Sixty-third General Assembly

Fourth Committee

15^th Meeting (PM)

FOR UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING, CONSIDERATION MUST BE GIVEN TO MEETING CHALLENGES

INHERENT IN ‘POLITICALLY CHARGED, INSECURE SCENARIOS’, FOURTH COMMITTEE TOLD

‘The More Sophisticated a Mission’s Mandate, the Harder It Is

To Support It’; Huge Logistical Challenges Make Months Ahead Pivotal

Sixty years into United Nations peacekeeping –- which made a difference between life and death and between hope and despair -- some of the Organization’s 18 missions continued to face extremely trying times, while others would face pivotal moments in the months ahead, Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today as it began its comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping in all its aspects.

Opening the review, Mr. Le Roy -- who took over for long-time peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guéhenno two months ago -- underscored the enormity, breadth and complexity of peacekeeping today.  Indeed, with those 18 operations deployed across 12 time zones in five continents and comprised of 140,000 authorized personnel, those missions were significantly different from those of even five years earlier.  Collective consideration had to be given to how to meet the challenges inherent in politically charged, insecure scenarios -- and with what resources.

Also addressing the Committee as it considered peacekeeping was Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General and Head of the Department of Field Support, which was formed last year as part of a restructuring of the Peacekeeping Department.  She said that, in a certain sense, the mandate of the Department of Field Support was quite narrow.  A high-level vision of peacekeeping had been laid out and the support side had to “drill down” into the details to determine what its added value was.  For that, she called for a dialogue on the challenges that would confront peacekeeping in the coming years, adding that that dialogue should be at the heart of the Organization’s efforts to maintain peace and security.

Mr. Le Roy said that nowhere were the difficulties more obvious than in Darfur, where clearly there were not enough resources for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation there (UNAMID) to “get the job done” and peacekeepers were being asked to work “where there was no peace to keep”.  If such a high-profile, publicized and costly mission was not given the support it needed –- and despite repeated requests to Member States for attack and military transport helicopters, the mission had yet to secure this essential component –- then the future of United Nations peacekeeping would be at great risk.

The magnitude of that possibility was significant, since peacekeeping remained one of the Organization’s cornerstone achievements and had helped to improve the lives of millions of people living in or emerging from brutal and devastating conflict, he said.

“Whilst there are many challenges, I am convinced that peacekeeping is a sound investment for the international community,” he said, stressing that the ongoing agenda of restructuring and reform should continue and the forthcoming Peace Operations 2010 agenda should be realized.

He said that that agenda laid out priority areas for strengthening peacekeeping at all levels by improving coherence and integration, evaluation and training, and prioritizing those efforts across his Department and that of his field support partner.  That included new business processes and joint decision-making structures at the strategic, policy, and operational levels.

Focusing on the operational side, Ms. Malcorra said that, since her appointment five months ago, she had visited many field operations and seen first-hand the huge logistical challenges of mounting successful peacekeeping operations.  The more sophisticated a mission’s mandate, the harder it was to support it.  Further, the fragile security situation in many countries added to the naturally complex task of deploying troops and police, as well as support personnel.

Striking a balance between the strategic vision and the urgent operational demands was difficult.  The Department of Field Support was attempting to address issues that were short-, medium- and long-term, taking as its first priority its response to short-term demands.  Towards that goal, it was looking at how to adjust the peacekeeping model based on on-the-ground situations, while also recognizing that it was not enough to deploy quickly.  The support model had to be evaluated to make it more efficient and effective, for which flexibility was needed.

That did not mean, however, that speed was unimportant, she said.  The Department’s job was to ensure that all missions deployed as quickly as possible.  In that, UNAMID was front and centre, and the Department was working to ensure that all the key inhibitors to deployment were removed.  An agreement in that regard had recently been reached and would be revisited every six or so weeks.

Another top priority was the process of staffing missions.  Echoing Mr. Le Roy, who had earlier called it a “make or break issue”, she said that, if a more robust human resource component was not built, success would not be attainable, and she urged Member States to take a hard look at how to address that question.

