S/PV.8064 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Bangladesh and Canada to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. At this meeting, the Council will hear briefings by Mr. Lacroix and by the representatives of Bangladesh and Canada. I now give the floor to Mr. Lacroix. Mr. Lacroix: I would like to start by thanking the Security Council for convening this briefing on strategic force generation. This is the first time that the Council dedicates a meeting to this topic, and today’s discussion follows the adoption of resolution 2378 (2017), which showed the Council’s strong commitment to strategic force generation as one of the core elements of peacekeeping reform. Generating uniformed personnel and units for United Nations peacekeeping is a tireless and enormous task. It means generating and rotating more than 300 units, including 76 infantry battalions, with tens of thousands of troops and police from over 120 countries, while selecting and deploying several thousand individual staff and police officers throughout the year. That is done by a small team of dedicated officers, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to it. Dozens of Member States have made substantial investments in their capabilities for United Nations peacekeeping by improving their equipment, training and levels of readiness. I am grateful to those Member States and I look forward to hearing more today on how we can continue and further deepen that productive partnership. (spoke in French) In April, the Secretary-General presented an outline of what peacekeeping should strive for — a more adapted, agile and flexible instrument capable of responding rapidly and aptly to requirements on the ground, through being supported by strong competencies and good equipment based on the mandate provided by the Council. Strategic force generation is a tool to implement that vision. It entails identifying current and future operation needs and communicating them in a targeted and sustained way to Member States that may be able to satisfy those needs. High level events, which began with the first summit on peacekeeping in 2014 and the creation of a Strategic Force Generation and Capabilities Planning Cell in 2015, have played a crucial role in that effort. The Cell worked closely with co-organizers and with other Member States to organize the summit of Heads of State and the Ministerial Meetings that took place in London and Paris. Of course, we are eagerly awaiting the Vancouver Meeting. From the beginning, those events have brought together the major troop- and police-contributing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, and have generated impetus. Various States representing all regional groups have participated in those events, including Member States of the Security Council. The subsequent meetings between Heads of State and police have allowed us to strengthen our commitment to Member States. It is no exaggeration to say that Heads of State, Heads of Government, Defence Ministers, armed- forces officials and police forces around the world have never been so involved in supporting peacekeeping. The commitments and subsequent pledges have made it possible to fill capacity gaps in current missions, strengthen certain missions and cope with any new deployments that the Council has considered or might consider in the future. In London, the system marked the first contribution pledges for rapidly deployable units. The final communiqué, which was endorsed by 63 Member States, set our new objectives for 2017 and beyond. In Paris, the specific needs were considered for peacekeeping in French-speaking areas and commitments were made to provide more French-speaking military troops and police personnel. The creation of a Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS) was a determining factor in our new approach for strategic force generation. The PCRS is constantly updated, thereby enabling us to understand which units are available by conducting evaluation and advisory visits, and to better understand their readiness levels and ability for deployment. Since March 2016, we have conducted 39 evaluation visits concerning 105 deployable units. Those visits make it possible not only to identify which units are the most suited to certain operations, but also to explain in detail to contributing States the standards and technical specificities that are expected. Such dialogue is also essential as part of the general strategy to improve the conduct and discipline of deployed personnel, in particular as part of the strategy to prevent and combat sexual abuse and exploitation. Those visits also sometimes make generating additional contributions possible, such as Jordanian helicopters to be deployed in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) or to identify priority areas for improvement with contributing States. Resolution 2378 (2017) calls on the Secretary-General to report on mechanisms to address capability gaps, and we will take the opportunity to outline how that is being done today and present a few ways of improving the coordination of efforts in the areas of training and capacity-building. To date, 81 Member States have provided contributions to the PCRS, which is an impressive success only two years after its establishment. Twenty- nine PCRS units have already been deployed to missions, including in MINUSMA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). In recent weeks, we have received new pledges of contributions, the most recent of which came on behalf of China and Germany. I am very grateful to those two countries. (spoke in English) One of the key aims of our strategic force generation efforts is to facilitate more rapid deployment of uniformed capabilities to the field. Rapid deployment is a costly, complex and difficult process that requires the commitment of the contributors as well as the host country and neighbours. In the weeks and months that pass from the issuance of the mandate until the mission reaches a minimum operating capacity, lives can be lost and our credibility undermined from the outset. There are financial implications to long-deployment timelines, as a peacekeeping operation deployed too late will have a more intractable situation to address, potentially requiring a larger footprint and prolonging the life of that mission. With the support of Member States and thanks to the concerted effort across the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support, we have been making significant progress towards more rapid deployment. Just to take a recent example, we replaced a battalion in MINUSCA, in the Central African Republic, that was facing conduct and discipline issues with three different contingents in less than 60 days, two of them had registered in the PCRS. We are very grateful to the countries that contributed those units. Members States also agreed earlier this year that units accepted to the rapid deployment level of the PCRS would receive financial compensation for maintaining the readiness of their major equipment during their time on the rapid deployment level. I am pleased to say that we recently received sufficient pledges to fulfil nearly all the requirements for a vanguard brigade of roughly 4,000 troops and police for the remainder of 2017 and the first half of next year. We plan to conduct an exercise of key personnel on the rapid deployment level and key United Nations personnel to further strengthen our ability to respond to future rapid deployments in the area. We are also developing an overarching rapid development concept and related training materials that bring together all of the civilian military police and support elements needed for rapid deployment. Despite the success of the past two years, a number of specialized capabilities remain in short supply, particularly high-value enablers such as helicopters, quick-reaction forces, explosive ordnance disposal units with counter improvised explosive device training and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance companies. Pledges to the PCRS of those kinds of units are welcome, but it is precisely in our most challenging missions that we need them the most. I am also disappointed with the lack of progress towards our targets for female peacekeepers, and very much hope that Member States will attend the Vancouver Defence Ministerial Meeting in mid-November with concrete pledges and proposals. One thing we have learned is that strategic force generation needs to be better linked to regular force planning for each mission, which also needs to be improved. The MINUSMA force generation conference in May was an important milestone in that regard. Member States discussed their plans for future contributions to Mali and potential partnerships for critical capabilities. We hope to build on that new effort to find creative ways to fill the most stubborn gaps, including by allowing troop-contributing countries to rotate scarce capabilities. However, no matter how creative we can be, we will need Member States to step forward, contribute new capabilities and help share the burden, particularly in Mali and especially in the most volatile areas. The Security Council has a crucial role to play in defining and helping us meet the capability requirements of our missions. A number of permanent and elected Council members have stepped up to host high-level meetings, pledge and prepare new capabilities, offer training and capacity-building support and provide direct financial and political support to our strategic force generation efforts. That is fully consistent with the call for a more active role of the Council itself in force generation, and I strongly welcome it. I also encourage Council members to come forward with new, innovative contributions, including through the provision of tailored and sustained training and capacity-building efforts to address our mid- to long-term capability gaps. The trilateral partnership between Japan and several African troop-contributing countries is a good example of that kind of initiative, and we strongly encourage further partnerships of that kind. There are a number of additional ways in which the Council can assist in helping us meet our capability requirements, and I will refer four of them. First, the Council can take into account current or potential capability gaps, such as those in MINUSMA, when drafting or renewing mandates. That should be done in close consultation with us and is critical to managing expectations. Clear, prioritized mandates will enable us to better guide and assess the performance of uniformed capabilities. Secondly, challenges relating to the timely deployment of capabilities, particularly for missions like UNMISS, are often associated with the consent and capacity of the host Government. Council members should engage collectively and individually to ensure that host Governments fully comply with the status-of- mission agreements and that the Council act accordingly when host Governments fail to do so. Thirdly, strategic force generation is intricately linked with performance. The leadership of the Council is critical in ensuring the full implementation of our performance, training and conduct requirements. In instances where action must be taken to address underperformance or misconduct, the Secretariat relies on the consistent support of Council members. Finally, I ask for the support of the Council in our efforts to foster a culture of continuous improvement and adaptation through strategic force generation and other reform efforts. We aim to create a virtuous cycle of performance improvement through assessment and advisory visits, regular in-field performance assessments, better planned rotations and deployments of new capabilities and training and capacity-building improvements. We will do all that together, working closely with troop- and police-contributing countries. Strategic force generation is an important and still relatively new initiative. I am confident that it will help us to improve our uniformed capabilities significantly over time. It should also be seen as only one part of a broader, ongoing effort by the Secretariat to make peacekeeping operations a more efficient, effective and accountable tool for the international community.

I thank Mr. Lacroix for his briefing. I now give the floor to the representative of Bangladesh.

