DIVERGENT VIEWS ON LINKS BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN AND PEACE-KEEPING ACTIVITIES EXPRESSED IN SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS

11 April 1997

Press Release
GA/PK/147

DIVERGENT VIEWS ON LINKS BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN AND PEACE-KEEPING ACTIVITIES EXPRESSED IN SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS

19970411 Committee Hears Call for Urgent Application of Uniform Scale of Compensation for Death and Disability of Peace-keeping Personnel

Unless mandates and missions were clear and realistic, peace-keeping operations would continue to be perceived as incapable of having a positive impact on humanitarian emergencies, the representative of Canada told the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations as it continued its general debate this morning. He called on the Committee to address issues such as the appropriate response of a peace-keeping operation to erupting violence that threatened the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The representative of Cuba said that linking humanitarian activities and peace-keeping operations was an attempt to weaken the role of the General Assembly. Humanitarian assistance was not within the Security Council's sphere of competence and should not be linked with the use of force. The Assembly must establish the principle and guidelines that governed peace- keeping operations.

Expressing concern over the United Nations practice of compensation to peace-keeping personnel, the representative of Bangladesh asked if the United Nations considered the lives of human beings to be cheaper in some countries than in others. He called for the urgent application of a uniform scale of compensation for death and disability.

Supporting that view, the representative of Fiji, stating that his country had been involved in United Nations peace-keeping operations since 1978, also called for improvement in the rate of reimbursement to troop- contributing States and for the standardization of national peace-keeping training programmes in order to establish a uniform interpretation of the rules of engagement.

Speakers this morning also focused on the importance of cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and regional organizations and stressed the need for transparency in the recruitment of personnel. Numerous speakers expressed concern over the imbalance in the representation of

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developing countries in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations because of the practice of recruiting gratis personnel. While most members supported the establishment of a Rapid Deployment Mission Headquarters, they called for further examination of guidelines for such arrangement.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Romania, Australia, Norway, Egypt, United States, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Czech Republic, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Namibia, Sudan and Colombia.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to conclude its general debate.

Special Committee Work Programme

The Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations met this morning 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

MOHAMMAD ZIAUDDIN (Bangladesh) said recently the Committee had witnessed a drastic scale down of peace-keeping personnel and missions on the pretext of financial and budgetary constraints. Therefore, the agonizing cries of help emanating from Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire and Albania had not received the attention they deserved. In such instances, a sense of frustration prevailed over the lack of political will. It was truly a sad state of affairs when Member States displayed hesitancy to finance much needed peace-keeping missions, and even appeared reluctant to pay their assessed peace-keeping contributions. As a consequence, the United Nations had been reduced to the role of a helpless bystander while fires raged on and death and destruction continued in the troubled areas of the world.

Bangladesh was deeply concerned by the United Nations practice of compensation to peace-keeping personnel or to families of personnel who had died or been disabled while in service, he said. On several earlier occasions, Bangladesh had appealed for immediate rectification of the unjust and unfair differential criteria being applied in compensation cases. Was one to believe that the United Nations considered the lives of human beings to be cheaper in some countries than in others? It was tragic to see the prevalence of such a practice in the United Nations, and a uniform scale of compensation for death and disability should be applied on a most urgent basis.

He went on to say that his delegation was deeply concerned with the concept of gratis officers and its increasing acceptability in the United Nations. While developed countries were in a position to provide gratis officers, developing countries were unable to do so. As a consequence, the number of gratis officers from developed countries in the Department of Peace- keeping Operations reflected an alarming disparity between those from developed and developing countries. At present, gratis officers occupied important positions at all levels in the Department, and they made significant decisions concerning peace-keeping missions. If the Organization was to maintain its present sovereign identity and character, it must correct the existing imbalance through recruitment of personnel, both at Headquarters and

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in the field, on the basis of procedures laid out in Articles 100 and 101 of the United Nations Charter.

