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Mr. President,
I am making these remarks in my dual capacity as the Chair of the 1521 Liberia Sanctions Committee and the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations.
Mr. President,
Almost ten years ago, the Liberia Sanctions Committee was established and Pakistan chaired it in 2004. At that time, Liberia was taking initial steps away from a debilitating civil war.
Since then, Liberia has come a long way in its quest to restore peace, security and stability. With the support of the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS, the country has made substantial progress.
The role of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has been instrumental in achieving these gains. Pakistani peacekeepers have remained an integral part of the UNMIL since its inception.
We take pride in our association with Liberia as a troop contributor and as Chair of the Liberia sanctions committee for two times, during the past decade, that saw Liberia’s transition from civil war to stability.
Mr. President,
In the past two years, the Committee held six informal consultations in the light of the reports submitted by the Panel of Experts and took several follow-up actions.
My predecessor, in his capacity as Chair of the Committee, visited Liberia in May 2012. His interaction with the Liberian stakeholders on the ground helped us fine-tune the general direction of the sanctions' regime.
Mr. President,
The Panel's reports have identified both progress and shortcomings.
In its last report, the Panel has concluded that majority of the individuals and entities listed for assets freeze and travel ban do not pose a threat to peace and stability in Liberia and the subregion. Some are still cases of concern. The Panel does not find any evidence that revenues from the diamond and alluvial gold sectors are providing financing for weapons and arms smuggling.
It has, however, identified huge institutional capacity deficits in the Liberian government and security forces in the following areas: diamond trafficking and gold mining; marking of arms; legal framework to prevent trafficking in illicit arms; conflict related to palm oil production; accountability and oversight in the forestry sector; land tenure issues; threats posed by cross-border military activities of Liberian mercenaries and Ivorian militias; and security concerns along the Liberia-Sierra Leone border.
The Panelists have confirmed that Liberia’s inability to pass a firearms control act, to ensure the marking of arms and ammunition, and to interdict armed groups in the interior all boil down to capacity issues. This is a prime factor in slowing down full implementation of sanctions.
Mr. President,
The fundamental questions before the Council today are how to consolidate the achievements made so far, maintain the momentum towards peace and stability, and decide on the nature and role of sanctions in the future.
The decision to lift the sanctions should be based on the Council's collective political judgment. As I relinquish my responsibilities, the Council is inclined towards scaling down the sanctions gradually, in consultation with the Liberian government.
Mr. President,
Liberia still faces many challenges. These include a frail state-security-apparatus, land-rights issues and ineffectual natural resources management. Transnational organized crime and illicit drugs trafficking are becoming major problems.
This Council wants to use sanctions most efficiently and effectively. There is a time for imposing them and a time for winding them down. No country would like to remain under sanctions indefinitely.
I would say: scale back but do not disengage or lower your guard. It should be a measured, calibrated response by the Council.
Before rendering this report, I have held meetings with the Permanent Representative of Liberia and members of the Panel. They concur that the situation in Liberia still remains fragile and fraught with danger.
As the UNMIL moves towards drawdown, the nature of the UN engagement with the Liberian authorities should be modulated to help the Liberian Government build its capacities, including its civilian capacity. The role of the Peace Building Commission (PBC), regional and sub-regional organizations, as well as the international financial institutions in this context remains crucial. Our efforts should be in sync with the Government's priorities for institution building.
Liberia's security cooperation with Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Co^te d’Ivoire should be bolstered to build a broader strategic approach for regional stability.
Mr. President,
I acknowledge with appreciation the cooperation and support of all Committee members. I thank Committee Secretary Kelvin Ong, Political Affairs Officer Anne Viken and Assistant Maria Carmela Javier-Bobby for their support to the work of the Committee. I also commend the comprehensive, solid and substantive work done by members of the Panel - Christian Dietrich, Caspar Fithen , and Lansana Gberie - in the last two years. They are thorough and they are very hard working.
Mr. President,
I now turn to the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, which I have chaired in 2013. Earlier, Ambassador Mohammad Loulichki of Morocco had ably carried out that responsibility in 2012.
For Pakistan, it was a unique honour of being a top troop contributor to UN peacekeeping and leading the Working Group at the Security Council.
We started off in 2013 with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2086 in January, under Pakistan's Presidency. This comprehensive resolution on peacekeeping, and the first of the kind in over a decade, focused on multidimensional missions based on a comprehensive approach to address complex crises involving security, political, humanitarian and development aspects.
The spotlight and new momentum on peacekeeping generated by Resolution 2086 was sustained in the activities of the Working Group, which in accordance with its mandate, considered a number of mission-specific and cross-cutting thematic issues.
In February, in the run-up to the renewal of the AMISOM mandate, the Working Group brought together the representatives of the African Union, the troop contributing countries and senior leadership from the Secretariat to discuss and address the challenges in Somalia.
The discussion on safety and security underscored the need for elaborate force protection measures, emergency evacuation plans, deployment of critical enablers, and clear and achievable mandates backed by adequate resources.
The Working Group also took up the use of modern technologies in UN peacekeeping operations, in the wake of the authorization for deployment of unarmed unmanned aerial system in the DRC. The exchange of views on the related legal, operational, political and administrative aspects was rich. The Group underlined the need for fuller discussion of the issue in the relevant UN bodies.
Deliberations of the Working Group on transition and drawdown were timely, given that several multidimensional missions are at various stages of these processes.
In another meeting, the Working Group held discussions on a capability-driven approach, which is vital for enhancing the effectiveness of missions, in view of their evolving nature and complex and challenging mandates. The discussion brought forth the importance of planning and training, provision of adequate military resources, particularly critical enablers such as aviation and engineering, and efficient utilization of resources in mission area.
The important and evolving role of UN Policing in peacekeeping and the related challenges and opportunities were discussed in November, in what was the first ever meeting of the Working Group dedicated to UN Police.
At its final substantive meeting, scheduled for December 20, the Working Group will look into issues related to force generation and mission start-up.
Mr. President,
Before concluding, let me make some personal observations.
One, the Working Group is one of the most important subsidiary bodies because of the centrality of peacekeeping in the Council's work. The Working Group has a lot of space and opportunity to be pro-active and support the Council’s deliberations on peacekeeping. We tried to do just that. I am pleased to report that the Working Group had a substantive and dynamic agenda; and it was responsive to the current peacekeeping issues.
Two, we planned early, and developed a good understanding among the Members on a range of indicative topics and issues and covered many of them in great detail.
Three, from the procedural point of view, it was all along a smooth affair. All credit goes to the Members of the Working Group who extended full cooperation to the chair. The Secretariat supported us ably. We consulted them extensively and benefitted from their engagement and briefings at the highest levels. I would like to convey our deepest gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and his peacekeeping team led by USG Herve Ladsous and USG Ameerah Haq and all their colleagues for their availability, advice and contribution to our work.
I convey my appreciation to Mr. Movses Abelian and his team, particularly Mr. Nikolai Galkin and his predecessor for facilitating our work.
I am also happy to inform you that there would be a website of the Working Group in the coming days.
Four, one of the objectives that we had set at the beginning was to strengthen synergy between the Security Council, the troop and police contributing countries, and the Secretariat. Although we could not hold an exclusive meeting on this aspect, we have promoted this cooperation in practice by creating an environment for full engagement and participation of the TCCs, PCCs and the Secretariat in all our meetings. These open interactions have enriched our discussions and enhanced transparency and inclusiveness in our work.
I thank you, Mr. President.