SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES POST-CONFLICT

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000458 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN SOCI UNSC UN SUBJECT: SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES POST-CONFLICT PEACEBUILDING ¶1. SUMMARY: With a May 20 open debate on post-conflict peacebuilding led by UK Foreign Minister David Miliband, the UK used their Security Council Presidency to launch a re-examination of UN support for post-conflict countries. Common themes in statements by Council members included: 1) support for an enhanced Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) role in ensuring that all UN country team entities contribute to restoring and maintaining stability; 2) the need for quicker deployment of civilian expertise and financial resources in the immediate post-conflict period; 3) establishment of a permanent, standing body of civilian peacebuilding practitioners, particularly for Rule of Law issues; 4) endorsement of the UN Peacebuilding Commission's role in coordinating international support; and 5) the need for continuity in addressing threats to stability from immediate post-conflict through peacekeeping operations and their later drawdown. END SUMMARY ¶2. As part of their May Security Council Presidency, the UK organized a Security Council thematic debate on May 20 to discuss post-conflict peacebuilding. The morning session featured a short statement by SYG Ban Ki-moon prior to his departure to Burma and presentations from Sierra Leone FM Zainab Bangura, World Bank Senior Vice President Marwan Muasher, and former UN Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi. Security Council member statements followed. Over fifty other UN members were scheduled also scheduled to deliver statements in the afternoon. A preceding UN concept paper framed the debate by proposing that the UN should move to address three post-conflict "gaps:" leadership on the ground, deployable civilian capacity, and more rapid and flexible funding for the immediate aftermath of conflict. ¶3. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a strengthened SRSG with adequate resources who could quickly convene UN entities across the UN system, rally donors, and bring in civilian peacebuilding experts. Ban Ki-moon advocated a common start-up fund to expedite a quick UN response and suggested that the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) should play a role in immediate post-conflict situations by convening the international community to support the government and other national actors. Sierra Leone FM Bangura's presentation focused on respect for national sovereignity and government-defined strategies as well as regional peacebuilding initiatives. World Bank SVP Muasher noted that "fragile states" are a growing proportion of the World Bank's work. He called for enhanced research on post-conflict issues, more attention to tracking and scaling up assistance, and support for the PBC's integrated strategies approach to the countries on its agenda. ¶4. Brahimi's intervention centered on lessons learned from Afghanistan. Brahimi cautioned against building up UN staffing and infrastucture in the field before addressing host government needs. He complained about the 13 percent overhead charge levied by the UN on its Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTF),stating that even after considerable experience, UN MDTFs were still not well-used by donors. As in the example of Afghanistan, he noted that local expertise was usually available, if the UN and donors were willing to work harder to incorporate local nationals into their operations. ¶5. Security Council member statements generally touched on common themes: -- Agreement that the SRSG leadership role should be strengthened through provision of adequate resources and training. Many states called for more Security Council attention to establishing UN Integrated Missions through Council mandates. -- UN programs, particularly peacekeeping operations, would benefit from a permanent UN mechanism, perhaps along the lines of the recently established DPKO police roster, that could expedite the deployment of civilian peacebuilding experts alongside troops in peacekeeping operations. Several states, notably Latin American countries and Spain, called for a permanent, standing corps of civilian experts, particularly judges and law enforcement personnel. -- Consensus that international assistance and a tangible "peace dividend" needed to be delivered immediately after signing of a peace agreement rather than the year or more that delivery of significant international assistance normally takes at present. While the UK had proposed a dedicated "Early Recovery" Fund for this, there seemed to be little support and several speakers instead called for revising the Peacebuilding Fund's Terms of Reference to allow it to better address this "funding gap." -- While most speakers endorsed the Peacebuilding Commission as an important new UN institution for promoting an comprehensive approach to enhancing stability and mobilizing international support, several speakers spoke to the PBC's continued difficulty in overcoming procedural problems in delivery of concrete value-added on the ground. France, the US, and the Russian Federation noted a need for the PBC to strengthen its working methods. ¶6. While the debate focused on post-conflict situations, UK FM Miliband said that collective international efforts should also apply to major humanitarian crises. He and Netherlands FM Verhagen took the occasion to call on the Burmese government to expand international assistance entering the country. ¶7. COMMENT: With over seventy registered speakers, the open debate topic seemed to have generated significant interest. Several G-77 speakers challenged a central role for the Security Council in debating peacebuilding, variously asserting that peacebuilding as a multi-faceted topic properly belonged in the Peacebuilding Commission, General Assembly proper, and the General Assembly Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. An accompanying PRST will call for a SYG report on enhancing the UN's response to post-conflict peacebuilding. The report will likely contain specific recommendations on how the UN should handle the provision of early recovery international assistance as well as the UN utilization of deployable civilian peacebuilding experts made available from UN member states. Privately, UK mission staff acknowledge that there is little consensus yet within or without the UN on concrete policy recommendations to strengthen the UN's role in promoting stability in post-conflict countries. END COMMENT Khalilzad