The concept of the trust fund to enable a wide spectrum of participation in the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ) now appeared to be acceptable to nearly all Member States, he continued. Bangladesh, however, believed that the appointments to that body had been delayed due to the non- availability of sufficient funds in the trust fund. Therefore, his delegation urged all able Member States to be more forthcoming and to assist in the establishment of that much desired arrangement and to make it functional. Such a headquarters would not doubt ensure the rapid deployment of Untied Nations forces and thus success in containing volatile situations.

PETRU DUMITRIU (Romania) said that peace-keeping was organically connected to a broader spectrum from preventive diplomacy and preventive deployment to post-conflict peace-building. When peace-keeping operations were properly mandated, and obtained the in-built promise of subsequent stability and reconstruction, they inherently embraced a dimension of peace- building. There was a need to create a common culture of preventive action, peace-keeping and peace-building. That should be the fundamental point in the design of reformative and innovative action by the United Nations.

He said an essential step was to abandon the fragmented approach on which the international community tended to embark. The concept of peace- keeping in Albania was the most recent case that illustrated the need for comprehensive approaches. It also demonstrated the need for rapid deployment. A RDMHQ, which was to have been in place last summer, would have been useful for possible immediate reaction by the United Nations. He acknowledged the objections to RDMHQ but noted that the problems raised had not been solved, no action had been taken and no use of existing possibilities had been made.

He supported the initiatives taken by individual or groups of States which sought to improve the capacity of the United Nations to plan and carry out peace-keeping operations. He encouraged the continuous search for better and more effective ways of cooperation with regional organizations. The Organization should continue to explore new avenues for cooperation and it was up to the respective regional organizations to offer, under Chapter VII, their help in dealing with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security. The operations of the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR) and the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the result of such cooperation.

ANASTASIA CARAYANIDES (Australia) said the clear objective of peace- keeping reforms should be continuing to improve the United Nations ability to undertake and manage peace-keeping operations. One area of welcome reform had been the recent improvement made to the consultative mechanism between the

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Security Council and troop contributors. Her Government believed that the principle of consultation could be taken further to include closer consultation between the Security Council, the Department of Peace-keeping Operations and potential troop contributors during the mission training process. Such transparency could also extend to improving access to situation advice in the Department, so that potential troop contributors, without access to significant national information assets, could make better informed decisions about their contributions and maximize the effectiveness of those contributions.

The recent attention given to gratis personnel had highlighted the need for the United Nations to determine its staffing needs, she said. It was now particularly important for the Secretariat to clearly identify its staffing needs and the skills required to implement agreed mandates. Gratis military personnel had been, and would continue to be, a valuable resource for the conduct of peace-keeping operations in terms of skills not otherwise available to meet specific needs. However, in some cases the recourse to gratis personnel had not been fully justified and, in other cases, they had not been used for the purposes originally intended. The use of gratis personnel should not be a means for addressing general deficiencies in the staffing practices of the Organization, and all Member States should be advised of staffing needs when gratis personnel were recruited.

The establishment of a RDMHQ would provide operational and planning improvements, she continued. It would also allow the United Nations to deploy more quickly a well-prepared and jointly trained team of military and civilian personnel to the field at what was probably the most critical phase of a peace-keeping operation. For that reason, Australia had supported the Secretariat's proposal for establishing a RDMHQ capability. However, such an arrangement must be placed on a sound financial basis if it was to be successful. Given the current financial situation of the United Nations, the establishment of a trust fund to cover personnel costs was a viable interim solution and should also allow for equitable geographic representation.

She went on to say that one of the key lessons learned from recent experiences was the need to better coordinate United Nations peace-keeping operations with the various United Nations humanitarian and development agencies in the field, under the overall direction of the Secretary-General Special Representative. Such coordination was not intended to interfere with the specific mandates of United Nations agencies; rather it was to ensure that United Nations efforts were collective and directed towards establishing a sustainable peace. Any perception by parties to the conflict that the United Nations presence was comprised of unwieldy, disparate actors pursuing their own separate and unrelated agendas would be unhelpful to the peace process.