I thank the members of the Security Council most sincerely for inviting me to provide a briefing on strategic force generation for United Nations peacekeeping operations. Earlier this week, Bangladesh hosted a preparatory meeting for the forthcoming Vancouver Defence Ministerial Meeting in November, with a focus on the innovative topic of smart pledges. The meeting was an occasion to review the pledges previously made by Member States to address the capability gaps faced by United Nations peacekeeping missions, especially those operating in certain difficult environments. I believe my Canadian colleague will further elaborate on that. Let me just say that the idea of smart pledges holds a lot of promise, but will need further deliberations among Member States to identify the right opportunities. The challenges concerning force generation and rapid deployment have remained under discussion for quite some time. It was appositely brought to the forefront in the 2015 report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) (see S/2015/446). The Panel highlighted the struggle to get sufficient forces on the ground quickly enough and the continued reliance on underresourced uniformed capabilities with little or no interoperability and weak command and control. We would reiterate the importance of addressing each aspect of those challenges. In our efforts to find answers to force generation, we should not lose focus on the related questions of adequate resources for peacekeeping missions and effective command and control structure within missions. The high-level open debate organized by the Ethiopian presidency last month (see S/PV.8051) and resolution 2378 (2017), adopted by the Council on the occasion, once again reaffirmed support for the HIPPO observations and recommendations. The debate furthermore stressed the importance of well-staffed and well-equipped missions and the right skill sets in order to respond to the increasingly robust complex and multidimensional peacekeeping mandates. As a leading troop- and police-contributing country, Bangladesh has remained particularly engaged in those ongoing discussions. It is encouraging to note that the issue of force generation and rapid deployment has been identified as one of the areas where substantive progress has been made in terms of implementing the HIPPO recommendations. We have repeatedly made a case for discussing issues concerning strategic force generation under the purview of triangular consultations among the Security Council, troop- and police-contributing countries and the Secretariat. The establishment of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS), which replaced the Standby Arrangements System, has was aimed at instituting a comprehensive platform for enhanced collaboration between Member States and the Secretariat towards redeeming the pledges made by Member States. On our part, we made efforts to readily adapt to the new arrangement and were perhaps the first Member State to have registered 13 contingents and 50 observers and staff on the PCRS. Just to illustrate, from our armed forces we registered one infantry batallion, one engineering company, one level 2 hospital, one signal company and one transportation company. From our navy, we registered one riverine unit, two maritime units, made up of frigate and offshore patrol vessels, and one port operations unit, among others. From our air force, we provided one utility aviation unit, made up of three Bell-212 helicopters, and, lastly, two formed police units. In addition, thus far, we have made a number of additional informal pledges. We look forward to announcing further pledges during the Vancouver Defence Ministerial Meeting. We also signalled that we would be in a position to deploy some of our contingents at rapid deployment level in fewer than 60 days. We have taken a principled approach to train our potential peacekeepers on the protection of civilians and on combating sexual exploitation and abuse, among a host of priority issues. We have taken due note of the establishment of the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and underscored, in the context of last year’s annual report (A/70/19) of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, the need for enhanced prior consultations with troop- and police-contributing countries on such major initiatives. Our delegation has developed a sound working relation with the Cell and has so far worked in close partnership in facilitating DPKO assessment missions to Bangladesh in order to ascertain the deployment and training status of our registered contingents. The leaders’ summit on peacekeeping in 2015, which we had the privilege of co-hosting, was a milestone in the area of strategic force generation. It helped generate pledges by Member States for over 40,000 police and military personnel, as well as critical enablers including helicopters, engineering, logistics and transport units. The momentum was sustained through the London Defence Ministerial Meeting last year, and now the Vacouver Meeting, scheduled for next month. We would encourage all troop- and police­ contributing countries, including Council members, to consult the updated current and emerging uniformed capability requirements for United Nations peacekeeping and tailor their further pledges accordingly. There are critical mission-specific gaps in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti that need to be addressed in order to respond to the challenging circumstances prevailing in the two former and effectively manage the transition in the latter. The realistic, sequenced and prioritized mandates that we urge the Council to design and pursue in response to evolving ground realities will be able to deliver results only if the corresponding demands for capabilities and resources are sufficiently met. It would perhaps be advisable to review the current assessment criteria, frequency and consistency for the PCRS in order to make sure that the pledges registered indeed remain deployable at any given point in time. The mandated scope of the PCRS may disproportionately affect potential troop- and police-contributing countries with limited or niche capabilities. It also merits further consideration if the current reimbursement arrangements for contingents and capabilities at rapid deployment level are viable in the medium to long term. It will be important for Council members to gain first-hand ideas about the prevailing gaps and challenges on the ground during their field missions. The question of enhanced participation by female peacekeepers is integral to strategic force generation. The United Nations aims to increase female participation by 15 per cent by the end of 2017 — an initiative we support in principle — but, as we discern in our national context, that is far easier said than done. Bangladesh has made sustained contributions in the form of all-female formed police units in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti. However, despite a strong push from our political leadership, we have not been able to reach our target with individual staff officers and observers. Our armed forces and police remain seized with this issue, not least due to our traditional commitment to the women and peace and security agenda. We look forward to further discussions on that issue during the Council open debate scheduled for later this month. The issue of language skills for peacekeepers was discussed at the Paris Defence Ministerial Meeting with a focus on francophone theatres. As a co-host of the Meeting, Bangladesh made renewed pledges to developing the language skills of our troops and police in particular. This is perhaps an area where smart pledges, including the in the form of South-South cooperation, could come into play with tangible results. To conclude, I would like to assure the Council of sustained commitments by troop- and police-contributing countries to mobilize our strength and capabilities to deliver on the mandates given for peacekeeping missions. In turn, we would expect the Council to remain sensitized and responsive to our suggestions and concerns and ensure that the mandates given are matched with adequate resources and support by all concerned in order to pave the way for our collective success.

I thank Ambassador Bin Momen for his briefing. I now give the floor to the representative of Canada.

I would like to thank France and the United Kingdom for convening this important meeting on strategic force generation and for inviting Canada to brief the Council on the upcoming Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting in the beautiful city of Vancouver. (spoke in English) I would also like to thank my colleague from Bangladesh and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations for their very useful presentations today. Canada is convinced that, when properly mandated, resourced and supported, peacekeeping remains one of the most flexible and effective tools available to the international community in responding to crises. But the nature of conflict is evolving, the operational tempo of peacekeeping is increasing and the scale and complexity of peacekeeping operations are growing. We have no choice but to anticipate, adapt and respond to the challenges. That requires reforming our collective institutions, enhancing operational effectiveness and making a sustained and collective effort to address capability gaps. However, addressing capability gaps requires more than just supplying boots on the ground. It is about providing troops with the right training, capabilities and equipment, and doing so in a timely fashion. Strategic force generation is fundamental to that effort. And it is an area where we — Member States and the Secretariat — need to work together, differently and more effectively. (spoke in French) Since 2014, a high-level series of conferences have helped to bridge the gap between the operational needs of United Nations peacekeeping and the tremendous capabilities that Member States have to offer. From New York to London to Paris, we have not only seen an unprecedented number of pledges to United Nations peacekeeping, but also steps by Member States and the United Nations to introduce qualitative considerations into the discussion on force generation. Those annual events are now a key part of the institution of United Nations peacekeeping, complementing the work of this organ as well as the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. United Nations peacekeeping has a renewed sense of purpose thanks to the reforms proposed by the Secretary-General. With those considerations in mind, Canada volunteered to host the 2017 United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting. We are not alone in that endeavour. We are honoured to be working in lockstep with 10 co-hosts — Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Rwanda, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States. The Ministerial Meeting will take place from 14 to 15 November in Vancouver. Participation is open to Member States announcing new pledges to United Nations peacekeeping. Much preparation has already gone into organizing and planning the Ministerial Meeting, including three substantive meetings, held in Tokyo, Kigali and Dhaka, which involved the participation of approximately 50 Member States. The meetings help pave the way for a successful Meeting in November. We are on track to reach the highest level of participation seen yet, and we have set equally high expectations for the outcome of the event. (spoke in English) Canada fully agrees with Secretary-General Guterres that conflict prevention should be one of the key priorities for the United Nations. Discussions in Vancouver will accordingly highlight the importance of integrated approaches to preventing violent conflict. Ministers will advance those objectives through panel sessions on the following themes. First, participants will close capability gaps in United Nations peacekeeping by announcing new pledges and taking stock of pledges already in place. In particular, those include strengthening capabilities related to gender, police peacekeepers, as well as to peacekeeping in a francophone environment. Secondly, we will identify concrete ways to strengthen partnerships on training and capacity- building between the United Nations, troops, police and other actors. We all have a common purpose in making United Nations peacekeeping operations more effective, and we have complementary skills and experiences to offer. It is time that troop- and police-contributing countries, along with the Secretariat, work closer together before deployments to ensure that all of our women and men in the field have the training they need and are able to operate as one. Thirdly, we will examine how we can better protect those at risk by ensuring that our strategies align with the realities on the ground. That includes looking into what concrete measures can be taken to better address sexual exploitation and abuse and prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Fourthly, we will encourage greater coherence in early warning and rapid deployment by identifying innovative approaches, capacities and technologies to improve early warning, rapid analysis and planning capabilities. We will also look at ways to shorten new mission start-up times and ensure that we have filled the United Nations rapid-deployment requirements for 2018. Given the leadership of Prime Minister Trudeau and Secretary-General Guterres, no one should be surprised that the Vancouver Ministerial Meeting will include the importance of integrating gender perspectives as its principal cross-cutting theme. In addressing our persistent failure to leverage the impact that women can have in prevention efforts and in securing durable peace, gender perspectives will be mainstreamed across all discussions. That will include enhancing the recruitment of female personnel, addressing barriers to their participation, providing training opportunities and combating conflict-related sexual violence, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse. Indeed, gender perspectives and the participation of women is directly linked to operational effectiveness and it is vital to prevention efforts and in securing a durable peace. Most fundamentally, in the Canadian way, we recognize that inclusive partnerships are central to our shared success. The peer-to-peer nature of joint training, leading to better prepared and interoperable troops and police; the vital importance of working with key regional organizations, such as the African Union, on a more equitable footing; the potential of joint smart pledges, which can provide the predictability of supply needed to enhance a mission’s chance of success — all point to how we can do more to come together at a time when United Nations peacekeeping needs us. We look forward to welcoming everyone in Vancouver.

I thank the representative of Canada for his briefing. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Security Council who wish to make statements.

