NEW PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENTS NOT PREVENTED BY THREATS, KILLINGS, UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS FOURTH COMMITTEE

29 October 1998

Press Release
GA/SPD/143

NEW PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENTS NOT PREVENTED BY THREATS, KILLINGS, UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS FOURTH COMMITTEE

19981029 Bernard Miyet Cites Successful Missions to Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, as Committee Begins Reviewing All Aspects of Peacekeeping

Threats against United Nations peacekeeping operations, as well as hostage-taking and killings of mission members had not prevented the Organization from deploying new operations, Bernard Miyet, Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this morning, as it began its review of peacekeeping in all its aspects.

He said the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), deployed last April, was playing a decisive role in the consolidation of democracy and the promotion of national harmony and economic recovery in that country. It was also having a positive, stabilizing effect on a troubled region. The deployment in July of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) was a new example of the Organization's capacity to collaborate constructively with subregional or regional efforts in restoring the legitimate institutions of a State.

He went on to say that it had been suggested in recent years that the primary role of maintaining international peace and security might more appropriately be carried out at the regional, subregional and multinational levels. The Secretariat welcomed regional, subregional or multinational efforts and had cooperated closely with them. However, the United Nations must remain the cornerstone in the maintenance of international peace and security, he said.

The representative of the Russian Federation stressed the necessity of drawing a distinction between peacekeeping operations and military operations of a coercive nature. The United Nations could take peace-enforcement measures only in extraordinary cases, after all other means had been exhausted. Further, given the Organization's limited resources, the conduct of peacekeeping operations by regional coalitions or multinational forces was justified in certain circumstances, although such innovations should be in keeping with the principles of the United Nations Charter.

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Speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, the representative of Austria said United Nations peacekeeping would suffer a dangerous setback if military and civilian police expertise were substantially reduced. In the wake of the General Assembly's decision to phase out personnel on loan, the Union stressed the need for an efficient Department of Peacekeeping Operations which was adequately structured, staffed and prepared for a more complex variety of missions.

The representative of Jordan, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said he remained concerned that Movement countries were not sufficiently represented in the staffing structure of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Therefore, he welcomed the planned phasing out of gratis personnel. Also, he was deeply concerned over continued delays in the reimbursement of troop costs and contingent-owned equipment leases.

Statements were also made by the Minister of Defence of Denmark, as well as by the representatives of Turkey, Thailand, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Bangladesh and Mexico.

The Fourth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Monday, 2 November, to continue its general debate on the review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations.

Committee Work Programme

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to begin its consideration of the comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all its aspects. It had before it the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (document A/53/127), which covers that body's 1998 session.

Also before the Committee was a draft resolution (document A/C.4/53/L.8) by which the General Assembly would urge Member States, the Secretariat and relevant organs of the United Nations to take all necessary steps to implement the proposals, recommendations and conclusions of the Special Committee. The Assembly would also decide that the Special Committee, in accordance with its mandate, shall continue its efforts for a comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to fulfil its responsibilities in this field.

By further terms of the draft, the Assembly would reiterate that those Member States that became personnel contributors to the United Nations peacekeeping operations in years to come or participate in the future in the Special Committee for three consecutive years as observers shall, upon request in writing to the Chairman of the Committee, become members of the Committee's following session.

The text is sponsored by Argentina, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Nigeria and Poland.

In the proposals, recommendations and conclusions of its report, the Special Committee, while noting trends of the past few years towards decreasing the overall number of deployed troops and reducing peacekeeping budgets, acknowledges the recent establishment of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA). The Committee notes that a number of recent peacekeeping operations had been mandated to undertake a variety of tasks in response to the specific needs of the situations in which they had been deployed. The Committee considers it essential for the United Nations to improve its capacity to maintain international peace and security by effectively planning, deploying and managing current and future peacekeeping missions.

Regarding guiding principles, definitions and implementation of mandates, the Special Committee emphasizes the need to respect the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of States, as well as non-intervention in matters that are essentially within their domestic jurisdiction. Respect for the basic principles of peacekeeping, such as the consent of the parties, impartiality, and the non-use of force except in self-defence, are essential to success. Peacekeeping operations should not be used as a substitute for addressing the root causes of conflict, the report states.