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DAVID KARSGAARD (Canada), Vice-Chairman of the Committee and Chairman of its Working Group, said Canada was particularly interested in the organizational relationships being developed between the Department of Peace- keeping Operations, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Political Affairs with regard to peace-keeping. The Secretariat should retain and strengthen its independent capability to conduct peace-keeping operations in the current environment of more complex and demanding missions. A revised organizational structure at the Peace-keeping Department should be based on the provisions of timely and pertinent military advice; the establishment of the nucleus of a RDMHQ; maintenance of a capability to permit rapid communications between the United Nations, Member States and field missions at all times; maintenance of an administrative and logistics support capacity; and provision of a lessons learned and training capability. The organization and role of the Department should be discussed again by the Committee this year.

The nucleus of the RDMHQ could be responsible for developing the operations concepts, plans and arrangements required to permit rapid deployment of a peace-keeping force, while other elements of the Department could focus on strategic planning and coordination of support arrangements, he said. Canada had contributed to the trust fund to finance the establishment of the implementation team. He stressed that unless mandates and missions were clear and realistic, peace-keeping operations would continue to be perceived as being incapable of having a positive impact on humanitarian emergencies. He hoped that the Committee, at the current session, would begin to address such issues as the appropriate response of the Department when erupting violence threatened the delivery of humanitarian assistance and risked the lives of innocent civilians and humanitarian workers.

The strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations should be discussed in detail during the current session, he said. He also looked forward to more details on a new system of adequate inventory and asset control to support the peace-keeping operations and to ensure efficient control of material. He also stressed the importance of demining in the context of peace-keeping.

DAG WERNO HOLTER (Norway) said the Department of Peace-Keeping Operations should further enhance the coordination with other departments in the Secretariat and other United Nations bodies. Improved coordination between various actions on the ground was necessary to ensure that all efforts were complementary and mutually reinforcing. It was imperative that the United Nations responded to crises in an integrated manner. In particular, there was a need to assess the interface between conflict-prevention initiatives, peace-keeping, humanitarian assistance and post-conflict peace- building efforts.

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Peace-keeping operations should be provided with clearly defined, achievable mandates and objectives and workable command structures, he continued, adding that costly lessons indicated that had not always been the case. There must be consistency between mandates and objectives and available resources. The composition of forces must also reflect the need for better protection of United Nations personnel. The positive experiences of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) in Croatia and of IFOR and SFOR operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be drawn upon in that respect.

It was also necessary to focus more attention on the issue of lessons learned, he continued. It was important to further develop the Lessons Learned Unit in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations and to ensure an integrated approach to encompass the multi-functionality of operations. Adequate resources must be allocated so that the Unit's activity could be financed from the regular budget. In the meantime, his delegation hoped that more countries would consider the possibility of contributing to the important work of the Unit.

Norway agreed with the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations that preparedness and capabilities for peace-keeping on the African continent should be enhanced, he said. A number of initiatives were presently being taken in that respect, and his Government supported training activities for conflict resolution and peace-keeping in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The United Nations had an important role to play in that area, acting in close cooperation with regional and subregional organizations and contributing countries, and the Organization should take upon the task of coordinating the various initiatives now under way.

NABIL ELARABY (Egypt) said there was an obvious need for the Department of Peace-keeping Operations to rationalize its work to cope with the decrease in the number of peace-keeping operations and to focus on planning, rapid reaction, deployment and training. The intended reforms announced by the Secretary-General should happen in a manner that preserved a distinguished level of performance with the least possible number of staff. The principle of lending personnel to the Organization to assist the Department without cost to the Organization had become a wide and uncontrollable practice. He invited the Committee to take specific steps, in cooperation with other bodies of the Assembly, to gradually eradicate that practice.

The establishment of a RDMHQ was an important step toward reducing the period of response to a Council decision authorizing a peace-keeping operation, he said. The financing of the posts comprising that arrangement should be done through the trust fund, and the personnel recruited should be equally representative of different geographical regions. He reiterated the necessity of properly and justly reimbursing the troop-contributing countries

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to mitigate the negative effect of non-payment on the decision of countries, especially developing countries, to participate in other operations of the Organization.

