Update Report No. 3: The UN and Regional Organisations
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Expected Council Action
On 6 November, the Council is scheduled to hold an open debate on the role of regional and subregional organisations in maintaining peace and security. The debate, which will be chaired by Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda, will be held at the country’s initiative in its capacity as Council president for November.
The debate is likely to examine the issue without focusing exclusively on a particular region. In addition to non-Council member states, it seems that a geographically diverse group of regional organisations (including ASEAN, the AU, the EU and ECOWAS, among others) have been invited to participate.
The Council is expected to adopt a presidential statement that summarises recent developments relating to the capacity of regional organisations to address conflict as well as its views on the need for regional organisations to strengthen contributions to the Council’s work.
Background
On 29 October, Indonesia circulated a concept paper on the relationship between the UN and regional and subregional organisations with respect to issues of peace and security (S/2007/640). The paper outlines two primary objectives for the debate:
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to enhance understanding of the potential and actual capabilities of regional and subregional organisations to address peace and security issues (including their role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peacemaking, peacebuilding and the development of norms); and
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to help identify and develop mechanisms of regional organisations to strengthen their ability to contribute to the Council’s efforts to promote peace and security.
Within this context the debate may focus on some of the following areas:
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disseminating and developing best practices and lessons learned in order to enhance the effectiveness of regional and subregional organisations in addressing local conflicts;
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distinguishing between approaches with general applicability to regional organisations and approaches that need to be adapted to geographically specific circumstances;
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stimulating broader engagement of regional organisations in the UN’s work on peace and security issues;
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broadening understanding of the challenges and opportunities of improved communication between the Security Council and regional organisations; and
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exploring whether or not a hybrid-peacekeeping model is relevant to all regions and situations, and the benefits and shortcomings of such a model.
Key Facts
In the 1990s, the UN began to focus increased attention on the need to involve regional organisations in matters of peace and security. Meeting at the level of heads of state or government for the first time in January 1992, the Security Council asked the Secretary-General to recommend ways to make the UN more efficient in preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping. In response, the Secretary-General issued An Agenda for Peace in June 1992, highlighting the potential role of the Council in crisis prevention, peacekeeping, and post-conflict peacebuilding and giving birth to the concept of “regional-global security partnership.”
In April 1998, the Secretary-General issued a report on peace and security in Africa. Many of the report’s recommendations on peacekeeping focused on cooperation between the UN and regional organisations. Based on the findings of an ad-hoc working group formed by the Council to review its findings, in September 1998 the Council adopted resolution 1197, which advocated strategies for enhancing cooperation between the UN and the Organisation of African Unity in preventing conflict and maintaining peace.
The issue of cooperation between the UN and regional organisations gained increased momentum following the Millennium Summit in 2000. Romania, and subsequently Greece, took on responsibility for promoting the thematic issue during their time as elected members of the Council. The subject became an important feature of the September 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. In addition to calling for a ten year capacity-building programme for the AU, the Outcome Document resolved to expand cooperation through:
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formalised agreements between respective secretariats;
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involving regional organisations in the Council’s work;
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ensuring that regional organisations have the capacity for conflict prevention or peacekeeping and consider placing such capacities in the framework of the UN Standby Arrangements System; and
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strengthening the framework for cooperation in economic, social and cultural fields.
Since 2003, there have been four thematic debates on the issue (S/PV.4739 and S/PV.4739/Corr.1 on 11 April 2003; S/PV.5007 and S/PV.5007 (Resumption 1) on 20 July 2004; S/PV.5282 and S/PV.5282 (Resumption 1) on 17 October 2005 and S/PV.5529 on 20 September 2006). The last of these focused on Africa and was held on 28 March 2007, with South Africa presiding. That debate resulted in a presidential statement that stressed the view that collaboration between the UN and regional organisations “should be based on their complimentary capacities and comparative advantages,” while recognising the “Peacebuilding Commission as a forum for coordination between the United Nations system and regional and sub-regional organizations” (S/PRST/2007/7). Foreshadowing (and perhaps informing) an important theme of the Indonesian concept paper, the Council expressed encouragement for an “increased exchange of information and sharing of experience, best practices and lessons learned between the Security Council and the African Union as well as other relevant regional organizations.”
The March presidential statement also requested a report from the Secretary-General on ways in which the UN can support mechanisms for enhanced cooperation between the UN and regional organisations, particularly the AU. This report has yet to be issued. A likely timeframe for its publication is early 2008. (For more details, please refer to our 18 September 2006 and 23 March 2007 Update Reports.)
Key issues
The Council faces the following issues.
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A key issue relates to the regional scope of the debate. While the bulk of the Council’s work is in Africa, discussion of the Council’s relationship with regional organisations in Asia, particularly ASEAN, given Indonesia’s role as Council president and the situation in Myanmar, is possible.
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A related issue will be what form the debate will take with respect to the contributions that regional organisations can make to the Council’s work, considering that this is a major theme of the Indonesian concept paper.
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Another issue is the lack of formal arrangements for collaboration between the UN and regional organisations, as current agreements are developed on an ad hoc basis. The Secretary-General’s March 2005 report In Larger Freedom recommended Memoranda of Understanding to govern such relationships. This approach could lead to establishing clear areas of responsibility and more efficient collaborations.
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A related issue is the more controversial issue of funding mechanisms for peacekeeping operations undertaken by regional organisations. There continues to be resistance to financing such operations through assessed UN contributions. Other options include voluntary contributions to a special fund, or greater emphasis on bilateral arrangements whereby member states fund regional organisations or regional organisations assist one another. Discussion of the full dimensions of this issue seems likely.
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Another issue is the fact that many regional organisations lack technical resources such as equipment and logistical capacity. Since regionally-led peacekeeping operations are not eligible for UN supplies, the burdens that they often do not have the capacity to overcome are also likely to be discussed.
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Another possible issue for the debate is the strengths and weaknesses of the collaboration between the UN and regional organisations based on experience to date in the context of the implementation of the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Council Dynamics
Although the Council supports the general idea of stronger cooperation between the UN and regional organisations, it has not traditionally shown much inclination to consider this issue other than at the abstract level. The Council reiterated its primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in its March presidential statement following the last open debate on collaboration between the UN and regional organisations. Nonetheless, all Council members are aware of the practical value if the capacity of regional and subregional organisations can be strengthened. However, the Council has tended to focus its energy on concrete cases in an ad hoc manner rather than proceeding from the general to the specific.
Selected Security Council Resolutions |
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Selected Presidential Statements |
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Selected Letters |
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Selected Secretary-General’s Reports |
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Selected General Assembly Resolutions |
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Selected Security Council Debates |
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Other |
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Useful Additional Sources
Building Partnerships for Crisis Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding between the United Nations and Regional Organisations, International Peace Academy, 2006.
Felicio, Tania; Graham, Kennedy, Regional Security and Global Governance: A Proposal for a ‘Regional-Global Security Mechanism,’ Royal Institute for International Relations, January 2005.
Foreman, Shepard; Grene, Andrew, “Collaborating with Regional Organizations” in The UN Security Council, Malone, David (ed.), Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004.
Holt, Victoria; Shanahan, Moira, African Capacity-Building for Peace Operations: UN Collaboration with the African Union and ECOWAS, The Henry L. Stimson Center, February 2005.
Cooperation between the UN and Regional Organizations/Arrangements in a Peacekeeping Environment: Suggested Principles and Mechanisms, Lessons Learned Unit, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, March 1999.