STATEMENT BY JEAN-PIERRE LACROIX, UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFING
New York
09 SEPTEMBER 2024
I welcome this opportunity to once again brief the Security Council. Today’s open debate is timely as we prepare for the Summit of the Future, and ahead of the Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference next May. I am very pleased to acknowledge the presence of my excellent co-briefers today, namely, Ms. Comfort Ero and Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. And I am encouraged by the large number of Member States inscribed as speakers, symbolizing their strong support for peacekeeping.
Now in its seventy-seventh year, United Nations peacekeeping remains a cornerstone of multilateralism in action. However, peacekeeping faces formidable challenges, as does the multilateral system writ large. United Nations peacekeeping operations can only ever be as strong as the collective support of the United Nations membership. As geopolitical tensions have mounted, including here in the Council, and amid shifting global and regional dynamics, peacekeeping operations are increasingly unable to rely on Member States to act in a strong, unified manner to support peacekeeping efforts and the political processes they are mandated to support.
In parallel, conflict is evolving. Peacekeeping missions are increasingly confronting drivers of conflict that have no borders, such as transnational organized crime, the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the impact of climate change. Non-State actors engaged in those illicit activities are also weaponizing cheap technologies, such as improvised explosive devices and drones, and are propagating disinformation and hate speech. In such circumstances, at least one of the parties to a conflict often lacks any political ambition beyond fuelling disorder, making them reluctant parties to peace.
Despite all those challenges, today over 70,000 peacekeepers bravely continue their vital work. Each day, they make a difference in protecting civilians, clearing mines and explosive remnants of war, monitoring fragile ceasefires and preventing an escalation of hostilities. I recently witnessed that first-hand at the Drodro camp for displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri province. There, United Nations peacekeepers are alone in protecting over 100,000 civilians displaced as a result of ongoing fighting. In southern Lebanon, the personnel of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) serve under the daily threat posed by the continued exchanges of fire across the Blue Line. As the only channel of communication between the two sides, the mission plays a critical role in avoiding miscalculation and misunderstanding between the two sides. I sincerely thank the Council for its confidence in UNIFIL by unanimously extending its mandate last month.
Allow me to share five messages on the key prerequisites for effective peacekeeping.
First, the ultimate objective of all peacekeeping operations is political. All United Nations peacekeeping operations are designed to support peace agreements between parties to a conflict. In South Sudan, for example, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan is engaging key stakeholders, at both national and local levels, to advance inclusive, consensual political solutions. At the very least, peacekeeping aims to build confidence and create conditions for a durable political process to take hold. While little progress has been achieved on the political process in Cyprus since 2017, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus continues its efforts to maintain calm, playing a preventive role and promoting an environment conducive for negotiations and an eventual settlement.
Yet there is only so much that peacekeeping can do on its own. For peacekeepers to be effective, the Council and the wider membership must muster strong, consistent and unified support for peacekeeping missions — and particularly to encourage the parties to the conflict to reach and implement political solutions to it. A peacekeeping operation is, and should always be, one of the most concrete expressions of the collective resolve of the Security Council to effectively address conflict. I encourage the Council to fully leverage all the tools at its disposal to support peacekeeping mandates. I acknowledge, and I am grateful for, the often-significant efforts by Council members to forge unity behind peacekeeping mandates while bridging differences and considering various viewpoints, including those of the host State and regional actors.
Importantly, the bilateral engagement of all United Nations States Members with parties to conflict must be consistent with the decisions taken by the Council. All Member States should exert their diplomatic influence to back the political processes that peacekeeping operations are deployed to support and to encourage adversaries to commit to a peace agreement and its implementation. Such diplomatic support can make all the difference in crucial moments. We need broad coalitions of Member States to undergird the political efforts of peacekeepers. That was a central feature of all successful examples of peacekeeping operations, such as in Timor-Leste, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, to name just a few places.