He reaffirmed the need for all Member States to pay their dues to the peace-keeping budget and emphasized that the payment of assessed contributions was an international legal unconditional obligation and not only a political or voluntary obligation. He supported the call for a unified standardization of compensation mechanisms for all United Nations troops. He pointed out the importance of adopting transparent and efficient measures for procurement by the Department of Peace-keeping Operations.

BILL RICHARDSON (United States) said, as the Committee might already be aware, the Clinton Administration had proposed a plan to the United States Congress to pay his country's arrears. It was also engaged in an effort to convince the Congress that the United Nations was serious about achieving the type of reform that would make the Organization a more effective institution. He hoped that those changes would lead to even greater improvements in the peace-keeping system. His country's goal was to help the United Nations fully serve all members of the international community, at the lowest cost possible to those Member States.

The United States applauded the nations who had joined together to form the United Nations Readiness Brigade, he said. While there remained some issues to be worked out, the concept could serve as a model for future United Nations peace-keeping arrangements. He looked forward to its development and encouraged other regions to develop similar structures. His Government also appreciated the work of the Secretariat in developing the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters and hoped that the arrangement would take shape this year.

He went on to say that his Government supported the development of a United Nations worldwide logistics management strategy. Elements of that strategy included inventory of and accountability for end items, implementation of a maintenance strategy and further development of a supply system. The Department of Peace-keeping Operations should clearly define an integrated logistics strategy and develop a time-line for the implementation of that logistics strategy. To assist the Department in that effort, Member States were encouraged to offer expertise in supply and information management.

The United States placed great importance on the use and further development of civilian police monitors (CIVPOL), he continued. As seen in Bosnia and Eastern Slavonia, CIVPOL could play an invaluable role in the reconstruction of civil society. From monitoring local police to training prospective candidates, civilian police monitors helped war-torn societies to

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re-establish the rule of law and were therefore critical to the healing process. His Government was currently exploring ways to enhance civilian police operations, particularly through better training and more efficient deployment processes, and it would be sharing those ideas with members of the Committee as they were developed.

ALOUNKEO KITTIKHOUN (Lao People's Democratic Republic) said that to have smooth and successful operations, all peace-keeping operations should strictly abide by the United Nations Charter, particularly with regard to respect for national independence and sovereign equality of all States, their territorial integrity and non-intervention in matters which were essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State. Peace-keeping operations should not be a preferred method of containing conflicts and every effort should be made to seek an early resolution by exploiting different peaceful measures.

He said proposals for the establishment of a RDMHQ should be carefully examined. The issue of resources was critical. If Member States agreed on operations, whether funded on a voluntary or assessed basis, it was incumbent on all to pay in the manner agreed upon. That was an issue that needed to be properly addressed.

The issue of gratis or loaned personnel also needed examination, he said. The use of such personnel must be based on a fair, equitable and transparent system so that all countries would have the opportunity to consider participating in the provision of the expertise now provided by gratis personnel. The recruitment of personnel in various United Nations departments and operations should truly reflect the principle of equitable geographical representation.

DUSAN ROVENSKY (Czech Republic) said preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment, peacemaking and post-conflict peace-building were perfectly complementary to peace-keeping activities. They also had either direct impact or were inseparably interlinked with ensuring an overall success of any given peace-keeping mission. His Government noted with some regret that the relevant working subgroups on Preventive Diplomacy and Peacemaking and on Post-Conflict Peace-Building of the working group on An Agenda for Peace had not yet been able to conclude their work and submit recommendations and proposals for approval by the General Assembly. There was much to lose if that exercise ended without consolidated, unified and creative recommendations as to what should be done in the field of conflict prevention. All concerned delegations should do their best to find a mutually acceptable compromise.

