Special Committee on

Peacekeeping Operations

233^rd Meeting (AM)

Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations Adopts Procedural Report,

 

Concluding 2013 Substantive Session

 

Chair Voices Regret over Failure to Agree on ‘Substantive Part’ of Document

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations concluded its 2013 substantive session today, adopting a procedural report on its work.

Special Committee Chair U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria) expressed “the utmost regret that, despite several rounds of informal consultations since our last meeting in March, it has not been possible to reach agreement” on a substantive part of the report.

She said that adopting the procedural report (document A/AC.121/2013/L.3) allowed the Special Committee to conclude its session and facilitate the inclusion of its agenda item on the “comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations in all its aspects” in the agenda of the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly.

The Chair said that, with a view to ensuring that the problems encountered this year would not recur in 2014, she intended to convene an intersessional group of “friends of the Chair” to consider the Special Committee’s working methods with a view to making recommendations to its next substantive session.

Having proposed the inclusion of a paragraph reflecting that intention in the report, several delegations expressed their regret over the failure to agree on a substantive outcome to the session, and to comment on the language of the proposed paragraph.

The representative of the European Union delegation said the group of friends would best fulfil its mandate if the last two sentences of the proposed paragraph were removed.  The representative of the United States agreed, noting that the sentences in question could prejudge the outcome of the group’s work.

Egypt’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said the proposed paragraph addressed problems relating to the Special Committee’s working methods, emphasizing that he did not understand why new proposals were only just being tabled, while the draft had been in circulation for a week.

Following an intervention by Australia’s delegate — who also spoke on behalf of Canada and New Zealand — to suggest alternative language for the Chair’s proposed paragraph, the meeting adjourned into informal consultations among members seeking agreement on it.

When the meeting resumed, the Special Committee approved, without a vote, the inclusion of an amended version of the paragraph.

Mohamed Selim (Egypt), Rapporteur, then introduced the draft report, which the Special Committee adopted without a vote, as orally revised.

Concluding the Special Committee’s 2013 substantive session, the Chair emphasized that members had “a common commitment to work constructively in the months ahead to ensure a successful 2014 session”.

Also speaking today were representatives of Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, Japan and Uruguay.

The Special Committee will reconvene at a time and date to be decided.

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For information media • not an official record