SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES INSIGHTS OF WAR-TORN SOCIETIES PROJECT, AS PROJECT PRESENTS FINDINGS IN GENEVA
Press Release
SG/SM/6792
SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES INSIGHTS OF WAR-TORN SOCIETIES PROJECT, AS PROJECT PRESENTS FINDINGS IN GENEVA
19981112 Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan read on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto, to the War-torn Societies Project, which presented some of its findings at a meeting in Geneva on 11 November:It gives me great pleasure to send this message to this meeting of the War-torn Societies Project, at which its Director and staff will share with you some of the lessons and insights the project has produced during its four years of work in countries emerging from war. The source of this pleasure is two-fold. It lies not only in the fact that this difficult, innovative and experimental pilot project has been successfully undertaken. It is also because its success shows us how, from within the United Nations system, innovative approaches can contribute to improving the United Nations capacity to respond to the many complex challenges that we face in the area of peace- building.
I have recently had the pleasure of presiding over the celebration marking 50 years of United Nations peacekeeping operations. As important as these operations have been and will be in the future, it is important to underline that military presence and political pressure alone are not enough to stabilize post-conflict situations and ensure lasting peace. Building a lasting peace requires a sustained and concerted effort to cope with the multiple legacies of conflict: the physical devastation brought about by war; the weakening or destruction of social and political institutions; and, above all, the invisible scars that wars leave in the minds and hearts of people. It is in this area, the period after war, when peacekeeping forces have withdrawn and rehabilitation and reconstruction activities have become paramount, that the Project has concentrated its activities, with the laudable objective of helping the international community and national actors to consolidate a fragile peace and begin sustainable reconstruction.
We know that the principal architects of a durable peace are the people and authorities of the countries emerging from war. The international community can, however, help them in important ways, and it is our duty to do so. The United Nations, through its numerous departments, agencies and programmes, has played a leading role in providing such help, by delivering
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6792 12 November 1998
humanitarian aid, maintaining basic security and through large-scale rehabilitation and development programmes. But, the results have not always been what we hoped for. Again and again countries fall back into armed conflict, illustrating just how difficult it is to break cycles of violence and initiate lasting peace.
It is in helping us to better understand these complex challenges, and to redefine new approaches to them, that the importance of the War-torn Societies Project lies. Based on experiences in four selected countries, the project provides us today with important insights that help us to better understand the nature of the challenges and the role that different actors, and the international community in particular, can play in responding to them. It has also shown how fruitful broad collaboration between United Nations agencies and other entities of the international community can be.
Today's meeting has been called because the Project is now in its final phase. I wish it every success. I would like to encourage representatives from United Nations and other agencies to seriously consider the implications of the Project's findings and give careful thought to how they can best be followed up in the future. I ensure you all of my full support in this endeavour.
* *** *