I thank Mr. Lacroix, Ambassador Blanchard and Ambassador Bin Momen for their briefings. I would like to begin by paying tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women of United Nations peacekeeping. They represent the very best of the Organization. We owe it to them and to those they protect to ensure that peacekeeping operations have the right capabilities for the mission at hand. That means the right people, with the right equipment and skills, carrying out the right mandate. How often do we actually meet that standard? How often, instead, do we hear of peacekeeping operations having to rely on whichever forces are available, rather than on the forces best suited to the mission? Our ultimate goal must be to give the United Nations the freedom to tailor the forces it deploys according to the unique circumstances of each mission’s mandate. We made a good start towards that goal, including at the United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting in London last year. But as our Canadian colleagues pick up the battle, it is clear that there is more to do. Let me outline three steps that we need to take. First, we should not be afraid to innovate. We know that there are persistent gaps in niche capabilities, such as attack helicopters, specialist engineering skills and medical skills. We should not accept those gaps as an unavoidable reality, but instead look to countries to work together to rotate the provision of that scarce capability. That could mean one country providing those skills while another supplies the supporting logistics, sharing the burden and increasing the availability of that niche asset. Such innovative smart pledges will be one of the issues that the British Defence Secretary will raise in Vancouver. Innovation also means incorporating modern technology to make peacekeeping more responsive and more effective. We have already made some progress on using unmanned aerial vehicles, but there are more technologies that we could be harnessing. To do so effectively, we need to be able to anticipate the future requirements of missions, which brings me to my second point. Put simply, United Nations peacekeeping missions are not meant to stay the same. They are meant to evolve as the conditions on the ground evolve. As the mission’s objectives are achieved and as political processes progress, force requirements will also change. We should be able to anticipate those changes and be agile enough to provide the capabilities required. That means moving away from setting arbitrary troop ceilings and instead moving towards a tailored approach that relies on better information on what capabilities are actually needed and when, so that we are more focused on the effects that we want the peacekeeping mission to deliver. For example, next month we will be discussing the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic. Many here will no doubt advocate for an increase in the troop ceiling. But the United Kingdom is more concerned that the Mission has the right troops. For us, that means troops who are agile and mobile, willing and capable of moving to where they are needed at short notice. We know that this approach works; we have seen it in action elsewhere. I would like to praise the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Pakistani contingent there for their agility in relocating troops to hotspots where they are really needed for the protection of civilians. To help us anticipate future force requirements, we need rich, real-time data from the United Nations to inform Council decision-making. That analysis needs to be used also to inform force-generation decisions. We therefore welcome the call in resolution 2378 (2017) for the collection and analysis of data on peacekeeping performance. It is a really important step forward. Let us all work with the United Nations to make it a reality. My final point is that we cannot lose sight of long- term planning and strategic force generation. That includes more partnerships, more training and more capacity-building, so that we are moving beyond the immediate force generation to future strategic force generation, and so that we are preparing for future needs, not just filling the current capability gaps. As we do so, let us not forget that the military force is just one of the three pillars of a mission. As missions become more involved in political work, we will all need to think about how we generate the civilian component and the policing component so that missions can play a role that has a significant impact, not just in keeping the peace but in building and sustaining it too.

First of all, I would like to thank this month’s French presidency for having agreed, at the initiative of the United Kingdom delegation, to hold this briefing on the important issue of strategic force generation. My thanks also go to my colleagues from Bangladesh and Canada, and of course to Under-Secretary-General Lacroix. Their briefings confirm that all peacekeeping operations continue to face a shortfall related to a lack of capacities and equipment. The United Nations Standby Arrangements System for peacekeeping, which in all its iterations, has been used by the Secretary-General since 1948, to pool the resources of countries’ forces and make them available for peacekeeping operations, has shown its limitations, especially with regard to settling current crises, which have become more numerous, complex and deadly. That serves to highlight the importance of today’s meeting and shows our Organization’s determination to confront the challenges in providing both standby forces and the capacities and sufficient number contingents with a view to contribute effectively to peacekeeping on the ground where asymmetrical threats are increasingly encountered. It is encouraging that, following the leaders’ summit on peacekeeping organized on the sidelines of the General Assembly in 2015 under the American presidency, the Secretary-General established within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations a Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell responsible for managing a new system for preparing peacekeeping operations and the process of force generation, known as the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS). Despite those measures, however, and the Ministerial Meetings held in London and Paris, the shortfalls encountered in implementing the mandates of peacekeeping operations remain glaring. In addition to a lack of capacities owing to the insufficient number of contingents already deployed, the missions are having a difficult time meeting their own needs  — for example, in terms of engineering, health care and aerial transport  — although, as the representative of Canada pointed out, those capacities are available in numerous developed member countries. Those capacity shortfalls are even more salient for troop- and police-contributing countries (TCCs/PCCs), whose contingents are deployed in multidimensional missions and lacking the necessary means within a complex and insecure environment characterized, in particular by asymmetrical threats and hostile actions aimed increasingly at our Blue Helmets who are supposed to be protecting civilians. That observation consequently led Senegal, in November 2016, to convene a ministerial open debate (see S/PV.7802) during its presidency of the Security Council on United Nations peacekeeping operations facing asymmetrical threats. The goal of that debate was to stimulate strategic thinking on planning as well as generation and the mandates of forces that must deployed in asymmetrical contexts. In truth, the capacities required for the full implementation of the mandates fall short in many cases in which the missions are carried out in the absence of a political process and the means to exit the crises. Consequently, the missions become protracted and their engagement becomes prolonged and uncertain. In addressing that situation, and while maintaining constant cooperation with the troop- and police-contributing countries, the Security Council must explore new options with Secretary-General. One possibility is a framework for coalitions among States from among the membership or the region so as to generate forces within the structure of the PCRS in order to fill gaps in the area of operational capacity. In that regard, I recall that Senegal has already experimented with the concept of joint deployment  — with Guinea within the framework of African-led International Support Mission in Mali, while waiting for the implementation of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, which we discussed in this very Chamber this morning (see S/PV.8062). Similarly, together with Burkina Faso, Senegal proposed to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations the deployment of a unit of utility helicopters in Côte d’Ivoire prior to the closing of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. Based on firm partnerships between TCCs and PCCs in pooling capacities, the Security Council must strongly encourage seeking partnerships and defining the basic needs that will allow for the rapid mobilization of sufficient forces to respond to the increasing number of crises, especially when the latter emerge unexpectedly. Such an approach could include non-regional partnerships supervised by the United Nations. Accordingly, we believe that the upcoming Defence Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver, which the Ambassador of Canada mentioned earlier, can be included in that type of cooperation within the framework of smart pledges through, for example, intelligent advertising. In the context of cooperation involving regional and subregional organizations, standby arrangement systems and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises could also serve to fill the gaps. Our experiences gleaned from the African Union Mission in Somalia, the African-led International Support Mission in Mali and the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic have demonstrated that countries neighbouring those in conflict were the most amenable to intervene in a timely manner. Senegal therefore encourages strengthening African systems through the deployment of Member State contingents so as to contribute to overcoming the difficulties observed, and, at the same time, draw on the lessons learned from the transitions that have taken place in Mali and the Central African Republic. In that same regard, the Council and the Secretariat, in tandem with TCCs and PCCs, could pursue and further strengthen inter-mission cooperation, which proved to be very constructive in sporadic or fixed- period force generation to reinforce the operational capacities of United Nations missions. In the same vein, the Senegalese rapid reaction force, through its deployment from Côte d’Ivoire to the Central African Republic, was able to ensure the holding of the 2016 presidential elections in the Central African Republic, thereby providing an inspiring example. That same kind of operation is already envisioned, but this time it will originate in Mali, where the Senegalese rapid reaction force is already deployed, and take place in Liberia, where general elections are to be held. Henceforth, countries will be able to play the role expected of them to fill the most glaring gaps, most of which require enabling units or new technologies. Fortunately, with the leaders’ summit on peacekeeping operations and the Ministerial Meetings in London and Paris, the leaders of contributing countries have been showcasing their firm belief, in and commitment to, investing more in peacekeeping operations. In other words, through strong political will, Governments can show more commitment to the United Nations in providing it with what is required. In conclusion, I would like to return to the problems often encountered in force generation by African countries in general. First, the Statement of Unit Requirements, which defines the basis for generating and deploying United Nations military units, poses non-conformity issues with regard to how units from contributing countries are structured. TCCs and PCCs should look for solutions to the task of calibrating batallions, with a view to completing the mandates and duties that they must carry out. Secondly, strategic force generation specifically intended for peacekeeping can undermine the capacities of contributing countries, whose scant security and police personnel may already be facing significant domestic undertakings. Overall, we welcome the interest we are all according to the effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping operations in the wake of the report (see S/2015/446) of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, the reform of the peace and security pillar of the United Nations initiated by the Secretary-General, the adoption of resolution 2377 (2017) and the meeting of the Council on this issue held on 20 September (see S/PV.8051), where nearly every Council was represented at the level of Head of State, Head of Government or Minister for Foreign Affairs.

