Pakistan Mission to United Nations

Statement by Ambassador Nabeel Munir Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations at the Security Council Open Debate on "Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations: the role of States, regional arrangements and the United Nations in the prevention and resolution of conflict" (06 December 2018)

Mr. President,

We thank the Cote d'Ivoire Presidency of the Council on convening this important debate.

We also thank the Secretary General, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and President of the ECOWAS Commission for their insightful briefings.

Mr. President,

In 1945, as the world emerged from the most destructive war in human history, it became apparent that if the succeeding generations were indeed to be saved from the scourge of war, the impulse of war-mongering had to be subdued by the ideal of peace-making.

It is thus no coincidence that the UN Charter places such high premium on pursuit of friendly relations between states, based on the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference and peaceful settlement of disputes.

The repository of measures outlined in Chapter VI of the Charter provide a framework of action, to place pacific settlement of disputes at the center of the global peace and security architecture.

Then Chapter VIII expands this by synergizing the efforts of the UN and regional organizations. The reason is obvious - more often than not, countries of a region are better equipped to understand the challenges faced by the region and respond to them.

Existing cooperation between the UN and the African Union serves as a point of inflection. We also welcome the joint declaration on partnership, being signed between the UN and the AU as I speak.

Mr. President,

Active engagement of the international community and consent of the host government are essential throughout the peace continuum - from containing conflict to building sustainable and inclusive peace.

What better celebration of this than the success of Cote d'Ivoire, transforming into a peaceful, vibrant and thriving state.

Pakistan takes pride in contributing to this endeavour through our peacekeepers, serving with professionalism, commitment and dedication in UNOCI. We also pay tribute to the 12 Pakistani peacekeepers who laid down their lives in this cause.

Mr. President,

As theaters of conflict across the world grow in complexity, peacekeeping remains the best tool at the disposal of the UN and a testament to its effectiveness. Success of peacekeeping is that, with national ownership, it creates space in conflict zones for locally generated political solutions.

Let me make six specific points in this context:

• One, we support provision of predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for AU-led peace operations, as agreed in the 'declaration of shared commitments' under the A4P initiative, especially those authorized by the Security Council.
• Two, sequenced, prioritized, and adequately resourced Security Council mandates are a pre-requisite for success.
• Three, the Secretariat needs to play its part by highlighting resource gaps which the Security Council must then resolve.
• Four, while crafting mandates, safety and security of peacekeepers should be kept in mind. TCCs can provide valuable inputs as they have experience of mandate implementation in the field.
• Five, on performance of peacekeepers, reviews must take a holistic view, starting with mandate formulation and transparency in force generation and integration of various components of the mission, and not analyze performance merely with the uni-focal lens of contributions of T/PCCs.
• Six, we believe any reform should steer clear of changing the nature of peacekeeping or diluting its basic principles. We must not fudge the distinction between peacekeeping and 'peace enforcement'. This would run the risk of the UN becoming a party to conflict and permanently damage not only multilateralism but the very basis on which success of peacekeeping is built - neutrality and impartiality.

  I thank you.