S/PV.8150 Security Council

In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Ms. Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2017/1077, which contains a letter dated 18 December 2017 from the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept note on the item under consideration. I now give the floor to Ms. Keita. Ms. Keita: I would like to start by thanking Japan for convening this meeting today. The adoption of resolution 2378 (2017) in September clearly demonstrated the Council’s strong commitment to strategic force generation as a core element of peacekeeping reform. It is one of the ways in which we can achieve the Secretary-General’s vision to help to ensure that the United Nations is more nimble, pragmatic and flexible in its ability to plan, launch and manage a range of operations. As the Security Council has noted, United Nations peacekeeping missions must be resourced with the right capabilities, delivered at the right time to meet the challenges that they face today and those that lie ahead. We must continue to strive to ensure a diverse mix of contributors that provides the right capabilities. However, ultimately, we remain dependent on the capabilities that Member States are willing to provide. Regional and subregional organizations, including the African Union and the European Union, can also play an integral role in filling gaps, especially during the start-up and surge phases of missions. We work closely with such organizations and their member States to ensure that United Nations peacekeeping standards are understood and observed. We work together on efforts to better plan the start-up of future missions and mission transitions. The capacity-building and training efforts of United Nations troop-contributing countries in Africa are also intricately linked to those of the African Standby Force, and more comprehensive information-sharing in that regard is required. The Security Council has an integral role to play in defining and in helping us to fulfil the current and future capability gaps in our missions, including through training and capacity-building assistance. Council members have hosted high-level meetings, pledged and prepared new capabilities, offered training and capacity-building support and provided direct financial and political support to our strategic force generation and training efforts. That momentum continued at the United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference in Vancouver last month, where 49 new pledge announcements, including more than 20 training and capacity-building pledges, were made. To assist Member States in deciding where and how to provide training, the Department of Field Support of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) will continue to provide advice and technical support. We encourage Member States to ensure that their training and capacity-building assistance is focused on developing sustainable national training capacities and that their engagement is for the medium- to long-term rather than being a one-off event. In order to adapt to the evolving operational realities and to address the changing threats, missions require different capabilities at different periods in their life cycle. The mission concepts of operations will be continually reassessed and force compositions and operational plans will need to be adjusted. In that context, troop- and police-contributing countries must remain flexible and adaptive with regard to the capabilities that they provide and the time period for which they provide them. The generation of capabilities for United Nations peacekeeping cannot focus solely on the type of equipment or the number of personnel being sought. Instead, we must increasingly focus on all the aspects that make a capability perform effectively, including agility, training, equipment, technology, doctrine, leadership, discipline, interoperability, welfare, mindset and gender balance, as well as the absence of caveats. Deploying forces that meet our operational performance and conduct standards is a critical component of filling capability gaps. This begins with proper basic skills training and United Nations- specific training that needs to be refreshed regularly. Critical training, such as e-learning programmes on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, should be further supported by Member States and included as part of mandatory predeployment training for all uniformed personnel. Equipment, too, cannot be sustained without appropriate systems for maintenance, repair and the acquisition of spare parts. To this end, Member States themselves should continue to invest in more sustained training initiatives and better equipment to maintain United Nations standards and adapt to new operating environments. One-off training just before deployment and the provision of equipment for one unit will not deliver self-sufficient capacities. The constant turnover of personnel should be addressed by directing both United Nations and bilateral training support as far upstream as possible in order to build self-sustaining national training capacity. Opportunities for successful matchmaking between providers and recipients to fill capacity gaps have proven to be best realized through targeted engagement to develop partnerships around specific missions and countries and to address specific capabilities. These initiatives are vital to the success of missions, but new, creative ways of generating and sustaining the required capabilities are also needed going forward. Mission-specific force generation events for missions with persistent capability gaps will continue and evolve based on the lessons learned from the force generation conference for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. Capability-specific capacity-building efforts must also continue. For example, the triangular partnership project should be expanded to include additional geographic regions, additional enabling capabilities and francophone countries. Furthermore, ongoing work on medical standards should be further buoyed through a partnership of interested Member States. Coordinated by the Secretariat, these Member States provide funding, expertise, convening and training to help improve engineering, signals, medical and other capabilities deployed to peacekeeping missions. Ensuring that every United Nations peacekeeping mission is supported by properly trained, equipped, led and motivated troops and police, rotation after rotation, is a significant challenge that will require more partnership, resources and time to overcome. Much progress has been made over the past few years, but much work remains to be done. The Secretariat, for its part, will further enhance its ongoing work on strategic force generation and targeted training support. To that end, we will establish a light coordination mechanism to bring Secretariat entities involved in training, capacity- building and force generation together with relevant Member States involved in order to allow Member States with resources to contribute. This coordination role would better direct those resources to troop- and police-contributing countries or missions. A more flexible and responsive mechanism is also required to support a wider range of initiatives and meet multiple and sometimes unforeseen capacity-building and training needs. One such mechanism proposed is a pooled, multi-donor grant as part of the existing DPKO Trust Fund to augment existing resources to coordinate and deliver additional targeted and sustained training support for troop- and police-contributing countries. It would allow us additional flexibility to quickly respond to priority emerging issues and support more sustainable strategic engagement with troop- and police-contributing countries. Despite the substantial progress made in recent years to strengthen our approach and develop partnerships with Member States to fill capability gaps, there are inevitable limitations and some capability gaps remain to be filled. Therefore we will need to continue to enhance our collective efforts and be creative to fill some of our most pressing gaps. This will, of course, require troop- and police-contributing countries themselves to invest in more training and better equipment to maintain United Nations standards and adapt to new operating environments. Security Council members also have a strong leadership role to play in ensuring that mandates are matched by appropriate resources and by continuing to support the Secretariat in its strategic force generation efforts. The Secretary-General’s recommendations, contained in his letter to the Council, highlight an assortment of ways to move forward in this effort together.

