S/PV.7015 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Council for the month of August 2013, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Her Excellency Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States, for her service as President of the Security Council for the month of July 2013. I am sure I speak for all members of the Council in expressing our deep appreciation to Ambassador DiCarlo and her team for the great diplomatic skill with which they conducted the Council’s business last month. I should also like to extend, on behalf of the Council, a warm welcome to the new Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, Her Excellency Ms. Samantha Power. Adoption of the agenda

I wish to welcome the Secretary-General, Ministers, and other representatives participating in today’s meeting. Their presence is an affirmation of the importance of the subject matter to be addressed. Under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Armenia, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Viet Nam to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Fathalla, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of America States, to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. Ioannis Vrailas, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2013/446, which contains a letter dated 1 August 2013 from the Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, containing a concept paper on the item to be considered. The last time the Security Council held a debate from a broad perspective on the relationship between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations was on 13 January 2010 on the initiative of the People’s Republic of China (S/PV.6257). As a result of the debate, the Council adopted a presidential statement (S/PRST/2010/1), which, while emphasizing the Security Council’s primacy in maintaining international peace and security, stressed the importance of developing effective partnerships. The Security Council also expressed its intention to consider further steps to promote closer and more operational cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in the fields of early warning and prevention of conflicts, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and to ensure the coherence, synergy and collective effectiveness of their efforts. The primary objective of today’s open debate is to consider the role of regional and subregional organizations, exploring options to strengthen the bilateral relationships between the United Nations and the spectrum of regional and subregional organizations and arrangements. It is worth mentioning that in recent years, new subregional arrangements and organizations have played a fundamental role, both in conflict prevention and in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. Other arrangements and organizations have developed new capabilities for action in the maintenance of international peace and security as evidenced in a number of peacekeeping operations. Members of the Council have before them a draft presidential statement on behalf of the Council on the subject of today’s meeting. I thank the Council members for their valuable contributions to the draft statement. In accordance with the understanding reached among the members of the Council, I shall take it that the members of the Security Council agree to the statement, which will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2013/12. I now give the floor to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

I thank President Cristina Fernández and the Government of Argentina for scheduling today’s important debate. The architects of the United Nations Charter were visionary in foreseeing a world where the United Nations and regional organizations worked together to prevent, manage and resolve crises. However, it is hard to imagine that they could have anticipated the interconnected nature of the threats we face today or the range of cooperation between the United Nations regional and subregional organizations. Chapter VIII is as relevant today as ever. Many regional and subregional organizations have long histories of engagement in conflict prevention and mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Others are becoming increasingly active in these fields.As Secretary-General, I have seen first-hand the value of cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations across the globe. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we have a long history of partnership, including deploying joint missions with the Organization of American States. Today we work together in a range of areas from mediation and dialogue to combating illicit trafficking. I welcome the emergence of thge Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and their contributions to both peace and security and sustainable development on the continent. I was pleased to participate in the seventh general meeting of the United Nations and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) last month to discuss ways to address climate change, sustainable development and transnational organized crime. In Africa, we cooperate closely with the African Union (AU) and subregional economic communities. Through our joint peacekeeping and mediation efforts in Darfur, the AU and the United Nations remain committed to facilitating a comprehensive and inclusive settlement to the conflict. In Somalia, we have worked hand-in-hand with the African Union Mission in Somalia and have assisted Somali partners in successfully concluding an eight-year political transition. Collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the AU was essential to our response in Côte d’Ivoire and is central to our efforts in Mali. Here, the early deployment of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, combined with ECOWAS-led mediation efforts in the North, have laid the foundations for the peace process. The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo  — supported by 11 African leaders, the AU, the Southern African Development Community, the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region and the United Nations — represents the best opportunity for years for forging a durable peace. In the Middle East and North Africa, the United Nations and the League of Arab States are working to support inclusive political processes in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen. And we continue to search for a political solution to the crisis in Syria, including through the deployment of our Joint Envoy, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi. Regular joint consultations between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations continue to create important opportunities for mutual cooperation, including promoting peacebuilding, reconciliation and political reform in Myanmar, and preventive diplomacy in Mindanao. We also work closely with our European partners. Cooperation with the European Union (EU) is geographically and substantively wide-ranging. In recent years, we have strengthened collaboration in the Middle East, Somalia, Mali and elsewhere. The EU is a champion of the United Nations work in mediation and recently facilitated a historic agreement between Pristina and Belgrade. With the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, we partner to advance human rights, confidence-building, counter- terrorism and disarmament in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Of course, we sometimes face challenges when working together. Our organizations do not always have the same approach to a given crisis. Our diverse mandates and membership can lead to different perspectives. This debate is a welcome opportunity to explore the nature of these challenges and consider how to improve cooperation. I strongly believe in the combined value of our respective strengths. Regional and subregional organizations have deep knowledge, unique insights and strong local networks. These elements are critical to mediation, planning a peacekeeping operation or helping a country to build lasting peace. To this equation, the United Nations adds its universal membership and legitimacy, long experience and operational capacity in the area of international peace and security. Through concrete initiatives, we are building on our collective strengths. In some cases, we have established formal partnership agreements and work plans that guide day-to-day collaboration. Staff exchanges have created networks that help us respond to evolving situations on the ground. Joint mediation deployments, training and capacity-building have enabled us to build common understanding and present a united front. However, there is always room for improvement. We are better at sharing information and analysis on brewing crises, but we have to work harder on swift response and long-term prevention. We need to learn from the lessons of our collaborations to build ever more innovative and flexible partnership arrangements that draw on our respective strengths. Let us also consider how to expand cooperation and dialogue with a broader range of organizations in the pursuit of international peace and security. Only through cooperation will we meet our shared aspirations for a more peaceful world.

I thank the Secretary-General for his statement. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba and President Pro Tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Allow me first to thank you, Madam, and the Government of the Argentine Republic for the invitation conveyed to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which Cuba is honoured to preside, to participate for the first time in a debate of the Security Council. The history of Latin America and the Caribbean has changed. Two hundred years after our independence, the ideas of “a Nation of Republics” and of “Our America” envisaged by Bolívar and Martí, respectively, are taking shape. Thus, our Heads of State and Government decided in the Caracas Declaration that, “in accordance with the original mandate of our liberators, CELAC must move forward in the process of political, economic, social and cultural integration, based on a wise equilibrium between the unity and diversity of our peoples, so that the regional integration mechanism can become the ideal space to express our rich cultural diversity and also the forum to reaffirm the Latin American and the Caribbean identity, our common history and our ongoing struggles for justice and liberty”. They also agreed that, “recognizing the right of each nation to build freely and peacefully its own political and economic system, in the framework of the corresponding institutions according with the sovereign mandate of its people, the processes of dialogue, exchange and political negotiation carried out by CELAC must be pursued taking into account the following common values and principles: respect for international law, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the use and the threat of use of force, respect for self-determination, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of each country, and the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy”. Latin America and the Caribbean have resolved to walk in closed ranks, like the silver in the roots of the Andes. We have provided ourselves with institutions that allow us to promote unity within our diversity, integrate ourselves and cooperate, discuss among ourselves the issues that are germane to us, and be in solidarity to one another to solve the pressing problems that still encumber Latin America and the Caribbean. We intend to develop ourselves, live in peace, protect human dignity and preserve and enrich our culture. We congratulate ourselves on the fact that CELAC is reaching common views in areas such as social development, education, health, the environment, energy and financing, among others, and now is preparing to work together in the areas of cooperation, nuclear disarmament, fighting corruption, agriculture, science and technology. I pay tribute to President Hugo Chávez Frias, one of the founders and principal architects of CELAC. I can feel his presence among us. Upon founding CELAC, our Heads of State and Government reiterated “our commitment to the building of a more just, equitable and harmonious international order based on respect for international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including the sovereign equality of States, the peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for territorial integrity and non-intervention in the internal affairs of States”. They reaffirmed our commitment to the defence of sovereignty and the right of any State to establish its own political system, free from threats, aggression and unilateral coercive measures and in an environment of peace, stability, justice, democracy and respect for human rights. They expressed their conviction that the unity and political, economic, social and cultural integration of Latin America and the Caribbean constituted a requirement for the region to successfully confront the challenges before us. And they decided to promote and project a unified voice for Latin America and the Caribbean in the discussion of the principal issues and in the positions of the region on the relevant global events at international meetings and conferences, as well as in the dialogue with other regions and countries. Likewise, they reiterated that CELAC was an important mechanism to promote the interests of developing countries in multilateral organizations in order to reinforce our capacity to react in a coordinated manner to the challenges of a world in the process of a profound economic and political change, as well as our commitment to strengthen CELAC to promote and project the interests and concerns of Latin America and the Caribbean on the main issues of the international agenda and to bring together positions and coordinate ourselves, when possible, at international meetings and conferences of global reach. In that regard, we highlight the work done by the Permanent Representatives of CELAC member States to the United Nations, who have agreed on an internal mechanism for concerted participation in the discussions at the various committees to which the consensual position of CELAC has been put forward. As a result, we commit to strengthen coordination efforts at the Headquarters, including promoting joint initiatives on issues of interest to the region. On several occasions, CELAC has put forward before the United Nations its common vision about some of the main challenges faced by the maintenance of international peace and security and the prevention of conflicts. In relation to current United Nations peacekeeping efforts, CELAC believes that, with the purpose of achieving stability in the long term, as well as to prevent the recurrence of conflicts, it is necessary to strengthen the strategic, comprehensive and coordinated presence of the United Nations in the field, not only in the area of peacekeeping, which is essential, but also by strengthening national institutions and promoting reconstruction and economic and social development in areas of conflict. In that regard, CELAC urges greater interaction and coordination among Member States and all the relevant organs of the United Nations. Regional and subregional organizations have an essential role to play in conformity with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. In that regard, CELAC recognizes in particular the contribution made by the African Union, which has proved to be most useful in some peacekeeping operations, where its cooperation has complemented the efforts of the United Nations. CELAC reiterates that there can be no lasting peace without development and the eradication of poverty, hunger and inequality. That principle is the essence of the solidarity and cooperation of CELAC members countries towards the sister nation of Haiti  — a country whose heroic role in the independence of the countries of the region continues to inspire our current integration efforts. While recognizing the fundamental role of the presence of the Organization in Haiti through the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the efforts of the international community to support Haiti, CELAC reaffirms that those efforts will be effective as long as they are part of a long-term sustainable project under the leadership and guidance of the Haitian Government, with full respect for its sovereignty. It is high time for our region to contribute to the equilibrium of the world with all the might of its almost 600 million inhabitants, who are seeking equal opportunities; its abundant natural resources, over which we shall permanently exercise our sovereignty; its economic capabilities, even in circumstances of global economic crisis; and its extraordinary ancestral culture and the unyielding determination of our peoples to achieve peace, development, justice and progress. The fact that numerous countries and organizations have found in CELAC a valid interlocutor with Latin America and the Caribbean is a source of satisfaction. We are pleased that the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States is able to participate in this Security Council debate. CELAC has already started to appear before the United Nations as a united force. Our common positions on numerous topics of interest for the international community portend our possibilities. At the First CELAC Summit, we renewed our countries’ commitment to multilateralism and to a comprehensive reform of the United Nations system, as well as to the democratization of international decision-making forums, in particular the security Council. Latin America and the Caribbean is a zone of peace free from nuclear weapons. CELAC has adopted a unanimous position with regard to some far-reaching topics on the international agenda, such as, for example, Argentina’s legitimate claim in the dispute concerning the sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and — today, on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima — on so-called nuclear disarmament. As for Cuba, which continues its struggle, I shall say nothing on this occasion on which I am speaking on behalf of CELAC. We must now continue to go forward. Let no difference hold us back. Let us remain united. Let nothing prevent us from honouring the legacy of the liberators of our America.

I thank Minister Rodríguez Parrilla for his briefing. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Tekeda Alemu, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations, who will speak on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union.

