March 2012 Monthly Forecast

Posted 29 February 2012
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PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING

Peacekeeping

Expected Council Action 
In March, the Council is expecting a briefing on peacekeeping by Hervé Ladsous, head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), followed by consultations. Council members are likely to focus on transitions in peacekeeping, particularly in relation to improving the Council’s involvement in peacebuilding processes. No formal outcome is anticipated.

Following the 5 August 2009 presidential statement, which encouraged discussions on peacekeeping with DPKO and the Department of Field Support (DFS), quarterly peacekeeping consultations were held throughout 2010. 

In 2011, there were only two such consultations: in February with Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy, then-head of DPKO and in July with the force commanders from three peacekeeping missions and the UN military adviser, Lt. Gen. Babacar Gaye. Although no formal decision was made, the quarterly peacekeeping briefings appear to have moved to a six-monthly cycle. 

Key Recent Developments
On 14 December 2011, during the briefing by chairs of Council subsidiary bodies, Nigeria—chair of the Working Group on Peacekeeping in 2011—said that in 2011 the working group had focused on challenges specific to various peacekeeping missions and on cross-cutting issues such as transition and exit strategies, intermission cooperation and capacity gaps and development. The working group also examined the relationship between the Secretariat, the Council and the troop-contributing countries/police-contributing countries (TCCs/PCCs).

On 7 February, Council members attended a closed Arria formula meeting on human rights and peacekeeping. Taking advantage of a meeting in New York of the heads of the human rights components of 17 peace operations, Portugal organised the meeting in cooperation with Togo as Council president for February. The meeting aimed at increasing Council members’ understanding of the work of the human rights components of peace operations. Council members heard from Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the human rights heads in the missions in the the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Liberia.

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34) began its 2012 session on 21 February. The issues of interest are expected to include protection of civilians and review of troop costs as well as capability development, in particular the lack of critical resources such as military utility and armed helicopters.

In 2011, DPKO and DFS developed a strategy for peacekeepers to contribute to early peacebuilding and established a steering committee to support its implementation. DPKO and DFS also began a dialogue with member countries on key lessons and best practices related to transitional processes.

In December 2011, DPKO and DFS published a second progress report on the New Horizon Initiative. (The New Horizon report published in July 2009 suggested that peacekeeping needed a renewed global partnership among the Council, the contributing member states and the Secretariat.)   The 2011 report covers the implementation of the New Horizon agenda in its second year as well as outstanding challenges. (The first progress report was released in October 2010.)

Key Issues
A key issue for the Council is how to translate the discussions on transitions and better Council oversight of peacebuilding processes into better coordination and coherence among the host government and local non-governmental actors, UN peacekeepers and other UN and international actors engaged in peacebuilding activities.

A closely connected issue is improving the relationship between the Council and the peacebuilding bodies (the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), ECOSOC and governing councils and boards of the World Bank and UN agencies). Also related is how the Council can provide oversight on peacebuilding without infringing on the work of the peacebuilding actors.

Also an issue is whether the Council needs more specific information on peacebuilding activity in order to make informed decisions related to drawing down a peacekeeping operation.

An important continuing key issue is ensuring that adequate funds for peacekeeping exist so that peacekeepers have the resources to effectively conduct peacebuilding tasks. The high cost of UN peacekeeping is of particular concern to some Council members in the context of the difficult global financial environment.

Options
One option is for the Council to engage with the Secretariat in consultations without any outcome.

Other options include:

  • requesting the Secretary-General to include in his country-specific reports a section on the challenges of working with peacebuilding actors and suggestions for improving the engagement of the mission with them; 
  • suggesting the Working Group on Peacekeeping take up some of the ideas emerging from this discussion as part of its work programme for 2012;
  • using the experience of DPKO and DFS in providing transition support to the UN Mission in Timor-Leste and UN Mission in Liberia to explore how the lessons learnt can be applied to mandate renewals in the future;
  • drawing on knowledge gained from the February 2012 Council visit to Haiti to consider possible amendments to the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti mandate that would allow for better coordination of peacebuilding tasks; and
  • exploring better ways of coordinating peacebuilding functions in a peacekeeping mission the focus of a future Council mission.

Council Dynamics
There is broad agreement in principle among Council members about the linkages between peacekeeping and peacebuilding. However, members appear to have different understandings of what this means in practice. Some members believe that peacekeepers should only be involved in early recovery and initial peacekeeping tasks, while others appear to take a wider view of the role of peacekeepers as early peacebuilders. Others believe that either the PBC or other UN agencies might be better suited than peacekeepers to take on early peacebuilding activities.

Certain Council members that are also key TCCs appear to have some concerns about the effect on peacekeeping resources if peacebuilding tasks are increasingly taken on by peacekeepers. At the same time, these members also appear to be concerned about the military component of peacekeeping missions being supplanted by UN personnel involved in peacebuilding tasks, thus leading to a reduction in the numbers of peacekeepers.

New Council members Pakistan and Morocco have been very actively involved in General Assembly peacekeeping issues and, together with India and South Africa, are the leading TCC contributors on the Council. All four are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It is possible that they may wish to address issues of concern to NAM members, such as better interaction with TCCs, review of troop costs and addressing capability gaps in peacekeeping. 

Morocco is the new chair of the Working Group on Peacekeeping. At press time, the working group’s programme of work had not yet been adopted, but given Morocco’s experience chairing a very difficult session of the C34 last year, there are expectations that the working group could have an active year ahead  

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UN Documents

Security Council Resolution

  • S/RES/1327 (13 November 2000) adopted the decisions and recommendations of the report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations.

Presidential Statements

  • S/PRST/2011/17 (26 August 2011) expressed the Council’s commitment to enhanced consideration of early peacebuilding activities in the mandates and structure of peacekeeping operations. 
  • S/PRST/2011/4 (11 February 2011) noted the importance of considering peacebuilding activities from the early planning and implementation stages of peacekeeping operations.  
  • S/PRST/2010/2 (12 February 2010) focused on peacekeeping exit and transition strategies.   
  • S/PRST/2009/24(5 August 2009) highlighted the Council’s efforts to improve its dialogue with the Secretariat and TCC/PCCs as well as identified areas for further reflection, such as credible and achievable mandates matched with appropriate resources.    

Meeting Records

  • S/PV.6603 and Resumption 1 (26 August 2011) was the council’s most recent debate on peacekeeping. 
  • S/PV.6592 (27 July 2011) was a Council debate that included briefings by several force commanders. 
  • S/PV.6479 and Resumption 1 (11 February 2011) was the Council debate on the interdependence between security and development.
  • S/PV.6389 (23 September 2010) was the Council summit meeting on peace and security.

Other

    •   A/64/19 was the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. 

 Useful Additional Sources  

  • The New Horizon Initiative, Progress Report No.2. DPKO and DFS, December 2011.
  • A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping, DPKO and DFS, July 2009

Full Forecast

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