CONCLUDING 1999 SESSION, SPECIAL PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE REAFFIRMS THAT PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY RESTS WITH UN

Press Release
GA/PK/163

CONCLUDING 1999 SESSION, SPECIAL PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE REAFFIRMS THAT PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY RESTS WITH UN

Committee Approves Report; Stresses Importance of Providing Peacekeeping Operations with Clearly Defined Mandates, Secure Financing

As the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations concluded its 1999 session this morning, it reaffirmed that the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security rested with the United Nations and that peacekeeping continued to be one of the key instruments available to the Organization for discharging that responsibility.

By approving its report on the session, which was introduced by Hossam Zaki (Egypt), the Rapporteur, the Committee stressed the importance of providing peacekeeping operations with clearly defined mandates, objectives and command structures, as well as secure financing, in support of efforts to achieve peaceful solutions to conflicts. Changes in a mandate during a mission should be based on a thorough and timely reassessment for the Security Council of the implications on the ground. Such changes in mandates should occur after a full discussion between troop-contributing countries and the Council. In respect of consultations, the Special Committee would continue to encourage the rigorous, timely and systematic implementation of the current arrangements, which do not preclude consultations in other forms.

In the area of personnel, the report stresses the importance of good selection and preparation of senior military commanders, police commissioners and key staff personnel prior to deployment. It also urges the Secretariat to pursue more actively structural changes which enhance the Organization's capacity for the effective planning, conduct and support of peacekeeping operations. It also calls on the Secretary-General to review the structures of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

In connection with the United Nations rapid-deployment capability, the Special Committee underlines the importance of the Organization's rapid response and deployment capability upon the adoption of a Security Council mandate. To enhance such a capability, the Committee calls for the full establishment of the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters by adding the requisite military expertise. The Committee also calls on all Member States

Peacekeeping Operations Committee - 2 - Press Release GA/PK/163 157th Meeting (AM) 26 April 199

which have subscribed to the Standby Arrangements System, to initiate, in collaboration with the Secretariat, the development of applicable memoranda of understanding on contingent-owned equipment.

Regarding regional arrangements, the report emphasizes that the Security Council should always be kept fully informed of activities undertaken or contemplated by regional arrangements or agencies for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Special Committee urges the strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations and relevant regional organizations, within their respective mandates, scope and composition, to enhance the international community's capabilities.

Other recommendations contained in the report relate to enhancing the peacekeeping capacity of the United Nations; organization, planning and coordination; status of forces agreements; safety and security; civilian police; and finances. The importance of transparency in many aspects of peacekeeping is also stressed in the report.

The Special Committee requests that the report be officially circulated within four weeks of the completion of the session so that it can be considered and adopted in resumed sessions of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) and the General Assembly as soon as possible.

Representatives of Pakistan and Indonesia introduced changes to the text of the draft before its approval.

Speaking in explanation of position, Sidharto Reza Suryo-di-Puro (Indonesia) joined the consensus on the report and said that in many cases in the post-cold-war era, the presence of the United Nations took a form that was more complex than the mere presence of peacekeepers. In such cases, a peacekeeping operation was but one of the components of the mission and it could not alone achieve all the objectives set out by the mandate. Indonesia continued to believe that it was necessary to put into context what a peacekeeping operation could accomplish, how it could be done and what its limitations were. The Special Committee should look into the role of peacekeeping operations, as that was in line with the General Assembly mandates to "review comprehensively the question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects".

* *** *