Secondly, the optimal performance of peacekeeping operations depends on mandates that provide clear strategic direction. They must be prioritized, achievable, adaptable to changing circumstances and sufficiently resourced. That is a critical factor for any mission to be fit for purpose. I recognize progress made by the Council in that regard despite serious challenges. The Secretariat will continue to do its part, including by providing regular, clear and frank assessments as well as realistic recommendations and scenarios to support the Council’s decision-making. We also welcome the Council’s views on what the Secretariat should do to improve. Mandates must also have the resources to match the Council’s ambitions. Adopting long, detailed mandates without the requisite resources raises unrealistic expectations, which has the potential to fuel frustration among host States and their populations and provides fertile ground for misinformation and disinformation.
Thirdly, today’s complex challenges can be addressed only through networked multilateralism and strong partnerships — locally, regionally and globally. Organized crime, non-State armed groups with extremist ideologies or the effects of climate change — many of today’s conflict drivers do not respect national borders. Peacekeeping must adopt a much more integrated operational model with the wider United Nations system and regional and international partners. In Abyei, for example, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) is successfully striking local peace agreements among herders and farmers, who compete over increasingly scarce natural resources, such as land and water. It has done so by working alongside United Nations and non-United Nations partners on the ground to facilitate a series of conferences ahead of cattle migration season, with the aim of preventing conflict and ensuring a peaceful resolution to the disputes that frequently arise in this season. Member States should provide the mandates, resources and administrative flexibility that allow us to engage in such critical partnerships.
Fourthly, peacekeeping operations themselves must continually seek improvement. We need to continue to invest in strengthening peacekeeping tools in order to make them more effective and adaptable to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. We are currently looking at ways to update and adapt the Action for Peacekeeping Plus initiative by seeking to address systemic challenges that we have not yet sufficiently tackled. That could involve areas such as community engagement and a better use of digital technologies. As I have previously conveyed to the Council, I remain committed to regularly update it on the challenges we face and the progress we achieve.
The latest Action for Peacekeeping Plus progress report, which I circulated to all member States of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations last week, documents improvements and challenges in key areas. Allow me to highlight a few.
The safety, security and well-being of peacekeepers remains an overriding concern. Over the past few years, the number of peacekeeper fatalities due to malicious acts has decreased from 33 in 2022 — of which 15 were from the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) — to seven in 2023 to four, thus far, in 2024. Of course, that is four too many. The closure of MINUSMA contributed to the decrease, but more important has been the considerable action taken by all peacekeeping missions and Headquarters to enhance peacekeepers security. Worrisomely, however, the total number of hostile acts has increased across missions.
The emerging threat of uncrewed aerial vehicles is a growing concern. Peacekeeping operations are not immune to that threat, and 2024 marked the first recorded attack by an improvised armed uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) on a United Nations mission. The Department of Peace Operations is working closely with the Department of Operational Support to equip more peacekeepers with counter-UAS systems and training, but much more work is needed in cooperation with Member States.
We are also continuing to implement the comprehensive action plan to improve the security of peacekeepers. Progress has been made in ensuring speedy and effective evacuation of injured peacekeepers. Both the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and UNISFA established casualty evacuation coordination cells, revised guidance and conducted trainings and stress tests. Violent crimes against peacekeepers are appalling and unacceptable. We will soon launch a database for Member States, as mandated under resolution 2589 (2021), and, of course, we will continue to diligently pursue accountability for such crimes. The Department of Operational Support has developed the mental health strategy for united nations uniformed personnel and will soon launch the United Nations Mind Companion digital platform in 16 languages.
But we must all remember that too many peacekeepers succumb to illness, which remains the predominant cause of peacekeeper fatalities. We all pay tribute to all fallen peacekeepers.
Further progress on the safety and security of peacekeepers depends on sustained Member State support, including through the provision of specialized skills, equipment and expertise. Effective mandate delivery demands that peacekeepers have the right capabilities and mindsets. Member States and the Secretariat are working collaboratively to maintain the readiness of military and police units for deployment to field missions. The Peacekeeping Ministerial process has been instrumental in addressing capacity gaps. The last Ministerial meeting, in Accra in December 2023, resulted in 60 Member States announcing new pledges, for which we are grateful. The next Ministerial meeting, in Berlin in May 2025, will be a key opportunity to look at the future of peacekeeping operations and to pledge critical capabilities for both current and possible future operational mission models. Important conceptual work for that event is already under way. I wish to thank Germany for hosting the conference, and I am also very grateful to Ghana for having hosted the previous and very successful conference.
