United Nations General Assembly Sixieth Session

Comprehensive Review of the whole question of Peacekeeping Operations in all their aspects

Statement by Col Tim Simkin to the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
On Behalf of Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Friday 21 October 2005

(Check against delivery)

Mr Chairman:

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the CANZ Group of countries – Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

First of all, allow me to thank Under Secretary-General Guéhenno for his status report on the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. We continue to recognise the immense progress the Department has made in establishing and managing peace support operations and are greatly encouraged by his proposals for further reform. We would also welcome a continuation of the engagement between member states and DPKO throughout the year, as worked so well during the development of the Standing Police Capacity and is now operating as we develop proposals for enhanced rapidly deployable capacities.

We see two major areas of focus for our comments on UN peacekeeping today. First is the need for member states to capitalise on the initiatives welcomed by world leaders during the recent Summit event. Second is to continue to address the sexual exploitation and abuse problems that continue to plague the organisation. We also see a need to continue momentum on a number of technical issues including the status of staff officers in the field, training matters, gender, and the quality of personnel provided by member states.

Summit Outcomes

Mr Chairman, the World Leaders Summit last month agreed upon a number of outcomes, five of which we would like to put the spotlight on given their significant impact on peace operations. The first two, the decision to establish a Peacebuilding Commission and the recognition of the Responsibility to Protect, are major outcomes which will have significant influence across a large part of the organisation. The third issue is that of management reform, however we will confine our comments to those initiatives associated with reform of DPKO and UN Missions in the field, recognising that reform of DPKO can not be done in isolation and must be done in concert with implementation of other Summit outcomes. The Standing Police Capacity and the Enhanced Rapidly Deployable Capacities are more specific in nature and very much focused on practical means to enhance UN peace operations.

The Peacebuilding Commission is designed to fill an institutional gap in the United Nations. As Secretary General Kofi Annan said in April this year, roughly half of all countries that emerge from war lapse back into violence within five years. We welcome the maintenance of momentum following the Summit on this key initiative and urge member states to agree the modalities for the Peacebuilding Commission, especially related to peacekeeping operations, by 31 December this year as agreed during the World Summit. We strongly support the Secretary General’s recommendation that any state should be able to request assistance from the Peacebuilding Commission. We hope in particular that the Peacebuilding Commission will be able to effectively coordinate international effort to address critical rule of law issues and capacity building, and allow for a seamless transition from peacekeeping operations to nation building.

CANZ welcomes the World Summit recognition that the international community, through the United Nations, has a responsibility to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This outcome is a far-reaching achievement that has relevance for UN peacekeeping. It is vital that when the need arises we give effect to our resolve to follow the principles agreed upon. While our nations will be encouraging the UNSC to act on this initiative, it is incumbent on the peacekeeping community represented by this Committee to begin the necessary studies, doctrine development, and training to be able to give effect to the concept on the ground. What is there that is new and different, if anything, that military, civilian police and other peacekeepers will need to know and do to provide the protection to civilians which the concept calls for, and which the Council may well ask us to deliver? We pledge to work closely with DPKO and other interested nations to quickly address these issues and call upon this Committee to endorse early action on this matter.

We welcome Under Secretary-General Guéhenno’s remarks regarding reform of DPKO and note complementary reform activity in Missions such as the JOC and JMAC. We have been commenting for some time on the well-established axiom that our approach to peacekeeping must be integrated and holistic. In previous statements we have discussed the linkages in peace support operations between development, including the contributions by multilateral and bilateral donors, the rule of law in all its aspects, good governance including democratic elections, and peacekeeping planning related to post-conflict needs to which donors are called to respond, including in their needs assessment processes. In this statement we have elected to zero in on integration issues within DPKO and the Missions. The concepts of IMTF and IMPP have been toyed with now for a couple of years, however we are concerned that comprehensive implementation of these initiatives has not yet been achieved. We are greatly encouraged by Under Secretary-General Guéhenno’s DPKO reform remarks as we anticipate that greater integration here at NY HQ will inevitably lead to enhanced integration in the field, not only through such mechanisms as the JOC and JMAC, but also in the overall planning and execution of a Mission’s mandate. We welcome also the Department’s intent to define and clearly articulate the principles and procedures for carrying out peacekeeping operations, as a logical hierarchical set of documents, that will dramatically improve not just integrated activity, but all activity conducted under UN auspices. The doctrinal bedrock will provide the foundation for further training development, capitalising on the excellent work done during the development of the Standardised Training Modules. We urge the Department and member states to predicate the doctrinal work with a terminology development workshop prior to the next C34, to ensure that we establish clarity throughout the UN community on the meaning of a number of words in the UN lexicon that have and continue to be used ambiguously.