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Reaffirming the continuing need for consultation between troop contributors and the Security Council, the Special Committee emphasizes the need to invite prospective troop contributors for consultations at the earliest possible stage, to enable them to make an informed decision on participation. There also should be adequate consultations among the Security Council members, contributors, affected countries, and others from the region concerned.

On enhancing United Nations peacekeeping capacity, the report emphasizes that all offers by Member States to participate in peacekeeping operations should be considered. It urges the Secretariat to take early effective measures to expedite the staff recruitment process on a broad geographical basis to replace gratis personnel. The staff selection process in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations should be transparent and female participation should be encouraged through innovative strategies.

The report notes the importance of early planning and coordination to reduce the risk of resumption of conflict and to create conditions conducive to reconciliation, reconstruction and recovery. The Special Committee welcomes the Secretary-General's initiative to give special representatives authority over resident representatives and humanitarian coordinators, as well as over peacekeeping operations. The Committee also encourages the Secretary- General to provide the special representative with sufficient funds to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations, and enhances the coordination of peacekeeping and all other mandated activities.

Also in the report, the Special Committee requests the Secretariat to intensify its efforts to increase the number of qualified suppliers on the procurement roster and to broaden its geographical base. Transparency must be the key to procurement practice, and such information should be disseminated in a timely manner through various media, including the Internet. The Special Committee, moreover, reiterates the need to develop a coherent and comprehensive concept for logistics support of peacekeeping operations, and expresses its concern that little progress has been made since its last report.

The Special Committee notes the increasing participation of civilian police in United Nations peacekeeping operations, the report says. Care should be taken to ensure that, consistent with the mandate, police and military tasks should be clearly differentiated. The Committee emphasizes the need for full integration of civilian police elements in the planning phase of new peacekeeping operations and for clear guidelines for civilian police activities in peacekeeping. The code of conduct developed for peacekeepers should also apply to civilian police personnel.

Regarding standby arrangements and rapid deployment, the Special Committee reiterates the importance of this system to the increased

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effectiveness and rapid deployment capacity of peacekeeping operations. The Committee also notes the lack of certain key specialized resources in the arrangements and encourages Member States to make available such resources as airlift and sea-lift services, logistical support, communications, civilian police , medical staff and engineers.

Regarding finances, the Special Committee stresses that all Member States must pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions. It welcomes the General Assembly's adoption of a system of self- insurance establishing uniform and standardized rates of payment of awards in cases of death or disability sustained by troops in the service of United Nations operations. The Committee expresses deep concern at the continued delays in the reimbursement of troop costs and contingent-owned equipment leases.

While reaffirming the important contribution that regional arrangements and agencies could make to peacekeeping, the Special Committee states that no enforcement action should be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council. Furthermore, the Council should at all times be kept fully informed of activities undertaken or contemplated by regional arrangements or agencies. The Committee reaffirms its recommendation that particular attention be given to strengthening the institutional capacity of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Recognizing that 1998 marks the fiftieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping, the Special Committee welcomes the intention of its Chairman to convey to the President of the General Assembly a draft declaration in commemoration of those who served in United Nations peacekeeping operations, with a recommendation for its adoption.

The declaration, the text of which is contained in the report, would pay tribute to hundreds of thousands of men and women who had, in the last 50 years, served under the United Nations flag in more than 40 peacekeeping operations around the world, and honour the memory of more than 1,800 peacekeepers who had died in the cause of peace. It would recall the awarding of the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize to United Nations peacekeeping forces, and would welcome the establishment by the Security Council of the Dag Hammarskjold Medal, as a tribute to the sacrifice of United Nations peacekeepers who had died in various missions.

Statements

HOSSAM ZAKI (Egypt), Rapporteur of the Special Committee, introduced the report, outlining its main sections and highlighting its key issues.

BERNARD MIYET, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said that United Nations had this year commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of peacekeeping operations, commemoration fraught with meaning. The ceremony to

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confer the first Dag Hammarskjöld Medal was a genuine stimulus for all those who, as members of civilian police forces, military contingents or observers on the ground -- close to 14,500 persons -- all served the international community with devotion and courage in conflict zones around the world.