We thank you and the French presidency, Sir, as well as the United Kingdom for organizing today’s important meeting on force generation for United Nations peacekeeping operations. It is indeed a very important matter that needs to be considered seriously by the Security Council as part of the efforts to reform United Nations peacekeeping. We are grateful to Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix for his briefing. We also appreciate the remarks by the Ambassadors of Bangladesh and Canada. We value their contribution. Obviously, the United Nations depends upon Member States to generate forces for its peacekeeping missions. In that regard, securing sufficient forces with the necessary capabilities to be deployed on the ground quickly has been a challenge. Mr. Lacroix was right in highlighting the enormity of the challenge. The bureaucratic arrangements in the Secretariat have also been posing constraints on the speed, mobility and flexibility of response in the field. That is why there is a need for a new approach to strategic force generation, as recommended by the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO). That certainly requires undertaking important reform efforts to change the way that the United Nations mobilizes and deploys its uniformed personnel. We take note of the efforts undertaken in that regard. The establishment and operation of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System in the Secretariat represents a step in the right direction. We look forward to the Secretary-General’s recommendations in December, which will be presented to the Security Council pursuant to resolution 2378 (2017), with regard to a mechanism to fill the existing gaps in force generation capabilities, including through more effective and efficient training and capacity-building. As the HIPPO report (see S/2015/446) correctly put it, force generation is not only a technical and operational issue to be left to the Secretariat. Achieving progress on the issue requires the mobilization and political support of Member States. That is why greater consultation with current and potential contributors is absolutely imperative for providing timely, adequate and relevant information, so as to help them make informed decisions regarding contributing personnel. Therefore, as stressed by all previous speakers, there is a need to enhance the triangular cooperation among the Security Council, the Secretariat and troop/police-contributing countries. The increase in the number of countries contributing to United Nations peacekeeping, including by some permanent members of the Council, is encouraging. We support the high-level efforts that have been over the past two years to ensure greater participation by Member States and secure concrete commitments and pledges to fill existing gaps with respect to force generation and capabilities. In that context, we look forward to the upcoming Defence Ministerial Meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Vancouver next month. While continuing to increase the quantity and quality of pledges by Member States remains significant, equally important is the question of whether or not the pledges already made are being implemented. That certainly requires continuous follow-up and regular updates by the Secretariat on the issue, in line with resolution 2378 (2017), which is very important. Finally, the new approach to strategic force generation should also support and encourage regional capabilities, such as the African Standby Force. Those regional forces play an important role as first responders and have demonstrated their ability to serve as bridging forces until the United Nations is ready to deploy its own forces. Therefore, we very much hope that the Secretariat will develop options for both regional and global capacity to rapidly deploy capabilities, including to serve as bridging forces, in accordance with the HIPPO recommendations.

I would like to thank Under- Secretary-General Lacroix, Ambassador Momen of Bangladesh and Ambassador Blanchard of Canada for their briefings. We are grateful to the French presidency for convening today’s timely debate, which follows a series of related discussions throughout the year that demonstrate the Security Council’s seriousness in strengthening peacekeeping as one of the most important activities of the United Nations. I would like to express special appreciation to Ambassador Fodé Seck and Ambassador Nikki Haley for convening a special meeting of the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations at the Permanent Representative level two days ago. It provided us with an excellent and unique opportunity for Council members and troop- contributing countries to get together for an in-depth discussion. I would like to focus today on two key points: first, on the significance of force generation and, secondly, on how effective and efficient training and capacity-building can improve force generation. Force generation is closely linked with the Council’s responsibility for overseeing the success of mission mandates. The gaps that we see today between actual and desired capabilities of peacekeepers in some areas are detrimental to achieving success. The report (see S/2015/446) of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations indicates that the capability issue is one of the various challenges in force generation, while resolution 2378 (2017), adopted in September, also stresses the need to address the issue of capability gaps. The role of the Secretariat, which oversees the force generation process to implement Council mandates, is key in minimizing those gaps. Several efforts have been made, including the establishment of the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell and the Peacekeeping Capacity Readiness System (PCRS). Japan welcomes those initiatives and urges the Secretariat to continue to undertake realistic, cross- mission efforts that help missions adapt to realities on the ground. Successful force generation is about deploying peacekeepers with the right capabilities at the right time. Japan emphasizes that effective and efficient training and capacity-building are essential. Japan underlines the call in resolution 2378 (2017) for the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on a mechanism to address training and capacity-building. We note that, while force generation efforts by the Secretariat are cross-cutting in nature, as demonstrated by the PCRS, capacity-building has remained largely the focus of troop-contributing countries (TCCs), with occasional donor country support. Those efforts have so far been bilateral and could benefit from a cross- cutting and coordinated approach. The successful force generation conference for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali earlier this year offers a positive model and could be expanded to all other missions as a best practice. Further involvement on the part of the Secretariat could also be helpful. It could play a more active role in matchmaking between potential troop-contributing countries and supporters who can help TCCs prepare for challenges on the ground. We should also explore whether the potential exists for making further use of the Strategic Force Generation Cell and the PCRS in that regard. Effective and efficient training and capacity- building measures can be achieved only through cooperation among four actors — the Council, troop-contributing countries, the Secretariat and potential donor countries. Japan has already launched discussions in that regard, including with Canada and Bangladesh. We co-hosted a preparatory meeting in August with Bangladesh in advance of the 2017 United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver. Effective and efficient training and capacity- building will enable better force generation efforts, and ultimately a better performance by peacekeepers. Given that the Secretary-General’s 90-day report, as mandated by resolution 2378 (2017), is due by the end of the year, Japan is prepared to follow up on the topic during its presidency in December.

I would like to thank the French presidency of the Security Council for organizing this timely and important debate on strategic force generation for United Nations peacekeeping operations. I would also like to thank Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, and Ambassadors Momen and Blanchard, of Bangladesh and Canada, for their briefings. Conflict prevention and maintaining peace are among the key founding objectives of the United Nations, and an efficient peacekeeping system is a primary requisite for achieving them. We therefore fully endorse the Secretary-General’s initiatives aimed at reforming United Nations peacekeeping, with a focus on effectiveness, mission accountability and new partnerships. While we want to emphasize the primacy of politics in conflict prevention and resolution, our peacekeeping forces remain a valuable tool for ensuring the creation of conditions conducive to political solutions. We have been witnessing significant changes in the United Nations peacekeeping system, with Member States making important new commitments at the leaders’ summit on peacekeeping in New York and subsequent ministerial meetings on the topic. Kazakhstan has declared its unit and number of individual officers in the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS). We believe that the PCRS has shown itself to be the right instrument for ensuring adequate preparedness on the part of the troop- contributing countries (TCCs) and police-contributing countries (PCCs) to be deployed. It can also provide the United Nations with a range of contingents for filling operational gaps in field missions, if properly facilitated by the Secretariat. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), with its unique database on the capabilities and strengths of Member States, plays a key role in force generation through its targeted outreach approach and by facilitating partnerships between TCCs and PCCs that can increase co-deployments. Enhancing cooperation between regional and subregional organizations is a vital contributing factor. We are certain that the flexibility and partnerships that can enable the active involvement and engagement of countries new to United Nations peacekeeping will increase the effectiveness of peace operations. We would like to note the DPKO’s forward-looking approach to engaging the emergency- response capabilities of Member States that have solid rapid-deployment capacities, something that will be invaluable when we need to react immediately to crises while peacekeeping forces are still being generated. With the further improvement and development of the PCRS, we believe that the problems the United Nations has with critical gaps in missions will be dealt with. At the same time, the hybrid United Nations- African Union missions have shown that the deployment of regional forces can be effective. Such cooperation should be strengthened on the political, humanitarian, human rights and development fronts as well, as indicated in the agreement on the Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed on 19 April. Collaboration with regional structures can also enable concerted action in tackling security challenges. The Security Council’s recent adoption of resolution 2378 (2017) is a great step forward in the efforts to improve United Nations peacekeeping. Kazakhstan would like to emphasize the importance of strengthening triangular consultations between the Security Council, troop- and police-contributing countries and the Secretariat, which will encourage shared responsibility for meaningful, inclusive and dynamic consultations and enhance their dialogue with host countries so that they can fully implement their peacekeeping mandate. Kazakhstan is committed to peacekeeping and will continue sending well-qualified military observers and increasing its contribution. Kazakhstan is currently preparing an infantry unit for participation in peacekeeping operation and exploring the possibilities for co-deployment to one of the United Nations peacekeeping operations. As an emerging troop- contributing country, we are constantly increasing our preparedness levels, as the DPKO has confirmed. Kazakhstan attaches great importance to achieving high performance standards and has therefore established its own peacekeeping training centre, KAZCENT, which has already been recognized as achieving international standards. We conduct courses on a regional basis and will work to attain the status of a regional training centre. Lastly, Kazakhstan stands ready to support effective peacekeeping and thereby further the mandate of the Council.