At the outset, I wish to express our appreciation to Argentina for organizing this open debate, for its concept note (S/2013/446, annex) and for making it possible for the African Union (AU) to participate in this important meeting. We also appreciate the briefing by the Secretary-General. In our view, this debate comes at the right time, when Africa is making tremendous efforts at the continental and subregional levels to address the peace and security deficit that Africa continues to face. That has been facilitated by a well-defined strategy encapsulated by the African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture, an initiative of the AU that, along with other positive and innovative steps taken by the African Union in the areas of human rights, governance and the protection of constitutional order, signifies how meaningful the transformation of the Organization of African Unity into the AU has been. That needs to be underlined, all the more so during the year when we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of the African Union/AU. We in the African Union are absolutely convinced that a principled, consistent and predictable cooperation between the United Nations, on the one hand, and regional and subregional organizations, on the other, is indispensable to the maintenance of international peace and security. We note with appreciation that, over the past few years, significant strides have been made in conflict resolution, peacekeeping, post-conflict peacebuilding and reconstruction. That is indeed in consonance with the overriding objective of the African Union’s peace and security agenda, which is to create an enabling momentum for a more integrated, peaceful and prosperous Africa. In this regard, the signing and implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Sudan, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are examples of cooperation based on flexibility and making the best use of the comparative advantages of the African Union, subregional organizations and the United Nations in conflict prevention, effective mediation, peacekeeping, peace support missions and peacebuilding strategies. It is becoming self-evident that success, even limited progress, in international and regional peace and security requires effective cooperation between regional and subregional organizations of the United Nations within the context of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, consistent with the primary responsibility of the Security Council for ensuring international peace and security. It should be stated quite frankly that while much progress has been made in cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union and its subregional organizations, much remains to be done to ensure that the comparative advantages of each is put to optimal use. The Secretary-General could not have put it better when he said in 2010 in his progress report on the United Nations support to the African Union, in which he said: “The complex challenges in the world today require a revitalized and evolving interpretations of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations” (S/2010/514, para. 54). He also reiterated in the same report “the need for the Security Council to enunciate its vision of that strategic partnership” (ibid., para. 55). “This would entail” he added, “a clearly defined expectation of the role of regional organizations in maintaining international peace and security, and would empower the Secretariat to be able to help implement that vision” (ibid.). As the representative of one permanent member of the Security Council said early last year, “The United Nations needs a strong African Union, and the African Union needs a strong United Nations” (S/PV.6702, p. 15). It would suffice to focus on two areas where there is a need for greater cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union and its regional organizations, regarding which, perhaps, the vision of the Security Council might facilitate progress. The first issue involves the perennial question of predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for African Union peace-support missions authorized by the Security Council. There has indeed been some progress in this area, as we can see in the much improved arrangement for AMISOM with respect to the logistics package, which is now funded from assessed contributions. But this is still a far cry from what the African Union-United Nations panel on modalities for support to African Union peacekeeping operations had proposed some years ago. The Secretary-General was even more forthcoming on this point when he said again in the aforementioned report to the Council that “the support package for AMISOM should be identical to the support provided to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and that action should be taken to ensure parity between the reimbursement rate for AMISOM contingent personnel and United Nations contingent personnel” (op. cit., para. 61). But the need for further enhancement of cooperation between the United Nations and the AU and its subregional organizations ought not to be seen only from the funding point of view, no matter how critical that aspect might be. No less vital is the need for consultation and effective coordination between the two organizations. There is room for improvement in this area, though in terms of formal interactions on the question of peace and security, perhaps the AU and its Peace and Security Council could be deemed to occupy a privileged position, largely owing to the fact that the majority of the issues before the Council are African. Obviously, the AU and its subregional organizations are better placed in terms of geographical proximity, political and cultural familiarity with local conditions, and shared experiences, which are critical to making a real difference for peace. Hence, without prejudice to the global mandate of the Council in the maintenance of global peace and security, the smart thing to do would be to raise the level of consultation between the two organizations in more substantive terms. In this regard, greater efforts are required to ensure that cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union is more effective, including through joint planning and joint assessment for peace operations in the continent. These efforts must be guided by genuine respect for the strength each can bring to bear on a given situation, based on a mutually agreed division of labour that focuses on results. The mandate of the Security Council is clear. It is the body that has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. But it should not be too difficult to apply Chapter VIII of the Charter with flexibility and wisdom, the goal being to address a common challenge. Indeed, the results achieved in the Sudan, Somalia and other regional security concerns are illustrative of what can be achieved in this regard. We would therefore like to emphasize the need in the same spirit as the United Nations to intensify such regional initiatives and to accelerate its efforts to implement the United Nations-African Union 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union. More efforts are also required to fully operationalize the African Union continental peace and security architecture, including the Standby Force and the Continental Early Warning System. Furthermore, the enhancement of cooperation between the Council and the AU Peace and Security Council, including the annual consultations, is vital for reaching those objectives. It is our considered view that these meetings should result in concrete action-oriented initiatives for the development of strategic partnerships when addressing specific issues of mutual interest and concern. In this regard, concrete steps should also be taken to strengthen the policy-level coordination between the two organizations, not only to avoid conflicting initiatives but also a duplication of efforts. At the operational level, the Secretariat and the African Union Commission need to ensure the complementarity of their efforts. Strengthening the efforts of the African Union and its institutional capacity to effectively plan, deploy and manage peacekeeping operations is in the interests of both entities. All this is bound to make the partnership, between the United Nations and the AU more meaningful and productive. We believe that there is scope in the cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union to move in this direction. Our best intentions would, however, amount to nothing if we failed to provide adequate, flexible and predictable funding for AU peace support missions. The AU is also determined to do its level best in this area. At its recently held Summit in Addis Ababa in May, the African Union noted “the need for increased funding from within the continent to assert Africa’s ownership and leadership, as well as the challenge faced in building innovative and flexible partnership with the United Nations and other stakeholders”. It has also decided to do even more with respect to enhancing Africa’s capacity for immediate crisis-response. In conclusion, it is our considered view that much has been done to ensure greater cooperation between the United Nations and the AU to promote peace and security in Africa, but much remains to be done. Africa is ready for such cooperation because it is in its interest to do so. No doubt, such cooperation is also in the interest of the international community.

I thank the representative of Ethiopia for his briefing. I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Eda Rivas Franchini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, who will speak on behalf of the Union of South American Nations.

First of all, on behalf of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), over which Peru is honoured to preside, I would like to extend my congratulations to the Argentine Republic, in particular to President Cristina Fernández, on its assumption of the presidency of the Security Council, an auspicious occasion for UNASUR and Latin America as a whole. We wish them every success in carrying out that weighty responsibility, which we will follow with the highest of expectations. I also express my warmest congratulations to you, Madam President, for initiating this debate, as well as my thanks for being invited to participate, which allows UNASUR, as a regional body, to address the Council for the first time. I would like, at the outset, to emphasize that our South American integration process is based on the fundamental pillars of peace and democracy. South America is a region where we can say that there are no inter-State conflicts that constitute a threat to international peace and security, nor situations of extreme violence. However, the member States of UNASUR recognize that peace and security must be preserved permanently. All South Americans are fully convinced that the best way to achieve that is by striving for integration based on respect for the fundamental principles of international law, whose chief purpose is development with economic and social inclusion, the daily strengthening of democracy and full respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. UNASUR’s activities and its Constitutive Treaty are fully consistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and recognize the primary role that the Charter entrusts to the Security Council in the difficult task of maintaining international peace and security. UNASUR also recognizes the complementary role played in that regard by regional bodies. Likewise, UNASUR attaches particular importance to respect for the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of States. Our members are convinced of the need for autonomy for regional bodies with regard to States and bodies foreign to them, in particularly with regard to security matters. In carrying out the responsibilities falling to regional and subregional organizations, UNASUR reiterates the need for such organizations to maintain close cooperation with the United Nations, as well as smooth communication channels with the Security Council on the activities undertaken or contemplated by those organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security pursuant to Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. UNASUR was born as a distinct political body compared to other regional forums. It also has an important role in preventing conflicts and promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes of any kind that may arise in the region. Therefore, first and foremost, we in South America believe in finding our own intraregional solutions. Since its establishment, in 2008, UNASUR has conducted itself in full accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, with peace as its overriding purpose and the aspiration of all its peoples, and its preservation being a main element of our strategic vision for South American integration. South American nations view integration as a parallel process that is consistent with strengthening multilateralism and promoting full respect for international law, in a world where the sovereign equality of States and the culture of peace prevail and the use of force and non-legitimate means of defence are excluded, including nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. One of the challenges for UNASUR is therefore to promote total disarmament so that the region is free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, a status that must be respected by all States, in particular those with nuclear weapons, as established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and its Protocol II. As South America is a region with a vocation for peace, the efforts of UNASUR are intended to build links aimed at strengthening cooperation and building trust among States. To that end, UNASUR’s structure provides for a specific body for consultation, cooperation and coordination on defence, namely, the South American Defence Council, a forum for international and intergovernmental cooperation that respects diversity and seeks dialogue and a common identity on defence. In its short existence, it has been able to make effective contributions to regional stability and the cause of peace. It has no offensive purpose and is not structured along the lines of external threats or enemies. Its main areas of activity include exchanging lessons learned in the peaceful settlement of disputes; conflict early-warning; undertaking humanitarian activities; establishing confidence-building measures; developing various forms of cooperation for technology transfer; developing institutional capacity and human resources in the area of defence; and immediate response to natural disasters. In 2001, for the first time in the history of South America, we adopted a registrer of defence expenditures, which includes a specific methodology for the region. We are making progress on a South American military inventory, which in its experimental stage is developing a South American formula for military inventories. We are also developing a manual for the systematic and efficient classification of procedures for implementing confidence- and security-building measures. We believe that those registers are complementary to those maintained by the United Nations and allow for an exchange of information that avoids duplication. In that regard, it is in our common interest that the United Nations and UNASUR cooperate to further strengthen confidence and security. In another area of activity, our countries are participating with resolve in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the Simon Bolívar Brigade for Assistance and Humanitarian Aid and other similar missions in other regions of the world. That gives us an opportunity to carry out a fruitful exchange experiences and to contribute to development. The case of Haiti also serves to illustrate the commitment of UNASUR to the cause of regional solidarity with regard to the efforts of Haiti’s Government and society to consolidate stability, strengthen institutions, carry out reconstruction efforts and bring about sustainable development with social justice. To that end, UNASUR has established a permanent technical secretariat in Haiti and put in place a solidarity fund to which its member States contribute. In our own region, UNASUR reaffirms its full support for the peace process between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. This is a historic opportunity, fostered by the environment of cooperation and dialogue that prevails in South America. It is important to emphasize the support provided by different countries in the region to the process, in particular Venezuela, Chile and Cuba. The success of the peace process, based on the strength of democratic institutions we share, will have far-reaching significance for Colombia and the entire South American region, thereby allowing us to concentrate increasingly on development. An important step in reaffirming our commitment to peace, democracy and socio-economic development was the unanimous adoption by the representatives of our region during the sixth UNASUR summit, in Lima, Peru, on 30 November 2012, of the Lima Declaration, designating South America as a zone of peace. UNASUR member States expressed their firm resolve to maintain South America as a zone of peace and to fully support that goal through regional and bilateral cooperation. The establishment of the zone of peace, as contained in that important Declaration, reflects UNASUR members’ respect for the principles and norms of international law, including the international treatises to which we are party and the Charter of the United Nations. In particular, we confirm our States’ commitment to use peaceful means in the settlement of disputes and to abstain from threats or the use of force against the territorial integrity of another State. The declaration of South America as a zone of peace also affirms the goal of building confidence and strengthening security and enforcement procedures through tangible transparency action with respect to military spending. The Declaration adopted in Lima also includes strengthened efforts to establish South America as a zone free of anti-personnel landmines in the context of the obligations of States parties under relevant international conventions and similarly focused bilateral efforts. It also calls for continuing negotiations under the South American Defense Council towards a peace, security and cooperation protocol, which is a Peruvian initiative, the complexity of which resulted from thorough reflection and the gradual progress made in efforts to achieve its ambitious goals. UNASUR also spoke at the sixth ordinary summit in Lima on the fight against terrorism by adopting a special communiqué to support the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Through the communiqué, the South American States reiterated their strongest condemnation of that scourge as criminal and unjustifiable in any circumstances, wherever and by whomever committed, and because it poses a serious threat to international peace and security and to democratic institutions and values. They reiterated their willingness to strengthen domestic legislation and to take further steps to prevent terrorist activities and acts that incite or encourage terrorism, and expressed their commitment to preventing the cross-border movement of terrorists. Before concluding, I should like, in my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru, to briefly affirm my country’s long-standing commitment to peace and respect for international law and to fulfilling its international obligations, as well as its commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Peru’s contribution to international peace and security and regional cooperation goes back to the beginnings of the Republic. At that time, we also participated in the establishment of the United Nations, itself the most universal of forums in which Peru has always firmly advocated in favour of the pillars of peace. I thank you again, Madam, on behalf of UNASUR, for your invitation to participate in this important debate, which reflects the Council’s important recognition of the work of our regional South American organization in contributing to international peace and security, particularly in ensuring conditions conducive to strengthening and maintaining peace in South America.

