Statement by H.E. Mr Andrew Goledzinowski, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Security Council on 22 July 2009 - Post-Conflict Peacebuilding 

(as delivered)

Mr President

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today on this vitally important topic.

Australia welcomes the report of the Secretary-General. Post-conflict peacebuilding is a key challenge of our time and the Secretary-General’s leadership is critical in advancing UN efforts to address this challenge. His report provides important guidance to all our efforts to improve our response in the aftermath of conflicts.

We fully endorse the principle that peacebuilding following a conflict is the responsibility of the government of the affected country. There must be local ownership of all efforts.

At the same time – and this is only superficially paradoxical – stronger, better resourced UN leadership on the ground will result in better outcomes for the partner country. To improve analysis, planning and coordination, for example, the role of the Resident Coordinator’s office should be strengthened. We also welcome the recognition that there should be a commensurate increase in the accountability of UN senior leadership.

Mr President

The collective role of civilian, police and military in supporting peacebuilding efforts must be recognised, and we encourage the UN and its partners to strive for greater coherence between peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts. Ahead of this debate, we and the World Bank held a small seminar on this topic, based on the findings from the Bank’s survey of Australian experiences in post-conflict Cambodia, Solomons and Timor Leste. What this reinforced was we need to recognise the importance of the security-development nexus and ensure an integrated approach between the various mission elements. The respective capabilities that each element brings to the overall mission effort need to be carefully considered at the strategic planning and operational levels.

We’d argue the importance of effective civil-military-police relations needs to be a key consideration for those taking leadership roles in missions, and in the training and preparedness of civilian deployees. This is an issue just as much for national and regional actors as for multilateral agencies. Getting it right – bringing the very different working cultures together, be they from the development world, the military, the police or the political – would significantly improve the quality and efficiency of our response, and, more importantly, lead to better outcomes for the countries concerned.

Mr President

We welcome the report’s acknowledgement of the role that local and traditional authorities and civil society have in recovery and development. Australia’s experience in the Pacific has demonstrated the importance of supporting traditional leadership, including those outside the formal state apparatus, in recovery efforts.

We also welcome the report’s emphasis on the needs of women and girls. The early post-conflict period provides an opportunity to consolidate new leadership and employment roles which may have been taken on by women during the period of conflict.

In terms of the international architecture, Australia welcomes the enhanced cooperation framework recently agreed between the World Bank and the UN. We encourage future similar efforts to improve coordination and further clarify the roles of each multilateral agency in post-conflict settings.

On deployable civilian capabilities, Australia is in the process of developing such a capability. We look forward to cooperating with the UN and others in undertaking a comprehensive review of how to broaden and deepen the pool of civilian experts, and improve inter-operability.

In conclusion, Mr President, I’d like to thank you again for the opportunity to participate in the debate, to repeat our gratitude to the Secretary-General for this important report that has brought together a lot of valuable ideas, and to underline our willingness to keep on working to improve all our efforts.

Thank you.