I thank Ms. Keita for her briefing. I now give the floor to members of the Security Council.

First of all, I would like to thank the Japanese presidency for haven taken the initiative to organize this briefing on peacekeeping operations, just two months after that held in October under the French presidency (see S/PV.8064). This reflects the Council’s ongoing concern and efforts to make its missions — the main instruments available to the United Nations to ensure international peace and security — ever more responsive, agile and effective. It also illustrates the importance of the Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, which is increasingly emerging as an open and suitable forum for discussing, without prejudice or taboos, the best ways and means to bring peacekeeping operations into line with the constantly evolving threats and challenges to peace and security, as well as the changing conditions for their deployment on the ground. That is why the Security Council considered it appropriate, through its resolution 2378 (2017), to entrust the role of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations to the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, thereby strengthening its action. This is very relevant when considering the number and variety of peacekeeping operations, ranging from the most complex and multidimensional missions and hybrid missions to those conducted by regional and subregional organizations that are authorized or supported by the United Nations. I shall limit my remarks to the important question of the capability needs of peacekeeping operations. We must welcome the introduction of innovations, including the establishment of the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell, that render the capacity-building system more efficient. In another area, work under way in partnership with regional organizations, particularly the African Union, will undoubtedly help to strengthen the operational capacities of African units called upon to carry out missions in the context of the use of force. Examples of such units include the Force Intervention Brigade of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Regional Protection Force of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and, to a different degree, the African Union Military Observer Mission in Somalia force. These innovations are important because they allow us to gain better understanding of the capacities of Member States and better coordinate efforts for faster deployment of the units offered by the contributing countries, thereby responding to the most urgent needs. It is also encouraging to see this new mechanism come to fruition with support and commitment at the highest level from member countries, including several troop-contributors. That is reflected in the commitments made by several troop- and police-contributors at the September 2015 Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping, as well as at ministerial meetings in London, Paris, and, most recently, in Vancouver. That means that troop- and police-contributing countries show a real political will to work with the United Nations in the realization of this innovative vision. Notwithstanding all the strategic approaches, much remains to be done to achieve the United Nations ambition in the area of force generation and peacekeeping-operation capacity-building. That is why, despite the commitment of the troop-contributing countries and the announcements made during the recent force-generation conference for Mali, it has proved difficult to reach the ceiling of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali troops. In truth, the capacities required for the full implementation of mandates in certain theatres of operation are lacking. Similarly, it is not always easy to gather the required capabilities in terms of medical support, engineering, construction, air and road transport, security, and so on, commonly called “enabling units”. In order to bridge the capacity gaps facing various missions, pooling national efforts through ad hoc coalitions among Member States and/or regional actors could prove effective. In that vein, the Council could stimulate the search for partnerships and the definition of the minimum means to be used for the rapid mobilization of adequate forces to respond to multiple and complex crises. That was the point of the Vancouver summit, which sought to solidify such cooperation under the term “smart pledges”. In conclusion, and at the end of Senegal’s mandate as head of the Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his firm commitment to moving the peacekeeping reform agenda forward, as part of his vision of the comprehensive reform of the United Nations peace and security architecture. In her presentation, Assistant Secretary-General Keita gave us a vivid demonstration of that. My delegation welcomes with great interest the Secretary-General’s letter of 20 December on the continuing efforts to fill the capacity gaps and the recommendations to remedy them, including through more efficient and effective training and constant capacity-building.

