STATEMENT BY MAJOR GENERAL AROLDO LAZARO SAENZ, SPECIAL REREPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFING on UNIFIL
New York
28 JULY 2023
It is an honour to brief the Security Council on the protection of civilians. This is one of the key areas of the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative and among the most central mandates of United Nations peace operations.
At the outset, however, it is with deep regret that I convey my condolences to the Government of Ghana for the death of one of its peacekeepers in a tragic traffic accident today.
The 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah had a devastating impact on civilians on both sides. In the aftermath of the conflict, with a new mandate and additional resources, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) became one of the six current United Nations peacekeeping missions with a protection-of-civilians mandate.
Resolution 1701 (2006) from August 2006 authorizes UNIFIL to take all necessary action to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities and without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Lebanon.
UNIFIL is a traditional peacekeeping operation, operating under a mandate under Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations. Such a structure, as well as the operational context, set the implementation of a protection-of-civilians mandate apart from large multidimensional peacekeeping missions.
Currently, in UNIFIL’s area of operation, there is no clear identified imminent threat of physical violence to civilians. It is in recognition of an existing latent threat that UNIFIL’s protection-of-civilians efforts are currently focused on prevention and consolidating normative standards. The prevention aspect is at the heart of UNIFIL’s activities and is achieved through robust deployment across the area of operations, situational awareness, as well as dialogue and engagement with the parties to the conflict. In that regard, UNIFIL has established a tripartite forum as a key confidence-building and conflict management tool. The forum, which I personally chair, is the only venue where Lebanese and Israeli forces are in the same room in addressing security concerns. The tripartite forum is the cornerstone of the mission’s coordination and liaison mechanisms, which have repeatedly demonstrated their utility as a vital platform for deconfliction, confidence-building and conflict prevention between parties that remain technically at war.
Notably, the trust vested in those mechanisms was demonstrated with cross-Blue Line rocket fire on 6 April followed by Israeli air strikes the following day. The parties were able to pass messages through me to deconflict, avoid misunderstandings and facilitate the safe travel of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL to the launch sites to prevent further rocket fire.
On a daily basis, UNIFIL’s liaison branch has teams of unarmed observers deployed north and south of the Blue Line. They maintain regular contact with the Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese Armed Forces on the ground during routine activities by the parties along the Blue Line and are a vital communication channel at times of tension. That helps avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations.
UNIFIL, like other missions, has recently been fighting an unprecedented rise in misinformation/ disinformation campaigns. Those have the potential not only to create tensions, but also to undermine the image and effectiveness of the mission, including by contributing to a decline in the local community’s acceptance, indispensable for the safety of UNIFIL peacekeepers, as well as access and freedom of movement through all our area of operations.
Regarding the provision of physical protection of civilians, UNIFIL is deployed with a robust and visible presence. That includes more than 450 daily operational activities, conducted both independently and in close coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces, and throughout the whole area of operations. UNIFIL also assists the Lebanese Armed Forces in keeping the area of operations free of unauthorized armed personnel, assets and weapons through coordinated operations. However, UNIFIL faces challenges in accessing all sites of interest, including unauthorized firing ranges. All UNIFIL personnel, both uniformed and civilian, are engaged in the establishment of a protective environment in south Lebanon and, through civil affairs and civil-military cooperation activities, help build resilient communities.
Our protection-of-civilians mandate is also informed by the women and peace and security and youth, peace and security agendas. Women and youth are essential partners in all tiers of the protection-ofcivilians policy, even if their participation is not always as easily ensured as we would wish. On our side, UNIFIL ensures full participation of female peacekeepers in its operational activities. Women play an essential role in improving all aspects of our operations and facilitating access to local communities to maintain awareness of specific protection-of-civilians concerns. Female peacekeepers also serve as role models in UNIFIL’s efforts to support Lebanon in implementing its first national action plan on women and peace and security.
I wish to emphasize the importance of a whole-ofmission approach in ensuring coordinated, cohesive and effective protection-of-civilians efforts. But I also want to be clear, as it is critical to manage expectations: the type of conflict that could reignite between Lebanon and Israel would likely lead to significant civilian casualties, despite the mission’s preparedness and efforts. It is all the more important to invest as much as possible in prevention — the best possible protection-ofcivilians strategy — and work to address the root causes of the conflict. As Council members are aware, the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process has the primary responsibility to support the parties to achieve a permanent ceasefire. That is the best guarantee for the protection of civilians in both countries. In that, the support of the members of the Council, collectively and individually, will remain primordial for us.