U.S. Envoy Pressman at U.N. Debate on Peacekeeping

U.S. Envoy Pressman at U.N. Debate on Peacekeeping
31 October 2014

U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
October 31, 2014

Remarks by Ambassador David Pressman, U.S. Alternate Representative to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs, at a Fourth Committee Debate on Peacekeeping

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We also extend our deepest thanks to Undersecretaries General Ladsous and Haq for their briefings to this committee.

UN peace operations now operate in a wide variety of environments, helping to deny space to extremist organizations in Mali, promoting stability in Lebanon amid a fractured and violent Middle East, and sheltering vulnerable civilians in South Sudan – a country ravaged once again by conflict. UN operations are also on the offensive against recognized belligerent forces with tools like the Force Intervention Brigade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We are particularly conscious of the extraordinary challenges faced so bravely by UN peacekeepers. They confront difficult terrain, rainy seasons and unbearable heat; they have watched peace agreements unravel and elections be delayed; they have also opened their doors to civilians, provided life-saving assistance and offered hope to hundreds of thousands. One hundred and four peacekeepers have lost their lives this year, some from direct attacks, as we saw last week in Mali and in Darfur. Peacekeepers have faced armed kidnappers in the Golan Heights, Ebola in West Africa, and the use of landmines and improvised explosives in Mali. Their tenacity and their commitment are inspiring. And yet, while we honor the heroism and dedication of our peacekeeping troops, police and civilian staff, we recognize that UN operations must become more effective, more efficient, and more impactful.

The UN's tools and capabilities have not kept pace with the demands that we have placed on UN peacekeeping. As Undersecretaries-General Ladsous and Haq pointed out, UN peace operations are under the most severe strain they have faced since the UN was founded: multiple, simultaneous crises are driving the demand for peacekeepers to an all-time high, in highly complex operating environments that are, to say the least, difficult to manage. UN operations have suffered from poor planning, slow deployment, weak leadership, competing chains of command – both formal and informal – as well as capability gaps, and uneven commitments to implement mandates, especially when it comes to protection of civilians.

But we know that just as serious and severe as the challenges are that we confront, so too are the opportunities that we must seize. We welcome the Secretary-General’s announcement of a much-needed and comprehensive review of UN peace operations, and agree on the need for a clear-eyed look at the gap between the ambitions of todays’ peacekeeping missions and the ability to deliver on those promises. The timing is also right, coming nearly 15 years since the Brahimi Report helped us reassess and improve on peacekeeping operations of an earlier era. This upcoming review must be comprehensive, looking at the full spectrum of activities, including peacebuilding, special political missions, and the activities and strengths of other UN agencies, including the UN country team. And to realize genuine reforms, the UN itself must be frank about institutional obstacles, in addition to gaps in resources and gaps in political will.

We hope the review will identify ways to improve and accelerate how the UN makes the most of talent worldwide – political, military, civilian and police – and reform force generation into a strategic approach to finding the best and brightest for all missions. Rapid deployment, as we know, is critical, a challenge we have seen all too well in the UN missions in Mali, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. It has been 10 months since the Security Council authorized an emergency increase in troops to stem the violence in South Sudan, and yet the mission is still not at full strength. In Mali, a year and a half after the UN assumed authority from the AU, the mission is only at 74% of its full operational capacity. In the Central African Republic, Special Representative of the Secretary General Gaye reported earlier this month that MINUSCA is at 65% of its military strength and 49% of civilian capabilities some seven months after the mission was authorized. These timelines must shrink because peoples’ lives and peace hangs in the balance.

We also know that many UN operations deploy into complex environments, and increasingly to places where there is no “peace” to keep. These operations are essential and they must succeed. To do so, peacekeepers must have the right skills and the right training to deal with the threats to themselves and to civilian populations. That can be as simple as increased mobility or as modern as counter-IED capacities – along with the right equipment and technology to carry out their critical mandates. In Mali, we are pleased that a new information fusion cell and Unmanned Unarmed Aerial Vehicles are helping to identify and mitigate asymmetric threats in the north, where extremists and traffickers operate with impunity. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO is working jointly with the Congolese armed forces to neutralize armed groups in the east of the country that carry out violence against civilians, commit heinous abuses, displace entire communities, and recruit and use child soldiers. And the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has shown us all the intense and urgent need for fail-safe medevac capabilities. And all countries must do more in this respect.

The comprehensive peace operations review should also address how the UN matches the right troop contributors with the appropriate skills and capabilities, to each mission’s needs.

It is also essential for peacekeepers to operate under a common doctrine, and the United States welcomes the work that DPKO and Member States have undertaken to develop peacekeeping doctrine, such as the manuals for military specialties common in UN peacekeeping operations and the Strategic Guidance Framework for International Police Peacekeeping.

We are heartened that the Office of the Director for Peacekeeping Strategic Partnerships is fully operational, and stress the importance of empowering that office to allow the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support to address the systemic issues and gaps that affect uniformed personnel serving in peacekeeping missions. Any organization operating in complex environments benefits from oversight and independent assessment of vulnerabilities. So too will UN peacekeeping.

Finally, as you are all aware, many missions have a mandate to protect civilians, this is a priority for us and for many of you. It is at the core of what the UN is. Too many missions struggle to make this mandate operational, as we have seen in the Office of Internal Oversight Services report, peacekeeping missions routinely fail to use force to protect civilians under attack. Moreover, the alarming OIOS report highlighted that troop contingents sometimes refused to follow orders from their commanders to protect civilians. For UN peacekeeping to be credible, this must stop. The OIOS findings underlie a major structural issue within the architecture of peacekeeping missions: while every military knows that command and control is essential for the effective performance of one’s mission, in UN missions, there are too often two chains of command – one back to capital and one within the mission to DPKO. The OIOS recommended that incidents of indiscipline be reported to DPKO, but reporting alone will not solve the problem of “disunity of command” – the new peace operations review will need to address this structural impediment and propose ways to fix it. When civilians are facing imminent risk, peacekeepers have a responsibility to act. The UN should never be a bystander to crimes that shock the conscience. When the Security Council gives peacekeepers a mandate to protect civilians, we should all expect them to do just that. It is critical to stopping the cycles of violence and retribution that undermine peace; and it is how the world judges the work of the United Nations. We have to get this right.

The review provides an important opportunity to identify ways the UN and member states can strengthen their commitment to this crucial imperative.

To the brave men and women in the field today, wearing blue helmets, confronting unimaginable threats – the United States salutes your courage and contribution to a better, more just, more stable, and yes, more peaceful world.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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ENDS

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