First, I should like to thank you, Sir, for organizing this very timely meeting. During the course of 2017, the Council has repeatedly reaffirmed the value of peacekeeping operations as one of the most essential tools of the United Nations for peace and international security. By emphasizing the need for continued efforts to have adequate peacekeeping capabilities, this meeting contributes to that discussion. I would also like to thank the Assistant Secretary- General for her very comprehensive and concrete briefing. France shares the Secretariat’s assessment of the need for agile, rapidly deployable forces that have the specialized capabilities and expertise necessary for the proper implementation of their mandates. I wish to highlight three points in particular. First, France welcomes the efforts of the Secretariat to develop an ambitious and innovative approach to force generation. The past few years have made clear the shortcomings that peacekeeping operations face, in terms of air capabilities, medical support, equipment, pre-deployment training, intelligence and more. We must aim for greater speed and greater efficiency. In the face of the existing constraints, innovation is the best way to respond to such challenges. For example, the establishment of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was a breakthrough that can be described as historic. It has already made it possible to increase the number and develop the specialties of the contingents ready to be deployed within operations. It should be further strengthened, in particular by promoting better use of its levels 2 and 3. At the same time, ongoing efforts should be made to increase the number of countries accessing level 1 through interaction with troop-contributing countries. France is also supporting the development of new force-generation mechanisms. The Force Generation Conference of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), held last May, was a major milestone in ensuring the predictability of peacekeeping capabilities. That model should be applied to other operations and other specialized capabilities, so as to tailor the resources made available to the needs of our missions. We also welcome the development of joint commitments and smart pledges involving several Member States, aimed at generating critical capabilities and allowing each Member State, according to its means and ability, to participate in improved operational performance. In that regard, we commend the progress made at the Vancouver conference. Those mechanisms have made it possible to provide critical capabilities, particularly air capabilities, within the framework of MINUSMA, but also to broaden the spectrum of training needed to acquire new know-how related to asymmetric environments, such as protection against improvised explosive devices. We also support the goal of increasing the number of women in peacekeeping operations. In view of those needs, and this is my second point, France supports the efforts of the Secretariat and troop-contributors to strengthen their capabilities. Through our bilateral partnerships and our security and defence cooperation, France has been contributing to the training and equipment of many contingents that are to be deployed in peacekeeping operations. Thus, on the African continent alone, France has participated in the training of more than 29,000 African officers and soldiers per year, in 11 countries and in over 57 different subjects. France is also working with many troop-contributing countries to foster the development of French-language peacekeeping capabilities. That is the reason behind the Paris Conference on Peacekeeping in the French- speaking Environment organized last year, and the establishment of the Boutros-Ghali Peacekeeping Observatory, which seeks to strengthen French- speaking peacekeeping capabilities. In cooperation with the International Organization of la Francophonie, France has developed and made available to its partners a course for learning French for armed forces personnel in a United Nations environment called “En Avant”. Capacity-building support for troop-contributing countries also includes operational support and deployment support. As Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pointed out at the Council’s high-level meeting on 20 September (see S/PV.8051), we must continue to create new ways to better involve and empower the States primarily concerned by the threats in the world so that they can take charge of their own security. That was our wish in supporting the Group of Five for the Sahel initiative, which strengthens the capacities of the States concerned to better deal with the challenges of the region, which concern us all. Our support for capacity-building in various countries is being carried out, naturally, in synergy with the efforts of international organizations, including, of course, the United Nations and the European Union. In Mali, the Niger, the Central African Republic and Somalia, the European Union is committed to strengthening African peace and security capabilities through its European Union Military Training and European Union Capacity-Building Missions operations and through financial support for operations. In order to meet the challenges of effective peacekeeping, both the Secretariat and Member States must step up their efforts. Providing peacekeeping operations with adequate and effective capabilities is the shared responsibility of the Secretariat and Member States. Contingent training is primarily the responsibility of the State concerned. In order to meet the current challenges of peacekeeping, it is particularly necessary to continue and intensify individual and collective training efforts to deal with the asymmetric environment, which requires very specific capabilities. It is our responsibility to give each one of our soldiers initial basic training. That would ensure their safety and that of the people they are tasked with protecting. The States Members of the United Nations must also guarantee the highest level of conduct and discipline in order to ensure respect for United Nations principles, in particular in the fight against exploitation and sexual abuse. Identifying capability gaps and properly coordinating efforts to bridge them are also vital. Otherwise, the individual efforts of the States Members of the United Nations will not be maximized. The Secretariat’s proposal to implement a standby coordination mechanism that would allow States to request and provide useful information appears to be a step in the right direction. As underscored by the Secretariat, it would be useful for efforts to enable triangular partnerships to be further developed to cover issues, such as specialized capabilities and language competency. At the organizational level of the Secretariat, we fully support the positive impact of the Secretary- General’s reforms of the peace and security and management pillars, so as to ensure that peacekeeping operations are more effective. The goal of implementing the values and principles of the Charter of the United Nations with the goal of fostering international peace and security is at the core of peacekeeping. Our joint efforts will enable us to implement that vision.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her briefing on areas in peacekeeping where improvement is needed and on how it can be achieved. Unlike many other issues related to peacekeeping that require our attention, force generation and capability gaps present challenges where concrete progress is not only possible, but measurable. Since 2005, the United States has invested more than $1.3 billion in 66 partner countries and five international organizations through our peacekeeping capacity-building initiatives alone, demonstrating a shared commitment with our partners to work together to address critical gaps in United Nations and regional peace operations. The United States will remain the largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping in terms of assessed contributions, bilateral training and capacity-building efforts. We understand that missions require resources and capabilities to fulfil their mandates and to support sustainable political solutions. Such investments have yielded demonstrative positive outcomes. Yet sustained efforts, in partnership with other financial donors, troop- and police-contributing countries and the United Nations, are required to further strengthen capacity so as to execute operations effectively. One crucial aspect of filling capability gaps is through training and capacity-building aimed at improving peacekeeping performance. Deficiencies in training and equipment undermine the success of missions. Even the most well-designed mission will fall short of its mandate if its peacekeepers are not proficient in basic soldiering and policing skills. With that in mind, we would like to see a move towards more objective decision-making on elements such as deployment, remediation and repatriation when approaching force generation and addressing capability gaps. It is important that the United Nations know where the needs are greatest and what has to be remedied, so that countries, like the United States, can better target their support and diplomatic engagement. We encourage, in particular, the Office of Military Affairs, the Police Division and other relevant offices of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support to redouble their efforts to integrate performance-based data into the force-generation process and regular reviews of mission staffing. We commend the work conducted by the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell on those fronts. A performance-based decision-making process must be transparent and standardized, and the States Members of the United Nations must fully understand all of the assessment processes and standards that are employed. In saying that, we are not seeking to punish countries that provide forces to the United Nations or individual units. Performance-based decision-making will allow the best mix of capabilities to be matched to mission requirements and improve the potential for mission success. It will also help contributing countries to focus on what must be improved, while helping to target capacity-building assistance to those who most need and deserve it. For our part, we are eager to see how the improved capture and analysis of peacekeeping performance information can help us target our training support. We understand that performance is just one part of improving peacekeeping capacity, but it is a part where we must work together to see results. The Security Council, the Secretariat and troop- and police-contributing countries must partner to make missions more effective, efficient and safer. In October, Ambassador Nikki Haley joined Ambassador Fodé Seck of Senegal and several other permanent representatives in a meeting of the Council Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations to discuss those and other issues. We believe the Working Group is a good venue for the Council, the United Nations and troop- and police-contributing countries to engage in such discussions, and that it would be helpful for performance to be considered in that Group, under Côte d’Ivoire’s leadership in the New Year.