The women and peace and security agenda is a political and strategic imperative in all our efforts. Global trends concerning women’s rights are deeply worrisome, but the advocacy and engagement of our peacekeeping operations has made a difference. In the Central African Republic, for example, the Mission is supporting the Government’s voter registration process, including through efforts to promote women’s organizations and civic education and to provide birth certificates and protection measures so as to enable women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in the upcoming local elections.
Looking at our own ranks, we have met or surpassed all targets within the uniformed gender parity strategy 2018–2028, with the notable exception being for military contingents. And all military missions are led by men. In all but a few instances, Member States have nominated only men for these positions. We strongly urge Member States to make military leadership positions at home more accessible to women and to nominate them for service in our peacekeeping operations. On the civilian side, we have been more successful, with women comprising 46 per cent of Heads and Deputy Heads of Mission positions in the multidimensional missions.
Strategic and operational integration within missions and with our partners is pivotal for greater effectiveness. We continue to strengthen integrated analysis and planning. In the Central African Republic, for example, MINUSCA developed a political strategy that provided a five-year strategic vision and a Mission plan. And eight of our missions have Special Representative-approved mission plans. To ensure that this number increases, the Department of Peace Operations is developing a package of guidance and support for missions so that they all have mission plans informed by a political strategy.
Effective integration is equally critical during phases of transition. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the joint disengagement plan signed by the Government and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in November 2023 is the key reference for the Mission’s gradual, responsible and sustainable withdrawal. MONUSCO is guided by a body of lessons learned from its own transition experience so far and from other peacekeeping transitions. We are also in the process of documenting important lessons from the experience of MINUSMA. Going forward, we must further integrate the multilateral system to more ably address the drivers of conflict that span over regions and continents.
I also would like to emphasize that, in all peacekeeping mission contexts, the United Nations remains fully committed to preventing sexual exploitation and abuse and achieve accountability. We continue to strengthen our efforts to ensure accountability, including when personnel must be repatriated due to misconduct. We continue to prioritize maintaining the highest standards of conduct for all peacekeeping personnel and protecting victims’ rights.
My fifth and final message is that even with all the political commitment and necessary investments, peacekeeping obviously has its limits. Blue Helmets can act robustly to protect civilians, but they do not fight wars. Where there is no ceasefire or political agreement, enforcement action carried out by partners may be required.
The unanimous adoption of resolution 2719 (2023) marked a major milestone by enabling African Union-led peace support operations to access United Nations assessed contributions on a case-by-case basis. Significant progress has already been achieved in the operationalization of the resolution, including the finalization of the joint African Union-United Nations road map for implementation focused on four thematic workstreams. We are working very well with our African Union Commission counterparts to elevate our joint operational readiness for a time when we may be called to deploy in support of an African Union peace operation, backed by United Nations assessed contributions.
We are at a pivotal moment. Two weeks from now, the Summit of the Future will present world leaders with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bolster and restore trust in the multilateral system, and the jury is still out on whether Member States remain fully committed to multilateral solutions to crises. The Summit will be a moment to reappraise and reaffirm the inherent strengths that have made peacekeeping successful for nearly eight decades. I am hopeful that world leaders will adopt an ambitious Pact for the Future that gives a clear and strong mandate to continue our efforts to make peacekeeping fit for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Peacekeeping has proven itself as a key tool of the Council, and it must continue to adapt to meet future challenges. In the run up to the next Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting, we will continue to explore the reforms and possible models that may enable United Nations peacekeeping, and peace operations more generally, to address the evolving nature of conflict. The onus is on all of us to ensure that we are ready.
Every day, United Nations peacekeepers are bravely saving countless lives for a relatively small investment. But their missions need the attention, political backing and resources that they deserve. There are few better tools for securing peace in a fragile age.