UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: FOURTH COMMITTEE DEBATE ON

UNCLAS STATE 110979 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR UNGA KPKO SUBJECT: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: FOURTH COMMITTEE DEBATE ON PEACEKEEPING REF: USUN 866 ¶1. (U) Following the October 23 briefing by U/SYG LeRoy (Peacekeeping Operations) and U/SYG Malcorra (Field Support) on the progress in developing "New Horizon" proposals for making UN peacekeeping more effective, the UNGA's Fourth Committee will hold a general debate. The United States will speak on October 28. USUN should draw on the points in paragraph 2 for the U.S. intervention. ¶2. (U) Begin points: --The United States would like to present its thoughts on the way forward for strengthening current and future UN peacekeeping operations. We thank Under Secretaries-General LeRoy and Malcorra for their proposals and for their recent briefing. --UN peacekeeping personnel -- military, police, and civilian -- face great risks as they carry out the tasks we ask of them. We owe them the support they need to do their jobs. As U/SYG LeRoy mentioned during his briefing, 86 UN peacekeepers have lost their lives in 2009 alone. We express our condolences to their families and governments. --We fully endorse the Secretariat's call for strengthened partnership among the Security Council, troop- and police-contributing countries, and the UN Secretariat. While all have distinct roles to play, our mutual efforts will not bear fruit unless we work together. This is indeed a partnership, as underlined by the non-paper DPKO and DFS circulated last July ("A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping"). --The United States in particular seeks to forge a stronger partnership with and among troop and police contributors. Their insights and experiences are invaluable, particularly when the Security Council is considering renewal of mission mandates. The Council committed to such consultations in its August 5 Presidential Statement. This new approach was used in deliberations on the mandates of UNMIL and MINUSTAH, and we look forward to serious and early discussions with troop and police contributors on MONUC's mandate, which expires in December. --To express the thanks of the United States for their contribution and sacrifices, and to better understand the challenges they face, President Obama took the unprecedented step of convening a meeting with the leaders of top troop and police contributing countries in New York on September 23. At this meeting, participants collectively outlined key challenges facing UN peacekeeping: --A number of peacekeeping missions operate in the midst of faltering peace processes that require intensified diplomatic and political support. Peacekeeping operations must be accompanied by -- and not a substitute for -- critical peace-making efforts and political processes. --Consultations and cooperation among Security Council members, the Secretariat, and troop and police contributors need to be strengthened and sustained, particularly when revising peacekeeping mandates. --Peacekeeping mandates and means must be better aligned. Missions face critical shortfalls -- including well-trained and -equipped troops, police, and units such as hospitals, engineers, transport and aviation. Training must be expanded, and UN efforts intensified to provide forces with the supplies and logistics support they need. This is particularly critical to help missions carry out mandates to protect civilians, including from sexual and gender-based violence. The protection of civilians is one of the most important and difficult tasks UN peacekeepers are asked to carry out, and often the measure by which their success is judged, particularly by local populations. --UN mission planning and support arrangements must be improved to reduce deployment delays, be more responsive to peacekeepers' needs on the ground, and ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency. --More attention must be given to peace-building and development priorities, which should accompany peacekeeping work, particularly in reform of the security and criminal justice sectors. If we do not build sustainable local capacity to deliver basic services, repair infrastructure, jump-start the economy, secure territory and uphold the rule of law, international peacekeepers will be unable to complete their missions and depart, or having departed short of these needs being addressed, will again have to return. --Finally, mission strategies must be flexible enough to adapt to realities on the ground, and should be geared to securing and retaining the support of the host population in carrying out its mandate. --The United States looks forward to engaging all Member States on these challenges, so that we may better understand and to forge strategies to address them. We agree with Under Secretaries-General LeRoy and Malcorra that the next substantive session of the C-34 offers an excellent opportunity to make progress. We support their call for priority attention to the policies, specialized military and police capabilities, operational standards, training guidance, field support arrangements, and oversight mechanisms needed to successfully carry out the essential tasks demanded of modern UN peacekeeping operations. These essential tasks currently often include protection of civilians, "robust" peacekeeping, and peace-building. End points. CLINTON