I thank you, Sir, for convening today’s meeting. I thank Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her briefing, and the Secretary-General for the written recommendations recently submitted to the Council, which China will carefully study. United Nations peacekeeping operations are important tools in maintaining international peace and security. Peacekeeping forces are responsible for implementing the Council’s mandates on the ground. Enhancing the rapid deployment capabilities of peacekeeping forces and improving the capabilities of peacekeepers are important for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations. I would like to emphasize two points. First, the international community should pay great attention to the real needs of troop-contributing countries (TCCs), in particular developing countries, and strengthen support to troop-contributing countries in the area of capacity-building. We must also ensure that peacekeeping operations have the necessary training, resources and capabilities for fulfilling their tasks, as well as adequate and targeted pre-deployment training and the necessary equipment to ensure that such tasks are carried out. The international community should enhance the peacekeeping capacity-building of developing States that are TCCs through bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Meanwhile, it is vital to attach great importance to and support the important role that the African Union and other regional and subregional organizations play in maintaining peace and security in Africa, and assist Africa in strengthening its peacekeeping capacity-building. Secondly, as the manager of peacekeeping operations, the Secretariat should provide more efficient and higher-quality support to peacekeeping forces so as to enhance their ability to address complex situations. The Secretariat and peacekeeping missions should give priority to the security and medical capabilities of peacekeepers, improve the internal sharing of security information and ensure that security protection, medical equipment and measures are in place on time. Peacekeeping missions should give priority to the training of peacekeepers being deployed, which should be targeted in the light of the situation in the area concerned. The Secretariat should further improve the management and efficiency of an optimized logistical guarantee mechanism so as to maximize the use of peacekeeping resources. As a major troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping operations, China remains committed to enhancing pre-deployment training and the standby capabilities of its peacekeeping forces and police. China has also actively supported other TCCs and police-contributing countries in the area of capacity-building. China works hard to deliver on the commitments made by Chinese leaders at the 2015 United Nations summit on peacekeeping operations. Over the past two years, China has trained more than 800 peacekeepers for the United Nations and other countries. China has also dispatched the first helicopter contingent to a peacekeeping mission in Africa. It is also providing military assistance valued at $100 million to the African Union. China has also decided to work through the China-United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund to support TCCs, in particular African countries, in their capacity- building. China has formally completed its registration of a standby force of 8,000 peacekeepers in the United Nations standby mechanism. Two Chinese peacekeeping police contingents have also been established and have been registered as part of the United Nations standby mechanism. The first group of contingents and equipment has met the requirements for rapid deployment. China remains committed to honouring its commitment to world peace, and we join hands with all parties to further promote the United Nations path towards peace.

I would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her comprehensive and clear briefing. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Canadian delegation, its partners and the Secretariat for the successful United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial meeting in Vancouver last month. The focus on innovation, training and capacity-building that we saw in Vancouver is essential for successful and modern peacekeeping and for bridging capacity gaps. Allow me also to pay tribute to the men and women of all countries who have served with United Nations peace operations. Their commitment and dedication have saved countless lives. Many have lost their own lives in the service of the United Nations, and, as others have said, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. The recent criminal and fatal attack on Tanzanian peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a reminder of the dangers that peacekeepers face everyday as they protect others. I would like to make three points today. First, on force generation, we look forward to reviewing the Secretary-General’s report and his recommendations on force generation and on bridging capacity gaps, including effective and efficient training and capacity-building. We recognize that planning, pledges, performance and partnerships are the right way forward, not only to improve force generation and mitigate capacity gaps, but also to integrate gender perspectives and the protection of civilians, especially women and children, in peacekeeping operations. We appreciate the efforts of the Secretariat to improve the strategic force generation of uniformed personnel, not only in terms of units and numbers, but also and equally importantly, in terms of new capabilities such as peacekeeping intelligence, warning radar systems, gender advisers and multinational air-assets, as well as increasing the number of female military observers and staff officers. We support the Secretariat’s efforts to validate pledges in the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and evaluate mission headquarters, deployed units and staff officers in order to measure effectiveness and readiness and to meet the exceptional challenges of peacekeeping missions. In the light of those challenges, it is important that all police- and troop-contributing countries live up to their responsibility to train and equip their units so that they can deliver on mandates, be present throughout their areas of responsibility and minimize the risks of casualties and wounded personnel. Sweden will continue to take full responsibility for its units, and ensure that they are fully trained and equipped to meet all challenges. At the same time, we will continue to support other police- and troop- contributing countries with training and capacity- building. Examples of that are: courses at the Swedish International Training Centre and at the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations, located in Sweden; mobile training-team support to peacekeeping centres in Africa, including the United Nations presence in Uganda; increasing the number of seats at courses for those that deploy gender advisors to United Nations peacekeeping missions; and mobile training-team support for an infantry battalion in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. We are ready to consider the same support to sector headquarters in the future. Peacekeeping benefits us all, and all contributions to peacekeeping operations count. We would welcome an increase in the number of contributing countries, including contributors from a wide range of regions. Secondly, on the peace and security architecture, the range and nature of threats to international peace and security are complex and interlinked. We strongly support the Secretary-General’s ambitious reform plans for the peace and