We welcome the World leader’s endorsement of the Standing Police Capacity and encourage member states to participate in the development and implementation of this excellent initiative as soon as possible. This capacity should assist in facilitating early and integrated planning for police deployments, as well as providing the necessary expertise in the field during the crucial early months of a new Mission.

We note also the Summit Outcome urging further development of proposals for enhanced rapidly deployable capacities to reinforce peacekeeping operations in crises, and welcome the participation of many member states in the informal working groups that are developing options to this effect. We encourage maximum participation in this endeavour to ensure that all opinions and concerns can be heard prior to proposals being presented to next years C34.

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

We applaud the excellent work of Prince Zeid and his very useful report on sexual exploitation and abuse, which was endorsed by the C34 and 4th Committee earlier this year. We welcome the efforts made by the Secretary General and DPKO to implement measures to address sexual exploitation and abuse problems however remain extremely concerned that major problems still exist in a number of Missions. We insist on the need for persons deployed on UN peace operations to set, and be held to, the highest standards of conduct and discipline. We wish to register our very strong concern that the problem appears not to have diminished at all in the field during the past year, in spite of attention given to this issue. We offer our united support to all actions taken by DPKO to alter the apparent continuing cultural acceptance of this appalling behaviour.

We need vigilance and determined action by both DPKO and by member states. We consider it essential that the momentum generated by Prince Zeid’s report be maintained, with short term initiatives pursued with vigour and determination by both DPKO and member states. Concurrently, we must also closely examine how we can collectively best support and agree on implementation mechanisms that will take a little longer to fully develop. To this end, we encourage dialogue between the group of legal experts and member states, with the ultimate aim of ensuring the effective investigation of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations and where appropriate, prosecution. We encourage strong, direct and transparent action to be taken by both DPKO and members states where either UN personnel or personnel from member states are found guilty of sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes the provision of early advice by the UN to a member state where an allegation has been made about one or more of its personnel.


Technical Issues

Mr Chairman, there are four matters of a more technical nature which our three countries wish to note. First, the development of the Standardized Training Modules has been an important contribution by DPKO to enhancing the readiness of national military personnel for blue-helmet deployment. The conduct of STM 2 and STM 3 training this year has built on the previous success of the STM concept and has enhanced the library of material accessible to member states and their missions in New York, as well as to potential mission senior managers. The wider complementary development of training for police and civilians however, still remains to be done. Without all of the components having well developed and complementary training, the vision of a fully integrated Mission will remain unfulfilled. We would welcome engagement by DPKO on the Integrated Training and Development Service project that has been established within DPKO, before it progresses much further.

Second, DPKO is aware that we continue to be concerned about the very practical issue of the discriminatory remuneration treatment of staff officers in UN missions relative to military observers, Police and civilians. We are aware that some work has been done and a cost benefit analysis indicates that it is more cost effective to categorise them as ‘experts on mission.’ In any event, we would welcome a healthy dialogue with DPKO on this subject as we seek an expeditious and satisfactory solution.

Third, we welcome DPKO’s focus in the course of the current year on establishing procedures for gender mainstreaming throughout the Department’s operations, and for implementing the elements of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) as this will also assist in our struggle to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse.

Finally, we note apparent concerns regarding the quality of personnel provided by member states for deployment on field Missions, particularly as Military Observers. There are currently discussions about the existing criteria for selection as a Military Observer and the potential for civilian observers. We would encourage an examination from first principles of the requirement for an observer in today’s field environment, recognising that it is somewhat different to the original role for a Military Observer. As there are now a wide range of tasks that an observer might undertake, we should identify those tasks, determine their appropriateness as an observer task, and then identify the skill sets required for various sets of tasks. Only then would we be in a position to adjust our selection criteria accordingly and develop appropriate job descriptions and CV proformas to ensure we get quality personnel who are best skilled and experienced for the job.

Let me conclude by reinforcing Canada, Australia and New Zealand’s commitment to eradicating sexual exploitation and abuse amongst UN personnel, and our commitment to capitalise on the Summit initiatives agreed to by world leaders last month. We are all here today at a time when there is opportunity for momentous change, to better recognise the geography, politics and economics of the way the world is in 2005. We should not squander this opportunity. CANZ encourages all member states to work with DPKO and achieve outcomes in those areas we have addressed in our statement. With a strong spirit of partnership, and a commitment to improve the circumstances and conditions for our personnel that are currently in harms way, we can make a difference.