He went on to say that his delegation agreed with the view of several States that either regional organizations or ad hoc multinational coalitions of willing Members States authorized by the Security Council were best suited to carry out peace-enforcement operations. However, a weakness in that plan

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was that only countries with sufficient resources and with well-equipped and trained troops could afford to participate in various ad hoc coalitions. In addition, the number of regional organizations which were able to get the enforcement job done was limited. Therefore, maintaining the proper degree of United Nations political control over those operations, while maintaining unity of command was all the more imperative. The Committee might wish to continue to look into that matter, particularly in light of the operations that could have been employed, and perhaps may still might be, in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Despite the fact that the number of United Nations personnel deployed in peace-keeping missions had declined significantly over the past two years, peace-keeping operations were now more complex and multifaceted, he said. A great deal of work had been done within the Secretariat in order to meet the challenges that had arisen out of the changes in the post-cold war world. Further development of United Nations stand-by arrangements, the establishment of new units within the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, an integrated cooperation of the three departments of the Secretariat primarily concerned with the prevention, management and resolution conflicts -- Department of Peace-keeping Operations, Department of Political Affairs and Department of Humanitarian Affairs -- through the "Framework for Coordination", were but a few of the clear examples of the ongoing process of the strengthening of United Nations capabilities to prevent crises, mount field operations and conduct lessons-learned exercises.

However, there was still much room for improvement, he said. As the debate in the Assembly's Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) suggested, the three aforementioned departments lacked a clear conceptual framework that enabled them to address current institutional shortcomings in all areas of their relevant responsibilities. The current, relatively tranquil period in peace-keeping was favourable to address and rectify those shortcomings. The role of the Special Committee in that process should be a pre-eminent one.

PEDRO NUNEZ MOSQUERA (Cuba) said the expanded number of Committee members was a measure of its importance and demonstrated the interest that all nations gave to the topic. Peace-keeping operations were not a goal in themselves, nor were they a solution to conflict situations. They were a temporary solution and all possible avenues to settle conflicts should be exhausted before resorting to peace-keeping operations. Those operations could not begin autonomously and independently and must be governed by the provisions of the Charter.

He expressed concern over the trend by some in the United Nations to introduce a link between peace-keeping operations and Chapter VII of the Charter in order to dilute the difference between peace-keeping operations and

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United Nations enforcement actions. He rejected the link between peace- keeping operations and the use of force. Calling attention to the linking of humanitarian activities and peace-keeping operations, he said that was an attempt to weaken the role of the General Assembly. The work of building the peace should be done by the Assembly. Humanitarian assistance was not within the sphere of competence of the Security Council and should not be linked with the use of force. Conflicts could not be resolved without the resolution of their root causes. The Assembly must establish the principle and guidelines that governed peace-keeping operations.

The imbalance of the representation of developing countries in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations because of the practice of recruiting gratis personnel must be rectified, he said. He expressed concern about the RDMHQ and called for more transparency and more information before adopting any decision on that matter.

HO TONG YEN (Singapore) said his country had contributed, upon request of the Secretary-General, gratis military officers to work in the Department of Peace-Keeping Operations. His Government believed that that was a pragmatic way of helping the Department fulfil its mandates in a time of financial stringency. It would be happy to continue providing suitably qualified gratis military officers to the Department if their contributions were deemed useful by the Organization.

It was important for the United Nations to be ready and able to provide peace-keeping assistance quickly and efficiently when such assistance was needed, he said. For those reasons, Singapore supported and had committed equipment and personnel to the United Nations stand-by arrangement. His Government would formalize that arrangement by signing a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations in the near future.

The increasingly complex mandates of peace-keeping operations were currently the biggest challenge facing the international community, he continued. The post-cold war hopes for an ambitious "agenda for peace" had proved illusory, and the United Nations recent experience showed that the success of peace-keeping operations was subject to the parochial domestic concerns of the major Powers. The growing complexity of peace-keeping operations necessitated a reassessment of the United Nations role in the maintenance of peace.

SAKIUSA RABUKA (Fiji) said he supported the establishment of a special department or unit to pursue preventive diplomacy in conflict prevention and resolution. Such a department should receive, collate, analyse and interpret information and report on any areas of potential conflict with recommendations to contain, minimize and resolve those conflicts. He welcomed the closer

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consultation between the Council and troop-contributing countries but called for more transparency in that area.

