FEBRUARY 23-MARCH 20, 2009 SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF

UNCLAS STATE 018284

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR AMGT SC GA
SUBJECT: FEBRUARY 23-MARCH 20, 2009 SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

REF: A. (A) 2008 STATE 21247

B. (B) 2008 STATE 30936


1. (SBU) The annual substantive session of the General
Assembly's Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations
(the C-34) will be held February 23 to March 20. We have
reviewed the 2008 C-34 report (A/62/19),as well as the
Secretary-General's report on implementation of the
recommendations of the 2008 session (A/63/615 and
A/63/615/Add.1). Canada chairs the working group, and
will produce the first draft of the 2009 C-34 report. The
top U.S. priorities for this session are strengthening UN
police capacities and supporting development of doctrine
and guidance to implement mandates and improve
performance. Overall guidance for the C-34 session is
contained in paragraph 3. You may draw on the points in
paragraph 2 for inclusion in the U.S. opening statement
as well as for your discussions with other missions and
the UN. USUN should also use this cable as the basis for
discussions during the C-34 session; updated and
additional guidance will be provided as necessary.


2. (SBU) Begin points for opening statement:

--The United States thanks the Chair and members of the
Bureau for their work in organizing these meetings. We
also would like to thank the Under-Secretary General for
Peacekeeping Operations, the Under-Secretary General for
Field Support, the hard-working members of the
Secretariat, and the many brave and dedicated men and
women who serve as military, police and civilian
peacekeepers around the world.

--For almost a decade, there has been a steadily growing
demand for peacekeeping operations to support
international efforts to restore peace and stability in
conflict-torn regions of the world. The 140,000
peacekeepers serving in 18 missions have complex
responsibilities and are working in very challenging
environments.

--The U.S. is proud to be taking a leading role in helping
to build capacity for peacekeeping, particularly with
regard to military and police programs. We look forward
to exploring, during this meeting and on a continuing
basis, the development and expansion of partnerships
across the board with supporters of peacekeeping to
respond to critical and emerging needs.

--We also recognize the international community must give
careful attention to the resources available and the
context in which peacekeepers are operating, so that we
collectively are making the best use possible of UN
peacekeeping to support sustainable peace.

--Over the past two years, we as a group have supported
the Secretary-General's recommendations for a radical
restructuring and strengthening of the entire spectrum of
UN peacekeeping operations.

--The U.S. welcomes the substantial progress that has been
made on filling positions created as part of the
restructuring of DPKO and creation of DFS, and the
strengthening of the Office of Military Affairs. We hail
the strides being made in institutionalizing these
critical changes in approach.

-- We look forward to seeing the fruits of this
restructuring and strengthening across the board, with
greater speed and consistently high quality product and
performance at every stage, from planning to
deployment, to continued support in the field, and through
mission exit strategies.

-- The U.S. welcomes the strategic review of the Police
Division. This review follows naturally on last year's
review and strengthening of the Office of Military
Affairs, and recognizes the central role that UN police
play in providing appropriate responses to civil unrest, a
wide range of specialized contributions to peace
operations, and critical mentoring, training and
institution-building as societies make the transition to
sustainable peace.

--It is clear the Police Division needs more capacity --
staff, planning, communications -- to carry out the job we
are asking of it, and we look forward to a detailed review
of specific proposals.

-- We also welcome the substantial progress made in
building the Standing Police Capacity, and commend the
detailed analysis provided by the Panel of Experts. The
U.S. expresses broad support for the report's
recommendations on improving flexibility, setting
priorities, and building the Standing Police Capacity's
ability to implement its core functions. We look forward
to a more detailed discussion.

-- The U.S. would like to take this opportunity to commend
the rapid production of an impressive volume of
high-quality work being produced by DPKO/PET, including
doctrine, guidance, and training materials. This office
has stepped up very quickly to the challenges facing UN
peacekeeping, and we look forward to continuing to work
with them in future.

