In progress at UNHQ

GA/PK/151

PROCUREMENT REFORM, GRATIS PERSONNEL ISSUE, COOPERATION BETWEEN UN AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AMONG ISSUES RAISED IN PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE DEBATE

30 March 1998


Press Release
GA/PK/151


PROCUREMENT REFORM, GRATIS PERSONNEL ISSUE, COOPERATION BETWEEN UN AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AMONG ISSUES RAISED IN PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE DEBATE

19980330 It was regrettable that reform of United Nations procurement was taking place rather slowly despite strong urging by Member States that the process be conducted in a more transparent manner and that the channels and sources of procurement be further diversified, the representative of China told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations this afternoon as it continued its 1998 session.

"The fact that United Nations procurement is unfairly over-concentrated to a small number of countries has not been changed, but rather aggravated, while procurement at developing countries are even rarer", he added.

Regarding gratis personnel, he said that the Secretariat should produce a timetable for their gradual phase-out and take concrete measures to solve that problem, which was of great concern to a vast number of Member States. If it was necessary to replace gratis personnel with United Nations-financed staff, then the principle of equitable geographical distribution should be followed closely and priority consideration should be given to countries which still had no personnel in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

The representative of Bangladesh noted with concern the continuing and growing imbalance within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations between posts financed from the regular budget and the support account for officers on loan. The developing countries should be adequately represented in the Department and the geographical balance of posts needed to be rectified. The United Nations should develop an early-warning mechanism so that indications of conflicts could be nipped before they erupted into serious situations. That would make peacekeeping operations not only more effective, but would also substantially reduce costs.

The continued close cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations was an essential part of peacekeeping, the representative of Croatia told the Committee. Regional organizations were in a better position to predict and react to potential crises. The extent of the role of regional bodies, however, should be conditioned on the scope and seriousness of the crisis.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 31 March, to resume its discussions.

Special Committee Work Programme

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the United Nations should develop an early-warning mechanism so that indications of conflicts could be nipped before they erupted into serious situations. That would make peacekeeping operations not only more effective, but would also reduce costs substantially. There was a need for a clear-cut political direction and a defined and united command and control structure for each mission. Command and control arrangements must be streamlined in a manner so that actions could realize objectives successfully in the shortest possible time.

He noted with concern the continuing and growing imbalance within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations between posts financed from the regular budget and the support account for officers on loan. The developing countries should be adequately represented in the Department and the slow progress on the geographical distribution of posts needed to be rectified.

The uniform rate of death and disability compensation, he continued, had been a landmark decision of the Special Committee's last session. The Secretariat should now develop procedures for payment of compensation on account of death and disability in a speedy manner with a view to alleviating the difficulties of the families affected by such tragic events while in the service of United Nations peacekeeping.

He said that non-payment of contributions had led to an adverse impact on the Organization's ability to reimburse troop contributors, particularly those from developing countries and more so, the least developed ones like Bangladesh. The reimbursement of outstanding amounts for troop contributions and contingent-owned equipment remained agonizingly slow and long overdue. It was, therefore, imperative that all Member States fulfil their commitments and pay their contributions in full, on time and without conditions, in accordance with their existing scales of assessments.

SHAN GUOFANG (China) said that with the scaling-down of peacekeeping operations, United Nations work in that field should undergo some corresponding adjustment. Both General Assembly resolution 51/243 and the report of the Special Committee had called upon the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to phase out gratis personnel gradually. The Secretariat should produce a timetable for such a process and take concrete measures to solve that problem, which was of great concern to a vast number of Member States. If it was necessary to replace gratis personnel with United Nations-financed staff, then the principle of equitable geographical distribution should be followed closely and priority consideration should be given to countries which still had no personnel in the Department.

He said that the current organizational structure and staffing of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations had taken shape when peacekeeping operations were in rapid expansion. The Department should be reorganized in

Peacekeeping Operations Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/PK/151 146th Meeting (PM) 30 March 1998

light of the current state of affairs of peacekeeping operations and its staff should be reviewed so as to provide a basis on which its optimal size could be built. Under the circumstances of the relative shrinking of peacekeeping operations, the United Nations should concentrate more of its efforts and resources in the field of development and strive to eliminate the root causes of conflict so as to ensure a peaceful international environment of long-term stability.

The Secretariat, he continued, should also further strengthen its management of peacekeeping operations by summarizing and drawing upon lessons of the past. In recent years, Member States had been urging strongly that the Organization's procurement be conducted in a more transparent manner and that the channels and sources of such procurement be further diversified. However, it was regrettable that the reform process of United Nations procurement was still going on rather slowly. "The fact that United Nations procurement is unfairly over-concentrated to a small number of countries has not been changed, but rather aggravated, while procurement at developing countries are even rarer", he said.

In recent years, the percentage of civilian police among peacekeeping personnel had been increasing by a large margin, thus posing various new problems for United Nations peacekeeping operations that called for serious study, he said. In most cases, United Nations civilian police, as a supplement to peacekeeping personnel, worked mainly to assist relevant sides in monitoring the implementation of peace accords. In some other cases, however, they also provided technical support and training in accordance with Security Council resolutions and helped maintain social order in the later stages of peacekeeping. The Chinese delegation believed that the fundamental principles governing peacekeeping operations were also applicable to the activities of civilian police.

China, he said, favoured the strengthening of the rapid deployment capability of United Nations peacekeeping operations. The Chinese Government announced last year that it would participate in the United Nations standby arrangement system and the country was ready to make an even greater contribution to peacekeeping operations. Now that new circumstances had emerged surrounding peacekeeping operations, the emphasis of the United Nations efforts to strengthen rapid deployment capabilities should be shifted correspondingly.

IVAN SIMONOVIC (Croatia) said the final peacekeeping operation in his country had been successfully completed in January of this year. It was the intention of his Government to build upon the solid foundations made by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) so that the process of peaceful reintegration of that region into Croatia would continue along the desired path. Even though problems did exist, mainly at the local level and primarily associated with

Peacekeeping Operations Committee - 5 - Press Release GA/PK/151 146th Meeting (PM) 30 March 1998

the emotional challenge of reintegrating former combatants, the overall success of the process itself was no longer in question nor was it reversible.

Croatia supported the evolving and ever-increasing role of the civilian police in peacekeeping operations, he said. Present experience had shown that the engagement of United Nations civil police in affected countries had contributed much to restoring civil order and helping to maintain the rule of law. The problems, however, should not be overlooked. Some of those included the poor professional quality of some officers and the often short length of mandates which were offered by participating States. Experiences of operations such as the International Police Task Force should be thoroughly analysed in an attempt to address and resolve those problems.

He said his country regarded the continued close cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations as an essential part of peacekeeping and the maintenance of international, and regional, peace and security. It was his delegation's firm belief that regional organizations were in a better position to predict and react to potential crises as well as act as mediators and ascertain and propose possible solutions to antagonists. The extent of the role of regional bodies, however, should be conditioned on the scope and seriousness of the crisis.

His delegation fully supported the letter and spirit of General Assembly resolution 51/243 regarding the conditions under which Type II Gratis Personnel could be used. He also reiterated Croatia's strong support for the Security Council's presidential statement of 28 March 1996, concerning meetings with actual or potential troop-contributing countries. His delegation believed that the provisions of that statement worked towards enhancing transparency in the Council's peacekeeping work, and thus allowed it to make more informed and realistic judgements in its commitments to potential peacekeeping operations. It also allowed troop contributors to make more informed judgements on their possible role in those operations.

He said that while it was understood that "affected countries" included neighbouring countries having to implement and monitor a sanctions regime imposed by the Council or neighbouring countries which were required to accept large number of refugees, his delegation reaffirmed its view that "host countries", as the most affected country, should be included in troop- contributor meetings. While Croatia agreed that in the interest of peacekeeping operations as a whole it might not be appropriate to invite "affected and/or host countries" to each and every troop-contributor meeting, it also believed that those countries should be invited on a more rather than less regular basis, and at the very least, should have their views represented in those meetings.

* *** *

For information media. Not an official record.