It had been asserted in recent years that United Nations peacekeeping was in decline, he continued. It had also been suggested that the primary role of maintaining international peace and security might more appropriately be carried out at the regional, subregional and multinational levels. The Secretariat welcomed regional, subregional or multinational efforts and had cooperated closely with them, cooperation which had sometimes played a decisive role in the international community's action for peace. The Secretary-General had encouraged consideration of guiding principles for such cooperation.

However, in keeping with Article 24 of the United Nations Charter, the Organization must remain the cornerstone of the maintenance of international peace and security, he said. There was a new awareness of the definitive advantages of United Nations peacekeeping, which was a very positive trend. It was increasingly being recognized that, as much for political as for practical reasons, the United Nations played an irreplaceable role in the maintenance of international peace and security. Its peacekeeping operations offered advantages that could not be found elsewhere. They provided a legitimate form of external intervention and a means of reconciling opposing points of view, as well as a means of focusing the sustained attention of the international community on local problems.

He said that this year, there had been threats against United Nations peacekeeping missions, which had also suffered from hostage-taking and far too many deaths among military and civilian members of missions. Last June, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, five of his colleagues and two pilots had tragically lost their lives in an air crash. In July, four mission members in Tajikistan had been brutally assassinated.

However, those and other incidents had not prevented the deployment, decided by the Security Council, of new operations, he said. The MINURCA, deployed in April, was playing a decisive role in helping the consolidation of democracy, promoting national harmony and economic recovery in that country. That mission was also having a positive stabilizing effect on a troubled region.

In July, he continued, the United Nations had deployed the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), a new example of the Organization's capacity to collaborate constructively with subregional and regional efforts to restore the legitimate institutions of the State and to stabilize a country, as well as a subregion. Two weeks ago the operation in Eastern Slavonia had been successfully concluded, with the transfer of

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civilian police responsibilities to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). That transfer had taken place under excellent conditions.

He said the Department had prepared a draft report on efforts to enhance African peacekeeping capacity in response to the Special Committee's request, and was involved in a process of consultations with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in order to finalize that text. Over the past year, the Department had worked closely with Member States in following up the Secretary-General's report on Africa and would continue to do so, to help ensure that the declaration of political support made through two ministerial- level meetings of the Security Council found expression in tangible, practical benefits.

HANS HAEKKERUP, Minister for Defence of Denmark, said the strength of peacekeeping was in its flexibility. It was not a narrowly defined concept, but a living tool in the hands of the United Nations and the Security Council in upholding international peace and security. There were basic rules, but those were derived from the rules upon which the Organization was founded. The weaknesses of United Nations peacekeeping were neither structural nor inherent. United Nations peacekeeping was what the Member States were ready for it to be.

But peacekeeping also had a price, he said. Member States had a responsibility to provide the United Nations with the necessary resources to carry out its tasks. Peacekeepers must be well-trained soldiers, who were well equipped to carry out their mission and highly motivated and sensitized to the problems into which they had been asked to intervene. Impartiality for a peacekeeping force did not mean being passive. It meant to be fair and robust, when robustness was called for. The time when a blue beret alone would command respect and compliance was, unfortunately, gone. Good intentions would often needed to be backed by visible force to be appreciated.

More attention must be paid to civil-military cooperation, he said. The military and civilian organizations must learn to understand each other, in order to work well together. That was a process that began well before deployment. Furthermore, the Secretary-General must be able to call on appropriately trained and immediately available standby forces from Member States. In certain situations, the ability for rapid deployment would be the key to the success of the mission and to the ability to prevent a massive loss of life.

He welcomed the recent decision by the General Assembly on personnel for a Rapidly Deployable United Nations Mission Headquarters. Moreover, there was a need to develop further preventive diplomacy and preventive deployment tools for the United Nations. If action could be taken to resolve or manage a conflict before it reached a hostile stage, then much suffering could be prevented.

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ZEID RA'AD ZEID AL-HUSSEIN (Jordan), speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said the Movement had always considered United Nations peacekeeping to be an instrument important to the maintenance of international peace and security. Where conflicts were involved, peacekeeping was not, however, and could never be, a substitute for a permanent solution or for addressing the underlying causes of such conflicts.

