FOURTH COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION ENDORSING LATEST PROPOSALS, RECOMMENDATIONS OF PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

 Fourth Committee                                          

26^th Meeting* (AM)

fourth committee approves draft resolution endorsing latest

proposals, recommendations of peacekeeping committee

Concluding its work for the fifty-eighth session, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this morning approved a draft resolution by which the General Assembly would endorse the latest proposals and recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations to improve the United Nations peacekeeping capacity.

By the terms of the text, adopted without a vote, the Assembly would also urge Member States, the Secretariat and relevant United Nations organs to take all necessary steps to implement the Special Committee’s proposals and recommendations, which are contained in the Special Committee’s report of its March-April 2004 session (document A/58/19).  It would also decide that the Special Committee, in accordance with its mandate, continue its efforts for a comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations, review the implementation of its previous proposals and consider any new proposals to enhance the United Nations’ capacity to fulfil its peacekeeping responsibilities.

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

In its report, the Special Committee -- the only United Nations forum mandated to comprehensively review the whole question of peacekeeping operations -- reaffirmed the primary responsibility of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security and noted that peacekeeping continued to be one of the key instruments available to the Organization to discharge that responsibility.

Glyn Berry (Canada), speaking on behalf of the Special Committee’s Rapporteur, Alaa Issa of Egypt, introduced the Special Committee’s report, as well as the draft resolution.

Summary of Report

The Special Committee’s report on its 2004 session (document A/58/19), which met from 29 March to 16 April in New York, contains a list of proposals, recommendations and conclusions in the following areas:  guiding principles; safety and security of United Nations staff; cooperation with troop-contributing countries; cooperation with regional arrangements; enhancing African peacekeeping; comprehensive strategies for complex peacekeeping operations; personnel issues; civilian police; gender and peacekeeping; children and peacekeeping; public information; financial issues and other matters.

The report states that it is essential to respect such basic principles as consent of the parties, impartiality and the non-use of force except in self-defence.  In addition, peacekeeping operations are no substitute for addressing the root causes of conflict, which should be done in a comprehensive manner, using political, social and developmental instruments.  Consideration should be given to ways in which those efforts can continue without interruption after a peacekeeping mission’s departure, so as to ensure a smooth transition to lasting peace and security.

The Special Committee stresses that the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the need to explicitly define and clearly identify peace-building elements before they are incorporated into peacekeeping mandates.  The General Assembly’s role in formulating post-conflict peace-building activities is emphasized.  Further, the Special Committee continues to stress the importance of clearly defined mandates, objectives and command structures, as well as secure financing and congruity between mandates, resources and objectives.

Paying tribute to the courage and dedication of peacekeeping and to those who have lost their lives in the service of peace, the Special Committee expresses its grave concern about the precarious security environment prevailing in many field missions and calls upon the Secretariat to give the utmost priority to enhancing the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel in the field.

According to the report, the Special Committee condemns in the strongest terms the killing of military and civilian officers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo (Serbia and Montenegro), and Afghanistan, recognizing that these continuous attacks and other violence constitute a major challenge to United Nations field operations.  Also in the strongest terms, the Special Committee condemns the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

Expressing its support for the ongoing overall review of the United Nations security management system, the Special Committee reiterates the need for enhanced coordination and delineation of responsibility and accountability among the Organization’s safety and security components, both at Headquarters and in the field.  It underlines that these components should fully participate in the integrated planning process in order to develop adequate mechanisms for risk and threat assessment, as well as implementation of safety and security measures.

Regarding disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the Special Committee stresses that, first and foremost, the success of any such process depends on the political will and mutual trust of the parties in conflict.  It also stresses the need for all such processes to take into account the special needs of child and women soldiers, as well as children and women who are dependants of ex-combatants.  It stresses further the importance, in implementing disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, of a coherent public information programme to promote and sustain the confidence of the local population throughout the process.

In the critical area of cooperation among the Security Council, the Secretariat and the troop-contributing countries, the Special Committee reiterates the need for substantive and meaningful consultations.  It urges the Secretariat to consult with the troop-contributing countries in a timely manner while planning any change in the tasks, mission-specific rules of engagement, operational concepts or command and control structure which impact on the personnel, equipment, training and logistics requirements.

Regarding civilian police, the Special Committee endorses the Secretariat’s revised policy on recruitment of retired police officers into peacekeeping operations and raising the age limit for civilian police service, taking into account the different requirements for various types of appointments.

On enhancing African peacekeeping, the Special Committee notes the predicted surge in peacekeeping activities in that region during 2004 and urges Member States to continue to provide direct contributions to United Nations support operations in a timely manner.  It recognizes the effort to establish the African Standby Forces through regional partnership agreements, as well as the coherent African Union units working together to develop and adopt standard United Nations training equipment, common doctrine and arrangements for operational control that will enhance their ability to respond to crises.

The Special Committee recognizes the need to further expand the pool of African military, civilian police and civilian specialists available for peacekeeping operations, the report states.  It requests the enhancement and reinforcement of efforts to train African military peacekeeping personnel and that they be conducted to United Nations standards.  The Special Committee also calls for coordination of bilateral and multilateral efforts to ensure their maximum effectiveness.

According to the report, the Special Committee welcomes the new partnerships being established in building Africa’s capacity for conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building between the United Nations, African Union, other regional organizations and individual MemberStates.  Welcoming the developments in relation to the European Union peace facility for Africa, it encourages the development of similar mechanisms and calls for the coordination of bilateral and multilateral efforts to ensure their maximum effectiveness.

The report says that the Special Committee welcomes the enhanced ability of the United Nations to deploy more rapidly than in the past.  In order to further bolster rapid deployment capacities, and specifically with the intent of truncating preparation timelines, the Special Committee calls upon the Secretariat to improve the efficacy of all existing aspects of pre-mandate operational preparedness.  It supports the requirements for rapidly deployable reserve forces as an integral part of a peacekeeping force under the operational command of the Force Commander whenever the specific circumstances on the ground require.

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The 25^th meeting of the Fourth Committee was reflected in Press Release GA/10243 of 10 June.