During the afternoon meeting, the Fourth Committee also concluded its general debate on information, hearing from the representatives of Bahrain, Senegal, Iran, Tunisia and Uruguay.

The Fourth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 24 October, to begin its general debate on peacekeeping and take action on a draft resolution on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

Background

As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this afternoon to conclude its general debate on questions relating to information, it had before it two reports:  the report of the Secretary-General on that topic (document A/63/258) and a report on the thirtieth session of the Committee on Information (28 April to 9 May 2008) (document A/62/21 (Supp)).  (For summaries of those reports, see Press Release GA/SPD/405 of 17 October.)

Statements

FAISAL AL ZAYANI (Bahrain), aligning himself with the statements of the Non-Aligned Movement and Group of 77 and China, said the Department had made considerable gains in many fields, most notably, promoting information about the United Nations and mobilizing awareness among a wide sector of the public.  United Nations information services products must be effective, influential and based on an evaluation process that adopted the positive and discarded the negative.

He said the Department had been especially successful in raising the level of international awareness on the special needs of Africa with regard to climate change and violence against women.  Information materials produced by the Department in the six official languages, as well as press conferences, seminars, and videos, served to sensitize the public to those issues.  The United Nations Information Centres also played an important role as “beacons” of information, through which the public could receive news of United Nations activities.  However, those Centres often lacked the appropriate “advanced and complicated” communication tools.  Despite limited resources,those Centres should not be closed or integrated into other United Nations offices unless the views of the Centre were taken into consideration on the matter.

Magazines, newspapers and other written mass media still influenced the public in most countries, he said, adding that the role of the UN Chronicle should be evaluated in an historical dimension in promoting the awareness of cultures.  In order for readers to benefit from its topics and new format, it should be published with equal quality in the six official languages.

To achieve the Department’s and Organization’s goals, it was essential to have cooperation aimed at developing communications infrastructures and capacities in developing countries, and encourage cultivation of those countries’ natural and technical resources.  The Department should continue its activities on the question of Palestine until a just decision could be reached on the issue.

PAUL BADJI (Senegal), aligning his remarks with those of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China and the Non-Aligned Movement, reiterated his country’s appeal for accurate, impartial, detailed and updated information on the activities of the United Nations.  Towards that goal, the Information Department should be provided with the ways and means to right the imbalance among the Organization’s six official languages and close the linguistic gap between the websites.  Solutions could be found in some of the partnerships between the Department and civil society and other organizations, such as Chinese universities, which had enhanced translation efforts in the past.  In the future, those partnerships should be expanded to all of the official languages.

Turning to the United Nations Information Centres, he stressed that any and all decision to reorganize those Centres should be made in close consultation with the host countries and with strict regard for the circumstances in the various regions where they were located.  He underlined his delegation’s support for the Information Centre in Dakar, as well as its work among the vast francophone community in West Africa.

He commended the Department’s efforts to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping operations.  While the omission of any mention of the question of Palestine in the Secretary-General’s report on information this year had been regrettable, it was clearly not the Department’s intention to overlook the question of Palestine.  He urged the Information Department to respond appropriately to the suggestions and concerns of the Member States included in the report of the Committee on Information and to study in depth those comments of the various delegations during its deliberations.  The Department should also help publicize the Digital Solidarity Fund, which sought to close the digital divide between the North and South.

AMIR HOSSEIN HOSSEINI ( Iran) encouraged the Information Committee to increase its efforts to formulate a stronger and more effective United Nations information policy.  That would ensure greater understanding and respect between the many divergent peoples both within the United Nations system and beyond. In doing so, it was important for the Information Department to continue to collaborate closely with the Information Committee.  The Department’s commitment to present the news to a wide and international community, offering impartial, balanced and timely information, should also continue. 