He said Fiji had been involved in United Nations peace-keeping operations since 1978. Many had lost their lives or been injured in United Nations operations and he supported the establishment of a uniform scale of compensation for death and disability of all United Nations personnel. He also believed that there was an obligation on the part of all Member States to fulfil their financial contributions as required under the Charter. While there had been some improvement in the rate of reimbursement to troop- contributing States, more needed to be done.

Over the years, he said, allegations had been levelled against the Fiji contingent with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as being inflexible in its interpretation of UNIFIL standard operation procedures. The Fiji contingent's no nonsense approach coupled with its ability to stand its ground did not endear them to those who challenged the United Nations authority and its credibility. He called for the standardization of national peace-keeping training programmes, stressing the need for uniformity in the interpretation of the rules of engagement.

Recalling the incident at Qana on 18 April 1996, in which more than 100 Lebanese men were killed in the Fiji Battalion Headquarters, he said that injuries sustained by Fijian soldiers had resulted in permanent traumatic injuries. The United Nations should consider making provisions for those peace-keepers who sustained psychological and other adverse effects of peace- keeping.

NGONI F. SENGWE (Zimbabwe) said it was important that a Lessons Learned Unit had been established two years ago and had been undertaking studies of peace-keeping operations to draw lessons for the improvement of future operations. His Government was delighted that the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-Keeping Operations had informed the Committee that United Nations operations in Angola were in the process of being studied. In that connection, Zimbabwe had requested the Department of Peace-keeping Operations to consider holding that seminar on the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) in Harare at the Zimbabwe Peace-Keeping Training Centre. This would facilitate the participation of a number of African countries who were troop contributors to UNAVEM, and it would also be cost effective.

Member States should be willing to shoulder responsibilities related to the maintenance of international peace and security no matter where the conflict might occur, he continued. Therefore, Security Council decisions should be guided by genuine interest in the maintenance of international peace and security and not by narrow economic and political interests of a few powerful countries who chose to sacrifice "the plight of humanity on the altar

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of economic interests". All operations must also be equally funded. While his Government recognized the cooperative role of regional arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security, as stipulated in Chapter VII of the Charter, it must never be forgotten that the Security Council had the primary role. And that role should not be farmed out to regional arrangements where they existed.

As the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of peace-keeping operations approaches, the Committee should endeavour to maintain the universal character of the Organization in the staffing of the Department, he said. His Government urged the Fifth Committee, when it met for its second resumed session in May, to conclude its deliberation by deciding on guidelines that would assist the Secretary-General with the issue of gratis personnel. The principle of universality could also be enhanced in the question of Rapidly Deployable Headquarters by ensuring that it was funded through the regular budget and its posts were subject to equitable geographical distribution.

TUNC UGDUL (Turkey) said the payment of Member States' assessments fully and on time was an essential part of the reform measures announced by the Secretary-General last month. The non-payment of contributions by certain Member States not only put the Organization into strain, but also adversely affected some other States which could not be reimbursed for their participation in peace-keeping operations.

He said the new peace-keeping operations took many forms and necessitated an integrated approach. In order to meet the needs of the affected populations and to fulfil its mandate, a peace-keeping mission must be planned and executed in coordination with humanitarian organizations that would be operating in the same area. There should be a single point of contact for information exchange, planning and tasking. In assisting humanitarian organizations, the primary role of a peace-keeping operation was to provide a secure environment which allowed humanitarian activities to continue.

With regard to the activities of the United Nations and the regional organizations, he said the guiding role of the United Nations must be stressed and enforced in order to avoid problems in coordination and reduction of effectiveness. He called for greater attention to be focused on measures of preventive diplomacy, such as fact-finding missions, preventive deployment and early-warning capabilities. He also supported establishing, whenever necessary, small support missions for special envoys on the ground. The Committee should also focus on enabling the United Nations to react rapidly. Further development of a stand-by arrangements system would offer a better balance between responsiveness and costs. Transport of mission personnel to

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the theatre of operations at the start of the mission was also an area of concern, he added.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia) said that for all aspects of peace-keeping operations to be credible, the United Nations should adhere strictly to the principles and purposes of the Charter, particularly the principles of respect for sovereign equality, territorial integrity of States and non-interference in their internal affairs. Peace-keeping mandates should be clearly linked to the resources available to implement them.