security architecture, not least regarding an enhanced focus on prevention. The Secretary-General’s proposal seeks, among other things, to strengthen the link between political strategies and operations. Delivering on that vision will require a system-wide approach to sustaining peace and the primacy of politics, which is reflected in how the United Nations operates. That will include closing the gap between peacekeeping operations and the development system. Presidential statement S/PRST/2017/27, adopted earlier today, is a welcome step in that regard, further outlining the link between peacebuilding and sustaining peace and the mandates and configuration of peacekeeping missions. The frank and timely analysis of information is critical for effective conflict prevention, mediation, management and resolution. It is also essential for the Council to play its part in designing the mandates for peacekeeping operations. We welcome the Secretary-General’s efforts to streamline and coordinate information and situational awareness within the Secretariat. Joint analysis and information-sharing need to be systematized from the outset of a mission, and intelligence needs to be integrated in each mission. The Secretariat also needs to give informed, sound and frank military and police strategic advice, based on troop-to-task analysis, with regard to the expected delivery of any given mandate, which should have clear and prioritized objectives that can be measured through operational criteria for follow-up success and can help to sequence the campaign plan in accordance with the troops generated by the Secretariat and made available by Member States. Resolution 2378 (2017) reflects and acknowledges efforts of the African Union and subregional organizations to strengthen their capacity in the field of peace and security. The current momentum around the Framework for a Renewed United Nations- African Union Partnership on Africa’s Integration and Development Agenda 2017-2027 needs to be capitalized on. That entails discussing concrete options for more flexible, predictable and sustainable funding for African Union peace operations, including access to assessed contributions. We look forward to the next report from the Secretary-General on strengthening the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. Thirdly, we need to better integrate a gender perspective and the protection of civilians into peacekeeping operations and their mandates, so as to ensure that missions are deployed with appropriate staffing and competence. In that context, it is important to stress the need to fulfil all obligations under resolution 1325 (2000). It is also of utmost importance to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, and to investigate any incidents and hold to account those responsible. We welcome the Secretariat’s initiatives to achieve gender parity and increase the amount of women in peacekeeping. We believe that the process of force generation can benefit from greater openness and transparency, increased frankness and better strategic military and police advice from the Secretary-General to the Council, as well as sequenced mandates with prioritized tasks and the use of enhanced new capabilities that reduce risks and enhance performance. Equally, it is vital to look into new ways of capacity-building, training and funding to achieve that. 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.

We thank the Japanese presidency for organizing this important briefing on strategic force-generation capability and training for United Nations peacekeeping. That is indeed a very important issue that needs to be seriously considered by the Council as part of the efforts to reform United Nations peacekeeping. We welcome the report of the Secretary-General pursuant to resolution 2378 (2017), which was adopted during the Ethiopian presidency in September, and we appreciate the briefing of Assistant Secretary-General, Ms. Bintou Keita. We all know that the United Nations does not have its own army, and that it depends on Member States to generate forces for its peacekeeping missions. Nevertheless, securing sufficient personnel with the necessary capabilities, adequate resources and rapid-deployment capability has been one of the key challenges that the Organization has been facing. The speed, mobility and flexibility of personnel deployment in the field has also been slow and bureaucratically rigid, which has imposed constraints on missions’ operational effectiveness on the ground. The need to undertake considerable efforts to enhance the way in which the United Nations mobilizes and deploys its uniformed personnel is well recognized. In that respect, we hope that some of the aforementioned challenges will be addressed through the ongoing reform that the Secretary-General is undertaking to make the Organization more nimble, efficient and effective. We express our full support for the recommendations contained in the latest report of the Secretary-General on force generation, training and capacity-building. Of course, we recognize the important steps that have already been taken by the Secretariat to improve the United Nations force-generation processes and capability-analysis system. The establishment and operationalization of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and the Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell within the Secretariat is a particular case in point. As the report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (S/2015/446) rightly stated, force generation is not simply a technical and operational issue to be delegated to the Secretariat. Achieving progress requires the mobilization and political support of Member States. That is why greater consultation with current and potential contributors is absolutely imperative so as to provide them with timely, adequate and relevant information, and help them make informed decisions concerning their contributions of personnel. Therefore, enhancing triangular cooperation among the Security Council, the Secretariat and troop- and police-contributing countries is very crucial. We also fully agree with the proposal made by the Secretary- General to establish a light coordination mechanism, which would, we believe, serve as an important platform for matching the right capabilities and training with the skill and equipment needs of potential troop- and police-contributing countries. Although the increase in the number and quality of pledges by Member States continues to be significant, it is equally important to ensure that the pledges and commitments made thus far are honoured. That requires following-up on recently made pledges, including those made during the Vancouver ministerial conference last month. We look forward to the Secretariat’s update on that issue in September 2018 pursuant to resolution 2378 (2017). We believe that the United Nations strategic force-generation processes should also support and encourage regional capabilities, such as the African Standby Force. Such regional forces certainly play an important role as first responders in crisis situations, and have demonstrated their ability to serve as bridging forces until the United Nations is ready to deploy. It is, therefore, our strong hope that the Secretariat will develop innovative options and mechanisms that will enhance the potential synergy between the United Nations peacekeeping capability readiness system and the African Standby Force. Lastly, I would be remiss if I were to conclude without expressing our appreciation to Japan for its commitment to this issue and for the capacity-building and training support that it has been providing to African troop-contributing countries through the triangular partnership project.