He commended the Department’s success reporting on a wide range of issues, among them, the Organization’s reform, sustainable development, and dialogue among different Member States, but he reminded the Committee that emerging issues should not eclipse older ones in need of exposure, such as the question of Palestine.  Indeed, the Department should continue its past record in addressing the question of Palestine, including the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and their current humanitarian tragedy, as one of its top priorities.

One serious challenge, he observed, was the digital divide between the poor and rich, which impeded the dissemination of information, knowledge, and access to current events and the work of the United Nations.  He called for a concerted policy to address the technological and financial circumstances in developing countries.  Once remedied, such improvements could be catalytic in strengthening the United Nations positive image in those countries.  Noting that the Information Department worked hard to ensure multilingualism in all its activities, he encouraged the Committee to create a truly diverse and expanded expression when evolving the UN Chronicle to UN Affairs so that it could really reflect its core audience. 

HABIB MANSOUR (Tunisia), endorsing the comments of the Group of 77 and China and the Non-Aligned Movement, said his delegation had been encouraged by the Information Department’s efforts to mainstream the activities of the United Nations.  Yet, it had hoped the issue of multilingualism would receive the necessary attention from the Department.  More than at any other time in the past, the international community, and particularly the developing world, was faced with challenges at all levels.  As a result, the developing countries should be aided in their efforts to improve their information and technological capacities.  Towards that goal, he underlined the recommendations elaborated during the November 2005 World Summit in the Tunis Agreement and the Tunis Agenda.

He said that, due to its belief in the importance in building an international knowledge community that would allow all the peoples of the world to improve their situation, Tunisia had pursued a national policy to maintain its information sectors.  It had sought to maximize administration techniques to keep pace with the endless innovation in information and communications fields.  It had also sought to follow a framework and establish centres that would contribute to inventiveness and creativity in this field.  As the current discussions continued, the sixth session of the Mediterranean business community was meeting to study innovations in the information and technology fields.  In closing, he emphasized his country’s intention to carry forward the Information Department’s work.

MARTIN VIDAL (Uruguay), endorsing the statements of the Group of 77 and China and the Rio Group, stressed the importance of multilingualism, peacekeeping operations, and the challenges the Organization faced with regard to providing access to technologies and narrowing the digital divide.  Bridging the digital divide was of the utmost importance, and his country had implemented a number of measures to contribute to its amelioration.

He said his Government was undertaking educational activities for basic computer sciences and online work, and aimed to provide greater access to education and culture through those activities.  Teachers and students from grades 1 to 6 were being given personal portable computers and trained in their operation.  However, the goal was not only to provide equipment and access, although that was a precondition, but to promote family and community participation.  Launched in small rural school, the programme had now succeeded in delivering half of the laptops slated for distribution.  Eventually, the programme would be expanded beyond schools to the wider population as well.  That “innovative endeavour” was already bearing fruit.  He added that he was ready to delve more deeply into the topic when there was an appropriate moment to do so.

Statement of Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

ALAIN LE ROY, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, remarking that it was the sixtieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping missions, said he was struck by the enormity, breadth and complexity of those missions today.  The exceptional work and commitment of current and former peacekeepers at Headquarters and in the field had successfully advanced peacekeeping as a cornerstone of the work of the Organization.

Under the overall guidance and leadership of the Secretary-General, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Field Support would continue to provide management, direction and support to peacekeeping operations through a closely aligned partnership at all levels, he said.  The 18 operations deployed across 12 time zones in five continents were comprised of 140,000 authorized personnel, of which 110,000 were currently deployed, including 75,000 military, 11,500 police and 23,500 civilians.  That compared to the just 30,000 personnel deployed a decade ago.

Updating the Committee on the missions’ activities of the past six months, he said that two operations, the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) had closed, and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had downsized.  The situation in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Kosovo was “radically” different from when the “guns were silenced” a few years ago, due in no small part to the stabilizing efforts of United Nations peacekeepers.  Those operations had played a central role in reducing the likelihood of future conflict and creating a framework in which normal development could resume.