I thank Minister Rivas Franchini for her briefing. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Fathalla, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations.

I welcome the presence of Ms. Cristina Fernández, President of Argentina and Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General. At the outset, I congratulate the Republic of Argentina for presiding over the work of the Security Council for the month. At the same time, I extend thanks and appreciation for the convening of this high-level meeting of the Security Council to discuss cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in maintaining international peace and security. Cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations, as is well known, goes back to 1981, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 36/24. It is important to support that cooperation now, given current developments in the Middle East and the problems generated by that situation, the continuation of which represents a threat to international peace and security. That requires improved cooperation between the two organizations in extending humanitarian assistance to address the suffering of refugees and those adversely affected by war, conflict and natural disasters, including in the area of peacebuilding and in efforts to assist States in building capacity and infrastructure in the post-crisis period. This is a delicate moment requiring ongoing support in order to avoid the risk of relapsing into further conflict. In that connection, the League of Arab States has issued numerous decisions calling on the Security Council to assume its role in the maintenance of international peace and security with regard to a number of Middle East issues. In that respect, the League of Arab States believes that one of the most important pillars of international peace and security is the Council’s credibility and effectiveness and the scrupulous, genuine and full implementation of the resolutions adopted by the Council, many of which relate to our region. Those resolutions have not been implemented for many years; some, such as those on the question of Palestine, have languished for more than 50 years. The continued lack of implementation of those resolutions constitutes one of the main reasons of regional and international tension and instability. On the other hand, the inability of the Council to adopt a resolution — despite full knowledge that the events occurring in some regions, particularly in the Middle East, threaten international peace and security — highlights the need to end that controversial trend evident among members of the Council and to seriously consider decisions of regional organizations. In that context, I note in particular cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations, in terms of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. I reiterate that this important principle is entrenched in Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, which encourages regional organizations to address matters related to the maintenance of international peace and security and to seek the peaceful settlement of disputes in cooperation with the Security Council. Frequently changing international situations and developments and deepening regional and international crises require strengthened cooperation and the accelerated adoption and implementation by the Security Council of decisions taken by regional organizations. The various developments transpiring in the Arab region must be reflected in a number of pillars of international legitimacy, most important among which are the agreements reached at the meeting between the two organizations in Vienna in 2012. That is a part of the periodic meetings held once every two years to evaluate the achievements made and lay down the parameters for cooperation, which is divided into three parts: political, economic and socio-cultural. Activities in that connection include preventing the eruption of crises, and their management; fostering cooperation; countering terrorism; and the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones and a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Those issues are inextricably linked with the work of the Security Council given their direct relationship with international peace and security. We view today’s meeting as important given that it represents a point of contact between the Security Council and regional organizations, including, of course, the League of Arab States, in the light of the developments under way in the Arab region, which involve radical processes of transformation led by Arab youth aspiring to build institutions based on good governance, social equality and justice. The Security Council meeting attended by the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States on 26 September 2012 (see S/PV.6841), at which the Council adopted a presidential statement (S/PRST/2012/20) aimed at consolidating cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations in the field of international peace and security, emphasized the goals of cooperation between the two organizations. It welcomed the intensifying cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations in the wake of developments in the region reflecting the legitimate aspirations of all peoples in the region for freedom, justice and equality. It also emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation on capacity-building with the League of Arab States in the maintenance of international peace and security. At that same meeting, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States put forward a number of proposals aimed at consolidating the relationship between the United Nations and the League of Arab States. I would recall that the first and most important of those proposals concerned the review and updating of the 1989 agreement on cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States (General Assembly resolution 44/7), to keep up with priorities and emerging and future challenges. Secondly, the Secretary-General emphasized the need to hold regular meetings, as well as meetings required by events, between the Security Council and the League of Arab States, represented by the presidency of the Arab Summit Conference, the presidency of the Council of Ministers of the League, and the Secretary- General of the League. Thirdly, he stressed that the status of the cooperation meetings held between the United Nations and the League of Arab States must be enhanced so as to enable them to deliver programmes which are effective, particularly with regard to preventing and resolving disputes and peacekeeping, so that the League can cooperate in an integrated manner with the United Nations. Fourthly, he noted that greater importance must be attached to cooperation between the two organizations in the field of humanitarian assistance as well as to devoting greater attention to addressing and alleviating the suffering of refugees and those adversely affected by conflicts and natural disasters. And fifthly, emphasis was placed on the need to support the capacities of the League of Arab States and increase its competence in the humanitarian and political fields, taking into consideration the work of the United Nations Development Programme. Almost one year has passed since that meeting between the Council and the League of Arab States. The Secretary-General of the League sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 17 October 2012 containing suggestions on matters relating to cooperation support. One of those suggestions involved the setting up of a joint, high-level working group between the United Nations and the League to evaluate and update the cooperation machinery so as to make it more relevant to current events. The Secretary-General of the United Nations agreed to that in his letter to the Secretary-General of the League dated 12 February 2013, suggesting that the working group could complete its work and consider the three aspects of the issue — political, economic and sociocultural — in the course of three months as well as assess the effectiveness of the cooperation machinery, including a review of the 1989 agreement. That is an important and positive step towards supporting the work of the two organizations. Emphasizing our interest in cooperation with the United Nations in resolving the Syrian crisis and beginning a transitional phase to stop the bloodshed and achieve stability and security in Syria on the basis of good governance and a democratic system, the Secretary-General of the League held a number of meetings at United Nations Headquarters on 22 April, the first of which was with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He also held tripartite talks with the Secretary-General and Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi on helping the Syrian parties to initiate a transitional political process designed to create a new Syria where all factions will enjoy freedom. The Secretary-General of the United Nations appealed to the Security Council to be united and to emphasize its support for the efforts of Mr. Brahimi, an appeal that was approved by the Secretary-General of the League. We hope that this will pave the way for “Geneva II”. Along those same lines, I participated, in my capacity as Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, in an informal high-level meeting held under the sponsorship of Germany and Morocco on 28 May 2013 to consider the issue of cooperation between the two organizations. The meeting considered political issues and the work of the Security Council and regional organizations in addressing matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, finding peaceful solutions to conflicts, updating the cooperation machinery, strengthening the capacities of the League and drawing lessons from the experience of the United Nations in the field of cooperation with other regional and international organizations. During the course of that meeting, I emphasized the need for political will in connection with issues relevant to the maintenance of international peace and security. I also stressed the importance of the activities and programmes adopted in Vienna, to which I have just referred, particularly since that series of political undertakings and programmes addresses a number of significant issues, such as preventing the eruption of crises. I would like here to recall the ideas put forward at that meeting. First, there is a need to upgrade the level of meetings on cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States. Such meetings should devise effective programmes, particularly as concerns the eruption of crises and the maintenance of international peace and security, so that the cooperation machinery of the two organizations can work in concert. Increased attention must be paid to cooperation between the two organizations in the field of humanitarian assistance and in connection with issues related to refugees and to persons affected by war, conflict and natural disasters, as well as in the areas of peacebuilding and in assisting States in the post-conflict rebuilding of their civil institutions and capacities. I would like to add that a meeting was held in Cairo, on 11 and 12 June, on sectoral cooperation between the League and the United Nations with regard to improving post-conflict civilian capacity-building, with the participation of Ms. Sarah Cliffe, Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary-General for Civilian Capacities. The League of Arab States, in cooperation with the United Nations, has decided to address this issue in the framework of a comprehensive vision and plans to take action on three integrated and parallel pillars. The first pillar is the exchange of expertise, the identification of needs and the creation of frameworks for the provision of services to the States of the region. The second pillar is interaction with the States of the region to motivate them to build their capacities and identify their needs so that they can assume the primary role in preventing crises. The third and last pillar is the work of the League of Arab States in cooperating with civil society and its general organizations in the areas of security and regional development in order to galvanize and strengthen their role in the aftermath of conflict with a view to assisting local communities, supporting the rule of law and effective accountability, and ensuring other urgent requirements to prevent the resurgence of conflict. We welcome the issuance of presidential statement S/PRST/2013/12 by the Security Council, which incorporates the means and ways of cooperation among the Security Council and all regional organizations and specifies the most important areas in light of current international regional developments. For our part, the League of Arab State will consider the statement to be one the key documents on which we rely with a view to improving and reinforcing cooperation between the League of Arab States and the Security Council. In conclusion, I sincerely thank you, Madam President, for the continued cooperation between the Security Council and the League of Arab States in the promotion of peace, security and development in our region and the world.

I thank the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States for his briefing. I shall now give the floor to the members of the Security Council.