He said he remained concerned over the staffing structure of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, whereby the Movement's countries were not sufficiently represented. He, therefore, welcomed the adoption of General Assembly resolutions 52/234 and 52/248 providing for the phase-out of all gratis personnel before the end of February 1999. Also, there was a continued need for institutionalized consultations between troop-contributing countries and the Security Council. Whenever new missions were established, or existing ones expanded, the Security Council should consult prospective troop contributors at the earliest possible stage.

Noting the increasing use of civilian police personnel in United Nations peacekeeping operations, he said agreed guidelines over the principles governing the role of such personnel must be developed. The Movement was also deeply concerned over the continued delays, on the part of the United Nations, in the reimbursement of troop costs and contingent-owned equipment leases. Those delays caused hardship to all troop- and equipment-contributing countries, and adversely affected their ability to participate in peacekeeping. In addition, the timely, efficient, transparent and cost- effective procurement of goods and services in support of peacekeeping operations was considerably important.

He drew attention to paragraph 102 of the Special Committee's report, which stated, "all Member States must pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions." Moreover, he continued, the funding of United Nations peacekeeping operations, through voluntary contributions, should not be a factor in United Nations Security Council decisions to create peacekeeping missions. Finally, with regard to cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements or agencies, he emphasized that such cooperation must abide by the letter and spirit of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter.

HANS PETER MANZ (Austria), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Cyprus, as well as Iceland, said United Nations peacekeeping today did not only encompass demanding military tasks. It included a variety of other functions, such as civilian police activities, humanitarian assistance, demining, practical disarmament measures, and monitoring and respect for human rights, among others.

The multidimensional quality of peacekeeping operations posed new challenges to those in the field, who had to be well trained, prepared and

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equipped for their missions, and must be able to carry out their tasks under reasonable safety and security conditions. That required an efficient Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which was adequately structured, staffed and prepared to plan, deploy and manage a new, more complex variety of missions.

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations expertise and gains of last year must be retained, he said. The Union reiterated its concern that the required expertise of serving military officers and civilian police be ensured. United Nations peacekeeping would suffer a dangerous set-back if military and civilian police expertise were substantially reduced. Moreover, the Union reaffirmed its strong support to standby arrangements and to their future improvement and strengthening. It hoped that military expertise would eventually be extended to the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters.

The Union was also gravely concerned about the increasing security threat to United Nations personnel in the field, he said. It stressed that the safety and security of United Nations personnel was of paramount importance in the discharge of peacekeeping mandates. Given the international community's continued demands for United Nations monitoring and observation, the Union recalled the obligation of host countries and parties to conflicts to ensure the safety of those operations.

Peacekeeping was but only one important element of a comprehensive set of policy measures designed to address and prevent violent conflict, he said. Those measures also comprised peace-building and conflict prevention, management and resolution. The Union was committed to a proactive policy on conflict prevention and resolution, focusing on preventing the outbreak of violent conflicts at an early stage, as well as on post-conflict peace- building.

The Union commended the efforts of the Secretary-General to strengthen cooperation in international security between the United Nations and regional organizations, he continued. A recent example of successful cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations was the assumption of the responsibilities for international monitoring in Croatia from the United Nations Police Support Group by an OSCE police monitoring mission. Moreover, the Union underlined the increasingly crucial role of civilian police in peacekeeping and peace-building. The United Nations was the primary institution for civilian police missions and longer-term institution-building.

TUNC UGDUL (Turkey) said that while United Nations peacekeeping activities had decreased in recent years, threats to international peace and security had not diminished in a parallel manner. His Government would continue to support the strengthening of the rapid reaction capacity of the United Nations, recognizing that the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters could greatly enhance the Organization's capability to respond to conflicts in a timely manner. It would also address the problems being encountered in

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establishing headquarters for field missions. To complement the rapid reaction capacity, the United Nations standby arrangements system should be refined and enhanced.