However, he said other missions continued to face difficulties, including the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), where progress remained sporadic and fragile.  The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was now at a pivotal moment and would likely need an infusion of support to maintain its progress.

Peacekeepers across the missions were engaged in a huge range of tasks, including supporting political dialogue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, extending State authority and security in the south of Lebanon by clearing more than 30,000 unexploded munitions, and increasing patrolling scope in Darfur.  Peacekeepers were also advising on the development of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Côte d’Ivoire, promoting local efforts to re-establish court and rehabilitate correctional facilities in the Sudan, strengthening national capacities in Burundi, and assisting in the reform of armed forces and police in Timor-Leste.  In Afghanistan, while the conflict continued and security deteriorated, the Mission there had recently assumed a new lead role in coordinating aid effectiveness of the international community.

Despite daily challenges, setbacks and ongoing suffering, the actions of the United Nations helped to improve the lives of millions of people living in or emerging from brutal and devastating conflict.  However, peacekeepers could only work with the support of Member States, with strong cooperation, understanding and mutual trust between them and the Secretariat.  Therefore, the ongoing agenda of restructuring and reform must continue, and the “professionalization” of Peace Operations 2010 agendawould be delivered.

In that regard, he said the agenda laid out priority areas for strengthening peacekeeping at all levels by improving coherence and integration, evaluation and training, and prioritizing those efforts across the two Departments.  That included new business processes and joint decision-making structures at the strategic, policy, and operational levels.

The Office of Military Affairs was also being strengthened with regard to resources so that it could respond more effectively to contemporary peacekeeping needs.  With the support of the Member States, it should be fully staffed by next summer and would liaise closely with troop-contributing countries.  The Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions was already qualitatively impacting the ability of field missions to provide more comprehensive advice and support to counterparts in the area of rule of law and security institutions.  That integrated approach would seek to ensure the early deployment of strategic rule of law and bring both immediate benefits to the safety and security of people’s lives, and lay the groundwork for long-term peacebuilding.

Additionally, he said, the Standing Police Capacity had played a critical role in rapidly establishing the core police component of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) and had provided police advisers to Timor-Leste and Kosovo.

He said policing and peacekeeping had grown exponentially in size, complexity and importance, and the need for a strategic review of the management of United Nations police had been articulated.  The Police Division was undertaking a review of its functions and responsibilities to identify current gaps undermining its abilities to fulfil police-related mandates.

The Peacekeeping Group continued to identify innovative approaches to problems, he said, adding that some missions had been tasked by the Security Council with ensuring the protection of civilians while conflicts raged.  That was particularly important in light of this year’s Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) on sexual violence in conflict.  His Department and Member States must work together to prevent and respond to such acts.  On that “make or break” issue of personnel, he urged Member States to approve the human recourse reform proposals, in order to ensure that missions were served by the highest calibre of personnel.

He said the peacekeeping apparatus continued to be “bedevilled” by the challenge of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by United Nations peacekeepers, both uniformed and civilian.  That brought “great dishonour”, not only to the Blue Flag, but also to troop-contributing countries.  The Secretariat must do its part to eradicate that issue, and senior mission leadership must implement a “zero tolerance” approach to that “terrible problem”, which threatened to overshadow the generally positive influence and impact of the peacekeeping operations.

On a more positive note, he said he was impressed by the wide range of partners working with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, including partners in the United Nations system such as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to name only a few.  Without those partnerships, it would not be possible to implement the broad mandate entrusted to it by the Security Council.  He was personally committed to leading a senior-level group at Headquarters to provide leadership and oversight for United Nations integration in post-conflict contexts and establish frameworks for cooperation, as with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union in Afghanistan.

He said it was clear that there was “no let-up” in demand for United Nations peacekeeping, and the range and breadth of mandated missions continued to grow.  However, in Darfur for instance, there were not enough resources to “get the job done” and peacekeepers were being asked to work “where there was no peace to keep”.  Those demands must be addressed more effectively and the root of the political and resource problems must be more deeply considered.