I thank you, Madam President, and your delegation for organizing this timely debate and for honouring us with your personal participation this morning. In particular, I would like to extend to you the warm and fraternal greetings of our President, Mr. Otto Pérez Molina, who has asked me to reiterate his admiration for your national and regional leadership, which honours your country, Latin America and the women of the world. The long, deep and fraternal relations between our peoples and Governments have been further strengthened by Argentina and Guatemala in 2013 by the Latin American and Caribbean presence in the Security Council, where we share strong commonalities in our actions aimed at maintaining international peace and security. We also appreciate the presence this morning of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the representatives of regional and subregional organizations from all parts of the globe. I also welcome Ambassador Samantha Power, whom we know to be committed to human rights and humanitarian law, and who has written books on Sérgio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian and Latin American hero in the fight for human rights and international multilateralism. I thank Ambassador Power very much for her presence. I come from a country, Guatemala, and a subregion, Central America, that have accumulated more than 60 years of successful experience in the realm of intraregional cooperation, driven by common multilateral organizations. The degree of economic interdependence among the countries of the Central American Common Market and the Central American Integration System is high in terms of trade and reciprocal investment, and the ever wider and greater integration of our markets and societies. In addition, we have adopted a culture of intraregional cooperation aimed at resolving common problems through joint action, supported by a web of institutions and intergovernmental mechanisms. One manifestation of that network is the daily communications between our Heads of State and other senior officials. In addition, having overcome the internal conflicts that affected our Central American region so adversely in the 1970s and 1980s, the emphasis today is on spurring our economic and social development. Not only do we consider our region’s peace to be an irreversible achievement, but the many affinities and common interests between the countries of our subregion have also contributed to strengthening respect for the principle of resolving all conflicts or misunderstandings among us by peaceful means, with priority given to diplomatic-political dialogue. I would further add that our culture of intraregional cooperation extends to our entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean. It should be recalled that the so-called Contadora Group, which eventually became the Rio Group and today inspires the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, was born of the interest of brotherly neighbouring countries in resolving Central American conflicts themselves. Latin America, together with the United Nations, contributed significantly to the establishment and maintenance of peacekeeping missions that supported El Salvador and my country in their return to the institutional and democratic path. At present, as we all know, the only specific item on the Council’s agenda concerning our region, which enjoys the extraordinary support of Latin America and the Caribbean, concerns the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, in which several Latin American countries and my own country have the honour of participating with our troops. The fact that our region is no longer a threat to international peace and security does not mean that we are absent from the indispensable activities of the Council at the international level. In that respect, since we became a member, we have supported, as a general objective, cooperation between the Security Council and regional and subregional organizations, each in its respective purview and based on their comparative advantages. The long and fruitful association between the Council and the African Union, which has even given rise to joint efforts in peacekeeping, has provided tangible and valuable benefits. Those benefits are being reproduced at the subregional level by organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States, the Economic Community of Central African States and the Southern African Development Community, as well as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The same is happening in the Middle East, where the Council has collaborated with the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council on some matters. Naturally, the content and scope of the partnerships of the Council with other organizations will vary from one situation to the next, and could even vary over time in the same situation, depending on changing circumstances. Our general position of support for this type of partnership is nuanced by the acknowledgment that there are no universally valid formulas in this matter. Rather, the exact characteristics of the partnerships must be defined on a case-by-case basis. In addition, it must be recognized that those partnerships are not always exempt from difficulties, which normally arise either from differences with regard to the territorial issues of the parties or from different criteria with regard to the course of action to be followed. When there is no mechanism to reconcile those differences through dialogue and understanding, they can become serious obstacles to the proper functioning of joint activity. That suggests that there is a need to reconcile decisions taken by regional organizations with those adopted by the United Nations, including those of the Security Council, in light of the provisions of Article 103 of the Charter of the United Nations. What is clear, in light of the experience of history, is that regional and global efforts must acknowledge that the overcoming of conflicts and the path to sustainable peace depend on a joint endeavour intertwining the agendas of security, justice, the respect for human rights and sustainable development. In each of those areas, there are diverse strengths and complementarities among the United Nations and regional organizations, and the acknowledgment of those strengths and complementarities will open a distinct and fruitful space for institutional cooperation at the multilateral level among regional and global entities. The twenty-first century is giving rise to increasingly stronger and more responsible regional institutions. The United Nations, in particular the Security Council, should be pleased with that trend. It reflects a slow but definite transition from the post- war world, which gave birth to the Council, towards a multipolar world where dialogue and peace are increasingly urgent and basic in order to preserve the planet and the life on it, maintain human development and overcome poverty. That is in addition to the need to preserve peaceful coexistence based on mutual respect and face the common challenges that threaten peace and security at the global level. Regional organizations are called upon to be active partners in this multipolar world by shouldering their responsibilities vis-à-vis the international community to ensure peace and sustainable development, thus complementing the efforts made though the United Nations. This is a world with more shared responsibilities, and therefore greater demands on international cooperation — a world that is more interconnected, not a fragmented one. I would like to conclude my statement by thanking you, Madam President, for the informative concept note circulated by your delegation (S/2013/446, annex), which helps guide today’s debate. I am also pleased to express our full support for the presidential statement that was adopted today (S/PRST/2013/12), which reflects the content of our deliberations.

At the outset, I would like to thank the President of the Argentine Republic, Her Excellency Ms. Cristina Fernández, for presiding over this meeting on the very important and timely topic of cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in maintaining international peace and security. We are also grateful to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the representatives of the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Union of South American Nations for their briefings. I would also like to join others in congratulating the new United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ms. Samantha Power. I hope that her first day will go very smoothly, just as the other four years she will be here. In accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, States Members conferred upon the Security Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and agreed that, in carrying out its duties under that responsibility, the Council acts on their behalf. At the same time, Chapter VIII of the Charter encourages cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements in the peaceful settlement of disputes. Since the 2005 World Summit and the adoption of resolution 1631 (2005), important progress has been achieved in enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and regional partners across a full range of areas, from the maintenance of international peace and security and humanitarian assistance to development and the protection of human rights. Indeed, in a number of instances, the relevant regional organizations have proven to be indispensable mechanisms for promoting international and regional peace, security and cooperation, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. I would like to refer to some such examples. Over the past decade, the role of the African Union has increased significantly. There is no doubt that the challenges that Africa faces today and that are the subject of a considerable part of the Security Council’s deliberations can be better addressed through collective political and diplomatic efforts. In that regard, we welcome the progress achieved in developing the strategic relationship between the United Nations and the African Union in the area of peace and security. The League of Arab States has also proved to be one of those regional organizations that is able to take the lead in promoting peace, security and stability in the region. We are pleased to see that cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States has been instrumental in carrying out important tasks in such areas as conflict prevention and resolution, crisis response and management, and the fight against terrorism and organized crime. We are confident that continued engagement by the United Nations and the League of Arab States, together with strengthened cooperation between them, will effectively contribute to peace and security in the region. As a member of the Security Council and an observer to the African Union and the League of Arab States, Azerbaijan will further support the development of partnership relations between those regional organizations and the United Nations. We also note the activities of new subregional organizations such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Union of South American Nations, and we welcome their presence at this meeting and their contribution to our discussion. Furthermore, the increasing role of organizations formed on the basis of the shared cultural and linguistic values of their member States, such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, gives rise to the need to explore opportunities and appropriate approaches to better serve the purpose of enhancing interaction and cooperation between those organizations and the United Nations across a broad agenda of mutual interests and concerns. At the same time, we should admit that serious challenges remain. While regional organizations are normally well positioned to understand the causes of armed conflicts, owing to their knowledge of the region, it is obvious that not all of them can boast the ability, political will and institutional capacity to ensure compliance by member States with their statutory commitments. First and foremost, it is crucial that all Member States adhere to their obligations as laid out in the Charter of the United Nations with respect to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States. We express our concern at the attempts undertaken in some situations of armed conflict to misinterpret the norms and principles of international law and downplay the relevance of Security Council resolutions. It is therefore important that, at our meeting today, the Council has stressed the importance of a coordinated international response to causes of conflict and called on the international community, including United Nations organs and agencies, to assist with efforts at the regional level aimed at the peaceful settlement of disputes and the prevention and resolution of conflicts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant Security Council resolutions. The Council has also stressed that regional partners must at all times keep it informed of their activities in the area of peace and security. As a matter of priority, special attention should be given to the implementation of Security Council resolutions, in particular those related to the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts. It is also essential, when dealing with conflict and post-conflict situations, that the relevant organizations and entities ensure that peace and justice are both present in a mutually reinforcing manner. Such an approach ensures that no peace settlement is reached that is inconsistent with international law. That understanding is particularly important, as it would provide guidance not only for the parties to the conflict but also for the international community as a whole and, when appropriate, mediation efforts undertaken at the regional level. In the presidential statement just adopted (S/PRST/2013/12), the Security Council emphasizes that ending impunity is essential in a conflict and post- conflict society’s efforts to come to terms with past wrongs and that regional and subregional organizations should contribute to individual accountability. As a country that is itself suffering from the occupation and large-scale ethnic cleansing of a significant part of its territory, Azerbaijan strongly supports that approach in working to address protracted conflicts and their humanitarian and human rights consequences in different parts of the world. In conclusion, I would like once again to thank Argentina for convening this important meeting and to welcome the adoption of the presidential statement as its outcome. We also wish the delegation of Argentina a successful presidency in August.

Allow me to congratulate you, Madam President, on having assumed the presidency of the Security Council for the month of August. We have no doubt that it will be a successful month, and Rwanda pledges to work with you. Allow me to also congratulate you and your delegation for organizing this important open debate. Your presence here demonstrates your sincere commitment to peace and security on our planet and the value you attach to the role of national, regional and subregional organizations in that regard. I would also like to thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his presence here and for the willingness he has shown to engage with regional and subregional organizations, especially the African Union (AU) and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), of which Rwanda is a member. I extend my greetings and welcome to the representatives of the various regional and subregional organizations who are here with us this morning. And I would like to take this opportunity to welcome my colleague Ambassador Samantha Power of the United States, whom I look forward to working with. I fully endorse the statement made by Ambassador Tekeda Alemu of Ethiopia on behalf of the Chairperson of the AU, and I would now like to make a few comments in my national capacity. This debate is an opportunity for us to exchange views and focus on how to strengthen cooperation in maintaining international peace and security. We believe that while primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security is vested in the Security Council, the evolving nature of conflicts and threats to peace and security around the world necessitates partnership with regional and subregional organizations for reasons such as geographic proximity, expediency and burden-sharing. It is indeed true that regional and subregional organizations have a significant contribution to make. Experience has shown that regional organizations have advantages of local knowledge, proximity and the ability to mobilize and respond quickly that often surpass the bureaucratic and procedural processes typical of United Nations interventions maintaining peace and security around the world. For instance, on the African continent, the United Nations and the African Union have cooperated on several initiatives, notably the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Somalia. And the Economic Community of West African States has exercised irreplaceable leadership in support of the United Nations in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. Convincing evidence of regional organizations’ contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security has also been strongly manifest in the joint efforts of the African Union and the United Nations in Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Sudan and, more recently, in Mali. Furthermore, the AU, the United Nations, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the Southern African Development Community have cooperated as guarantors of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region. The ICGLR in particular was established in recognition of the fact that political instability and conflicts in its member States have a considerable regional dimension and thus require a concerted effort. That subregional organization has been a major driving force in the quest for peace and security in the region. We commend its growing and important role there, and the steps it has taken to confront the challenges that the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo poses for the region and the international community. Outside the African continent, we should recall the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia and that of the Organization of American States in Haiti and Nicaragua, as well as between Honduras and El Salvador. Although the Security Council was responsible for arriving at a final settlement in most of those conflicts, the contributions of both organizations were remarkable, and helped to make the case for a greater role for regional organizations in conflict prevention and resolution, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. It should be noted, however, that despite those significant developments, cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations has yet to reach its full potential and should be substantially streamlined. We encourage the Security Council to engage with such organizations and to regularly take the position of the African Union and its regional economic communities into consideration. We therefore urge the Council to continue desk-to- desk dialogues on issues of mutual interest, and to increase consultations with regional and subregional organizations on how to take that partnership forward in a mutual and beneficial manner. We believe that promoting cooperation between such bodies will enhance complementarity and lead to effective coordination, while at the same time minimizing duplication of efforts. Mutual respect and open communication are the foundation of any successful and productive partnership, especially in the case of complex joint endeavours such as United Nations-authorized military interventions, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and post- conflict reconstruction activities. We believe that efforts to improve strategic cooperation should emphasize ways whereby the Council can interact more regularly and substantively with the executive representatives of those organizations on matters that are directly linked to peace and security in their jurisdictions. In that regard, Rwanda looks forward to the annual consultative meeting, scheduled for later this year, between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council. In its capacity as Chair of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa, Rwanda will also ensure that the Group is involved in the preparations and follow-up for this meeting, in accordance with paragraph 18 of resolution 2033 (2012). As has been to some extent the case with the AU, the Council should consider extending that practice to other regional organizations and holding periodic meetings with their representatives for discussing areas of common interest. Such a practice would be an important step forward and might produce other innovative ways to intervene. I should not, however, underestimate the challenges related to financial resources and technical capacity that often compromise the goals and ambitions of regional and subregional organizations. My delegation will reiterate its call for enhancing the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing regional organizations’ peace- and security-related efforts. It is our view that they should be encouraged to assume ownership of their initiatives as much as possible and to strive for self-reliance. As a partner, the United Nations should seek to actively assist such organizations in capacity-building. The announcement by African leaders in June that they will be establishing a rapid reaction force, fully funded by African countries themselves, is a good step in the direction of self- reliance. Furthermore, regional organizations have a great deal of expertise to share with member States and one another, including in the areas of electoral supervision, security sector reform, law enforcement, border control and so on. In the spirit of South-South cooperation, such best practices could be communicated more systematically between regions and between countries. Rwanda has been partnering with the United Nations and regional organizations and member States wishing to share its best practices, including those relating to high-level police expertise with Somalia, Liberia and Mali; and we stand ready to do so in the future. In conclusion, I should stress that although significant progress has been made in improving mutual cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, it cannot hide the fact that much remains to be done. It is important to take that partnership forward, based on a solid strategic platform that takes into account the comparative advantages of regional organizations, recognizing that the complexity of today’s conflicts means that no single organization can effectively address them on their own.