We appreciate your organization of today’s meeting, Mr. President. The briefings by Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and by the representatives of Bangladesh and Canada on behalf of the troop-contributing countries (TCCs), were helpful. We believe firmly that it is essential for United Nations peacekeeping activities to adapt to current realities so that the Blue Helmets can effectively implement their mandates and stand up to new challenges. That applies equally to the training and functioning of units involved in United Nations peacekeeping operations. What is important in that regard is not only the professional preparation and competence of personnel but also missions’ ability to deploy in a timely fashion and their mobility on the ground within the framework of their mandate from the Security Council. In that context, it is crucially important to ensure that peacekeepers have all the resources they need as soon as possible so that they can provide security and accomplish their mandated tasks. In that regard, both the Secretariat’s Department of Field Support and to the troop-contributing countries have an equally responsible part to play. We cannot emphasize the importance of the TCCs’ contribution enough. It is impossible to carry out the Security Council’s mandated tasks without them. We firmly believe in the importance of close cooperation and coordination of efforts between the Security Council, the host Government, the troop- contributing countries and the Secretariat, not to mention of direct, good-faith contact between United Nations field missions and their host countries. It is that kind of interaction, based above all on transparency and accountability and thereby on trust, that helps to improve effectiveness in dealing with urgent problems. Obtaining host countries’ consent and support would help missions in their operational activities as well as their political ones, an essential component of their ability to effectively fulfil their mandates. It is also important to take into account the views and concerns of troop-contributing countries in developing and extending mission mandates. In that regard, we appreciate the various existing tripartite cooperation mechanisms, including regular meetings and the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations. We believe that there is potential there for increasing their effectiveness. The most important platform for discussion and decision-making on the full range of peacekeeping issues is the General Assembly’s Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. When the Secretariat makes administrative decisions it should make sure that the Special Committee’s conclusions are strictly observed. Any arbitrary interpretation, such as occurred with the issue of the collection and analysis of information, is completely unacceptable. The same applies to the issue of zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. Any reports of such dreadful crimes should be thoroughly investigated and their perpetrators punished. However, we are also convinced that it is counterproductive to apply collective punishment to entire contingents for egregious, yet individual, violations. Russian peacekeepers  — both men and women  — currently take part in 10 United Nations peacekeeping operations. We also actively provide aviation services to the United Nations. Both our own peacekeepers and foreign peacekeepers  — individual and formed police units  — undergo training in Russian training institutions. Furthermore, we assist in equipping foreign contingents. We have the relevant experience and have developed a system of training that ensures both general and specialized training, which is provided directly before peacekeepers are deployed to their relevant missions. Linguistic training is also adapted to the needs of peacekeepers. We are working on developing additional training centres for peacekeepers. We are looking into the possibility of swiftly deploying any peacekeepers requested by the United Nations. We are ready to continue to provide support in strengthening United Nations peacekeeping capacity. In conclusion, we would like to stress that, regardless of how United Nations peacekeeping evolves, what should remain unchanged is our confidence in peacekeeping, which depends upon clear adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and the basic principles of peacekeeping — the consent of the host State, impartiality and the non-use of force, with the exception of self-defence and the protection of the mandate.

I would like to thank Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under- Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for his comprehensive briefing and the efforts of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to reform and improve United Nations peacekeeping operations. I also thank the Ambassador of Bangladesh and the Ambassador of Canada for their insightful briefings, as well as the French presidency and the delegation of the United Kingdom for holding this meeting, which is an opportunity to harmonize United Nations peacekeeping reform efforts. Over the past two years, reform and review efforts have focused on operational and technical aspects, especially with regard to broadening the base of troop- and police-contributing countries and force generation. Those efforts have included developing the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and holding the 2015 and 2016 Ministerial Meetings in New York, London and Paris. It is now time for the Council to ensure that those efforts take shape and are in line with mandates. In that regard, I would like to make the following three points. First, Egypt believes that force-generation and capacity is contingent upon effective trilateral consultations among the Security Council, troop- contributing countries (TCCs) and the Secretariat. Such consultations contribute to a clear and comprehensive vision for mandate design and review that takes into account United Nations capabilities, political developments and the situation on the ground at every stage of conflicts, on a case-by-case basis. Such consultations are particularly important when it comes to adopting sequenced mandates — a welcome measure that would ensure the effectiveness of missions, rather than prolonging them for decades. That would allow the Council to make realistic and actionable decisions when renewing, reviewing and amending mandates. In that regard, Egypt fully supports the efforts of the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Secondly, as part of peacekeeping reform, significant efforts have been made to enhance training, strengthen compliance with the command and control chain and delegate authority to the field to make urgent decisions, which, in many cases, directly impact the effectiveness of missions and the reputation of the United Nations. Force-generation and TCC expansion must not come at the expense of performance standards, equipment availability, training and strict conduct and discipline standards, including combating sexual exploitation and abuse. Performance assessment must be based on clear parameters and peacekeeping policies, in close consultation with TCCs. The availability of training, capacity and equipment and the protection and safety of civilians must go hand in hand. Recent months have seen an increase in attacks against contingents  — for instance, in the Central African Republic and Mali. Such incidents have served to expose gaps in protection capabilities, including in training, equipment, availability of information and risk assessment. Those gaps must be urgently addressed to enhance the credibility of peacekeeping operations and protect personnel, who are the most important assets of those operations. Thirdly, with regard to capability gaps, I would like to note that Egypt has provided specialized units to the most difficult United Nations operations, as we pledged. As part of our support to peacekeeping operations, we have provided much-needed equipment to a number of underequipped missions, including the provision of 100 armoured vehicles. In addition, we pledged an advanced engineering unit as part of the rapid deployment force. In addition, Egypt upholds the highest standards in the training our military and police forces. We organize specialized predeployment training, in particular on sexual exploitation and abuse. In line with United Nations training standards. Egypt contributes to the training and capacity-building of new TCCs. The Cairo Centre for Training in Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa hosts training courses for candidates from African and other countries. As part of our focus on training and readiness, Egypt hosted the meeting of the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres in September. The meeting addressed future training needs holistically, in the light of the latest developments in the peacekeeping security field and the role of missions as part of an approach that is based on a continuum of response. In conclusion, in line with our continued support to peacekeeping operations, we announced at the Security Council, the General Assembly and in a formal letter to the Secretariat, our willingness to host the 2018 Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting. We hope the Meeting will pave the way for a qualitative shift in our joint efforts to promote the credibility of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

China appreciates France and the United Kingdom’s initiative in convening today’s meeting, and we would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, and Ambassadors Momen and Blanchard, of Bangladesh and Canada, for their briefings. United Nations peacekeeping operations are an important component of the Organization’s efforts to maintain international peace and security. Since peacekeeping forces operate on the ground under the Council’s mandates, enhancing their ability to deploy rapidly, strengthening peacekeepers’ capabilities and improving their mandates are critical to their greater efficiency and effectiveness. In that context, I would like to make the following points. First, we should consistently uphold the basic principles of peacekeeping operations. The purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the three peacekeeping-operation principles — the consent of the parties, impartiality and the non-use of force except in self-defence or defence of the mandate — constitute their foundation and remain irreplaceable in guiding operations in a new context. The sovereignty of host countries should be fully respected and their input and views taken seriously in order to help them scale up their security capacities. When a host country requires the withdrawal of a peacekeeping operation and the circumstances permit, the Council should give the Secretariat guidance on drawing up a clear exit timetable, to ensure that the mission will not remain in the host country indefinitely. Secondly, we must fully recognize the role of troop-contributing countries (TCCs). Ultimately, it is peacekeepers who ensure the success of United Nations peacekeeping operations, and the TCCs and police-contributing countries (PCCs) are the main actors in implementing those operations, carrying out their mission on the front lines in support of the Organization’s fulfilment of its responsibilities as mandated under the Charter of the United Nations and making great sacrifices through their contribution. The long-term development of peacekeeping operations also depends on the efforts of TCCs and PCCs, and they must be acknowledged and respected. In that regard, we should strengthen the triangular communication between the Council, the Secretariat and the TCCs. The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations should play its full role as a policy review body and give TCCs more say on peacekeeping issues. Thirdly, we should increase efforts to help TCCs with capacity-building. For peacekeeping operations to be able to implement their mandates, full and focused predeployment training and reliable provision of all the necessary resources, including equipment, are essential. Operations must therefore be provided with the training and resources they need. It is important to pay close attention to the real needs of TCCs from developing countries and the challenges they face, as well as to encourage bilateral and multilateral cooperation in strengthening their peacekeeping capacity-building. We should also give particular attention and support to regional and subregional organizations, including the African Union, so that they can play a bigger part in maintaining peace and security in Africa and help the continent improve its peacekeeping capacity-building. Fourthly, it is essential to define a clear, actionable and targeted mandate for every peacekeeping mission. Mandates instruct and guide every mission in its operations and are an important determinant of their effectiveness. The priority needs and realities of host countries, as well as the TCCs’ capacities, should be considered together in order to keep operations focused on the core task of peacekeeping. Priorities for the different phases of an operation can be modified as and when any change is needed, while keeping the host country in the driving seat for the sake of effective mandate implementation. Fifthly, the Secretariat should provide better support and assurances for peacekeeping forces in terms of both efficiency and quality. Where its role in managing peacekeeping operations is concerned, the Secretariat should look at the big picture for peacekeeping operations and their long-term development, as well as working to make them more effective and better able to address complex situations with concrete measures. The Secretariat and missions should pay close attention to peacekeepers’ security and medical service capabilities and should guarantee them. Systems for tracking and assessing the security situation on the ground must be set up and early-warning capabilities for security threats and intra-mission information-sharing improved. Every mission should commit to strengthening its training in the deployment phase, which should be tailored to the realities of the mission’s area of operations. For its part, the Secretariat should improve management standards and efficiency, optimize logistics support mechanisms and ensure that peacekeeping resources are utilized effectively. At the United Nations peacekeeping summit in September 2015, China’s President made an important commitment to supporting United Nations peacekeeping operations, and China is currently pressing ahead with the implementation of that commitment across the board. In the past two years, we have trained more than 800 peacekeepers for the United Nations and some countries concerned and have dispatched a first helicopter squadron to a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Africa. We are now in the process of delivering $100 million in free financial aid pledged to the African Union and have made support for the peacekeeping capacities of TCCs, especially those from Africa, a priority of the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund. In September, China officially completed the registration of its 8,000-strong standby peacekeeping force as a United Nations standby mechanism. We had already generated two standing peacekeeping police units and registered them under the United Nations Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System. Our first batch of personnel and equipment has been certified by the United Nations as rapid-deployment-ready. Those efforts demonstrate China’s active support for the United Nations PKO and its commitment to assuming more responsibility internationally while meeting its obligations as a major player, and we believe they will make a constructive contribution to global peace and regional stability. As the biggest TCC among the permanent members of the Council and the second biggest donor to United Nations peacekeeping operations, China will continue to make a firm and honest commitment to maintaining world peace and joining the rest of the world in advancing the noble cause of United Nations peacekeeping.