--The growing number of peacekeeping missions with
mandates for protection of civilians is posing a challenge
for staff in the field to implement. We believe
development of clear doctrine and guidance for missions is
critical.

-- We continue to be concerned about indications the
integrated operational teams (IOTs) are variably
successful, with some IOTs operating very well, and others
still not fully clear on their role or relationships.
This connection across Departments is a key element in
improving communication between headquarters and the
field, and we hope to see progress in the year ahead.

--We are also concerned about continuing shortfalls in
finding personnel in all categories for missions in the
field, and look forward to working with the rest of the
Committee and with the Secretariat to find solutions.

--We as Members should take note of the efforts we have
made collectively to establish and improve the UN's
systems for reporting and addressing the problem of sexual
exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. We must all
ensure we do our part by holding our own peacekeepers
accountable.

--As a group over the past several years, we have
generated a range of tools designed to address various
aspects of this issue, including the Victims' Assistance
Strategy and the Model Memorandum of Understanding. There
are now training requirements and reporting procedures for
all missions, and we are encouraged to see that progress
is being made in creating an atmosphere where women and
children are more willing to report abuses.

--We look forward to the resumed discussion of Legal
Experts later this year on holding UN civilian staff and
experts on mission accountable for misconduct. The United
States shares the expectation of its colleagues on this
Committee that Member States will take appropriate action
against those who have committed abuses.

-- During the spring of 2009 the General Assembly will
review a comprehensive report on the welfare and
recreation needs of all categories of peacekeeping
personnel, as called for in the 2008 report of this
committee. We share the concern of our colleagues that
adequate provision be made in this regard.

-- The U.S. welcomes the steps taken during 2008 to
improve and clarify security procedures across the
board. The safety and well-being of UN personnel
operating in often dangerous places is of prime concern to
us all.


End points.


3. (U) USUN's starting point for discussion is the 2008
report, which is consensus language. We will work with
you as in previous years to review all proposed edits.
While there is a long list of topics likely to be
considered, much of it is well-travelled ground. USUN
should concentrate U.S. efforts in the 2009 C-34 session
on ensuring the report supports the following, in order of
priority:

--Strengthening of the Police Division and Standing Police
Capacity. We note both the December 10, 2008 "
Comprehensive Analysis of the Police Division" and the
Panel of Experts' report on the Standing Policy Capacity
(A/63/630) contain specific resource and organizational
recommendations. The U.S. delegation should seek to have
the report express strong support in general terms for
strengthening UN policing, with specific details on budget
and management to be addressed by the ACABQ and Fifth
Committee. The focus should be to endorse police
strengthening in terms of adequate staffing and other
resources, enhanced planning capacity, expanded and
improved doctrine, and improved organization, with the
goal of speeding deployments and improving police services
in the field. UN police responsibilities run from crowd
control and individual specialized functions at one end of
the spectrum to building police institutions, training and
mentoring on the other end. The 2007 restructuring made
the Police Division part of the Office of Rule of Law and
Security Institutions, with the Police Advisor reporting
to the Assistant Secretary-General heading that office.
The 2008 C-34 report recommended giving the Police Advisor
rank equivalent to the Military Advisor, with a reporting
line to the Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations. We understand there has been recent
discussion among Police Experts at the various missions to
the UN of whether this is an appropriate time to consider
revisiting that arrangement, with the Police Advisor
heading a stand-alone office (like the Office of Military
Affairs) responsible for police force generation for
traditional active policing functions, with the
capacity/institution-building function retained by the
Office of Rule of Law. The U.S. would want to see and
review a specific proposal before making a final
decision. Therefore, for the 2009 C-34 report, we would
support a request for a review and recommendations from
the Secretariat on revising the organization of police
functions. The U.S. supports efforts to coordinate rule
of law initiatives with efforts to improve police
capabilities, to ensure such programs are mutually
reinforcing.

--Strong support for Secretariat development of doctrine,
best practices, other procedural guidance: As noted
above, we believe the new, energetic staff in DPKO/PET
working on best practices and training is doing an
excellent job. The U.S. should support language in the
report reinforcing efforts to link best practices to
updates of training materials, and to incorporate best
practices and lessons learned into current operations
quickly and affirmatively. As USUN is aware, some in the
NAM in recent years have interpreted international efforts
to protect civilians and address gross humanitarian
violations as interference in internal affairs. In that
context, several NAM members were successful in
eliminating from the 2008 C-34 report a simple, short
paragraph calling for development of doctrine on the
protection of civilians. The U.S. continues to believe
this doctrine is needed, particularly given the repeated
request of field commanders for clear guidance on how to
implement this responsibility (now included in the mandate
of several missions). We understand DPKO/PET is working
on a study in response to a request from DPKO and OCHA,
but the U.S. believes a statement of support from the C-34
would demonstrate Member State support. USUN should work
with other like-minded countries in seeking again to
include such language in the 2009 report.


--Full implementation of the structural changes and
staffing increases made since 2007 (including the Office
of Military Affairs): as noted above, a number of changes
(such as creation of integrated operational teams) have
been made but are not necessarily fully or smoothly
operational. This includes ensuring headquarters/field
lines of communication are clear and functioning properly,
planning offices are staffed and have the resources needed
to speed mission planning and modification, and integrated
mission planning is being used as a tool to eliminate
duplication of effort and enhanced cooperation. The report
should ask for an update from the Secretariat on these
issues by next year.


--Enhancement of African peacekeeping capacities (which is
an important U.S. policy goal). The U.S. has provided and
will continue to provide support for African Union
peacekeeping missions through direct bilateral support.
We are concerned about resource implications, in
particular any direct transfer of UN assessed peacekeeping
funds, or assets funded by UN assessed peacekeeping funds,
to organizations not under UN command and control, or
accountable to the UN Security Council. The 2008 report and
implementation reports, as well as UN Security Council
Resolution 1809 (2008),do not endorse such resource
transfers, but tread close to doing so. [Note: If pressed
about USG support for UNSC Resolution 1863, which authorized
the delivery of a UN logistics and support package to AMISOM,
USUN should stress the support package was authorized at the
time under extraordinarily unique circumstances, for a fixed
and limited duration, only "with a view" towards incorporating
AMISOM into a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, and in
light of the Council's expressed intent at that time to
establish such an operation by separate vote.
The USG maintains its opposition to the use of
assessed UN funds to support non-UN organizations.] We
support DPKO's African Union Peacekeeping Support Team's
efforts in such areas as providing technical assistance to
the African Union Secretariat to build its capacity to field
peacekeeping operations, as well as assistance in linking
African troop contributing countries with donors who could
help train and equip African forces (such as through
participation in the G8++ Africa Clearinghouse meetings).

--Endorsement of the concept of "cooperation with regional
arrangements" (that is, regional groups other than the AU,
in particular the EU). This process is making slow
progress, and is uncontroversial, since there are no major
resource implications. In the context of both this topic
and the question of enhancing African peacekeeping
capacities, the U.S. welcomes discussion on how countries
or entities with resources, skills and assets might better
target their own programs and form partnerships to respond
to critical and emerging needs. We also recognize that the
international community must give careful attention to the
resources available and the context in which peacekeepers
are operating, to make the best use possible of
this critical tool for sustainable peace.


--Encourage implementation of the new process to "recognize"
training programs at the various national peacekeeping centers
(a UN seal of approval, in effect). This should include
discussion of whether distance-learning courses provided by
UNITAR-POCI (which is no longer affiliated with the UN) will
be recognized. The Secretariat should also be asked to report
on how web-based training (which we recognize as an invaluable
tool) will address pre-deployment and in-service training
needs, as tasks and requirements evolve during the course of a
mission.
CLINTON