Thank you, Madam President, for convening this important debate on United Nations cooperation with regional and subregional organizations. I also thank you, Madam President, Foreign Minister Carrera, Foreign Minister Mammadyarov and Ambassador Gasana and all of my colleagues here, who have welcomed me so warmly today. I am most honoured to be in the Chamber for the first time representing the United States in the Security Council, and I am especially honoured to sit here among so many distinguished Ministers, colleagues and guests. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General and the representatives of the African Union (AU), the League of Arab States, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Union of South American Nations for their briefings. Their comments provide a glimpse into the critical, essential contribution that regional organizations make to global peace and stability. The United States believes that regional organizations can be invaluable partners for the Council as it carries out its unique responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. That is why we in the Obama Administration have intensified our engagement with regional organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organization of American States, the African Union, and the League of Arab States. Anchored in their regions, such organizations have a keen understanding of the political, social and historical contexts that can drive conflicts there and can help prevent them. Regional organizations can leverage local knowledge, relationships and resources to mitigate and, hopefully, end conflict, as well as support post- conflict recovery and stabilization efforts. Because instability in one State can and often does adversely impact its neighbours, regional organizations have a compelling interest and sense of urgency in addressing conflicts in their neighbourhood. Preventing conflict often depends upon early action to diffuse internal and cross-border tensions, protect civilians and halt mass atrocities. Regional organizations are essential to such efforts, and, as we saw in Libya, the League of Arab States was among the first to sound the alarm that Al-Qadhafi’s regime was on the verge of killing thousands of his own people. The League’s call helped galvanize the Council to take decisive action to protect civilians and give the Libyan people the chance to shape their own future, free of oppression. The United Nations strong partnership with the African Union has been vital to stabilizing the volatile relationship between the Sudan and South Sudan and has helped prevent another outbreak of war. The Security Council, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy and the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei have provided critical political and material support to the AU as it continues to seek solutions to the difficult disputes that divide the Sudan and South Sudan. They have contributed great creativity and perseverance. Despite our best efforts, however, prevention sometimes fails and conflict rages. In those cases, too, regional organizations play an essential role. As the twin governance and security crises threaten the stability and unity of Mali, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) helped broker a political deal that culminated in the signing of an important peace agreement in June and nationwide presidential elections just last month. African Union and ECOWAS troops formed the nucleus of the United Nations newest peacekeeping mission. Continued cooperation among ECOWAS, the AU and the United Nations will be vital to ensuring that the security and constitutional order are fully restored in Mali. That coordinated action serves as a good example of how the United Nations and regional organizations complement each other and underscores the value of offices like that of the United Nations Office for West Africa, where the Special Representative of the Secretary- General’s productive partnership with ECOWAS serves to facilitate regional and subregional approaches to addressing the cross-cutting threats to peace and security across the region. Cooperation between regional and United Nations efforts in the field is essential to success. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) has begun vigorous outreach to the African Union to create a dynamic, UNSOM-AU partnership that can bring peace and stability to Somalia. Finally, regional organizations help States and people recover from conflicts and other crises. The Security Council last met to discuss cooperation with regional organizations on 13 January 2010 (see S/PV.6257). That was just one day after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti. Speakers that day voiced profound sorrow at Haiti’s loss, yet expressed hope that the international community would pull together to help Haiti recover. Today we can see that United Nations and regionally led efforts have made a major difference for Haiti and its people. The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community led a joint observer mission to monitor Haiti’s post-earthquake elections, which helped ensure a credible democratic outcome, while the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) worked with the Government of Haiti to ensure security throughout the election period. The United States applauds States around the region, including many represented in the Chamber, for the essential support they give to Haiti by contributing troops to MINUSTAH, providing development assistance and helping build Haitian capacity. While United Nations cooperation with regional organizations will remain important, we must also be clear-eyed about its limits. Although the League of Arab States has been at the forefront of pushing for a political transition in Syria, well-known divisions have prevented the Council from supporting that effort. Moreover, as the Council continues its cooperation with regional and subregional groups in order to fulfil its core mandate to maintain international peace and security, we must remember that collaboration needs to be based on the facts of the crisis at hand, and solutions need to be agreed on and pursued together. As we look to the future, the United States will continue to support and strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and its regional partners, and we will look to leverage the valuable capabilities that regional and subregional organizations can contribute to our shared goal of building a more peaceful, just and secure world.

At the outset, I would like to welcome you, Madam President. We also wish to express our gratitude to the delegation of Argentina for convening this debate on a topic of utmost importance, not only for all Latin American countries — we note and welcome the presence of many Foreign Ministers of Latin America — but also for all the African countries represented in the Council today. In that connection, I would like to express our appreciation for the briefings given by so many distinguished persons from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Union of South American Nations, the League of Arab States and the African Union, who have given us insights into this important topic. We welcome also the presence and contribution of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Before I go on with my statement, may I offer Ambassador Samatha Power of the United States our congratulations. We assure Ms. Power our fullest cooperation in working in the Security Council and within the United Nations. Today’s topic coincides with other recent efforts by the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations aimed at strengthening alliances between such organizations in order to confront the challenges to peace and international security and deal with crisis situations of many types that destabilize entire regions and impact millions of people. Morocco attaches particular importance to the role of regional and subregional organizations and their cooperation with the United Nations, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and in keeping with the parameters established under the relevant Security Council resolutions. In the light of their firm commitment to peace, development and the respect for human rights, some organizations have become major actors in working with the United Nations. Since Morocco became a Member State, our country has consistently contributed to the achievement of the aims and principles of the Organization, whether in peacekeeping or in international security, and in promoting cooperation for development, which are two sides of the same coin. Morocco is also a founding member of the African Union and considers the stability and development of the African continent to lie at the forefront of its foreign policy priorities. On the basis of that long- standing international commitment, Morocco is now participating in and seeking to step up cooperation between the United Nations and the African continent with full respect for the specifications defined by individual Member States. In that context, my country has participated in international and regional endeavours to settle numerous disputes in Africa and in various countries around the world. It is in that same conviction that Morocco has also supported the democratic processes that are taking place in various countries. Morocco, an African country with a long-standing tradition of solidarity with and commitment to our African neighbours, has undertaken to support all United Nations efforts aimed at enhancing the security and stability of countries throughout Africa. We also stand ready to actively participate in any endeavour aimed at meeting those challenges. It cannot be denied that regional organizations and arrangements play a major role in achieving regional and continental aspirations. We have closely followed everything that has been done in Latin America, in the Union of South American Nations and in the Andean Community, and we commend the approaches taken there. We are now doing similar things in our continent, Africa. In particular, we would emphasize the efforts being deployed by the Gulf Cooperation Council, with which Morocco has a strategic partnership for the resolution of crises, like the one in Yemen, for example. We have also worked hand in hand with other members of this Council to seek the resolution of the conflict in Mali through a regional approach spearheaded by such African regional organizations as the Economic Community of Central African States and the Economic Community of West African States. With that same goal in mind, we are now also working to build the Arab Maghreb Union, which is a priority for my country and which will contribute to the stability and prosperity of the five member countries of that organization. Developing our ambitions for the Maghreb remains a priority for Morocco, since that will lead to sustainable development and solidarity, both for the countries of the Maghreb and for countries of the broader region. Recent events in Mali require that the countries of the Maghreb and the Sahel and their partners step up cooperation in order to deal not only with security challenges, which are extensive, but also with the democratic challenges and the challenges of economic development. The phenomenon of insecurity calls for major efforts at coordination and cooperation to be undertaken today, with a view to promoting an inclusive security approach of a preventive, concerted, multidimensional nature that incorporates all aspects of economic and social development. We thus commend the implementation of the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel recently adopted by the Security Council. I will not dwell further on the aforementioned matters except to say that in Africa today we have the required major instruments and tools, such as the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States, which is working to promote prosperity in the region. I would also wish to praise the cooperation that exists between the League of Arab States and the United Nations. In order to strengthen that cooperation, we worked with the German presidency of the Council in September 2012 to bring about the adoption of a presidential statement (S/PRST/2012/20), which led subsequently to the holding of a seminar. We hope that closer relations and enhanced cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations will contribute to the success of the ongoing efforts on the part of the United States Administration to promote the conclusion of final agreements on a two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, consistent with the strategic objective of the Arab Peace Initiative. In conclusion, at a time when the United Nations is seeking to enhance its partnerships with regional and subregional organizations, I would like to say that, in order to promote international peace and security, we must take into account the following six elements. First, we must clearly understand and have a clear vision of and respect for the provisions of the United Nations Charter and of the charters of the various regional and subregional organizations. Secondly, we must duly take into account the principal responsibility conferred on the Security Council to ensure international peace and security. Thirdly, we must undertake assessments that could help to avoid duplications that might hamper or delay the solution of any conflict or dispute. Fourthly, the United Nations and the regional and subregional organizations must adopt a conflict and dispute prevention strategy. Fifthly, we must resolve the root causes of conflict and combat any trends that could lead to the instability resulting from terrorism. In that regard, the United Nations and all Member States are called upon and invited to step up their support for efforts to achieve sustainable development and contribute to the success of reform, democratic change and good governance. Lastly, where the intervention of more than one regional organization is required, experience has shown that it is of prime importance to ensure that those organizations coordinate their activities so as to avoid duplication. It is important not only for development but also in the interest of fostering and promoting interregional cooperation and cooperation between subregional organizations in order to enhance the complementarity of efforts and to place all capacities in the service of peace.