I would like to begin by expressing our gratitude to the briefers for their valuable information. It is obvious that any peacekeeping operation relies on appropriate force generation to be able to deliver on its Security Council mandate. My delegation therefore considers the issue of ensuring strategic force generation to be an integral part of the comprehensive reform of United Nations that the Secretary-General has outlined. The establishment of the Strategic Force Generation and Capacity-Building Cell and the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System has been a significant step forward in the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (S/2015/682). The 2015 leaders’ summit got the registration of pledges by troop-contributing countries (TCCs) and police-contributing countries (PCCs) off to a good start, and the subsequent Defence Ministerial Meetings in London and Paris gave that initiative an important additional impetus. Ukraine is proud to be among those who joined the pledging process from the very beginning. In addition, my country, as a participant of all of those meetings, will also take part in the Vancouver Defence Ministerial Meeting next month. The establishment of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System has provided peacekeeping operations with force generation ability, flexibility and predictability, three things they had been badly in need of for a long time. As a result, where equipment and expertise are concerned, peacekeeping operations are becoming better adapted to carrying out their mandated tasks. However, as the concept note points out, there are still many opportunities for improving the efficiency of mandate delivery on the ground. In that regard, I would like to highlight several ways whereby the Council could contribute to strengthening force generation for peacekeeping operations. The Council should take dialogue with TCCs and PCCs to a new level, both through its Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations and by continuing formal and informal consultations during the establishment and renewal of operation mandates. In that regard, we were pleased to note the meeting of the Working Group held just a few days ago with the participation of the members of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, a good move, fully in line with revised presidential note S/2017/507 and resolution 2378 (2017), on peacekeeping reform, which we adopted just a few weeks ago. Missions should be provided with clear, coherent, achievable, sequenced and, at the same time, resilient mandates drafted in accordance with the core principles of United Nations peacekeeping. To that end, the Council should receive timely, frank and substantive reports from the Secretariat as well as details of the Secretary-General’s bold initiatives and options for a reformed United Nations peacekeeping presence. In that regard, Ukraine supports the Secretary-General’s plans for restructuring the peace and security pillar of the Secretariat, and we expect that this will also result in improvements in the strategic advice given to the Council. It is clear that we will have to closely monitor and assess practical progress in every single mission’s implementation of its mandate, identify those that need restructuring and view every mandate through the perspective of supporting a political solution to the conflict in question. With regard to capability gaps, due attention should be paid to securing the proper funding and providing sufficient aviation assets, both combat and cargo, as well as making use of advanced intelligence and modern technologies. When the Council is considering a mandate’s establishment or renewal, it should engage more actively with the parties to a dispute and the host country with a view to securing the operation’s use of appropriate modern technologies. It should also support and facilitate the strengthening of operations’ intelligence capabilities in order to improve their situational awareness. All those aspects are critically important to ensuring the security and mobility of peacekeeping personnel. Last but not least, United Nations peacekeeping operations must be provided with properly trained and equipped personnel, capable of taking robust action to execute their mandate on the ground and ready to do so. Impartiality should also continue to be a priority principle when the composition of a peacekeeping operation’s personnel is being considered. For its part, the Security Council should closely monitor the implementation of resolution 2272 (2016) and continue to support the Secretary-General’s initiatives in the area of peace and security, including on eradicating sexual violence in United Nations peacekeeping. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that Ukraine will do its utmost to continue to be a reliable partner of United Nations peacekeeping endeavours, even at times when my country may itself require United Nations peacekeeping assistance in the light of ongoing foreign aggression.

I would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Lacroix for his briefing and the representative of Canada for his update on the upcoming Defence Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver and for hosting it. I would especially like to commend and thank Bangladesh for its contribution today. The input of Bangladesh, as a major troop-contributing country (TCC), is very important. I would also like to take this opportunity to express our condolences to Bangladesh for its recent loss of peacekeepers in Mali just a few days ago. Let me begin by paying tribute to all the men and women who have served in United Nations peace operations. Their commitment and dedication have saved countless lives. Many have lost their lives in the service of the United Nations and, as others have said, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. For us, the Secretary-General’s proposal for reform of the peace and security architecture aims to create a better framework for more effective United Nations peace and security efforts. It is vital that we give him our full support and stand united behind him in that endeavour. Among other things, his proposal seeks to strengthen the link between political strategies and operations. That is a prerequisite for success and must remain our point of departure when we consider how best to configure peace operations. It is essential to ensure that peacekeeping operations have the capabilities they need from the start. We must also continue to explore concrete options for more sustainable and predictable financing for all Security Council-mandated peace operations, including through assessed contributions. It is important to keep in mind that reform and efficiency are not primarily budgetary questions. They are about delivering better with the resources available. Efficiency should be measured in deliverables, the criteria for success and the performance indicators on how well we keep the peace and protect those who need protection. Mandates that are more realistic, prioritized and flexible, and better tailored to their context, will increase the potential for a successful outcome. There must be opportunities to make course corrections and adjust when things are not working. That requires frank input from across the system and from troop- and police-contributing countries. Flexibility will ensure that operations are tailored to the specific challenges on the ground. To achieve that, we must empower those on the ground and strengthen leadership capacity, as the Secretary-General proposes. Operational plans based on clear and measurable objectives, accompanied by benchmarks for follow- up and reporting back to the Security Council, should guide integrated mission planning and leadership. The inclusion of operational criteria for success can help to sequence the campaign plan and thereby mitigate capability shortfalls. All of the above require informed analysis from the Secretariat, including sound, strategic military and police advice, based on troop-to-task analysis. As many colleagues have already said, improving the Council’s ability to give dynamic and strategic mission mandates will demand greater frankness in the manner in which the Secretary-General reports to it and presents options for its consideration. A stronger common understanding of operational needs, shared with troop- and police-contributing countries during the force generation process, will also make it possible for smaller contributing countries to join together to provide the United Nations with unique capabilities. One example of that is the contribution by my country, together with Norway, Portugal, Denmark and Belgium, of C-130 air transportation for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Another is multinational training teams with the ability to train personnel in United Nations mission headquarters in the field so as to improve cohesive command and control. We welcome resolution 2378 (2017) and look forward to the Secretary-General’s recommendations on a mechanism to fill existing gaps in terms of force generation, including through effective and efficient training and capacity-building. Contributing countries have a responsibility to ensure that peacekeepers are properly prepared, trained and equipped to meet the challenges they will face in the field. Troop-contributing countries’ meetings related to the mandates of peace operations are important. However, we should do more to realize the full potential for interaction between contributing countries and the Secretariat, thereby enabling the Secretary-General to provide the Council with in-depth and strategic military and police advice. For that reason, we need more predictable, uniform and coherent processes for triangular cooperation and dialogue. The additional TCC meeting on MINUSMA in January led to a more open process, which has contributed to the Secretariat’s new and welcome approach to mission-specific strategic force generation. That resulted in the MINUSMA force generation conference in May. We truly believe that this format can strengthen the force generation process. As we all agree, troop-and police-contributing countries must fully adhere to the United Nations zero- tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. We commend the Secretary-General for his leadership on the issue, including the event on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse held during the high- level week. As requested in resolution 2272 (2016), we must be prepared to replace military units and formed police units when the appropriate steps to investigate allegations have not been taken. We are deeply concerned about the increasing risks that our Blue Helmets face in difficult and complex environments. The Council, together with the troop- and police-contributing countries, has a responsibility to ensure that the commanders and troops that we send into the field have all the tools they need to protect both the communities they serve and themselves. We firmly support new capabilities, such as the use of modern technology, qualified air assets and peacekeeping intelligence assets. They are key force multipliers that can improve performance and reduce casualties. Denying the development of that type of capability hampers United Nations forces’ ability to protect themselves and civilians. Those capabilities, together with enhanced training and equipment, will enable us to become more agile and do a better job with less risk. In addition, reaching the goal of at least 15 per cent female observers and staff officers in the field will increase missions’ effectiveness. To sum up, we believe that force generation can benefit from greater openness and transparency in the process, increased frankness and better strategic military and police advice from the Secretary-General to the Council, sequenced mandates with prioritized tasks and the use of enhanced new capabilities that reduce risks and improve performance. My country has a long tradition of participating in United Nations peace operations, with more than 80,000 Swedish women and men having taken part in them to date. From our very first group of military observers, who participated in the Golan Heights in 1948, to our current engagement in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, Sweden’s commitment has remained firm. We will continue to contribute and do everything we can to ensure that United Nations peacekeeping can meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Mr. President, I would like to thank you and your delegation for proposing this briefing. I would also like to thank Under-Secretary- General Lacroix for his remarks and the representatives of Bangladesh and Canada for their contributions. International stability is increasingly at risk. Therefore all Member States, within their own capabilities, should provide a qualified contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations. Italy is doing its part as a global security provider. Besides being one of the most generous financial contributors to the peacekeeping budget, we are also the top contributor of Blue Helmets from the Group of Western European and other States. We are currently participating in the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, with more than 1000 units, Cyprus and Mali, and in the Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan. However, beyond United Nations peace operations, our defence and police forces are also providing assistance and protection in other areas around the world — from Somalia to Afghanistan, from Iraq to Libya, and in the Mediterranean, the Sahel, the Arab Gulf, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Wherever its assistance is required, my country spares no effort to build capacity across the board, from border security to election security, from justice and correction practices to the fight against organized crime and all types of trafficking. Peacekeeping operations have capability gaps. There is an urgent need for air assets to improve the mobility of troops, medical assets to provide assistance and fast medical evacuation and to civilians if needed, and units for explosive ordnance disposal to remove mines and improvised explosive devices. Technology is key to increasing the safety and security of peacekeepers. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has effectively and efficiently improved the gathering of information and provided enhanced situational awareness that is crucial to the safety and security of peacekeepers and the protection of civilians. Italy has provided many resources to the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System in terms of manoeuvre units complemented by enablers. Since the System was created in 2015, we have fully supported it, offering units from the national basket of forces prepared with dedicated training cycles. We will confirm our commitment at the next Defence Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver. Another major gap in peacekeeping operations is the role and presence of women. As stated in resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on women and peace and security — in particular resolution 2242 (2015) — we need to increase the number of women in United Nations military and police contingents. All Member States should do more to that end. The recruitment of a growing number of women at the national level today will result in a greater gender balance in the medium term. The participation of women at all levels is key to improving the effectiveness and performance of missions. Their role is indispensable to all peace and security efforts. Training is vital to improving capability and ensuring that mandates can be effectively delivered on the ground. Since 2005, the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza — which is run by our Carabinieri, together with instructors from the United States and other African and European countries — has offered qualified training for United Nations peacekeepers, based on high professional and ethical standards, through specific training modules on the rule of law, international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians, the protection of historical and cultural heritage, preventing sexual and gender-based violence in conflicts, and the broader women and peace and security agenda. Those training programmes develop standards and common operating approaches to be applied during robust police activity. We are convinced that future peace operations will be increasingly based on specialized police units focused on stabilization, the rule of law, justice and the protection of civilians, in line with the reform of the peace and security, architecture envisaged by the Secretary-General, which emphasizes the need to focus more on prevention, mediation and peacebuilding. It is therefore crucial to train peacekeepers to protect people, key values and principles so as to ensure the credibility and reputation of the United Nations. In that context, let me highlight that Italy has joined the Circle of Leadership created by the Secretary-General to prevent and combat sexual exploitation and abuses, signed the voluntary compact to eliminate the scourge of sexual exploitation and abuses, and contributed to the Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. In terms of strategic planning, we should not forget logistics. The capacity of operations to deliver and accomplish their mandates is closely related to the swiftness of deployment and the operational effectiveness of field missions. The United Nations Global Service Centre, which has been located in Brindisi since 1994, is a fundamental hub to provide logistical support to peacekeeping missions around the world. We should maximize efficiency in delivering services. We should also pay attention to the management of the environmental footprint of field missions throughout their life cycles. A lighter footprint would allow for cost efficiencies, improved safety and security for troops and civilians in host countries, and eventually better mandate delivery. Finally, we are fully committed to working together for smarter, more effective and successful peace missions. Therefore, we need to provide missions with the capabilities they require to deliver their mandate, keeping in mind the decisive importance of the human factor. I therefore wish to thank all the women and men who are serving, and have served, the United Nations peacekeeping missions across the world. I also pay tribute to those that have lost their lives over the years.

