UN REFORM TO TAKE ON EARLY RECOVERY FOR CONFLICT

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000916 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNDP UNGA UNSC SUBJECT: UN REFORM TO TAKE ON EARLY RECOVERY FOR CONFLICT STATES ¶1. SUMMARY: Over the next year, the United Nations will try to overhaul its peacebuilding infrastructure in order to better respond to the stabilization needs of immediate post-conflict and post-crisis states. While a Security-Council mandated report on "Early Recovery" will provide the overall framework for improving coordinQn and sequencing of stabilization assistance, many UN agencies and programs are semi-independently pursuing their own initiatives in this suddenly hot area. Pulling it all together into a coherent package that bolsters the "One UN" mission will be a tough assignment for the newly appointed (and Amcit) AS/G for peacebuilding, Jane Holl Lute. END SUMMARY ¶2. The empirical case for strengthening UN peacebuilding and stabilization programs was showcased this past May by a UK-sponsored Security Council thematic debate on peacebuilding and early recovery. The Security Council tasked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with drafting an "Early Recovery" report (due in May, 2009) that will propose reform measures to address three gaps; a "strategic gap" in providing coherence and coordination, a "financing gap" in funding for immediate post-conflict needs, including quick impact/peace dividend projects, and "capacity gaps" particularly in the recruitment and rapid deployment of civilian peacebuilding experts. A UK-funded study provided empirical background www.cic.nyu.edu/peacebuilding/docs/earlyrecov eryfinal.pdf). ¶3. The new AS/G for Peacebuilding Jane Holl Lute is tasked with pulling together a first draft by late February. Lute, a former US Army Colonel, headed DPKO,s Department of Field Support, providing logistical support to peacekeeping operations. She will place particular emphasis on recommendations for a more systematic and coordinated approach to 1) rapid response to stabilization needs of countries in the immediate post-conflict or post-crisis period; 2) building civilian peacebuilding capacity into peacekeeping operations; 3) ensuring that stabilization and peacebuilding considerations are not addressed sequentially, but embedded throughout as the UN response progresses from humanitarian intervention and peacekeeping through to assistance for sustainable development; and 4) finding new ways to fund "quick-impact" projects and a peace dividend. ¶4. Lute,s initial challenge will be to provide some coherence to the many independent initiatives by UN agencies and programs in this trendy area. These include: Peacekeeping -------------- ¶5. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) seeks greater flexibility in hiring practices for civilian experts. Currently, it can take up to 370 days to hire experts for a six-month contract. Dimitri Titov, AS/G for the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions, recently stated that he intends to circulate to member states a proposal to develop a standing force of 2500 support personnel and an expanded roster for law enforcement and judicial experts who could be deployed to the field within three or four months. DPKO AS/G for Operations Edmond Mulet underscored the need to develop a unified assessment that brings together security and development professionals from all bilateral and multilateral donors in assembling an Action Plan for immediate post-conflict intervention. Development -------------- ¶6. For the past year, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and a UN coordination office, the UN Development Group (UNDG),have been working with the World Bank on a standardized format for assessing immediate post-conflict needs. This Post-Conflict Needs Assessment (PCNA) in its latest iterations was recently rolled out in Somalia and in an abbreviated form, in Georgia. The UNDP and the World Bank are also working on a common procedural and legal framework for the World Bank,s new Stabilization Fund and two funds that UNDP provides administrative support for the Thematic Trust Fund for Crisis Prevention and Recovery and the Peacebuilding Fund. ¶7. Within the UNDP, the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) has steadily expanded its involvement in post-conflict as opposed to post-humanitarian crisis recovery. There are some complaints within the UN system that the dispatch of experts from BCPR should not be a substitute for strengthening the UNDP Resident Coordinator,s in-country ability to provide greater cross-cutting leadership and coordination to all country team UN agencies under the "Integrated Mission" concept. Peacebuilding Support Office -------------- ¶8. AS/G Jane Holl Lute is expected to assert the Peacebuilding Support Office,s role in coordinating the overall UN response to post-conflict needs, beginning with pulling together UN agency and member state input for the SYG,s early recovery report. Lute recently told S/CRS Ambassador John Herbst that she intends to research best practices for establishing a UN roster for peacebuilding civilian experts, overhaul how the UN provides funding for stabilization projects (see below),and institute procedures for better defining the UN,s "exit strategy" from post-conflict countries. Finally, Lute intends to bring along the Peacebuilding Commission, encouraging member states to forgo the typical UN developed vs. developing country politics and focus on creating the methods of work needed to turn the PBC into an intergovernmental mechanism for mobilizing assistance and attention for post-conflict countries. Peacebuilding Fund -------------- ¶9. In October, the General Assembly will review the Terms of Reference for the PBF. While the UK has floated the idea of a separate "Early Recovery" Fund for immediate post-conflict needs, many donors to the PBF favor creation of a "Fourth Window" for the Fund for early recovery disbursements. AS/G Lute is considering calling a replenishment donors conference in December as the Fund has already allocated 121 million USD out of 243 million in deposits (out of a 275 million USD pledged). UN Member States React -------------- ¶10. UN member states are slowly organizing themselves to provide input and shape the UN reform efforts in stabilization and peacebuilding. In early October, the Copenhagen Early Recovery Forum will bring together aid practitioners to discuss examples from the field and approve a set of commitments and actions to improve early recovery strategy, capacities, and financing. The follow-up to the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will touch upon early recovery assistance. At the UN in New York, the UK has organized an informal group of missions, including donors and important non-donors such as South Africa, as the "Ginger Group" in order to examine issues and recommendations for the SYG,s report. ¶11. COMMENT: UN agencies and missions alike are finding it difficult to organize themselves to discuss structural reform that reaches across the traditional divides between security and peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention, and long-term developmental assistance. The UN humanitarian community in particular feels that their decades of perfecting good practice are either being overlooked or trampled as the UN moves toward integrated missions and coordinated planning. The community is also concerned about placement of the UN humanitarian sphere under the same control structure as the political and military component of peace operations. USUN NY as well is considering how we can better organize ourselves to ensure a coordinated response to the peacebuilding reform efforts now underway at the UN. Wolff