In order for peace-keeping operations to be effective, all Member States should promptly pay their assessed contributions, he said. Peace-keeping operations were a collective responsibility which should be borne by all Member States under the Charter. Consequently, all assessed contributions must be paid in full and on time, without conditions and without unilateral deviation from the existing special scale of assessments.

He went on to say that while his delegation recognized the need to improve the ability to expeditiously deploy peace-keeping operations, the matter of the Rapid Deployable Mission Headquarters should be looked at carefully. Member States should be given the opportunity to discuss that matter. The geographic representation of the eight implementation posts in that arrangement was an area of concern, and the Secretariat should make more information available on that matter.

Regional organizations must be transformed into a realistic programme of action, relating to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace-keeping and peace-building, he said. Regional arrangements sometimes had a comparative advantage in playing a major role in the prevention and settlement of conflicts, and the roles of regional and subregional bodies could be further enhanced in peace-keeping efforts. In Africa, his Government envisaged a meaningful partnership and enhanced cooperation between the Secretaries- General of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in the field of conflict resolution and humanitarian relief operations in the continent.

HAMID ALI MOHAMED ELTINAY (Sudan) said his country supported the statement made yesterday by Thailand, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. In addition to expanding its membership, the role of the Committee should be further strengthened by reaffirming its mandate of considering everything related to peace-keeping operations and calling for implementation of its recommendations in the future.

All peace-keeping operations must take into account the principles of the United Nations Charter, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs, he said. In carrying out

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their duties, they must also use all peaceful means, as stated in Chapter VI of the Charter, and take place in accordance with the permission of the States involved. Peace-keeping operations must be impartial, and all staff involved must have a clear mandate and should not make use of military force unless in self-defence.

The number of gratis personnel should not increase over the present limits, he continued. The current financial crisis at the United Nations, which had had an impact on peace-keeping operations, should not be a pretext to expand the use of that type of personnel. Nor should the Organization accept further offers as they could have serious political ramifications and impact.

He went on to say that all Member States should pay their contributions according to the present scale of assessments, and the question of compensations for death or disability should be taken up in a uniform way. Compensation should be made to everyone whether they were from a developed or developing country, because all were contributing to the maintenance of peace. Dual standards in that case must be rejected by all Member States and by the Committee during the current session.

The question of the RDMHQ had not been decided during the last session of the Committee, he said. The Committee must be very cautious in taking up that issue, which must be closely linked to principles in the Charter and equitable geographical distribution. If that arrangement was to be adopted, it should be done with total transparency.

ALVARO FORERO (Colombia) called attention to the trend of decline in the number of peace-keeping operations which was due to the crisis in payments to the United Nations. It was unacceptable to have United Nations cost-cutting prevail over its responsibility to maintain international peace and security. He deplored the double standard employed in giving priority to peace-keeping operations of special interest to certain members of the Council.

Regarding the work of the Committee, he said its mandate did not allow it to consider items already under deliberation in the Assembly. The United Nations should improve its ability for prompt response in peace-keeping operations. Stand-by arrangements were an appropriate tool to use to accomplish that. Despite the lack of consensus among members, the Committee should continue to explore the issue.

The fact that the choices of personnel leading peace-keeping operations were not made with respect for the principles of the Charter was of great concern to the vast majority of Member States, he said. That situation, which continued to become more serious and assumed a political dimension, should be considered in the Special Committee. It was incomprehensible that the more

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soldiers there were from developing countries the less access they had to leadership positions. Those positions were increasingly held by developed countries. The need for strict compliance was based on the principles of the Charter and on criteria for effectiveness and efficiency. There must be a strict distinction between peace-keeping operations and humanitarian activities. The Special Committee should continue with the study of criteria to guide the United Nations in its handling of peace-keeping operations.

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