UN SECURITY COUNCIL: THEMATIC DEBATE ON UN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 066001 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR UNSC SUBJECT: UN SECURITY COUNCIL: THEMATIC DEBATE ON UN PEACEKEEPING ¶1. (U) The past six months have been a time of renewed energy and attention to the challenges facing UN peacekeeping operations. Ambassador Rice told the C-34 on February 24 that peacekeeping was a priority for the United States. Over the past few months, the French/UK initiative, supported by a series of Japanese-chaired meetings of the Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping, has launched a useful discussion of mandates, resources and benchmarks. The UN's "New Horizon", an internal review and consultations with Member States on the direction UN peacekeeping should take over the next few years, will issue a non-paper in the near future and will culminate in formal recommendations towards the end of 2009. On June 22, senior representatives of Defense and State met with U/SYGs LeRoy and Malcorra at the National Defense University. The June 29 UN Security Council thematic debate on UN peacekeeping offers an early opportunity to reinforce the strong U.S. support for UN peacekeeping expressed at the NDU meeting. Over the next few months there will be several additional occasions or events at which the U.S. could underline that commitment, both politically and by announcing any concrete responses to specific UN requests for U.S. assistance. These include the PRST the UK intends to introduce during its August Security Council Presidency; the U.S. Security Council Presidency in September; the discussions of UNMIL and MINUSTAH in the Security Council in September and October; the formal recommendations resulting from the New Horizon review, probably in November; and the MONUC mandate renewal in December. USUN may draw on the points in paragraph 2 for the June 29 thematic debate on UN peacekeeping. ¶2. (U) Begin points: -- Mr. President (and Foreign Minister),the U.S. is honored by your presence here today and is grateful to Turkey for convening this very important and timely open debate on peacekeeping. We warmly welcome the participation of troop and police contributing countries in this discussion. The U.S takes their views seriously. We value their sacrifice and pay tribute to their brave men and women serving honorably under the UN flag. I would like to thank Under-Secretaries-General Alain LeRoy and Susana Malcorra for their thorough briefings. -- Much of what Under-Secretaries-General LeRoy and Malcorra just said echoes what we have heard key peacekeeping stakeholders say. -- UN peacekeeping operations save lives, prevent escalation and spread of wars, and provide hope to those who have had none for decades. That is what we have been told by the democratically-elected Presidents, representatives and people of countries such as Haiti, Liberia, Timor-Leste, Sierra Leone and Burundi. The U.S. believes peacekeeping is one of the most important activities of the UN. That is why we have voted in favor of budgets for which we will be assessed almost $2 billion this year. -- At the same time, we have heard key constituencies call attention to challenges confronting UN peacekeeping that deserve our serious attention: -- Host governments warn about a potential return to violence, if UN peacekeepers depart too soon, before key State institutions -- especially security and rule of law institutions -- and the local economy are functioning effectively. -- Local civilians, women and children in the DRC and elsewhere plead for peacekeepers to better protect them from marauding gangs, rebel groups, and ill-disciplined soldiers. -- Troop and police contributors point to a widening gap between the expectations and risks they face and their input on decisions others make. STATE 00066001 002 OF 004 -- Financial contributors, in the throes of an economic crisis, struggle to ensure budget discipline, eliminate waste, prevent abuse and achieve economies and savings. -- The Secretariat appeals for political support to unlock stalled peace processes that does not always come, and for troops, police and enabling units that do not always arrive on time or to the standard required. -- Peacekeeping missions decry persistent delays in the personnel and procurement systems, which have not kept pace with the ever-expanding field demands, in ever-more dangerous and austere conditions. -- The exceptional mission leaders and managers who achieve success despite these constraints do not get the praise they have earned; but, at the same time, not enough of the missions are equipped with the dynamic and diverse senior management teams they deserve. -- And, Security Council members question whether the process of formulating peacekeeping mandates does justice to the concerns these various constituencies voice and the responsibilities the Council itself must face. -- In summary, what we have heard is that peacekeeping is an indispensable tool available to the UN Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security. Our responsibilities do not end when we adopt a peacekeeping mandate. In many ways, that is where they begin. At present, there are serious challenges to effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates. It is therefore incumbent upon the members of the Security Council, acting individually and collectively, to help address them. The U.S. is ready to do its part. --First, we will publicize the accomplishments of UN peacekeeping operations and of the countries contributing troops and police to them, as well as highlight the real constraints they face. -- Second, it goes without saying that the Security Council will continue to consider the full range of responses appropriate to a given situation. We believe that UN peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council to use appropriate force to defend themselves and the mandate, must be willing and able to do so. Poorly armed and organized gangs, rebel groups and others outside a peace process should not be allowed to block the deployment of UN peacekeepers or thwart the implementation of their mandate, including to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence. That said, we will recognize the limits of what UN peacekeeping can accomplish, especially in the face of full-blown war or opposition by the host government. UN peacekeepers cannot do everything and go everywhere. Sometimes other forms of UN-authorized deployments, such as regional efforts or multinational forces, are the more appropriate response. And, in most cases, effective mediation must precede and accompany UN peacekeepers, involvement if they are to succeed. This belief has guided our recent approach on Somalia, where conditions for successful UN peacekeeping are not yet there, but where sustained international support and assistance remain urgently needed. -- Third, the U.S. will dedicate greater attention to the Security Council discussions on the renewal of existing peacekeeping mandates, seeking more comprehensive assessments of progress achieved and obstacles to mandate implementation that remain. We will use those discussions as an opportunity to take stock of whether re-prioritization or re-focusing of U.S. assistance to the missions and countries concerned could help expedite the missions' successful completion. I stress the word successful, because we will not support the arbitrary or precipitous downsizing of missions. We hope to commence this new approach in September, when LIBERIA and Haiti are scheduled to be discussed in the Security Council. STATE 00066001 003 OF 004 -- Fourth, the U.S. will intensify diplomatic efforts to help unlock some of the stalled or faltering peace processes where UN peacekeeping operations are deployed, starting with Darfur and Sudan,s North-South peace process. As you know, President Obama has appointed General Scott Gration as his Special Envoy for Sudan, precisely for that purpose. Last week,s conference in Washington was an example of how we intend to play an active role in boosting peace efforts there. Getting these political processes back on track lies at the heart of enabling UNAMID, UNMIS and MINURCAT to implement their mandates more effectively. -- Fifth, the U.S. will strengthen its work with the UN and other willing partners to help expand the overall pool of willing and able troop and police contributors for current and future peacekeeping operations, including by providing improved training and equipment assistance through the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) and its Africa-oriented program, the Africa Contingency Operations Training Assistance program (ACOTA). Through GPOI, the US has trained 75,000 peacekeepers and facilitated the deployment of just under 49,000 peacekeepers to 20 operations around the world, most serving in Africa. Over the next five years, GPOI will continue direct training but will give top priority towards assisting its partner countries to achieve self-sufficiency in peacekeeping training. The immediate priority will be to assist with generating the missing forces and enabling units required for UNAMID, MINURCAT and MONUC to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence, although force generation is only one part of the equation for effective mandate implementation. We will also engage in discussions over the longer term, with particular emphasis on increasing the overall supply of rapidly deployable brigade-sized forces which could buy time for, participate in and reinforce UN peacekeeping operations in times of crisis. The U.S. also will consider different ways in which we can support the increasing need for effective formed police units. -- Sixth, the U.S. is willing to consider directly contributing more military observers, military staff officers, civilian police and other civilian personnel to UN peacekeeping operations. The U.S. will explore ways to support UN peacekeeping operations through provision of enabling assistance, either by ourselves or in cooperation with partners. -- Seventh, the U.S. will consider with an open mind practical suggestions from troop and police contributors about how to deepen consultations between them, the UNSC and the Secretariat, including redoubling efforts to implement existing undertakings in resolutions 1327 and 1353. -- Eighth, the U.S. will review carefully and with an open mind reform proposals from the Secretariat to address the many challenges mentioned today. This includes those put forward already in the Secretary-General,s reports on mediation and peace-building, and those to come in the follow-up to the New Horizon non-paper and related proposals on field support, the DPKO/OCHA study on the protection of civilians in peacekeeping contexts, and the forthcoming Secretary-General,s report on the follow-up to the Prodi Panel Report on AU-UN cooperation. We appeal to the Secretariat to be as concrete and specific as possible, indicating why previous reforms and current practice are not adequate, and spelling out more clearly expected benefits to be derived from new initiatives. -- Ninth, we are ready to work with others to bring a more coherent approach to peacekeeping and peace-building at the UN, in the Security Council, the General Assembly, ECOSOC, the Peacebuilding Commission, and the governing boards of UN Agencies, Funds and Programs. Support for building peace must consider the linkages between such activities as security sector reform, demobilization and reintegration, and early recovery and development and ensure sufficient and sustained support for them. -- And tenth, we are ready to engage in discussions on the longer-term future of UN peacekeeping, within the context of STATE 00066001 004 OF 004 evolutions in contemporary conflicts, the global economic and financial crisis, evolving capacities and constraints of regional organizations and the Bretton Woods Institutions, and rapid technological advances that could revolutionize aspects of this business. -- We are ready, Mr. President, to do all of these things in partnership with members of the Council, TCCs, PCCs, the Secretariat and many others on whom peacekeeping success depends, not least of which are the countries to which UN peacekeeping missions are or may in the future be deployed. -- The United Kingdom and France, Canada, Japan, the Under-Secretaries-General of DPKO and DFS, and now Turkey, through their various initiatives, have done us all a great service by forcing us to confront these challenges. We thank them for their efforts, and thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting. End points. CLINTON