While there were many challenges, he said he was convinced that peacekeeping was a sound investment for the international community.  A number of studies pointed to the relative cost-effectiveness of peacekeeping operations, which “dwarfed” the cost of waging war in all respects.  It was evident that the global financial crisis would impact peacekeeping, but budgets were unlikely to increase, and he would review activities to see where more could be delivered.  The Department was committed to doing business in a way that was ever more accountable, transparent and efficient.

Reflecting on the joint African Union-United Hybrid Nations Operation in Darfur, he said developments were too slow and the mission did not have the resources it needed, in particular regarding air assets, and it was struggling to achieve its mandate “against all odds” in difficult conditions and harsh terrain, trying to protect civilians, and operate in the face of ongoing hostilities and banditry.  On a positive note, however, the Sudanese Government was increasing cooperation with the mission and Secretariat to facilitate deployment.

He said the first lesson to be learned from the mission’s experiences in Darfur was that in order for peacekeeping to be successful, there must first be a peace to keep -- where at least the main actors had acceded to a peace process.

The mission in Darfur also highlighted the gap between mandates and resources, human and material.  If those were not increased, then mandates and expectations would need to be scaled down.  Despite repeated requests to Member States for attack and military transport helicopters, the mission had yet to secure that essential component, without which, static forces could not hope to deploy in all the internally displaced persons locations, and UNAMID could not reach “anywhere near its full impact”.

If such a high-profile, publicized and costly mission was not given the support it required to succeed, the future of United Nations peacekeeping and the results of Member States’ hard work and the sacrifices of their personnel -- sometimes even the “ultimate” sacrifice -- would be at great risk.

With the challenges of Darfur in mind, the international community must take resolute action in Somalia to re-galvanize peacekeeping efforts and put pressure on the fighting parties, he said.  The United Nations ran the risk of outright failure in Somalia if the wrong tools were supplied to the task at hand.  Additionally, the current economic crisis had an even more disempowering, alienating and destructive impact on communities where missions were deployed.  He echoed the words of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hédi Annabi, that the “existence of a poor, hungry and desperate population was simply not compatible with stability”.  The international community, therefore, must retain a steadfast commitment to those fragile and vulnerable countries.

He said that the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support must consider streamlining mandates to make better use of resources, reassessing criteria, and determining benchmarks against which to measure success and prepare for longer-term peacebuilding activities.  The Departments would also consider whether the United Nations was properly configured to grapple with the sheer logistical challenges of deployment, and how to better address waning consent from host countries, as well as how to ensure strong, ongoing political and diplomatic support from Member States.

In closing, he emphasized that United Nations peacekeeping was very much premised upon a global partnership, and its efforts made a difference between life and death and between hope and despair.

Statement of Under-Secretary-General for Field Support

Under-Secretary-General and Head of the Department of Field Support, Susana Malcorra, called for a dialogue on the challenges that would confront peacekeeping in the coming years.  That dialogue should be “alive” and should be at the heart of the Organization’s efforts to maintain peace and security to the world.

Since her appointment five months ago, she had visited many field operations, she said.  Those visits had demonstrated the huge logistical challenges facing United Nations peacekeeping and underscored the critical role played by logistics in mounting successful peacekeeping operations.  The complexity of the mandate of those missions added to the work on the ground; indeed, the more sophisticated the mandate, the harder it was to support the missions.  On top of that, the fragile security situation in many countries added to the naturally complex task of deploying troops and police, as well as support personnel.  Another top concern, and thus top priority, was the process of hiring staff in the United Nations.  That was key in moving peacekeeping forward.

She said she had worked to get to know her staff and to reach a common vision on how to proceed.  Striking a balance between the strategic vision and the urgent operational demands was difficult.  The Department of Field Support was attempting to address issues that were short-, medium- and long-term, taking as its first priority its response to short-term demands.  That effort was being made even though the Department did not always have the answers.

