(As delivered)

STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. SHINICHI KITAOKA
DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAPAN
AT THE OPEN DEBATE OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
ON THE UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

17 MAY 2004

Mr. President,

Let me first of all express my gratitude and commend you for your leadership in convening today's Security Council meeting on peacekeeping issues in general, apart from individual operations. It is important because the expansion of peacekeeping activities has been posing difficult problems for the UN. Japan has participated in peacekeeping missions since 1992 and has made valuable contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability in many parts of the world. Through its engagement, Japan has discovered a number of problems related to peacekeeping and proposed to the UN and the international community new ideas to address them. Japan is ready to discuss every aspect of peacekeeping, but because of time limitations, I will confine my comments to a few issues which I believe are most important today.

According to some reports, the peacekeeping budget may rise to 4.5 billion US dollars in 2005. Under current arrangements, Japan's share will be approximately 900 million dollars. This exceeds its annual bilateral ODA to Africa. For any country, it is difficult, if not impossible, to assume such a huge proportion of the financial costs for peacekeeping while maintaining the same level in development assistance, which Japan believes is crucial to efforts to eliminate poverty and prevent conflict from occurring.

I believe it is necessary to draw an overall picture of the process of conflict resolution. In particular, for the purposes of funds allocation, it is useful if the anticipated financial requirements for all phases of conflict resolution are given in advance. At the Tokyo donor meeting on Timor Leste, all the costs for peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, transitional administration and reconstruction were presented to donors. A similar effort was made in the case of Cambodia and was very useful.

The recent surge in peacekeeping activities has not only created financial difficulties but also caused a shortage of human resources and other problems. Japan reaffirms its intention to continue its support, including the provision of civilian experts, for whom there is now a pressing need.

Mr. President,

Each peacekeeping operation should be given a clear mandate. Secondly, it should have mission objectives, with precise and realistic benchmarks, so that the parties to the conflict, the Secretariat and the Security Council, and interested Member States can cooperate effectively to achieve them. This is the true meaning of the so-called "completion strategy". It in no way amounts to the setting of an artificial deadline. An operation with a solid completion strategy will attract wider international participation and enjoy greater effectiveness. Needless to say, in a humanitarian crisis, action may be taken on an exceptional and emergency basis.

Once deployed, a mission must be constantly reviewed, and major changes in mission environments should be duly reflected in the review process. The UN's operation in Timor Leste, which has undergone a number of reviews and adjustments in light of the progress made, provides a good example of this approach. We appreciate the inclusion of references to the review process in many Security Council resolutions adopted since the initiation of UNOCI. There are also many operations that were established decades ago. These should be reevaluated in order to determine the causes of prolongation and possible means of improvement.

Such activities as DDR and demining often play an important role in the area where a peacekeeping mission is deployed. In some cases, peace-building activities have been included in the peacekeeping mandate. Japan, advocating the concept of "consolidation of peace", understands the importance of linkage between peace-building activities and peacekeeping. However, peacekeeping activities should not be expanded without limitation in the name of peace-building. Peace-building is to lead to reconstruction and development, and requires expertise which is different in nature from that required for peacekeeping. It is desirable that a Special Representative of the Secretary-General should be given a coordination role.

Mr. President,

Given the expansion of UN PKOs, the cooperation of various actors is of critical importance. The most vital role should be played by those people in the area of conflict. They should be encouraged to take the lead in the peace process. In addition, cooperation with regional and sub-regional organizations is indispensable, in view of the impact of a conflict over the entire region. There should be an appropriate division of labor between the UN PKO and regional and sub-regional organizations, and the capacity of those organizations should be further strengthened. The ongoing bilateral support is important, but Japan is of the view that these efforts could be more closely coordinated at the international level. We hope that the Secretariat will play a more active role in this regard. Finally and most importantly, reform is necessary in order to involve in the Security Council decision-making process those countries contributing human, material, financial and other resources. This is necessary to enable the Council to work to consolidate peace, from the peacekeeping phase to reconstruction and development, in coordination with other international agencies and bilateral programs.

Issues surrounding peacekeeping are diverse and complicated. The Security Council should promote discussion involving the Secretariat, contributors of human and financial resources, and stakeholders including countries in the region. Japan, which is responsible for approximately one-fifth of the peacekeeping budget, is eager to participate in such discussions, in order to fulfill its international commitments while maintaining accountability to taxpayers. The meeting of the Security Council Working Group on Burundi provided a unique opportunity for major stakeholders to state their views. Japan strongly hopes that meetings of this kind will be convened in future to discuss specific issues as well as more generic issues related to peacekeeping.

Japan fully understands the fundamental importance of peacekeeping as a tool for conflict resolution and continues its active support. We are prepared to accept a new operation if a PKO is justified and its mandate appropriate.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Related Information (UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) and other International Peace Cooperation)

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Official Web Site