Pakistan Mission to United Nations

Statement by Ambassador Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations at the Security Council Debate on Peacekeeping Operations (12 September 2018)

Let me begin by expressing our gratitude to the US Presidency for organizing this important debate and appreciate the insights provided by the briefers.

Madam President,

Blue Helmets are recognized and respected all over the world. They symbolize the United Nations' commitment to regional and international peace, security and stability. They underline the collective will and endeavor of all member states to make this world peaceful and stable.

Enduring conflicts mean lives lost, families broken, destitution, people in camps, women and children left languishing in vulnerability.

UN peacekeeping has saved and protected tens of millions of lives. It helps shattered communities and neighbourhoods rebuild themselves. It replaces strife with harmony and turns despair into hope.

Peacekeeping, as we would all surely agree, has been the UN's most successful enterprise. Recent closure of Missions in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire is evidence of that success.

It is a humbling for us that in three of these missions, Pakistani peacekeepers were deployed. They accomplished their tasks, fulfilled their mandates and above all, they won hearts and minds.

Since the 1960s Pakistan has contributed over 200,000 troops to 43 missions. Our contribution to peacekeeping has not been without cost, 156 of our bravest have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the cause of peace.

Madam President,

Performance has also been the focus of our discussions in C-34 this year.

As a major TCC, with a proud history of professionalism, competence and honour, we welcome the focus on performance. Improved performance would lead to better results and would also improve the safety and security of our peacekeepers.

Let me make six key observations on performance. These may be useful to consider in setting up the new mechanisms that the Secretariat is working on.

• One, At the time of creating and updating the mandates of missions, the Security Council must base its decisions on practical analysis by the Secretariat of resource requirements. Mandates must be precise, unambiguous and appropriately resourced. When mandates and capabilities are out of sync, efficiency and effectiveness invariably suffer.
• Two, There is need for rationalization and prioritization of mandated tasks. The mission in South Sudan, for instance, is burdened with 209 tasks.
• Three, Professionalism in peacekeeping ensures excellence in service delivery. Pre-deployment training, including common and standardized training, is vital for all mission components. We have developed peacekeeping training modules that form part of the curricula of our mandatory courses. We are willing to share this expertise with other TCCs, and also with the Secretariat.
• Four, Transparency, especially between the concerned TCC and the Secretariat, to improve delivery, will provide better results than a publicized name-and-shame approach.
• Five, Application of the Peacekeeping Capabilities Readiness System (PCRS) must extend to routine deployments, rather than being limited to emergent deployments alone. If trained peacekeepers are in readiness, there should not be any hesitation in using them.
• Six, National caveats hinder performance. They provide one TCC leverage to refuse performing in a given instance, while expecting another that does not hide behind these caveats to perform in the same situation. This creates a disproportionate set of expectations. A level playing field is a pre-requisite for fair assessment of performance.

Madam President,

As one of the top performers, Pakistan will never shy away from any discussion on performance, or from supporting the establishment of an effective system to enhance it.

We believe we are all stakeholders in this endeavour and have a shared responsibility. Responsiveness to realities on the ground and feedback from TCCs and meaningful triangular cooperation is the key to developing synergies vital for the success of Peacekeeping Operations.

I thank you.