satisfy requirements and to sign the memorandum of understanding with the Department of Peace-keeping Operations for participating in the United Nations stand-by arrangements. If given the required attention and logistics, stand-by arrangements could become the cornerstone for the build-up of the desired rapid deployment capability. He also supported the concept of a rapidly deployable headquarters. He cautioned, however, that the staffing of that arrangement should be determined in all transparency and the number of staff should be kept to the barest minimum.
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He regretted that despite numerous questions, the recruitment and assignment of loaned and sponsored officers remained shrouded in mystery. The Department of Peace-keeping Operations needed to seriously examine the continued resort to those categories of personnel and make sure that until the Organization decided to terminate their engagement, their numbers should be kept minimal. Induction courses should be promptly organized for new recruits and they must be responsible to the Secretary-General in the execution of their functions. It also would be preferable that they be remunerated by the Secretariat from a trust fund at rates equivalent to those payable to officers of similar rank and responsibility.
He emphasized that the employment of a large number of loaned and sponsored personnel appeared to run counter to the Charter and the Staff Rules and Regulations of the Organization. The situation was not viewed favourably by the vast majority of States and the Secretariat could not continue to ignore those concerns. Mandated activities must be budgeted for as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). All contributions due to the general and peace-keeping budgets ought to be paid in full, on time and without any conditions.
He requested the Secretariat to endeavour to expedite action on claims for reimbursement of troop-contributing countries, and to come out early with concrete proposals on the uniform rates of compensation for death and disability. Procurement procedures similarly needed to be transparent.
CELSO AMORIM (Brazil) said the Committee must give serious thought to what role it wished peace-keeping to play in the years ahead. The traditional distinction between peace-keeping and peace-enforcement had been gradually blurred. Many Member States had recently expressed the belief that while the United Nations was uniquely suited to peace-keeping, it was less suited to peace-enforcement. His delegation did not share that view because it would be tantamount to limiting the United Nations to action under Chapter VI, whereas the Charter clearly envisages a role for it also under Chapter VII. However, he did not wish to see peace-keeping operations drawn into situations for which they were not the appropriate tool.
As a general principle, the use of force to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance or to safeguard the security of the civilian population must only be envisaged in truly exceptional circumstances, in accordance with transparent procedures, he said. By attempting to define situations where coercive intervention was not admissible, due to the absence of a widely perceived threat to international peace and security, and by trying to establish a common understanding in respect to cases where the Security Council need not be the focal point for relief, the Committee would contribute to strengthening the legitimacy and credibility of peace-keeping in those situations where it was unquestionably warranted. At the same time, the
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Committee should consider devising appropriate rules of engagement for multi- disciplinary missions deployed in complex environments. And the ultimate goal should be to ensure a greater degree of transparency.
Humanitarian relief must be viewed within the much broader framework of efforts to address the root causes of conflict, he continued. Efforts to stem the rising tide of civil strife and the attendant violations of international humanitarian law were bound to prove futile unless more was done in order to address the problems of poverty, economic and social inequality and inadequate and unsustainable patterns of development. If left unresolved, those problems were liable to erupt in violence, leading to violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, widespread loss of life and property and the ultimate collapse of the fabric of society. The Special Committee could not ignore the view of many delegations that peace-building was becoming an integral and necessary part of multi-disciplinary peace-keeping.
AKMARAL ARYSTANBEKOVA (Kazakstan) said her country had always been interested in contributing to the United Nations peace-keeping operations, as well as to efforts to strengthen them. It had gained peace-keeping experience by participating in the Collective Peace-keeping Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Tajikistan.
Kazakstan, along with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan had signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint peace-keeping battalion in central Asia under the auspices of the United Nations, she said. The three States had agreed that the provisions concerning the central Asia battalion should be considered as a contribution to future United Nations peace-keeping operations. Kazakstan had become the fifty-first Member State to join the United Nations stand-by arrangement, the establishment of which would contribute to the maintenance of international peace.
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