*EPF108 11/13/00
Text: Ambassador Cunningham on UN Peacekeeping Operations
(Strengthening operations a critically important task) (1360)

United Nations -- United Nations member states must move decisively to improve the administration, planning, and financing of peacekeeping operations many of which face desperate shortfalls in terms of troops, equipment and training, U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said November 13.

Addressing the UN Security Council on strengthening UN peacekeeping operations, Cunningham said that the success or failure of peacekeeping "will be the ultimate standard by which the world will judge the UN" and the Council must send a strong political message that it is genuinely committed to peacekeeping and to the people who depend on it.

There are two strands to the peacekeeping reform effort that must be addressed simultaneously -- the way the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) works and the scale of assessments that finances the operations, the ambassador said.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at strengthening and improving peacekeeping operations in line with the recommendations set out in the report prepared by a special panel headed by former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi.

The Council said it will strive to give peacekeeping operations clear, credible, achievable mandates appropriate to the situation on the ground. It emphasized the need to improve information gathering and analysis of the UN secretariat; the importance of the UN being able to respond and deploy peacekeepers rapidly; and the importance of an improved system of consultations among troops contributing countries.

The resolution, Cunningham said, "provides a roadmap" for the Security Council to strengthen and design effective peacekeeping operations.

"We have said time and again that rapid deployment of a peacekeeping operation is essential," he said. "And today we have given concrete meaning to this oft-cited aspiration by calling upon all relevant parties to strive toward meeting specific timelines and by welcoming the Brahimi proposals on improving the U.N. rapid deployment capacity, including through the Standby Arrangements system."

Following is the text of the ambassador's remarks:

(begin text)

Today the Security Council takes a critical step forward with the adoption of this resolution implementing the Brahimi Report's core recommendations relating to the Council's work. This reflects two months of hard work by the Council's working group under the extraordinary leadership and determination of Ambassador Curtis Wurd of Jamaica, and we want to congratulate him and his colleagues.

One cannot overestimate the importance of today's actions. Since 1948, there have been fifty-three UN peacekeeping operations in nearly all corners of the world. Thirty-five of those occurred in the past decade. Fifteen are currently underway, including the big five and a half: Kosovo, Congo, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Ethiopia-Eritrea and the doubling of the force in South Lebanon -- all major operations that did not exist just fourteen months ago. This year, more than ever, we have reaffirmed our commitment to peace and security in Africa and have mandated three new operations there.

There is no doubt that UN peacekeeping remains at the core of this institution's responsibility. Whether peacekeeping succeeds or fails will be the ultimate standard by which the world will judge the UN. That's because for all of the important things the UN system does around the world, from the work of UNICEF and UNDP to WHO, everyone looks to this organization to keep the peace.

Last September at the Millennium Summit, leader after leader reiterated the critical importance of peacekeeping, and in our historic Security Council Summit, we renewed our commitment to peacekeeping and re-energized our resolve to making it work efficiently and effectively.

This Council demands a great deal from its peacekeeping operations. We have placed demands on the UN to conduct complex, difficult and dangerous operations projected to cost over $3 billion this year. And our ability to send a strong political message today will be seen as a test of whether our professed commitment to UN peacekeeping and to the people who depend on it is genuine and enduring.

We all know that the UN's most challenging and important operations face desperate shortfalls in terms of troops, equipment and training and we all know, as the Brahimi Report so vividly illustrated, that the Department of Peacekeeping's capacity to plan effectively, to manage and to backstop peacekeeping is severely inadequate. Unless we move decisively, those who threaten peacekeepers across the globe may draw the conclusion that the UN lacks the will, cohesion, and even the capability to perform this basic function. Unless we move decisively peacekeeping-- the core function of the UN-- will fail.

Ambassador Holbrooke has often noted that the crisis between capacity and demand is a train wreck waiting to happen. This is still true. There are two strands to the peacekeeping reform effort that must be addressed simultaneously -- the way DPKO works and the way we finance peacekeeping operations. On financing we are pursuing important work in the Fifth Committee and elsewhere to make the peacekeeping scale fair, up-to-date, and equitable. We are making progress, but slowly. But I am confident we will find a fair solution this year.

The other question is how to fix peacekeeping operations. The Secretary General's panel on UN peace operations, led so ably by Ambassador Brahimi, provides a practical blueprint on how to do that. The Report reminds us that UN peacekeeping, perhaps more than any other UN function, only works when all relevant actors join together with common purpose. So, it's just that simple -- we must all work together and we must all do our fair share. Unless we all share the political will to make peacekeeping succeed, no amount of structural changes will make much difference.

The resolution before us sends a clear message that the Security Council is ready to do its part. We have taken many important decisions in this document, all of which share a common thread--that saving peacekeeping is a common responsibility, one that depends on all of us working together.

In particular, today's resolution provides the roadmap for us to fulfill our responsibility to produce clear, credible and achievable mandates that reflect both the realities on the ground and the availability of resources. The Council is already implementing a pledge to improve consultations with troop contributing countries. This is at the very heart of this roadmap and will be a key to our success. So will our determination that our mandates must be based on frank, accurate and detailed advice. Once we have decided to send peacekeepers on a mission, this resolution underscores the need for them to be able to act and react when necessary to ensure that they carry out the mission's goals successfully. We have said time and again that rapid deployment of a peacekeeping operation is essential. And today we have given concrete meaning to this oft-cited aspiration by calling upon all relevant parties to strive toward meeting specific timelines and by welcoming the Brahimi proposals on improving the UN's rapid deployment capacity, including through the Standby Arrangements System.

Still, we must do more. The Secretary-General realized this when he took the initiative to convene the Brahimi panel. Now he has shown real leadership and determination by presenting a practical implementation plan and a compelling case for an emergency resource request to put Brahimi's recommendations into action. We have an obligation to respond positively. At a minimum, we should ensure that resources the UN needs -- in particular to plan, support and manage its vital military, civilian police and operational functions for peacekeeping -- are on stream by the end of the year.

Mr. President, there can be no doubt that the task before us is as difficult as it is important. Progress is only possible if we do more than make speeches. For people in areas of conflict, it is often the difference between life and death. The longer the UN fails to live up to its potential and allows peacekeeping shortcomings to go unfixed, the longer innocents will suffer, and the greater the danger that controllable conflict will become entrenched crisis with even higher risks and costs to the international community.

Thank you.

(end text)
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