USG Peace Operations

Madam Chair, Distinguished Members of the Special Committee, 1. I am honoured to have been invited once again before the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and to open this Committee’s annual debate on the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.   Introduction and operational context

Mr. President, 1. Thank you for the opportunity to update the Security Council on DPKO’s efforts to protect civilians in the eight missions in which we are currently mandated to do so, and more generally on the improvements that we have been endeavouring to make in the implementation of this challenging mandate.  

The Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) began urgent tripartite talks today in south Lebanon with senior Lebanese and Israeli army representatives to address Tuesday’s border skirmish that killed at least four people, Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said today at a Headquarters news conference.  

The outstanding resilience of blue helmets in Haiti provided a powerful symbol for the marking of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers this year, United Nations Secretariat officials said this afternoon.   “Haiti tested us to the limit and we showed we have learned from experience and were able to deliver,” Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support told correspondents at Headquarters.  “It was the best way to pay tribute to the ones we lost,” she added.