We thank Ms. Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for her briefing. Since 1948, peacekeeping operations have encountered great challenges. Currently, the most significant among them have been related to the protection of civilians and the asymmetric threats faced by the personnel of missions on the ground. Moreover, there are also logistical challenges in general, as well as those related to the development of personnel capacities, adequate equipment, force generation and the concept of operations, which are instruments needed to foster the strengthening of the execution of peacekeeping missions. For nearly 70 years, through the implementation of their mandates, missions have contributed to peacebuilding in various countries. Unfortunately, that has taken place at a very high cost, owing to the loss of the invaluable lives of soldiers and civilian personnel carrying out their duties. Bolivia pays its most sincere and heartfelt tribute to every man and women among the contingents and personnel of United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world, who spare no effort in fulfilling their mission and mandate despite material constraints, insufficient resources in some situations, difficult conditions on the ground and a volatile security environment. We also thank troop- and police-contributing countries and those that contribute observers and civilian personnel for their impartiality, solidarity with and commitment to the United Nations system and to countries suffering from the consequences of armed conflicts and instability. The international stage is obviously not static in nature. It is undergoing remarkable transformations. The constant threat posed by terrorist groups and transnational crime highlight the need for peacekeeping missions to undergo structural changes that would allow them to adapt to deal more effectively with their respective contexts. Accordingly, the effective and adequate provision of the necessary financial, human and material resources to missions requires technical, logistical and, above all, political analyses in line with the mandates adopted by the Security Council, which must be more realistic, precise and better-focused. We believe that the Vancouver principles provide an important foundation with respect to training, monitoring, reporting, the protection of minors and the participation and inclusion of women in all aspects of peacekeeping operations. We therefore emphasize prioritizing the improvement of institutional flexibility regarding the deployment of troops, as well as selecting the best trained and most specialized among them to respond to the asymmetric contexts that we just mentioned. Similarly, it is essential that improvements in the material and, above all, technological aspects enable peacekeeping missions to be more effective in fulfilling their mandates. It should be highlighted that adequate equipment and training of troops are not only the responsibility of contributing countries, but also of our entire Organization. The constant attacks against peacekeepers, an example of which occurred only a few days ago with tragic consequences, illustrate the need to strengthen key aspects of missions — especially those involving situational awareness on the ground, mobility and the reaction response of units — above all by reinforcing the defensive and protective resources of the camps and personnel. In that regard, we must consider all possible support modalities for funding peace operations in a sustained, predictable and flexible manner in accordance with the provisions of resolution 2320 (2016). Those modalities must also be assessed and revised in a manner that accords greater autonomy to the United Nations vis-à-vis countries that make more substantial contributions, as the financial factor can be used against the very purpose and objective of the missions. Moreover, within the context of peacekeeping, it is imperative to ensure the implementation of the women and peace and security agenda pursuant to resolution 1325 (2000), thereby reaffirming, ensuring and encouraging women’s participation in peace processes through their active participation in prevention, mediation, negotiation and dialogue in order to achieve solutions on level playing fields in post-conflict reconstruction. Priority must also be given to gender parity in the area of peace operations, pursuant to resolution 2242 (2015). Finally, it is worth mentioning that no peacekeeping mission can succeed if it does not enjoy the support of the host country. In that regard, continuous and fluid cooperation and information-sharing between missions and local authorities is essential. Bolivia reiterates that the preventive approach based on case-by-case experiences is essential when defining mandates, whatever their nature, with strict respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of States, while promoting their national ownership and without using them to justify intervention. In conclusion, as this is the last public briefing of the year  — in principle  — my delegation would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Japanese delegation on successfully leading the Council’s work this month. We also warmly commend the six non-permanent members whose terms are ending in this important forum, while extending our cordial congratulations for the significant work that they have done in pursuit of international peace and security.