I thank the President for Argentina’s initiative in convening today’s important debate and for her presence here today. I also thank the Secretary-General and today’s briefers and welcome Ambassador Power. To understand the importance of the partnership between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, we need only look to situations currently on the Council’s agenda — Somalia, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — all of which involve essential cooperation between the United Nations and such organizations. From Australia’s experience in our own region — the Asia-Pacific — we understand implicitly the comparative advantage that regional organizations can bring to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and we fully subscribe to the complementarity of the roles that regional organizations and the United Nations play in addressing threats to peace and security. In 2011, we saw the successful response on the part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to tensions on the Thailand-Cambodia border, a commendable regional approach designed to de-escalate a potentially serious dispute. Last month, we in Pacific celebrated the tenth anniversary of the successful regional assistance mission to Solomon Islands, to which each of the 16 members of the Pacific Islands Forum contributed and which has been decisive in the recovery of Solomon Islands from conflict. The role of regional organizations was of course set out 68 years ago in Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, but they are playing an increasingly instrumental role in a much more complex environment and have enhanced their engagement with the United Nations by necessity. We have seen this most clearly with the African Union (AU) and African subregional organizations. The United Nations retains primacy, but, as Ambassador Tekeda Alemu said this morning, speaking for the AU, the United Nations needs a strong AU and the AU needs a strong United Nations. The trajectory of cooperation will only continue. I would like to briefly focus on three issues that we believe are central to this partnership. First is the need for respective roles to be based on comparative advantages that are distinct and understood. The Council will have its most fruitful engagement with organizations that have the mandate and capacity to work on international peace and security issues. For example, as the Pacific responded to the crisis in Solomon Islands, the fact that the Pacific Islands Forum already had in place the Biketawa Declaration of 2000, which set out a clear framework for a collective response to regional crises, was instrumental. The comparative advantages of regional and subregional organizations are clear, and others have already mentioned them this morning. They include deeper knowledge of context, cultural understanding, an inherent political interest in staying the course, and geographic proximity. These factors all contributed to success in Solomon Islands. The benefit of playing to comparative advantage is clearly applicable to some current major challenges. In Somalia, the AU has a comparative advantage in peace operations, while the United Nations, through the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, brings critical skills to post-conflict stabilization and governance. In the Sudans, the AU plays a central mediation role, seeking to de-escalate tensions and keeping the parties talking, which the United Nations peacekeeping operations support in various ways. The important point is that each organization plays to its relative strengths. The second area to focus on is in strengthening dialogue, exchange and capacity-building. This is obviously vital to enhancing coordination and ensuring that organizations at all levels benefit from best practices. The United Nations has extensive experience in peacekeeping best practices; as these evolve, they should be conveyed to relevant regional organizations. Again, the United Nations dialogue, exchange and capacity-building are most structured and advanced with the AU as its own architecture has evolved to meet the peace and security challenges on the continent. This cooperation can point us to practices that may be relevant to other regional organizations — recognizing, of course, that one size does not fit all. This exchange must be a two-way street; there is much the United Nations can learn from regional and subregional organizations. The third area is partnerships on thematic, human rights and humanitarian issues. The Council has recognized the key role regional and subregional organizations play in affirming the role of women in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian response; ensuring the protection of children affected by armed conflict; and ensuring that the protection of civilians is central to peacekeeping efforts. The presidential statement adopted today (S/PRST/2013/12) embraces, as it must, close cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations on these three thematic issues. We also welcome the Council’s recognition in the statement that regional organizations have a crucial role in addressing the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. This is an issue on which many regions have pressed for collective action. It is important to see the Council encouraging, in return, regional organizations to strengthen their collective response. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations is, as we know, complex and evolving. There will be ongoing challenges. In his Supplement to An Agenda for Peace 20 years ago, Boutros Boutros-Ghali recognized that the political, operational and financial aspects of cooperation “gives rise to questions of some delicacy” (S/1995/1, para. 86 (d)). That is usually the case, but it must never, ever deter us. Resourcing is one such issue. When the Council authorizes regional organizations to undertake peacekeeping operations, we must do all we can to ensure that they are appropriately resourced for the jobs we are asking them to do. The Council must continue to develop the framework to ensure that the United Nations partnerships with regional organisations are effective, and we believe that the presidential statement adopted today is an important contribution in that regard. In concluding, I would like to thank the regional and subregional organizations, including those represented here, for their growing and valuable work towards international peace and security and our shared goals, as enunciated in the United Nations Charter. As the Secretary-General said this morning, it is the combined value of our efforts that can be decisive.

I wish to thank the Argentine presidency for having organized this open debate on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations. The presence of President Fernández and the participation of many ministers bear witness to the importance of the subject we are discussing today. I thank the Secretary-General and representatives of the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the African Union and the League of Arab States for their edifying opening statements. Luxembourg fully subscribes to the statement to be made by the observer of the European Union. The Security Council has rightly recognized the role and contribution of regional and subregional organizations in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. It is clear that strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations is not only desirable but also necessary. Luxembourg welcomes the long-standing cooperation between the United Nations and the European Union. This cooperation now covers the entire spectrum of response to international crises, from immediate crisis response, humanitarian action, peacekeeping and peacebuilding to development beyond the European continent. The synergies between the United Nations and the European Union in the theatre of operations where they work side by side are significant, whether in Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia or now in Mali. It is also on the African continent that cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations is the most developed. Whether it is to finally pacify the Darfur region of the Sudan or to normalize relations between the Sudan and South Sudan, the United Nations and the African Union are working hand in hand. We attach importance in this regard to the Security Council’s ongoing strong support for the mediation undertaken by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. On 1 July, the transfer of authority from the African-led International Support Mission in Mali to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali was the culmination of a close and fruitful cooperation between the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations. The combined efforts of these organizations have contributed to stabilizing the political and security situation in Mali and opened the way for the holding, on 28 July, of the first round of the presidential election that is to conclude the political transition in the country. On the other side of the continent, in Somalia, the combined efforts of the United Nations and the African Union have opened a new page in the history of that country. With the African Union Mission in Somalia, significant territorial gains have been made over the past 12 months. Since 3 June, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia has provided integrated support to Somalia while strengthening the strategic partnership and collaboration with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in all areas related to the consolidation of peace. In this context, we look forward to the results of the upcoming joint review of AMISOM. We welcome the intention of the African Union to work closely with the Secretariat in the context of that review. We hope that the same fruitful cooperation will soon be established between the United Nations and the African Union to resolve the crisis in the Central African Republic, following the decision of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to create an African-led international mission support to that country. Before I conclude  — while much more could, of course, still be said with regard to the importance of United Nations cooperation with other regional organizations, in particular the League of Arab States — allow me to address a topic that is close to our heart, that is, the protection of children in armed conflict. The contribution of regional and subregional organizations and agreements to the protection of children affected by armed conflict is undeniable, with the regional cooperation initiative led by the African Union against the Lord’s Resistance Army being a good illustration. In general, the increasing involvement of regional organizations in peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions poses challenges for child protection, in particular with regard to the rules of engagement and the conduct of operations. We therefore welcome the fact that the presidential statement adopted today (S/PRST/2013/12) reiterates the call made in the 17 June presidential statement on children and armed conflict (S/PRST/2013/8) for regional organizations to include the protection of children in their policies, programmes and planning activities and to assign child-protection specialists to their field missions. In this area as in others, the United Nations and regional organizations can make a difference by working together in a complementary manner. As a founding Member of the United Nations, the European Union and many regional organizations on the continent of Europe, Luxembourg is a strong supporter of the cause of cooperation and regional integration. The Council can count on us to help to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in the field of peace and security.

