Press Conference by Security Council President on Programme of Work for July

Conflict prevention and settlement of disputes, particularly in Africa, would come under the spotlight during the tenure of Joy Ogwu of Nigeria as Security Council President for July, the Ambassador said today briefing correspondents about the Council’s programme of work for the month.

She said that other areas of focus would be Iraq, the Middle East, as well as the work of the Council’s sanctions committees, among others, but the major highlight and perhaps the most salient was the open debate on conflict prevention and settlement of disputes.

The concept paper for that debate was entitled “Optimizing the use of preventive action: New tools, challenges and prospects for Africa”, she said.  The topic had been chosen in light of her country’s involvement in peacekeeping operations around the world since its independence in 1960.  “I would rightly assert that peacekeeping has become Nigeria’s forte,” she said, adding that Nigeria was concerned about the increasing cost of peacekeeping, both in human and material resources.  Thus, there was urgent and dire need for all concerned to begin to seek other mechanisms for preventing conflicts before they arose.

She said that West Africa had been very progressive in that area in terms of domestic infrastructure for the prevention of conflict, such as early warning signals.  Although those efforts had not yet been perfected, West Africa wanted to transcend the subregional and regional levels to the international level, in order to have a cohesive approach to preventive diplomacy.  “This is not the kind of fire-fighting approach that has been used over the years.  Conflict erupts and then we adopt a fire-fighting approach to quell it.  That is always, has always been, so transient,” she declared.

Nigeria was thinking about organic structures and mechanisms that were home‑grown, she said, stressing that there were traditional methods of solving conflicts, such as mediation.  She believed that if those were consolidated, Member States would have found ways of improving and minimizing the financial and human costs of peacekeeping.  She added that the Council meeting would be chaired at a high level, by Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

There were also routine issues on the Council’s agenda for the month, she said, pointing to three open debates, including on the protection of civilians in armed conflict on 7 July, at which both Council and non-Council members were expected to address the efforts that had been made to strengthen the protection of civilians in armed conflict.  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to address the meeting.  John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, would brief the Council.

She said that the second open debate would be the one on conflict prevention and settlement of disputes, on 16 July, and the third and last open debate scheduled for the month would be on the Middle East, on 21 July.  That debate was a monthly assessment of the prevailing situation in the region, which would be provided by the Secretary-General.  The discussion would continue to focus on the means of achieving a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian question.

Several issues had been selected for consultations, including the report of the Secretary-General pursuant to resolution 1701 (2006) on Lebanon, on 14 July.  Others were also on the table, such as Guinea-Bissau, the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and Iraq, with regard to the Development Fund for Iraq.

Expanding on Sudan and Darfur, she said the situation there would receive “very close attention”, especially in view of the referendum that had been scheduled for next year in that country.  On Guinea-Bissau, Special Representative Joseph Mutaboba was expected to brief, particularly on the challenges that still faced the country.  Those included peace consolidation, harmonization of the United Nations work there and the need to address the very serious socio-economic challenges there, including the widespread poverty, youth unemployment, weak justice institutions and inadequate resources to fight drug trafficking and organized crime, and, above all, the absence of a strategic work plan with appropriate benchmarks to measure and track any progress.

On UNOWA, she said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Said Djinnit, would brief the Council, focusing on the perennial challenges confronting the region, again including youth unemployment, irregular migration and rapid unplanned urbanization; regional and cross-border developments; and such developments as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the West African subregion.

She said that the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, would brief the Council on the latest situation in Darfur.  UNAMID’s mandate was due to expire on 31 July.  The Council was scheduled to consider that resolution on 29 July, prior to which, on 19 July, it would have a private meeting with troop-contributing countries.

A briefing scheduled for 12 July on Iraq was an opportunity for Iraq’s committee of financial experts to explain its work for transiting to a post development fund for Iraq, she said.  The Council was also expected to receive reports on the sanctions committees on Eritrea and Liberia.

Asked why the programme made no mention of the request from the Republic of Korea about the sinking of the Cheonan naval ship with the loss of 46 lives, Ms. Ogwu said that non-proliferation was listed as footnote on the programme, meaning that the issue might come up along the way.  Consultations were still ongoing on the matter, she added.

To a follow-up question about where Nigeria stood on that issue, she said that in her capacity as Council President she was expected to maintain a balance for peace and security.  In her national capacity, Nigeria was expecting to be part of the process of looking for peace rather than escalating the situation.  She added that Nigeria had a principled stance for the maintenance of peace and security.

Responding to further questions on in-house issues, she told correspondents that their concerns regarding media access would remain under review, as would the “participation” of the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General in consultative meetings of the Council.

In response to a question on Kosovo, she disclosed that the Council was likely to have a briefing on 6 July in the morning at the request of Serbia, and that that meeting would be attended by the President of Serbia.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record