We thank the presidency of Japan for convening this briefing, and especially thank Ms. Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for her detailed and clear briefing this afternoon. The year 2017 has seen a great deal of debate concerning the future of United Nations peacekeeping operations. The Security Council, as well as the General Assembly, the Fourth Committee, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping and the recent Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference held in Vancouver, which Uruguay had the honour of co-hosting, give us reason to be optimistic that that work will continue in the coming months in addressing the issues that were raised in all those forums. One particular highlight of the past year’s activities was the high-level debate on peacekeeping operations held under the presidency of Ethiopia (see S/PV.8051), at which the Council unanimously adopted resolution 2378 (2017) — a key reform document that sets out areas where the Security Council can and must do more. An essential component that resolution, which is also the focus of today’s meeting, is an emphasis on the need to continue working to fill the existing gaps in capacities and force generation to ensure that peacekeeping operations more effectively and adequately meet current challenges. Uruguay believes that the strategic strengthening of force generation is essential for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping operations. The timely availability of appropriately trained and equipped uniformed and civilian personnel is a key element for the success of peacekeeping operations. Likewise, mandates cannot be fully implemented if missions do not have the capacity required to meet the new challenges they face. Following in the footsteps of our colleague François Delattre, I will address three aspects. First, regarding the planning and design phase, including the reconfiguration of peacekeeping operations, we believe it is crucial for the Security Council to pay greater attention to identifying the capacities required to deliver a given mandate. Planning must be based on clear, attainable and prioritized objectives with reference parameters and an exit strategy providing for appropriate drawdown and handover to a successor entity when those parameters have been satisfied. To that end, triangular cooperation, as others have already mentioned, among the Council, the Secretariat and police- and troop-contributing countries, is essential. The Secretariat, and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Department of Field Support (DFS) in particular, play a decisive role in providing advice when it comes to taking decisions on, among other things, timely needs in terms of equipment and personnel. With regard to the procurement of equipment, I should like to add that this must not depend solely on a country’s financial resources. In our view, we must work on alternatives for such procurement, for example, by developing greater cooperation among police- and troop-contributing countries, the Secretariat and donor countries. At the same time, many of the new technologies that missions now require are highly expensive, underscoring the need to find alternatives for their procurement. Likewise, when it comes to decision-making, the Security Council must fully take into account the opinions of police- and troop- contributing countries since, as the ones who will be providing services on the ground, they can greatly facilitate operational planning and thereby ensure that their personnel have the capacities they need to respond to changing demands. Changing demands call for new approaches, and we note how peacekeeping operations have taken on a range of new tasks such as, for example, in the context of peacebuilding, human rights monitoring and civilian protection. On this last point, we must consider and expand the range of methods used to protect civilians. That includes considering the potential of unarmed methods to complement other peacekeeping strategies. This diverse range of methods includes greater involvement with communities, with the direct participation of all sectors of society greater, and better coordination with other United Nations entities present on the ground and non-governmental organizations. Second is the importance of personnel deployed receiving appropriate training, especially predeployment training. It is essential that peace personnel be trained and prepared to perform the tasks required in their area of operations. This requires joint efforts on the part of troop- and police-contributing countries to ensure better training for their personnel and of the Secretariat when it comes to conducting relevant evaluations and verifications. As a country contributing to peacekeeping operations, Uruguay ascribes direct responsibility to troop- and police-contributing countries for the pre-deployment training and preparation of their personnel. We cannot talk about the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations unless troop- and police-contributing countries fully meet their responsibilities in this regard. We also recognize the excellent joint efforts of DPKO and DFS in developing, applying and monitoring standards and advice for training in peacekeeping, especially in the areas of human rights, protection of civilians and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. Thirdly and finally, we must address not only force generation but also the full functioning of forces once deployed. This is a topic that my delegation has raised continuously and vigorously throughout its two years on the Security Council because we understand that, unfortunately, it affects many peacekeeping operations, representing an issue on which the Security Council should assume greater responsibility. We are talking about obstacles on the ground that have a negative impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping operations. On one hand, greater attention must be paid to national restrictions, so-called caveats  — whether explicitly declared or, worse still, undeclared — because they can hamper the mandate implementation. On more than one occasion, Uruguayan troops have had to deal with emergencies in another force’s area of operations because that other force has, at the last minute, brought up caveats in order to avoid complicated violent situations. Such actions are not only unfair to other forces; they are unacceptable. The Security Council must demand that host States fully respect and comply with the terms of status-of-forces agreements: these constitute the guarantees protecting the personnel that countries voluntarily contribute to peacekeeping operations. We have noted with concern the increasing frequency of attacks targeting United Nations personnel and facilities, leading to significant human and material losses. The most recent such tragedy was the death of 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a few weeks ago. This trend represents a threat to the activities of the United Nations. We are fully aware that there is a fine line between, on the one hand, a proactive posture seeking to strengthen respect for a United Nations deployment and thereby facilitate the performance of its mandate, and, on the other, the possible interpretation of such a posture, depending on the circumstances, as support for one of the parties to a conflict. However, those who choose to attack United Nations forces must be repelled with equal or stronger force. Refusing to assume responsibility is not the right answer, and we must step up efforts to equip the various components with as many tools as possible to face changing circumstances, passive defence measures and strengthened rules of engagement, and we must exhaust all avenues to hold those who commit crimes to account. I wish to emphasize the need for actors and competent bodies in the field of peacekeeping operations to work in full synchrony. We must overcome the rivalry among organs or commissions that burden the process, since each one has specific competencies that make a positive contribution. We understand that the efforts that the Secretary-General devotes to that issue in his initiative to reform the peace and security architecture of the Organization. I reiterate Uruguay’s unflagging and unchanged commitment to United Nations peacekeeping operations. We shall continue contributing to their development both in the field with peacekeepers, as well as in the political debates on the reform process. Following the example of my Bolivian colleague, as this is the final meeting of the Security Council for this month, according to its programme of work, I wish to commend you, Sir, for the manner in which you and your team have led the Council this month. This may also be the last meeting in which Uruguay participates as a non-permanent member. I should therefore like to offer a few very brief expressions of gratitude. I begin by thanking Council members for having supported the election of my country two years ago, in particular those 185 countries that voted in favour of our candidacy. Secondly, I wish to thank those countries that have served as members of the Council these past two years for their tireless support for the delegation of Uruguay. In particular, I offer a strong expression of thanks to each and every member of the Security Council Affairs Division, who have always  — and especially during our two terms as President  — assisted us with their deep knowledge of the Security Council, the items on its agenda and its working methods with great professionalism and, I acknowledge, with enduring patience. We also thank the Translation and Interpretation Services, who have sometimes had to struggle with our tendency to stray from our prepared statements and to navigate the swells of our oratory. I also thank the conference officers for their work circulating documents and preparing the Chamber. I have saved the best for last. I thank the entire team of my delegation here in New York and in the Ministry in Montevideo. We all know that they are the true, if hidden sustainers of our work in the Council. It has been a privilege for me to work with such an excellent groups of professionals.

