“Cooperation between the UN and regional organizations in stabilization processes”

Statement by Mr. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Charge d’ Affairs of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations in the Security Council (20 July, 2004)

Mr. President,

We are very happy to see you chairing this very important meeting on “the Cooperation between the UN and regional organizations in stabilization processes” organized by the Romanian Presidency. It follows a very useful initiative taken on this issue by the Mexican Presidency of the Security Council in April last year. .

  1. The Charter of the United Nations identifies the role regional organizations can play in the preservation of international peace and security. The Charter recognizes their role in the pacific settlement of local disputes and sets out the parameters for the involvement of regional arrangements in enforcement action, solely under the authority of the Security Council.
  2. Regional arrangements can have various configurations and variable geometry. In the Asian region, a number of sub-regional arrangements are working for the promotion of peace and stability in their respective sub-regions. The Association of South East Asian States (ASEAN) does not have a security structure but it has a regional forum to discuss security issues. Similar arrangements like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are making valuable contributions in promoting stability in their respective sub-regions. In our subcontinent, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is at present an economic forum and is playing an important role in promoting economic and social development. Along with economic development, SAARC could also contribute to peace and stability.
  3. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), with 57 Member States – spans four continents, and represents one-fourth of the membership of the United Nations. The OIC has played important roles in several conflicts and crisis; for instance, in facilitating the end of the foreign occupation of Afghanistan, in mediating the Iran-Iraq conflict, ending the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in supporting peace efforts in various other parts of the world, including a just and peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The OIC can play a vital role in promoting solutions to some of the principal items on the Council’s agenda including Palestine and the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, terrorism and WMD proliferation. At the recent Kuala Lumpur Summit, the OIC has initiated a process of internal reform and revitalization to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency.
  4. Regional arrangements have been involved in stabilization operations under the mandate of the Security Council. These have included SFOR and KFOR in the Balkans; and more recently regional multinational forces in West Africa and Haiti. While regional arrangements can take enforcement action, it is clear from the provisions of Article 54 of the Charter, “no enforcement action shall be taken under regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council.” The Charter does not permit national or regional unilaterism; only collective action with the express sanction of the Security Council or, if it cannot act, with the authorization of the General Assembly.
  5. The participation of regional arrangements in the maintenance of local peace and security in their respective regions must also be impartial. The purpose must be to facilitate peace and not to promote the agenda of any regional power. If such regional arrangement existed in South West Asia, it could have played a salutary role in stabilizing both Afghanistan and Iraq and obviated the reliance on the intervention of forces from far away nations.
  6. Experiences from various conflict situations have taught us stabilization does not simply imply the cessation of hostilities or consolidating peace, it also includes prevention of conflict, addressing the root causes, and building sustainable peace in conflict situations. Stabilization is a complex task which combines the UN’s two main priorities: peace and development. It involves activities ranging from disarmament, demobilization and reconstruction (DDR) to institutional development to the economic reconstruction and rehabilitation.
  7. Regional organizations can assist the United Nations in a complementary and mutually supportive role in promoting post-conflict peace-building not only politically but also economically. The European Union is playing an important role in this regard in the Balkans and elsewhere. SAARC can play a considerable, though indirect role, by promoting trade and economic cooperation in South Asia.
  8. There is a requirement for the UN to devote greater attention and resources to promoting cooperation with regional arrangements – in the political and economic areas – to advance their common and mutual goals of consolidating peace, stability, progress and prosperity.

I Thank you, Mr. President.