We thank the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, for his very useful briefing, which enables us to understand in greater detail one of the main activities designed to consolidate international peace and security. We are equally grateful to the representatives of Bangladesh and Canada for their most relevant briefings. To begin, we pay our most sincere and heartfelt tributes to all personnel of United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world, who spare no efforts in fulfilling their missions. In the same vein, we are grateful to the countries that contribute troops — be they military, police, observers or civilian personnel — for their generosity to, solidarity with and commitment to the system of the United Nations and countries that suffer the vagaries of conflicts. Within the framework of peacekeeping operations, the force generation process carried out by the United Nations clearly entails a complex system that must be developed and implemented in a timely and efficient manner, in line with realities on the ground and in consultation with host and troop-contributing countries. Consequently, in order to effectively and adequately provide the economic, human and material resources necessary to the missions, a technical, logistical and, above all, political analysis is required, in accordance with the mandates designed by the Council, which must be more realistic, accurate and better-focused. Given the multidimensional nature and the varied roles of peacekeeping missions, we believe that their capabilities must be strengthened. Force generation must not solely be the work and responsibility of the Office of Military Affairs or the Force Generation Service. Rather, it must be the result of synergies among all members of the system, which must contain elements that generate coherence in the planning and evaluation in the aftermath of missions. In that sense, responsibility must be shared. We consider it vital that the implementation of analysis and planning processes for missions be less bureaucratic. The concepts of operations must be the priority and simultaneously linked with the political decisions made by the Security Council when it designs mandates. In that sense, we must test our Organization’s ability to design and implement a mandate that is appropriate to needs on the ground. We believe that it is necessary to improve institutional agility for the deployment of troops, and to choose the best-trained troops and those with greater specialization to respond in increasingly complex asymmetric contexts. It is clear that the international scene is not static. It is undergoing significant transformations. Constant threats by terrorist groups and transnational crime against international peace and security highlight the need for peacekeeping missions to be subject to structural changes that allow them to adapt more efficiently to their respective contexts in order to repel those threats. We highlight the efforts of the United Nations and Security Council to achieve the objectives of the mandates in force, and we call for unity among all actors to strengthen the financial, tactical, operational and strategic areas on the ground, in strict adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and in full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of States. Moreover, the improvement of the material and technological factors must make peacekeeping missions more effective in carrying out their missions. It should be noted that adequate equipment and training of troops are the responsibilities not only of troop-contributing countries, but also that of our Organization as a whole. To conclude, it is also worth mentioning that no peacekeeping mission can be successful if it does not enjoy the support and backing of the host country. In that regard, the ongoing and smooth coordination and exchange of information among missions and local authorities are essential.

I thank the briefers, Under Secretary-General Lacroix and the Ambassadors of Canada and Bangladesh, for their contributions and updates. The United States is pleased to have played a central role in refocusing the United Nations and Member States on the importance of force generation at the leaders’ summit in 2015. In recognition of the critical importance of multinational peace operations and the challenges they face, the international community has rallied behind the series of ministerial conferences to raise awareness about capacity shortfalls in peacekeeping and expand the pool of available resources to address them. From the first summit here in New York, those meetings have focused on deliverables. We are pleased with what those conferences have achieved, as over 40 delegations have made pledges aimed at fundamentally improving peacekeeping. Those pledges have since materialized into concrete assets that address mission-critical needs on the ground, such as the Nepalese engineering unit deployed to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, the Senegalese tactical helicopters sent to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, and the Croatian special forces unit deployed to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. Through our bilateral peace-operations capacity- building programmes, the United States is further assisting partner countries to fully develop pledge capabilities, particularly those that address chronic capability gaps. For our part, in 2015 the United States pledged to develop and deliver curriculum to address policing in extremist environments and add specialized training to increase police peacekeepers’ survivability in mission. To date, we have delivered that training to four Cameroonian formed police units deploying to the Central African Republic and two Senegalese formed police units deploying to Mali. We look ahead to the Vancouver Defence Ministerial Meeting as an opportunity to both analyse new pledges and solidify existing pledges. Pledges alone, however, will not address growing peacekeeping demands. The United States encourages the registration of all pledges to ensure that commitments can ultimately be converted by the United Nations into actual deployments, increased capacity and better peacekeeping. As mission mandates and operating environments grow increasingly complex, we need units that are fully trained and equipped to deliver the desired effects on the ground. That means peacekeeping units that are trained in both core military or police skills, as well as in mission-specific needs. The work of the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell has been instrumental in the registration and assessment of potential peacekeepers for deployment. Since the establishment of the Cell and the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS), we have seen improvement in how the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) manages force generation and deployments. It is critical to the success of United Nations peacekeeping that the Organization identify the most appropriate forces for peacekeeping missions and expand the available base of troop- and police-contributing countries. We need to continue to improve the speed and methods it uses to do that. To match the progress we have seen on force generation, the United Nations needs to better forecast future requirements, including ground units, but also leadership, sustainment, information and mobility systems. Institutionalizing that kind of strategic planning, improved early warning capacity and structural changes at United Nations Headquarters in New York would enable United Nations leaders to respond quickly and decisively to new crises. In addition to the Cell and PCRS, we support the further development of the DPKO operational readiness assurance and performance-improvement policy as a vital tool for collecting data on troop and leader performance. Peacekeepers are truly the international community’s front lines. Because mission success can be a matter of life or death for civilians who rely on peacekeepers for protection, as well as for the peacekeepers themselves, we urge the United Nations to make force protection and deployment decisions based on objective performance data. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is an example of how performance-based decisions can lead to marked improvements in how peacekeeping missions deliver on their mandate. To address the shortcomings that led to UNMISS troops’ failure on several occasions to intervene to protect civilians under attack in and around United Nations bases, the Secretary-General directed the Mission to undertake a number of steps to improve performance. UNMISS has subsequently better defended its bases against attacks and effectively projected peacekeepers to respond to emerging humanitarian crises, such as protecting 50,000 new displaced civilians in May. Transparent, objective analysis of field performance through the performance-improvement policy and other existing mechanisms will support the identification of capability gaps and help bilateral supporters of peacekeeping better target contributions to meet the requirements of troop- and police-contributors. It will assist troop-contributing countries (TCCs) to understand where improvement is needed and help donors match training and equipment contributions to existing needs. As a donor, the United States has provided over a quarter of a billion dollars-worth of capacity-building support bilaterally to TCCs, and those systems can help us target future assistance. To that end, we strongly support the United Nations in working to strengthen how it collects, manages and analyses data on peacekeeping operational requirements and unit field performance. Increasing the availability of objective information to support performance-based decision-making will make missions more effective on the ground and promote the overall legitimacy of United Nations peacekeeping. We are committed to helping peacekeepers improve training and capability, but if a mission’s forces are not able to fulfil their mandate, we need to know and we must be flexible enough to change our approach. We owe that much to both our peacekeepers and the critical missions they are sent to accomplish.

