Statement at the Special Committee
on Peace-keeping Operations
Hisashi Owada
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent
Representative of Japan to the United Nations
11 April 1997
Mr. Chairman,
In the post-Cold War era, cases are increasing in which the traditional type of United Nations peace-keeping by itself cannot bring about the desired goal of political stability. In the Great Lakes region, for example, a typical peace-keeping operation normally carried out by the United Nations for the purpose of maintaining a cease-fire would not be capable of realizing a durable peace in the region which is fraught with a myriad of problems lurking behind the conflict. In Afghanistan, the conflicting parties do not welcome UN involvement in what they claim to be a domestic problem, even though the conflict there clearly poses not only a threat to the regional stability but a threat to international peace and security.
In order to enable the international community to respond to these multidimensional and complex conflicts that continue to erupt in various parts of the world, it is incumbent upon us to consider how to enhance the effectiveness of the UN peace-keeping operations in the context of UN activities as a whole. Japan is convinced that a new innovative approach to peace-keeping is urgently needed and pledges its best endeavor to reshape and reorganize a new paradigm for the UN peace-keeping operations which could function as an effective means for the prevention and the resolution of the conflict in a new international environment.
Mr. Chairman,
In this post-Cold War era, we have been encountering conflict situations which have resulted from the disintegration of the national system itself. In order to respond effectively to such situations, peace-keeping operations in the traditional sense will not suffice. It is very often necessary to envisage a comprehensive approach that integrates various elements so far treated separately, i.e. humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons, diplomatic efforts to bring about a cease-fire, the stationing of UN-operated peace-keeping contingents, and cooperation for national reconstruction and rehabilitation. This will require that the activities of the Security Council, UN peace-keeping operations, and various humanitarian and development assistance agencies be carried out in an integrated and well-coordinated manner. Our task in this Special Committee should be to consider just how this integrated approach to peace-keeping operations should be devised and implemented within the framework of UN activities as a whole, bearing in mind the respective roles of different organs and the need to guarantee their effectiveness as autonomous bodies functioning in their respective fields of jurisdiction.
As a reaction to the sobering experiences in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia, we discern a tendency, both in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations and in the Security Council, to revert to traditional peace-keeping operations with rather narrow mandates, just at a time when the United Nations is increasingly called upon to play a central role in the international efforts to meet many new challenges arising out of these new types of regional conflicts. However, it is important to keep in mind that among the Organization's most important tools for meeting these challenges is its peace-keeping capacity and that therefore an innovative new thinking is required to ensure its viability.
It is the considered view of my delegation that the starting point for addressing these problems arising in a situation of conflict is to cope with the situation at an early stage, before the conflict is resolved. Thus the possibility of deploying multinational forces that can take a rapid action in time for an impending crisis - along the lines of SFOR in the former Yugoslavia and those proposed for deployment in Zaire as well as those being established in Albania -- is worthy of positive consideration. It is the view of my delegation that such multinational forces, if appropriately mandated and properly organized, can lay the groundwork for the dispatch of full-fledged peace-keeping operations once the situation is stabilized. I believe it would also be useful to examine how such multinational forces could cooperate, and share roles with the United Nations engaged in peace-keeping operations.
Mr. Chairman,
In line with the points I have so far described, the delegation of Japan would like to make the following suggestions for our review and discussion, in an attempt to achieve an enhanced effectiveness and expanded roles of the peace-keeping activities of the United Nations.
1) Formation of the group to assist UN activities.
The formation and involvement of a group of like-minded countries or "friends" to assist the UN activities at a very early stage of the conflict would seem to be useful in coordinating the wide range of activities such as humanitarian assistance and reconstruction provided by Member States and UN agencies. My delegation suggests that just at this moment such a group of interested States is very much needed in relation to the situations in the Great Lakes region and in Afghanistan.
I should also like to point out that while the group of interested States should not be a closed or exclusive one, its constituent members should be selected in an equitable manner from among those States which possess a genuine interest and a requisite capability to offer a useful service.
2) Cooperation of countries in the region.
ECOWAS has provided an example of valuable participation by the regional organization (Organization of African Unity) and countries in the region in peace-keeping operations. A number of African countries have also shown eagerness to be actively involved in UN activities in the region in the future. The international community should consider establishing a trust fund to cover the cost for the training of personnel and the provision of equipment and providing financial assistance to facilitate such cooperation by countries in the region.
3) Strengthening of the rapid deployment capability
Japan welcomes the initiative of the Secretariat and various Member States to strengthen the rapid deployment capability of the United Nations. In this context, particularly welcome is the establishment of the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ) and of a trust fund to enable countries in the region to send their personnel to participate in the mission. We also welcome the agreement reached to establish a United Nations Standby High Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG).
4) Provision of Humanitarian assistance.
The safety of personnel engaged in humanitarian assistance is an essential prerequisite for a successful operation of a humanitarian mission. The provision of a cover of protection by the military contingents active in the area should also be considered, in light of the circumstances of the conflict. However, an extreme caution would be needed in order not to let this action jeopardize the very purpose of such humanitarian action, which can only operate effectively on the basis of the principle of strict impartiality.
The effectiveness of humanitarian activities by multifarious agencies of the United Nations operating in various humanitarian fields could also be enhanced through close coordination and cooperation among those agencies.
In this context, I wish to urge Member States to cooperate for an early entry into force of the Convention on the Safety of UN Personnel, through their early ratification. It is important also to emphasize in this connection that the safety not only of UN personnel engaged in the peace-keeping activities but also humanitarian fields working outside the UN framework must be ensured in line with the spirit of the Convention.
5) Cooperation with regional organizations.
Cooperative relations between the regional organizations and the United Nations, particularly in the context of its peace-keeping operations, should be further strengthened. Such cooperation should include training programmes and information-sharing. It might be useful for the United Nations to work with interested regional organizations to establish a strategy for such cooperation.
6) Demining in the context of Peace-keeping.
The initiative of the Security Council in its presidential statement of August last year, i.e. the initiative to undertake a study of operational demining as part of peace-keeping should be further pursued. Such study could cover the possibility of creating rapidly deployable demining units in the context of a review of the demining experience carried out by past peace-keeping operations.
Mr. Chairman,
These are some of the salient points that the delegation of Japan would like to see explored and pursued further in the future work of this Special Committee.
Let me conclude my intervention today by expressing the hope that this Special Committee will address each of these and other important issues with the keen awareness that in the new international environment of today, peace-keeping operations of the United Nations are proving to be one of the most effective tools for peace that are at present available in this Organization. We in the United Nations should make our best efforts, so that this instrument for peace may be further improved upon through innovative approaches that take into account the unique needs of today's new international environment.
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