SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS BEGINS FOUR-WEEK SESSION

24 March 1999

Press Release
GA/PK/157

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS BEGINS FOUR-WEEK SESSION

19990324 Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Makes Statement, Committee Elects Officers, Begins General Debate

Cooperation with regional organizations should not result the United Nations standing on the sidelines of conflict and should not lead to a dangerous trend of unilateral interventions, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations was told this morning as it began its four-week annual session.

Addressing the Special Committee, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet said that United Nations operations represented formal external intervention that was unique in its legitimacy and in its ability to draw the world's attention. It was up to the international community to make proper use of the extraordinary instrument it had created.

The availability of personnel and necessary resources figured prominently among problems of peacekeeping mentioned by several speakers in the general debate this morning. Safety and security of humanitarian personnel were also emphasized by speakers, who expressed grave concern that with increasing complexity of peacekeeping operations, there was an increasing security threat in the field, not least to unarmed military observers and civilian personnel.

Speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, the representative of Jordan expressed grave concern over the Secretariat's ill-fated decision to permit overflights in a region of Angola where the capability to bring down aircraft had been clearly and tragically demonstrated. While it was important that all missions carrying an elevated degree of danger should benefit from an armed reconnaissance unit, as well as bullet- and mine-proof vehicles, every attempt should also be made to ensure the transparent procurement of those items.

The representative of Germany, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that it was clearly unacceptable to deploy inadequately protected peacekeepers in volatile situations. It was also indispensable that host countries and parties to conflicts ensured the safety of peacekeeping operations.

Statements were also made this morning by the representatives of Jordan (in his national capacity), Nigeria, Poland, Bangladesh, Norway and Turkey.

In other business this morning, the Special Committee elected Ibrahim Gambari (Nigeria) as Chairman, Michel Duval (Canada), Fernando Enrique Petrella

(Argentina), Motohide Yoshikawa (Japan) and Zbiegniew Matuszewski (Poland) as Vice-Chairmen, and Hossam Zaki (Egypt) as Rapporteur. Mr. Duval (Canada) was also elected Chairman of the working group. Following a statement by its Chairman on the organization of work, the Special Committee agreed on its tentative programme of work for the current session.

The Committee will resume its general discussion at 3 p.m. this afternoon.