I would like to begin by thanking the delegations of France and the United Kingdom for their joint initiative to convene a briefing on the topic of strategic force generation in peacekeeping operations. I also thank Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix and the Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Canada for their briefings. Uruguay believes that strengthening strategic force generation is an essential component in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations. The timely availability of uniformed and civilian personnel who are sufficiently trained and equipped is key to the success of peacekeeping operations. Likewise, we cannot conceivably implement mission mandates fully if they do not have the capabilities commensurate to the challenges they must face. It is important to acknowledge that in the reform process — based on the recommendations of the report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (S/2015/446) — encouraging progress has been made on the part of the Secretariat, mainly in its Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Field Support, and Members States on the whole. By way of example, the establishment of the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell, together with the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System, has significantly contributed to guaranteeing the increased availability and timely deployment of peacekeeping capabilities. In that regard, we encourage the Secretariat to pursue its efforts in close coordination with troop- and police-contributing countries. The Security Council, as the organ that authorizes mandates, has the direct responsibility to ensure that peacekeeping deployed personnel have optimal conditions in which to fulfil their duties. Today’s concept aptly takes up the issue of the efforts the Security Council could make in terms of strategic force generation to contribute to the success of peacekeeping operations. In the view of my delegation, the Council could significantly contribute in the following ways. First, with regard to the design and planning stages, and even the reconfiguration phase, of a peacekeeping operation, we believe that it is key for the Security Council to attach greater importance to identifying the needs and capabilities required to fulfil a mandate. Planning should be based on clear, achievable and prioritized objectives with benchmark criteria and an exit strategy that permits a reduction of the mission and an adequate transition to a successor entity when said criteria is met. Trilateral cooperation among the Council, the Secretariat and troop- and police-contributing countries (TCCs/PCCs) is fundamental in that regard. The Secretariat, in particular the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Department of Field Support (DFS), plays a determining role in terms of providing advisory support in decision-making processes, including, inter alia, on specific equipment and personnel needs. With regard to equipment, allow me to add that obtaining it cannot depend upon the financial capacity of a single country. New technologies are expensive, and therefore it is essential to work on alternatives to obtain it  — for example, through the development of greater cooperation TCCs and PCCs, the Secretariat and donor countries. Moreover, when it comes to decision-making, the Security Council must fully take into account the views of TCCs, as they are the ones serving on the ground. That could greatly facilitate the planning of operations, thereby ensuring that personnel have the capacity to respond to new demands. Specifically, it is a matter of working to minimize the gaps between those who draw up, plan, administer and implement operations, as well as to underscore the enormous benefits of a productive relationship among them. Secondly, it is highly important that deployed personnel be adequately trained, with a particular emphasis on predeployment training. It is essential that peacekeeping personnel are educated and trained for the tasks to be conducted in the area of operations. That requires a joint effort by TCCs to promote greater training standards for their personnel, as well as the Secretariat in carrying out the relevant evaluation and monitoring programmes. We acknowledge the excellent work of DPKO and DFS together in the development, implementation and validation of regulations and advice in peacekeeping training, especially in the areas of human rights and the protection of civilians and against sexual abuse and exploitation. Thirdly, and finally, we should not focus solely on force generation but also on the full functionality of peacekeeping forces once deployed. That has been a topic to which my delegation has constantly and specifically referred throughout its nearly two years as a member of the Security Council. Unfortunately, as a frequent issue within several peacekeeping operations, this a matter on which the Council should assume greater responsibility. We are talking about obstacles on the ground that also have a negative impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping operations. On the one hand, particular attention should be given to national restrictions — so-called caveats — whether they are declared or, even worse, non-declared, given that they can undermine the fulfilment of mandates. On the other hand, the Council should demand full respect, and compliance by host countries, with the terms agreed in status of forces agreements, which constitute the guarantees that protect the personnel whom a country voluntarily contributes to peacekeeping operations. We are also concerned to have witnessed an increase in the frequency of deliberate attacks against United Nations personnel and facilities, which have led to significant loss of human life and equipment. On this issue we believe that we should, inter alia, provide our troops with a greater number of tools to confront the new realities — for example, passive defence measures and strengthening the rules of engagement — as well as exhausting all possible avenues to ensure that those responsible for such crimes are held accountable. In conclusion, politically as well as on the ground, my country reiterates its commitment to strengthening capacity in force generation in peacekeeping operations. On the political level, Uruguay is honoured to co-host the Vancouver Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting in November. Among other things, the goal of the meeting is to continue efforts in force generation and follow-up on the promises and pledges made by various Member States at various multilateral meetings held between 2015 and 2017. On the ground, Uruguay continues to contribute peacekeeping personnel to various missions, having recently concluded its contribution to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti following its successful closure. We reiterate our constant and long-standing commitment to peacekeeping operations, while we also continue evaluating the possibility of further pledges in line with our capabilities.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of France. I would like to thank each and every one of those present for their statements, which highlight one of the essential dimensions upon which the effectiveness of peacekeeping depends: strategic force generation. France is glad to have been able to organize this briefing during its presidency, in partnership with the United Kingdom. I am also pleased that Bangladesh and Canada were able to share their experiences and their vision. I thank the Secretariat for its investment in this major area of work, and Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix for his particularly enlightening briefing. The problem discussed at this meeting arises from the obvious fact that peacekeeping operations can succeed only if their forces are appropriately trained, equipped and led. In that context, strategic force generation should respond to three requirements at the very least: clarity, innovation and globality. First of all, we must be clear-minded and practical about the needs of peackeeping operations. Force generation should be based on the identification of current gaps and elements obstructing the carrying out of operations. This is, of course, a short-term requirement, and we must constantly adapt the capacity of peacekeeping operations currently deployed and mobilize their critical capacity, making it possible to quickly respond to changing situations on the ground. But force generation is also a long-term project. It is the tool with which we must lay the foundations for the peacekeeping operations of tomorrow, as well as the instrument that the United Nations must employ to anticipate personnel, equipment and technology capacities that will make it possible to respond to conflicts in five, 10 or even 20 years. Trilateral dialogue between the Council, troop- and police-contributing countries and the Secretariat contributes significantly to this process. Such an approach should bring about a vision of peacekeeping possibilities that the Council should nurture in order to establish mandates that are both ambitious and realistic and that can respond to challenges on the ground. We welcome the work already done to achieve these goal, particularly in New York, London and Paris in 2015 and 2016, as well as next month at the Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver. I commend Canada’s commitment to the full success of that important ministerial conference. In addition to peacekeeping needs in terms of medical, aerial, technological and engineering requirements, the Paris Meeting, on peacekeeping in a French-speaking environment, recalled to us another requirement, namely, that peacekeeping operations must have sufficient language skills in the national language of the country in question if they are to be able to effectively counter threats, gain the confidence of people and lay the foundations for lasting peace. In order to respond to this requirement, France, in partnership with the International Organization of La Francophonie and its member States, has established language programmes for non-French-speaking troop- and police-contributing countries. Through the Boutros-Ghali Observatory for Peacekeeping, launched in October 2016, it supports the efforts of French- speaking troop-contributing countries to develop their participation in peacekeeping operations. As I indicated yesterday at a round table organized at the Headquarters of the Permanent Representation of the OIF, I wish to renew my invitation to all Member States willing to do so to join this initiative and get involved with steering it. On the strength of this clear-mindedness, force generation must be guided by ambition and innovation. The establishment of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System within peacekeeping operations was a historic step forward. It helps to identify a reserve force of trained, equipped and operational troops endowed with a use doctrine that can be deployed in less than 60 days. We welcome the commitment of troop- contributing countries such as Bangladesh, which have committed themselves to this mechanism. We support the efforts of these countries and of the Secretariat to continue developing and refining it. Many other innovations have followed that one. The force-generation conference for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, held last May, was a major milestone for the predictability in peacekeeping capabilities. We therefore welcome the initiative of several Member States, including the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan and Belgium, and also Norway and Portugal, to coordinate the provision of air transport on a multi-year basis. This approach has given solid operational prospects for the Mission. However, we must continue our efforts because, 18 months after the Security Council authorized the raising of the troop-ceiling, the Mission still suffers from a deficit of nearly 2,500 troops — a gap that needs to filled in the current security environment. The development of such joint commitments, associating several Member States to generate critical capacities, must be encouraged. These arrangements derive from the capabilities and complementarities of each contributor country in terms of providing troops, training, financing or equipment. France is fully committed to this and is providing both predeployment training and operational training to over 25,000 African military personnel a year, across numerous deployed peacekeeping operations. We must collectively encourage the development of triangular partnerships, including by making the most of regional initiatives. I come now to my last point. In order to bear fruit, force generation must be part of a global approach. The issue of deployment and support for capacity- generation is a key element. Efforts to modernize strategic deployment must be extended so that these units can deploy quickly, as soon as the need is identified. Operational and strategic support must also be adapted so that these units can make a difference over the long term having been endowed with the appropriate resources. Issues of sustainability and medical support must also be at the core of our concerns. Modernizing management processes, in particular through delegation and accountability closest to the ground, must also contribute to the performance of peacekeeping. The global approach also requires looking beyond the military contingents; adequate capacity mobilization is also necessary in the police and civilian spheres. In many theatres of operation, the increase in the proportion of women deployed in United Nations police units should make it possible to better respond in the missions these units are called upon to complete. Civilian components must acquire the expertise needed to carry out their tasks. In any case, linguistic competence remains essential to the success of peacekeeping. On the strength of a lucid, innovative and global vision of peacekeeping, we can ensure together that the United Nations through its peacekeeping operations will continue to meet everybody’s hopes and expectations. The Council can rest assured of France’s resolute commitment to this end. I resume my functions as President of the Council. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers.