UN PEACEKEEPING: AMBASSADOR RICE ADDRESSES C-34

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000200


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNSC PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: UN PEACEKEEPING: AMBASSADOR RICE ADDRESSES C-34

REF: USUN 065


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UN Special Committee for
Peacekeeping Operations (C-34) opened its annual
session with a general debate on February 23-24.
Ambassador Rice addressed the C-34 on February 24,
delivering a message that the U.S. is ready to
consider fresh peacekeeping approaches in cooperation
with a broad spectrum of partners and that UN
peacekeeping is a priority for the U.S. Other
delegations -- including Russia and China at the
ambassadorial level -- spoke about peacekeeping
reform, possible strengthening of the UN Police
Division, and protection of civilians. UN U/SYGs LeRoy
and Malcorra warned participants that the dramatic
growth in the scale of UN peacekeeping operations in
recent years risks overstretching the system. The C-
34 session is scheduled to continue through March 20.
END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) The United Nations Special Committee on
Peacekeeping Operations, also known as the C-34,
reports to the UN General Assembly through the Special
Political and Decolonization Committee (4th Committee)
and meets annually for a month to negotiate a report
on various peacekeeping principles and operational
guidance for the UN. In 2007 and 2008, the C-34
failed to reach consensus during its normal session,
and negotiations lingered for over two months on both
occasions. This year's C-34 session opened with a
general debate on February 23-24 and will continue
through March 20.


3. (SBU) On February 23, UN Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Under Secretary General
Alain Le Roy opened the general debate by describing
UN peacekeeping as a victim of its own success in that
a decade of unprecedented growth -- resulting in
112,000 field personnel serving in 18 UNPKOs as well
as peacebuilding and political missions -- has left
the UN struggling with "sheer overstretch." He
predicted that 2009 would be a critical year during
which the UN must find adequate resources for
increasingly complex, robust mandates in difficult and
often hostile environments. Le Roy also noted that
DPKO continues to rely on a small group of countries
for the bulk of troop contributions. Le Roy
encouraged the UN and its member states to come up
with practical ways to ensure ongoing missions were
fully supported and to tackle capacity challenges that
he feared could otherwise encumber or even derail
future peacekeeping deployments.


4. (SBU) Following Le Roy, UN Department of Field
Support (DFS) Under Secretary General Susanna Malcorra
said that the "stress and stretch" faced by DPKO
applied to DFS as well. Malcorra said the biggest
challenge facing DFS was in managing the immediate and
huge operational demands placed on it, while also
taking time to develop a longer term strategy to more
systematically address those demands. Malcorra
promised to work with member states on a multi-pronged
support strategy for the future. She also commented on
the difficulties faced by specific peacekeeping
operations, including in Darfur and Chad, where she
said the supply chain was particularly difficult to
manage.


5. (SBU) In a departure from past practice, Ambassador
Rice delivered the U.S. intervention at the PermRep
level, conveying a clear message that the U.S. is
ready to engage with a broad spectrum of peacekeeping
stakeholders. She told participants specifically that
the U.S. looks 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." She said "we are ready to contemplate
the launch of new reforms, wherever these hold the
promise of bringing al key constituencies together to
address the challenges that we collectively face."
These challenges include, she said, improving the flow
of relevant information for Security Council
deliberations, addressing the gap between peacekeeping
operations and processes and the needs of potential
troop contributors, seeking cost effectiveness,
providing adequate resources for the UN Secretariat,
and ensuring that individual PKOs respect the
societies into which they are deployed.


6. (SBU) Russian PermRep Churkin called directly for
peacekeeping reform, suggesting that peacekeeping
could be most improved in the area of operations
management. He advocated improvement in the way the
Security Council considers peacekeeping mandates and
called for more active collaboration involving the
Security Council with troop-contributing countries and
the Secretariat. Churkin reiterated the Russian
Federation's frequent call for the revitalization of
the Military Staff Committee and also called for the
strengthening of the Office of Military Affairs and
the UN Police Division.


7. (SBU) Chinese Deputy PermRep Liu Zhenmin agreed
that the Security Council was facing new challenges in
crafting peacekeeping mandates, such as the protection
of civilians, but insisted that any changes in
peacekeeping practice or doctrine should be approved
by the majority of UN member states. Suggesting that
the surge in UN peacekeeping has created a gap between
the proposed mandates and available resources, Liu
said the Security Council and the Secretariat should
systematically assess all peacekeeping missions to
ensure they are able to carry out their functions.


8. (SBU) Representatives from regional groups also
addressed the C-34. Morocco (on behalf of the NAM)
called for the committee's full involvement with DPKO
and the Security Council while creating peacekeeping
operations and called for all developed countries,
especially the P-5, to share the burden of
peacekeeping and commit their national troops to
deployment under United Nations command and control.
The Czech Republic (EU) and New Zealand (CANZ) both
said the protection of civilians should be an integral
part of peacekeeping operations and both supported
enhancing the capacity of the UN Police Division.
Mexico (Rio Group) called for greater coordination
with the Peacebuilding Commission, especially as
mission mandates were expanding into other areas such
as the promotion of reconstruction and socio-economic
development. In total, 32 delegations took the floor
during the C-34 general debate.


9. (U) The conclusion of the general debate marks the
end of the formal session and the beginning of
discussions of the C-34 working group. From February
25-27, the Secretariat holds a series of presentations
on peacekeeping issues: DPKO/DFS restructuring,
mission planning, UN policing, peacebuilding and early
recovery, mission management, deployable rule of law
capacity, technical monitoring, and the implementation
of mandated tasks. The C-34 will recess from March 2-
6 for bilateral meetings and regional group
consultations. Negotiations of the C-34 report are
scheduled for March 9-20, and if consensus is reached,
it will be adopted on March 20.


Rice