He said that at the core of all those capabilities lay the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Contrary to the decrease in the number of missions and of the total number of peacekeeping troops on the ground, the Department's functions had not declined. In contrast to that seemingly positive development, expectations about the Department had increased, due to the complexity of the operations mounted. In that respect, the process of phasing out gratis personnel should not affect the Department's capabilities and competence to cope with the new challenges it was facing.

His Government attached particular importance to the role of preventive diplomacy in peacemaking efforts to forestall the outbreak or aggravation of conflicts, he said. For the United Nations, there should be no higher goal, no deeper commitment and no greater ambition than preventing armed conflict. In fact, it was not only a desirable and ideal method of controlling and resolving conflicts, but also the most cost-effective way of doing so. It was obviously better to prevent conflict than to have to undertake major political and military efforts to resolve them after they broke out and resulted in the loss of life and economic devastation.

He said that the role of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had proved that preventive deployment, adequately mandated and supported, could make the difference between war and peace. On the other hand, regarding the tragedy in Kosovo, there were also lessons to be learned by the United Nations, as an adequate response would have prevented the escalation of warfare at an early stage. The memory of Bosnia and Herzegovina still loomed. Member States were duty-bound not to let tragic events happen on the eve of the new millennium.

SERGEY LAVROV (Russian Federation) said that peacekeeping operations were not an end in themselves, but an important means of achieving political settlement. That key function of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations should be clearly and unambiguously reflected in their mandates. One of the most important lessons of the multifunctional peacekeeping operations, mainly on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, was the necessity to draw a distinct line between peacekeeping operations and military operations of a coercive nature.

Operations of a compulsory nature, he continued, justified by the presence of an actual threat to international peace and security in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, must be strictly limited. They could be initiated by the Security Council and conducted under its political and operational control. The United Nations could take peace- enforcement measures only in extraordinary cases, after all other means that did not involve the use of force had been exhausted.

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He said that peacekeeping operations with a heavy humanitarian slant were increasingly in the foreground. Practical implementation of such operations, however, raised a number of difficult political, legal and operational problems. The dangerous "interventionist reflex" that emerged from time to time could be overcome by receiving the consent of the host nation's government and, in relevant cases, that of the parties to a conflict. The Security Council was working purposefully towards more clearly defining the achievable humanitarian tasks in the mandates of peacekeeping operations, supported by sufficient resources.

The issue of "coalition operations" was topical, he said. There was now a stronger understanding that the specifics of a given situation directly influenced the optimal format for international peacekeeping efforts. In many cases, United Nations peacekeeping operations had incontestable advantages. However, given the Organization's limited resources, the conduct of peacekeeping operations by interested States, in the framework of "once-only coalitions" or multinational forces on a regional or subregional basis, was justified in certain circumstances. Nevertheless, such coalition operations, especially those of a compulsory nature, could be conducted only when approved by the Security Council.

He said that interaction between the United Nations and regional organizations was of special importance to the Russian Federation, in light of the growing cooperation between the Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States in conflict-settlement on the territory of the Commonwealth. Together with its Commonwealth partners, the Russian Federation intended to continue developing such cooperation with the United Nations. However, difficulties remained with the financial support for peacekeeping efforts in the Commonwealth. He hoped for a more constructive response to the repeated appeals of the Russian Federation and its Commonwealth partners.

ASDA JAYANAMA (Thailand) said although his country was not a major troop-contributing country in the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations, it nevertheless attached great importance to the issue. It felt obliged to do whatever it could to assist the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Despite the difficulties Thailand faced because of the financial crisis, it would continue its unwavering support for United Nations peacekeeping activities so far as its resources permitted it to do so.

Since the end of the cold war, United Nations peacekeeping operations had become more involved in intra-State conflicts and were increasingly complex in nature, sometimes including a human rights dimension, he continued. For that reason, United Nations peacekeeping operations should coordinate and consult closely with other bodies, such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whenever operations had a humanitarian dimension.

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He said experience suggested that a kind of peacekeeping fatigue had set into the United Nations and, in light of that, it was vital to ensure that peacekeeping operations were deployed in a more timely manner, when and where the situations demanded, on a non-discriminatory basis. That should be done with the full and firm respect for the basic principles contained in paragraph 47 of the Special Committee's report, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the political independence of States.

Political will, as well as clear and achievable mandates, were not the only basic ingredients for the success of peacekeeping operations, he said. They must be coupled with matching resources, which were currently sadly lacking. At present, mandates given to United Nations peacekeeping operations had already outstripped the resources given to them. Moreover, borrowing from the United Nations peacekeeping account to finance the United Nations regular budget would further hamper peacekeeping operations.

KINGMANO PHOMMAHAXAY (Lao People's Democratic Republic) associated his delegation with the statement of Jordan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. He said that any measures aimed at enhancing the rapid deployment of United Nations peacekeepers should be introduced after full discussions and consultations by Member States, under the auspices of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

While welcoming the initiative of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to develop and maintain an appropriate deployment capability, he said little progress had been made in response to the staffing and funding elements of the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters, which had yet to become operational. Those pending issues should be adequately and expeditiously addressed. Further, the principle of equitable geographical distribution should be given the importance it deserved in the final selection of officers for the Deployable Mission Headquarters.

Regarding the phasing out of gratis personnel, he said that in order to maintain the present sovereign identity and character of the United Nations, all efforts must be made to correct the existing imbalance through recruitment of personnel, both at Headquarters and in the field. Finally, he said, peacekeeping operations would not be able to solve conflicts unless more attention was paid to many of their root causes, such as poverty and inadequate socio-economic development. Financing of peacekeeping operations should not be at the expense of the development activities of the United Nations.

F.A. SHAMIM AHMED (Bangladesh), associating his delegation with the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement countries, said that recruitment and assignment of personnel for posts previously occupied by gratis personnel should be transparent and on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The developing countries should be adequately represented in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. He shared the disappointment expressed by the General Assembly in its recent resolution on gratis personnel and the support account that the Secretariat had, for unexplained reasons, changed the deadline for submission of applications, which had resulted in different

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treatment among Member States.

He said that the Secretariat's procedure for the procurement of goods and services for peacekeeping operations needed to be further enhanced to make it timely, efficient, cost-effective and transparent. In awarding a contract, the principle of public bidding should be strictly observed and the geographical base for procurement should be enlarged. Presently, a small percentage of the total volume of United Nations procurement was obtained from the troop-contributing developing countries, particularly the least developed and the African countries. With a view to redressing that imbalance, consideration should be given to according preferential treatment to the developing countries, particularly the least developed and African countries, in matters of procurement for peacekeeping missions.

He said that adequate financial resources and support were crucial to the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations. Non-payment of such contributions had led to an adverse impact on the Organization's ability to reimburse troop contributors, particularly those from the developing countries and, more so, the least developed ones, like Bangladesh. It was imperative that all Member States, especially the developed countries, fulfil their commitments and pay their contributions in full, on time, and without conditions, in accordance with the existing scales of assessment.

His Government was seriously concerned at the existing delay in the settlement of compensation for death and disability, he said. After the important decision on the uniform rate of such compensation, the Secretariat should now develop procedures for speedy payment, to alleviate the difficulties of the families affected by such tragic events. Further, he viewed with deep concern the continued delays in the reimbursement of troop costs and contingent-equipment leases. Those delays had caused hardship to all troop- and equipment-contributing countries, especially the developing and the least developed ones, and had adversely affected their capacity to participate in peacekeeping operations.

MARIA DEL PILAR ESCOBAR (Mexico) said peacekeeping operations was a useful instrument for the Organization, but it was not a tool to be used in indiscriminate actions. Those operations should not act as a substitute for dialogue between the parties concerned. Peacekeeping operations should be an exception, rather than a general rule. An increase in the number of peacekeeping operations had demonstrated that it was not always an adequate option and it was necessary to examine the root causes of conflict.

The social and economic development of people should be a priority, she said. Therefore, a carefully and fully defined mandate, which included the prior request and consent of the concerned parties, was necessary before such peacekeeping operations were conducted. Moreover, regional coalitions should not be seen as replacing the United Nations, for that could weaken the Organization's principles of non-interference and preserving State sovereignty. Such coalitions, which claimed their actions were on behalf of the United Nations, must abide by Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter.

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