UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Statement by Hon. Warren Snowdon, MP Parliamentary Adviser to the Australian Delegation to the United Nations
Comprehensive Review of Peacekeeping Operations
New York 16 October 2003
Mr Chairman
No United Nations task is more important than peacekeeping and the organisation�€™s reputation lives and dies by the quality and effectiveness of its peacekeeping efforts.
It is therefore very pleasing to have heard from Under-Secretary-General Guehenno a detailed and frank report which, while acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead, also pointed to very real improvements in the way peacekeeping operations are planned, managed and concluded.
We have seen encouraging results in the six priority areas that he identified last year, not least in strengthening Rapid Deployment capabilities �€“ as we have seen demonstrated in the UN�€™s takeover from ECOWAS Liberia and from the EU in Bunia.
We are also encouraged that Mr Guehenno has put rule of law issues at the centre of peacekeeping. We agree that this is an area that does indeed frequently determine the longer-term success or failure of peacekeeping operations. This is one reason we have been so firm in advocating a strong rule of law and police component in the post-UNMISET UN presence in Timor Leste.
Mr Chairman
While we have seen improvements, the situation with UN Peacekeeping is still a work-inprogress. I say this not as a criticism, but simply to observe that many challenges lie ahead. There can be no resting on one�€™s laurels. DPKO needs to live by an ethos of continuous improvement. It is the hallmark of any successful organization. In partnership with DPKO, this Committee and the C34 can facilitate the maintenance of this ethos.
Mr Chairman
My delegation agrees that successful peacekeeping involves partnership between many players
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- principally the UN Secretariat and Member States. Regional organizations, multinational forces and coalitions of the willing are also increasingly important. It is essential that we do not regard the roles of these players as competitive or mutually exclusive, but rather as complementary. The Secretary-General in his report on the Implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration has commented favourably on the useful division of labour that can exist between robust multinational forces and Blue Helmets. INTERFET, which Australia led, was a very case in point
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- and is an example that Mr Guehenno has also noted.
We consider that while these various actors often have different functions, there is an underlying unity of effort. For this reason there is a case to be made for a broader definition of who are and who are not peacekeepers. Countries that do not feature highly as contributors to Blue Helmet operations, can be substantial contributors to peacekeeping. We therefore need to reconsider if it is useful to talk of a "commitment gap". It may be more useful to expend our energies working out the best possible way to coordinate and bring together different capacities �€“ wherever they may come from.
Mr Chairman
Speaking for Australia, there certainly is no commitment gap. We remain one of the top ten contributors to UN Peacekeeping operations. We have led a multinational force and have contributed to others. And more recently, we have led a regional assistance mission to the Solomon Islands, in partnership with other countries of the Pacific Islands Forum, to help restore law and order in that neighboring country. The joint statement of the Pacific Islands Forum to this Committee, being delivered by the New Zealand Ambassador provides more details.
Mr Chairman
There remains nevertheless serious capability gaps which need to be addressed. Some of these can be met through better management and greater commitment. The ability to rapidly deploy civilian experts and law and order experts is an area which needs more attention. But there are also areas where my delegation believes we need to change our way of thinking. One such area is the acquisition and use of field intelligence. This has been a vexed issue in the C34, but it is one that we can no longer avoid if we are serious about protecting UN Personnel, Peacekeepers and also innocent civilians.
As General Cammaert told us yesterday, peacekeeping operations are occurring in highly complex and volatile situations. Early and accurate field intelligence can make the difference between success and failure and between preserving lives and losing them. I hope, therefore, that the C34 can make good progress this year on this issue and enable our peacekeepers to have the best protection that access to timely information can afford.
Mr Chairman
I have only touched on some of the many issues that this complex subject involves. I can assure you, however, that Australia will remain a helpful and engaged partner in this Committee and in the C34. We are committed to working cooperatively to further improve peacekeeping operations.