To that end, she said it was necessary to look at how to adjust the peacekeeping model based on on-the-ground situations.  It was not enough to deploy quickly.  The support model had to be evaluated to make it more efficient and effective and, in that, flexibility was needed.  While a high-level view on peacekeeping had been laid out, it was clear that the support side had to “drill down” into the details.  It should also be recognized that most of the time sufficient resources did not exist to keep full pace with the evolving situation on the ground.

Following its establishment last year, it was now time for the Department of Field Support to come back to the Member States to report on what it had done.  As the Department’s head, she regarded that as an opportunity.  Yet she was also concerned that not much time had passed to make clear just what the Department’s added value was.  While she felt the Department would make a strong case for its work, she recognized that some indicators would not be sufficiently met.

Still, it was clear that, as the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support worked together, a systemic approach was needed.  The IRTs [Incident Response Teams] were one way to do that.  Her Department was also putting all means at its disposal together to make sure chains of command were not broken.

It was also clear that because the responsibilities of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations were so broad, focusing on the ever-increasing support demands was hard, she said.  But in a certain sense, the mandate of the Department of Field Support was quite narrow.  As its head, policy questions did not distract her from the results to be delivered.  Indeed, there were no excuses and no distractions; she simply had to ensure that her Department was absolutely down to earth.  In that respect it could be a reality-check on the policy discussions.

In providing support, the Department also had to consider how it could address, not only the needs of peacekeeping operations, but those of political missions -- and any transitions between the two.  A model should be found that fit both mission types and that could answer the demands of both sets of clients.

Free of the policy distractions, the Department could focus on its very narrow mandate of supporting the quick and efficient deployment of missions, she continued.  Towards that goal, its top priorities included ensuring that all missions deployed as quickly as possible.  In that, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was front and centre there and the Department was working to ensure that all the key inhibitors to deployment were removed.  An agreement in that regard had recently been reached and would be revisited every six or so weeks.

Second only to Darfur was the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), she went on.  Indeed, the mandate in Chad was equal to the one in Darfur and, even if they were accomplished in different directions, the distance over which the two deployments would be managed was equivalent.  Further, there was more to be added to MINURCAT’s mandate.

Meanwhile, she said, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was also growing in an ever-more-challenging environment.  The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) represented additional demands.  Current events unfolding there meant that capacity had to be shored up across many areas -- aviation and military support, among them.  Beyond that, the Department was working on scenario-planning for Somalia, which would place a number of challenging logistical demands on it.

However, she said, if a more robust human resource component was not built, success would not be attainable.  She stressed that totally different types of services and contracts existed in the field and said it was not fair to ask those deployed to stay too long; that was a main reason for such low staff retention.  She urged Member States to take a hard look at how to address that question.

She said that, as a support strategy was fully developed, the right balance between effectiveness and efficiency was paramount.  She had heard the message from Member States that the United Nations community needed to focus on standardized solutions and work towards a more comprehensive social strategy that recognized the existence of local, regional and international markets.  Nevertheless, the procurement horizon in most peacekeeping missions was usually quite short, and a totally new procurement model needed to be rethought.  That should include revising terms of reference so that they were an enabler and not a disabler in deployments.  Further, core competencies should be maximized.  All of that should be done without losing sight of the security situation and the dangers facing each mission.  Only through more creative approaches could the Organization achieve success in peacekeeping.

Highlighting the Organization’s zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, she said that needed to be ingrained throughout the system and fully shared by all Member States.  That was not only the responsibility of the Secretariat, but something the membership must tackle together.  Many pieces of the puzzle had been put together, but assurances that the policy would be enforced if any infractions were made had to be extended or the policy would not be trusted.

In closing, she said she had a strong team to deliver on the Department’s mandate.  But it was also necessary to recognize that there were different customers in the service arena.  In that, the Department should always bring options to the table and address alternatives, while keeping the situation on the ground in mind.  Overall, a sustainable support model was needed, which would address the most critical financial, human resource and logistical questions.

Thanking the Under-Secretaries-General, the Chairman suspended the formal session so the Committee could move into a closed session.

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