We are honoured that the President of the Argentine Republic has presided over this special meeting of the Security Council. We congratulate Argentina on its assumption of the presidency of the Council for the month of August, and we appreciate the valuable work being done by Ambassador María Cristina Perceval and her team in leading the Council this month. We commend the United States for its effective presidency of the Council last month. We warmly welcome to the Council Chamber the new United States Permanent Representative, Ms. Samantha Power, and we look forward to working with her. We thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive briefing on this important subject. We listened attentively to the presentations made on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the African Union (AU), the Union of South American Nations and the League of Arab States. We also appreciate the participation of the ministers taking part in today’s debate. It is evident from the briefings this morning that the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations are cooperating more closely than ever before to maintain international peace and security and to prevent, manage and resolve crises. The partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations reinforce collective security, but they also present new problems. The past year has been good for partnerships. Under the leadership of the Secretary-General, the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Great Lakes and the Region was concluded. The Framework, which is supported by 11 countries and four guarantors — the United Nations, the African Union, the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region and the Southern African Development Community  — should usher in peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbourhood. Similarly, the effective cooperation among the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States and Economic Community of Central African States has contributed to the stabilization of the situations in Mali and the Central African Republic. The United Nations has supported the African Union Mission in Somalia with core deployment, rotations and operational and budgetary support. It has also supported the International Security Assistance Force under the framework of a United Nations mandate, as well as the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. The cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations requires a dynamic strategy to address the deficits in troops, equipment and military expertise, as well as predictable and sustainable funding. It also demands close oversight by the Security Council and the harmonization of the approaches of regional organizations and the United Nations. Regional organizations have unique perspectives and deeper understandings of local conflicts and cultural norms. That knowledge often gives them a comparative advantage in preventing and resolving conflicts. In many cases, they have enormous influence over the parties to a dispute, which tend to place greater trust in regional organizations. A lot more can be done to consolidate partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations. Every regional organization has a unique historical background, distinct objectives and diverse membership. In formulating strategies for cooperation, the specific characteristics and capacities of each organization should be taken into account. Regional organizations help the Council to avert impending crises by sharing information on a real-time basis. The United Nations should therefore support the early-warning capacity- building of the relevant regional organizations. Regional organizations should use their full potential to dissuade parties from relying on arms to settle their disputes, and encourage them to use peaceful means. We call on the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Gulf Cooperation Council to use their extensive links and clout to persuade all sides in Syria to attend the “Geneva II” conference. As we all know, African issues constitute the bulk of the agenda of the Security Council. Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union is an important pivot for the maintenance of international peace and security on the African continent. The United Nations and its partners should continue to address funding and capacity gaps to strengthen the African Union’s ability to prevent conflicts under the umbrella of the 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union. We applaud the European Union for supporting peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities in Africa by providing substantial funding for United Nations- mandated African Union peace-support operations. We encourage other regional organizations that have the capacity to do so to follow the example of the European Union. Regional organizations should step up their endeavours to fight transnational crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, the proliferation of weapons and piracy. The success of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel depends upon interregional cooperation to combat those threats. The United Nations has launched robust peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Intervention Brigade must succeed despite the challenges of the terrain, the presence of multiple rebel groups and doctrinal issues, as its performance will have an impact on similar missions and situations and on the conceptual evolution of modern peacekeeping. The latent issues between the Security Council and regional organizations should be addressed by promoting complementarity. The widely recognized principles of consultation, the primacy of the United Nations, the effective division of labour and consistency of approach should be fully respected. Those are indeed the broad parameters for the evolving interpretations of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. Finally, for sustainable peace, the humanitarian role and competencies of regional organizations should be strengthened. We fully endorse the comprehensive presidential statement (S/PRST/2013/12) finalized under your presidency, Madam President. We also commend your Mission for preparing a very well-structured concept note (S/2013/446, annex). Sir Mark Lyall Grant (United Kingdom): Thank you very much, Madam President, for coming to New York to preside over this debate, as well as for selecting such an important and relevant topic. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General and the four briefers for their important contributions this morning. Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate Argentina and Ambassador Perceval on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of August, and to warmly welcome our new American colleague, Ambassador Samantha Power, to the United Nations. The founders of the United Nations wisely created provisions for United Nations cooperation with regional organizations in Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, but I doubt that they could have foreseen the range and scope of regional and subregional orgnanizations that have arisen since 1945 and the important role that they have played and are playing in conflict prevention and resolution. Let me provide just four recent examples of effective engagement by regional organizations in conflict prevention. In Europe, the European Union-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has led to significant progress in relations between Serbia and Kosovo, creating a framework for practical cooperation between the two countries and lowering tensions in a fragile region. In Yemen in 2011, as the country encountered political instability accompanied by serious violence, the Gulf Cooperation Council played an invaluable role in brokering an agreement that created the framework for a negotiated political transition process, which should lead to a new constitution and elections in 2014. In South-East Asia, efforts led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2011, under the chairmanship of Indonesia and with the active support of the Security Council, resulted in a cessation of violence along the Thai-Cambodian border. And in Africa, the patient engagement of President Mbeki and the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel has played a major part in managing tensions surrounding implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Sudan and South Sudan. The African Union road map of April 2012 set the template for resolution 2046 (2012), serving as a model for United Nations and African Union cooperation in maintaining international peace and security. We can draw some useful lessons from these and other examples. They show how regional organizations, whose interests are directly affected by the prospect of instability within the region, can bring a strong sense of urgency and commitment to their engagement. They show how regional organizations can apply detailed knowledge of the social and political issues in play. In some cicumstances, regional organizations may find it easier to be accepted as peacekeepers or mediators by the actors involved, and as the example of Kosovo demonstrates, regional organizations can often make good use of the range of incentives that exist through common ties in the region to encourage a sense of compromise and flexibility. There are other ways in which regional organizations can help maintain international peace and security. They can play a valuable role as indepenedent election monitors, able to deter abuse of electoral procedures and to validate properly held elections. But with this role comes an important responsibility. In circumstances where there is credible evidence of serious irregularities in the conduct of elections, regional oerganizations that have monitored the elections must be ready to voice these concerns clearly and objectively, unconstrained by diplomatic or regional solidarity. Regional organizations can also help uphold international peace and security by establishing and upholding standards of democracy and good governance among their members. The African Union’s policy of zero tolerance towards military coups and other violations of democratic standards is an important factor in the trend that has seen the widespread establishment of multi-party democracy across the continent in place of military or one-party regimes. Within the Commonwealth, the readiness of the Ministerial Action Group to take action suspending members from participation in the organization has served to uphold and entrench democratic standards. I have highlighted positive examples of regional organizations’ cooperation with the Unted Nations, but it is also important to discuss difficulties, as well as to highlight successes. First, some conflict situations will be of relevance to more than one regional organization and the views of the different organizations may differ. In 2011, over Libya for example, the League of Arab States and the African Union arrived at strikingly different positions on the ongoing revolution. In general, the Council is always keen to take account of the views of relevant regional organizations, but that becomes harder when those views are discordant. Secondly, we have seen circumstances where the views of the relevant regional and subregional organizations are at odds. Again in 2011, this was the case when the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States took different approaches to developments over Côte D’Ivoire, leaving the Council having to assess a diversity of regional and subregional perspectives. Thirdly, the issue of capacity also needs to be considered in a realistic way. Regional organizations sometimes have the political will but not the practical or financial capacity to take swift action in response to peace and security challenges. On Mali in 2012, we saw the regional and subregional organizations assert their readiness to lead an international response, but this was followed by a long hiatus during which time insurgents steadily expanded their control over parts of the country, requiring French forces to intervene to arrest the mounting crisis. Equally we in the Council need to look self-critically at our own conduct. We need to acknowledge frankly the occasions, as with Syria, when we have failed to provide an effective response and clear international direction in circumstances where the voice of the relevant regional organization — the League of Arab States — has been clear and forthright in setting out what it expects of us. So there are lessons to learn, as well as successes to highlight. But the overall trend is clear — towards increasing engagement by regional organizations in conflict-prevention and therefore towards increasing United Nations cooperation with regional organizations. And that is a challenge we must embrace. We should do so in a flexible and creative way. Today’s presidential statement (S/2013/PRST/12) and the previous Council products on cooperation with the African Union and the League of Arab States set out valuable guidelines. But we should avoid the temptations to overly codify our relationships or to prioritize establishing a strict theology of institutional cooperation over practical action.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for convening today’s debate, and to welcome all the ministers and other representatives who spoke before me. I would also like to welcome the new Permanent Representative of the United States, even if my time here at the United Nations has been brief. Finally, I note that France aligns itself fully with the statement to be delivered by the observer of the European Union. As I was said, I would like to thank you, Madam, for convening this debate since it allows us to consider a key issue of great importance to France — the contribution of regional and subregional organizations to the maintanence of international peace and security and the pomotion of the rule of law. The severity and number of conflicts in the world require us to resort to all the means at our disposal. In this context, the contribution of regional organizations to maintaining international peace and security is crucial. That contribution is provided for under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and responds to several objectives. It allows regional organizations working under the auspices of the United Nations to enjoy strong political legitimacy. In return, it allows the United Nations to draw on the know-how and operational methods of regional organizations. We have seen a fine example of this in Mali, where cooperation between the United Nations and the relevant regional organizations — the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States — have made it possible for the country to emerge from the recent crisis. Like some speakers before me, I wish briefly to mention the European Union. The European Union plays a major role within the international community. I recall that peace and security are at the heart of the European project, which arose in the wake of the Second World War, like the United Nations. Among regional organizations, the European Union stands out because of its advanced level of cooperation with the United Nations and other regional organizations. Its operational capacities give it the ability to support diverse activities and to develop institutional mechanisms for funding and participating in peacekeeping missions authorized by the Security Council, and to contribute to crisis prevention and post-conflict stabilizaton. Today, this cooperation extends to all continents. In order to faciliate peace in Africa, since 2004 the European Union has allocated €740 million in a variety of modalities. It responds to urgent needs through its rapid-response mechanism, and to longer-term needs through peace-support operations that allow for predictable financing. The mechanism has also enabled the European Union to finance the African Union Military Observer Mission in Somalia since 2007, a good example of cooperation among the European Union, the African Union and the United Nations. The European Union has also contributed significant support to the deployment of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, on the same basis. It also supports strengthening the capacities of the African Union and subregional African organizations. Similarly, the European Union is coordinating its intervention in Libya with the United Nations through its European Union Border Assistance Mission for border surveillance, just as it works actively with the United Nations in Kosovo. Concerning Georgia, for instance, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations have participated jointly in the discussions in Geneva, and the European Union is financing the confidence-building measures between Abkhazians and Georgians that are being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. Lastly, one of the chief goals that the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States set themselves at their summit in Santiago in February was to contribute actively and jointly to international peace and security. The role of regional organizations is only going to grow, in response both to the principle of subsidiarity and to the mentality that encourages regional stakeholders to assume responsibility and ownership. France is contributing to that effort through organizations of which it is a member, as well as through its support for the establishment of a regional security architecture. While we should continue our support for that cooperative trend, we must continue to be wary of the danger of a fragmentation of collective security. The Security Council, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, is still the body with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, acting on behalf of the Members of the United Nations as a whole to that end. Dialogue between the United Nations and other organizations often raises complex questions resulting from a shortage of resources in the area of troops, for example, but also in equipment, military expertise, civilian know-how and funding; the implementation of predictable and reliable financing; and the issue of the degree of control that the Council can exercise over the operations it authorizes. That should not, however, be seen as an obstacle. On the contrary, it illustrates the vitality of the relations between the United Nations and such organizations. Responding to those issues quickly and effectively is a challenge we should all address. In conclusion, I would like to touch on one last topic, which is dealt with in the presidential statement adopted today (S/PRST/2013/12), namely, that your country, Madam President, has decided to highlight the fight against impunity and the historic importance in that regard of the International Criminal Court, the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, and the role that regional organizations play in that area, for which we are grateful. That is another demonstration of your country’s unwavering commitment to such matters, within the Security Council in particular and the United Nations in general. France knows something about that topic, since our two countries, together with Morocco, promoted within the Organization the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Here we are again, in the Security Council, some of the founding countries of the International Criminal Court, of which your compatriot, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, was the first Prosecutor. The reference to the International Criminal Court and the fight against impunity in a text on United Nations cooperation with regional organizations is therefore a welcome precedent, for which we are in your debt. It is also a useful reminder that the principles of justice and the defence of human rights are founding principles for many regional organizations. The European Union and the Organization of American States were built on the rejection of conflict and around the goal of ensuring peace and security, and they have developed basic mechanisms for promoting the rule of law and defending human rights. The principles of the Charter of the African Union enshrine the rejection of impunity and the Union’s right to intervene in a country where serious crimes, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity have been committed. It is high time to recognize the importance of such subjects in the partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations for peace and security is therefore a matter of political and operational necessity and must continue, in line with the relevant stipulations and provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and under the auspices of the Security Council. It is in that way that we will simultaneously ensure consistency in international action, transparency in United Nations activities and respect for the Organization’s values.

We are pleased to welcome you, Madam President, to preside over the Security Council. We are grateful to the Argentine delegation for its initiative in holding an open debate in the Council on such a topical issue as United Nations cooperation with regional and subregional organizations. The presence in the Chamber of representatives of a number of leading regional organizations testifies to its importance. The global nature of today’s challenges and threats, and the formulation of the collective approaches that are essential to tackling them effectively, requires that cooperation on international peace and security between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations be strengthened. That task consists in ensuring that, with the United Nations in the role of leader, those organizations, harmoniously and without unnecessary bureaucracy, complement one another by making use of their respective comparative advantages. For the United Nations, those advantages are primarily the universality of its membership and activities, along with its universally recognized legitimacy. For their part, regional organizations often have a more nuanced understanding of circumstances in their areas of responsibility, and, in a great many cases, preventive and peacebuilding mechanisms adapted to regional realities. It is nonetheless important that regional organizations’ activities be focused on seeking peaceful political solutions to emerging conflict situations, so as to ensure that they are not overly influenced by individual members, who may be pursuing their own agendas. The Security Council plays a key role in cooperation between the United Nations and regional associations on issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security. That has to do first and foremost with its obligatory approval and monitoring of regional and coalition peacekeeping operations where the use of force is authorized. Only the relevant decisions of the Council can lend the necessary international legitimacy to the use of sanctions mechanisms. Cooperation between this global Organization and its regional partners brings with it a wider set of problems. Along with peacekeeping and peacebuilding tasks come the countervailing forces of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, illegal sources of small arms and light weapons, the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. In the network of traditional United Nations partnerships, the African Union occupies a special place. The broad experience of respectful cooperation that exists between both organizations in various areas is also a helpful guide for other regional organizations in building effective models for collaboration. There is great potential in the cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States. We believe that there are good prospects for broader contact between the United Nations and such rapidly developing organizations as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Union of South American Nations. For our part, we cannot ignore the importance of United Nations cooperation with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (STO), which are building their political authority globally and are helping to strengthen regional and international security. We associate ourselves with the statement to be delivered on behalf of the member States of the CSTO and STO by the representative of Kyrgyzstan, the country that currently presides over both organizations. There are prospects for deeper cooperation between the United Nations and the CSTO in the area of peacekeeping. Serious work is being done within the CSTO to develop its own peacekeeping potential, including acting jointly with United Nations peacekeeping operations. At the same time, the CSTO is actively participating in international post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and in neutralizing the threat of drugs coming from that country’s territory. The STO is making a serious contribution to stability and security in the Eurasian region, directing its activity to fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism. To that end, it has established a regional antiterrorism body and is developing cooperation on combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking and transnational crime, as well as providing international information security. We have consistently campaigned for broader and deeper cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, as laid down in Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, with the aim of promoting our world Organization’s worthy goals. In that respect, we feel that, on the one hand, regional and subregional organizations must position themselves more to actualize their own potential in the interests of the United Nations, while on the other hand, the United Nations itself must continue to duly prioritize strengthened coordination and cooperation with such organizations, based on strict compliance with the principles of the universal Organization and its Security Council.

China welcomes the Argentine initiative to hold this debate on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in maintaining international peace and security. We welcome the presence of Ms. Cristina Fernández, President of Argentina, to preside over today’s meeting. I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his briefing. I have listened carefully to the statements made by the representatives of the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Union of South American Nations. The United Nations is the essential mechanism of international collective security. The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, at a time when security threats and challenges are proliferating and the national security interests of countries are closely interlinked. Strengthened cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations helps to promote multilateralism and enhances the international collective security mechanism and our joint efforts to maintain international peace and security. China attaches great importance to the role played by regional and subregional organizations in conflict prevention and resolution, the deployment of peacekeeping operations, post-conflict reconstruction and other areas. We support the efforts of the United Nations to deepen its cooperation with regional and subregional organization so as to better fulfil its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Here I wish to highlight four points. First, in strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and subregional and regional organizations, we must be guided by the Charter of the United Nations. The Council should encourage and support such organizations in the quest to achieve the peaceful resolution of a conflict through dialogue, consultation, good offices and mediation, so as to contribute to regional peace and security. At the same time, the actions taken by regional organizations should be in line with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and any actions taken should be in accordance with the provisions of Security Council resolutions and as mandated by the Council. Secondly, the United Nations and regional organizations can bring into play their respective advantages and complement each other’s work in working jointly to meet security threats and challenges. China supports the unique role played by regional organizations in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations in promoting the peaceful resolution of conflict, as they are better positioned geographically, historically and culturally. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations should help them to maximize their respective advantages, better complement and facilitate one another’s work and avoid overlaps and conflict. Thirdly, cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations should focus on effectiveness and be tailored to the local situation. The United Nations may engage in various forms of pragmatic cooperation with regional organizations, in accordance with their respective characters, in the field of confidence-building measures, good offices and crisis mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In addition to existing dialogue and consultation mechanisms, flexible and practical collaboration mechanisms should be actively explored with regional organizations according to their institutional structure and functions, with a view to meeting the real needs inherent in a particular situation. Fourthly, the United Nations should strengthen its assistance and support to regional and subregional organizations. Enhancing the capacity of regional organizations to deal with security threats and challenges is an important means of effective conflict prevention. Many regional and subregional organizations, including the African Union (AU), have made major efforts, through good offices, to settle local hotspots, push forward peace processes and promote post-conflict reconstruction, with positive results. However, they also face various constraints in terms of resources and capacities. The United Nations should provide greater assistance to such regional organizations as the AU in personnel training, institution-building, logistical assistance and financial support, so as to strengthen their capacity-building and thereby help them to play an important role in the maintenance of regional peace and stability. China attaches great importance to the unique role of regional and subregional organizations. We will continue to support such organizations in their proactive efforts to maintain regional peace and security and promote common development. China is ready to join the rest of the international community in pushing for strengthened cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security, creating a more secure and prosperous future. Lastly, China supports the statement to be made by the representative of Kyrgyzstan, who will speak on behalf of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

I would first like to welcome you, Madam President, to the Council Chamber, and thank you for having convened today’s open debate on this important issue. I believe that your presence, along with the briefing given by Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, illustrates the increasing significance of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. I would like also to thank all the representatives of regional organizations for their presentations this morning. Let me also extend a warm welcome to Ambassador Samantha Power of the United States; I look forward to working closely with her in the days and months to come. Almost seven decades ago, when the Charter of the United Nations was being drafted, public discourse on regional organizations was in its infancy. What inspired that daring attempt to devote one whole chapter to cooperation with regional arrangements proved to be a great vision. Today the complexity and diversity of threats to international peace and security require a multidimensional response. The increasing role of regional and subregional organizations, among others, constitutes a major feature of that response. An important point is that the degree of intraregional cooperation varies significantly between regions, based on the unique historical and political background that each region possesses. It is our view that cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements will be more fruitful when that reality is duly considered. Any attempt to invent a singular, uniform modality for cooperation would prove to be inappropriate. We need to be flexible, responsive and adaptive. Most importantly, we should aspire to be as imaginative as the founding fathers of the United Nations. Located in an area where the role of regional organizations is not prominent compared with other regions, the Republic of Korea would like to add value to today’s debate by pointing out that our common efforts to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations should not inadvertently lead to an imbalance where the weight given to regional voices might result in an unintended disadvantage to those countries that do not belong to regional arrangements. Having said that, my delegation would like to join others in acknowledging that regional and subregional organizations are better positioned to understand the root causes and context of conflicts occurring in the region to which they belong. Such organizations can play a vital role in the full cycle of conflict, covering conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In recent years, the situation in places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Darfur and the Central African Republic have demonstrated to us both the valuable achievements and the limitations of the cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations. Experience strongly indicates that a successful interaction between the United Nations and regional organizations requires the Security Council to bear the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Regional organizations play a complementary role in principle and in reality. It is critical, therefore, that regional organizations enhance their own capacities in order to play a meaningful role in restoring peace and security. The United Nations should continue to support them by sharing the lessons learned through experience while continually exploring new ways to improve regional capacity. The presidential statement adopted today (S/PRST/2013/12) covers comprehensive areas of cooperation. We believe that the statement will serve as a landmark reference on this issue. We appreciate Argentina’s efforts in providing a valuable draft and coordinating all efforts in the process. We would like to highlight four specific points. First, ending impunity for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law is the first step towards establishing the rule of law in the post- conflict peacebuilding process. In particular, violence and crimes against women and children should not go unpunished. We hope that regional and subregional organizations will contribute to accountability through their enhanced cooperation with international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court. Secondly, regional organizations can significantly contribute to the effective implementation of the Security Council’s sanction regimes by encouraging their members at the regional level. We also hope that all regional and subregional organizations will render their full cooperation to the Council’s Sanction Committees and their Groups of Experts. Thirdly, coordinated efforts at the national, regional and global levels are crucial to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Sharing information and experience between and among regional organizations will help eliminate weak links, which terrorists can exploit. The Republic of Korea, as Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), will spare no effort to enhance cooperation with regional organizations with a view to establishing a living network of non-proliferation. Lastly, better coordination with regional organizations with the United Nations and among themselves will also lead to a synergic effect in addressing transnational crimes such as piracy, human and drug trafficking, and the illicit trade in small arms across borders. The United Nations can lead the way in enhancing regional and global partnerships to jointly address all types of threats to peace and security.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Argentina. My country has now assumed the presidency of the Security Council for the ninth time, but in an unprecedented regional context. There are 14 Foreign Ministers in the Council today, 12 of whom are from the Latin America region. The representative of Cuba spoke on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), while the representative of Peru took the floor on behalf of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Argentina is a founding member of both of those regional and subregional entities. However, the most important consideration is that both bodies have had to deal with serious conflict situations in the region to which they were able to respond. That is essentially what the Security Council must also do in the face of the various conflicts that arise in different parts of the world, which make peace and security very vulnerable values in today’s world. One of the situations that we had to resolve when we were not yet even CELAC, but rather the Rio Group, which preceded CELAC, was the difficult situation between Ecuador and Colombia, which almost ended in an armed conflict. As a result of the intervention by the Rio Group, which was at that time in the Dominican Republic, the conflict was able to be successfully resolved. Later on, UNASUR also successfully dealt with different situations, including domestic situations in various countries, which jeopardized democratic stability  — for example, the so-called Pando crisis, which concerned the Government of Evo Morales in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and gave rise to the Moneda Declaration, agreed in Santiago under President Bachelet, in her capacity as President pro tempore of UNASUR. We also adopted the Buenos Aires Declaration, which addressed the problem concerning the removal of President Rafael Correa of Ecuador and whereby we were able to halt the crisis and ensure the perpetuation of the democratic system — an issue that, for our region, is no minor concern. Rather, it is something that has affected our potential for economic growth and for that to take place essentially in an environment of peace and security. I therefore think that the lesson that we have learned in terms of this debate with regard to how regional and subregional organizations can cooperate with the Security Council and the United Nations in finding solutions has to do with some of the issues that other representatives have outlined. I cannot ignore the statement by the representative of the League of the Arab States, who talked about something that I think is at the crux of resolving conflicts and  — I underscore this aspect  — the effectiveness of the Security Council in resolving serious matters. What did the representative of the League of Arab States actually say? He said that all States Members of the United Nations must implement United Nations resolutions. It seems to almost go without saying, but actually it is not at all obvious. The distinctive feature here is that frequently, those that sit in this Chamber as permanent members with the right to the veto make use of that right, enshrined under the Charter of the United Nations and under the rules of procedure of the Security Council. However, they are the ones that obstruct real conflict resolution. I would like to compare that with what I would term the South America doctrine. How do we adopt resolutions in CELAC and UNASUR? In those organizations, resolutions are adopted on the basis of unanimity when there is a conflict. That is the distinction we must make. Normally, all our States and national institutions have what we call the right of veto — something that is inherent to all executive powers. But running a Government is one thing; dealing with conflict is another. When managing conflict includes the right of the veto, the situation becomes much more difficult and, at times, even impossible. We therefore believe that it is necessary to review the operation of United Nations institutions in general, specifically with regard to the Security Council, which respond to a different rationale, one that was in place when the Organization was established. During the Cold War, faced with the danger of a nuclear holocaust, the right of the veto was almost a safeguard to prevent such a conflagration. Following the Cold War, all those involved in it sit today around this table and are no longer involved in major conflicts. We need to rethink how the Organization’s bodies function, for this is a new world, a new reality and new problems that cannot be addressed with old instruments and old methods: they will not provide us with answers. That is what we mean when we talk about the need to reach consensus, not on the basis of the particular interests of each country with the right to the veto, but rather to genuinely guarantee peace and stability. In that connection, we can say that today South America and Latin America are regions of peace. My country is a leader in nuclear energy, but also a leader in nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The representative of the League of Arab States talked about the conflict that is now impacting the Middle East in terms of the refusal to accept a Palestinian State, which has an effect not only on Arab countries, but on so many other countries of the world, including mine. In our own region, as the representative of CELAC mentioned, there is conflict owing to the failure to respect a resolution of the United Nations concerning the need for my country and the United Kingdom to begin talks and negotiations in the context of what the United Nations decided in resolution 2065 (XX), adopted in 1965, concerning sovereignty over the Malvinas. This is not a capricious position, nor is it about again saying “We are right”. We are simply saying that we want the United Nations resolution to be implemented and that both countries should sit down and discuss this litigious and controversial matter. I believe that there is a way to begin to unblock such conflicts. It has been pointed out that there are differing opinions. One can have such opinions on matters that have not been resolved by the United Nations. However, when the Organization, to which all of us have signed on and whose resolutions we have all committed to respecting, adopts a resolution in the General Assembly — the highest organ of the Organization — it is no longer a matter of differing opinions; it is about a United Nations resolution and about whether or not we are ready to comply with our obligations as Members. I mention that just by way of example, for I do not want to start a controversy here. But I do so because I think that the issues that the world is experiencing are so numerous and so serious that peace and security becomes not just a military concept, but also essentially an economic one. The 2008 crisis, which continues today and has further compounded existing conflicts, requires all of us to adopt a different attitude, rethink how we function within our organizations and consider how to change rules and conceive of and design new instruments that allow us to be effective. For I think that, at the end of the day, we will win the respect of global society when we are able to show that we are effective in the way we operate. Being effective in how things are managed means mediating, and it means achieving a solution from that mediation, especially when the mediation is the subject of a resolution of the highest organ. That is how it is in each of our States when a parliament takes a decision and the executive branch respects it. We must understand that similarity if we want to deal with global governance. Much has also been said here about human rights. I am proud to say that my country is an example when it comes to full respect for human rights, having in the 1970s suffered from one of the most terrible dictatorships, which led to the disappearance not only of Argentine citizens but also of citizens of other nationalities. We are also leaders in this area. Along with other countries, we established the Human Rights Council and welcomed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, along with France and other co-authoring countries. Those are the thoughts that I wanted to share, which I do not purport bear the arrogance of holding some revealed or absolute truth. I simply wanted to show how we in Latin America have overcome very serious situations in the region by using a formula by which no one could leave the table until an issue were resolved by consensus. Finally, as I did with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when he kindly received me once again in a private meeting, I wanted to express the need to establish global rules to ensure the sovereignty of States and citizens’ privacy around the world, in the light of the recent well-known events. I think many things have occurred since the fall of the Berlin Wall. One of the clearest reasons for the fall of the Wall was that, first of all, the citizens on the other side wanted to live in freedom and without being watched. Yesterday, I recalled an excellent movie, which I am sure we all know won an Academy Award here in the United States, “The Lives of Others”, in which citizens felt they were being spied on and controlled. I think this shows the values that served to forge the ideal of democracy, the ideal that we can live and coexist in plurality and diversity, with different ideas, but without our different ideas leading us to become enemies of either the State or other fellow citizens. Those values should be taken up again, because those are the concepts that underpin the Charter adopted in San Francisco and many conventions that we have adhered to. I truly believe that, at heart — granted, in some cases more at heart than others — we all believe the same thing. It is not just a question of sensitivity or intellectual generosity. It is a way, perhaps the most intelligent one, of ensuring that democracy is viewed by as many of the world’s citizens as possible as the best way to live. I believe that peace and security, economic growth, inclusiveness, respect for human rights and individual privacy are inalienable rights that nobody is ready to give up. That is why we wanted to hold this debate today on how regional and subregional organizations cooperate with our mother Organization, the United Nations, to ensure that we have a world with more peace and more security. We must also state that peace and security is not a military concept. There are those who say that peace and security is to be achieved only by arms, but there are plenty of examples over thousands of years of human history that show us clearly that what really builds societies and ensures stability are the values and ideals for which a given society, as well as millions of individuals around the world, are ready to give their lives. We have seen this in the emancipating revolutions of the nineteenth century, in particular in the Americas, and in Africa in the twentieth century. Today’s global village requires a different type of emancipation and independence. I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council. There are still 30 speakers on the list of speakers. Given the lateness of the hour, I intend to suspend the meeting until 3 p.m.