I thank you, Sir, for your initiative to take up once again in this Chamber the issue of improving force generation as one for the main prerequisites for successful peacekeeping. I am also grateful to Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her valuable briefing. Peacekeeping operations continue to be a reliable and commonly used instrument for curbing and, more importantly, preventing conflicts and ensuring sustaining peace. Yet, taking stock of the most recent discussion of peacekeeping reform in the Council, as well as the very comprehensive open debate we held yesterday (see S/PV.8144), it is evident that the world is not getting any safer. War and aggression are spreading, and peace and goodwill are in retreat. As my President said before the Council, in these dangerous circumstances, “[o]ur Organization, which was created to secure peace and stability in the world, cannot afford to stand aside. It must be proactive” (S/PV.8051, p. 12). In this regard, it is essential to ensure proper force generation for any peacekeeping operation to make it capable of delivering on the mandates devised by the Council. Therefore, my delegation considers this task to be an integral part of the comprehensive reform of United Nations peacekeeping, based on the recommendations contained in the report of the High- level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (see S/2015/446). I cannot but agree with the Secretary- General that what is needed are the right capabilities, not the available ones. Ukraine is proud to have been among the first States that joined the pledging process at the 2015 Peacekeeping Summit. We have been a participant in a number of subsequent conferences. My country joined over 80 Member States that took part in the most recent Vancouver Defence Ministerial Conference. We welcome the communiqué adopted at that meeting, which, we believe, should be factored appropriately into the activities of the Council and the General Assembly. In recent years, peacekeeping operations have become better adapted in terms of equipment and expertise to the execution of mandated tasks. Force generation has gained more flexibility and predictability. At the same time, there is still plenty of room to make peacekeeping operations more capable of mandate delivery, especially in the light of oftentimes rapidly changing situations on the ground. Let we share some suggestions in this regard. First, as an active troop-and police-contributing country, Ukraine welcomes the work carried out in the Council on improving the dialogue among troop and police contributors, the Council itself and the Secretariat, as well as with host countries. It is necessary to continue the work on taking this triangular dialogue to a new level, especially during the establishment or renewal of peacekeeping mandates. Secondly, missions should be provided with clear, coherent, achievable, sequenced and, at the same time, resilient mandates, drawn up in accordance with core tenets of the United Nations peacekeeping and with a focus on supporting a political solution to the conflict. In this view, the impartiality of a mission and its personnel should be a guiding principle. Thirdly, Ukraine believes that the Secretary- General’s endeavour in restructuring the peace and security pillar of the Secretariat should result in strengthening strategic advice to the Council, including on the elaboration of effective peacekeeping mandates. It is also important to provide the Council with detailed and frank reports from the field  — to give the information that is required, even if it is not what the Council members may wish to hear. Such reports should also be shared with relevant troop- and police-contributing countries in a timely manner. Fourthly, while considering the establishment or renewal of mandates, the Council should engage more actively and give all possible support to the Secretariat in securing the use of appropriate modern technologies in peacekeeping operations. Strengthening the intelligence capacities of operations to improve their situational awareness should also be envisaged. Due attention must be payed to securing proper funding and providing sufficient enablers, as needed. All of these aspects are critically important to ensuring the security and mobility of peacekeeping personnel. Any decision on enablers’ draw-down, including aviation assets, must be taken with a due weighing of all existing risks on the ground, especially considering the limited scope of available high- performing resources, as stated by the Secretary- General. The recent tragedy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should serve as a bitter reminder to all of us that peacekeeping operations have to be provided with sufficient resources, technologies and intelligence in order to ensure the safety of their personnel as they implement their mandate. I pay tribute here to all peacekeepers who have lost their lives safeguarding international peace. Last but not least, we have to provide United Nations peacekeeping operations with properly trained and equipped personnel capable and ready to take robust action for mandate execution. For its part, the Council has to closely monitor the implementation of resolution 2272 (2016) and continue to support relevant initiatives of the Secretary-General, including on the eradication of sexual violence in United Nations peacekeeping. In closing, I would like to reiterate that Ukraine has always been a strong and reliable partner of the Organization in terms of its peacekeeping activities. We will remain a steadfast supporter and contributor  — even in times when my country itself requires United Nations peacekeeping assistance owing to well-known external factors.

I would like to thank the Japanese presidency and the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Ms. Bintou Keita, for today’s important briefing. Over the past 60 years, United Nations peacekeeping operations have served as one of the most effective instruments in ensuring and maintaining international peace and security. At the same time, current United Nations peacekeeping operations are facing an unprecedented upsurge in asymmetric threats, which require a systematized plan to reduce such high risks and the number of fatalities by adapting existing approaches or creating new strategies. In that context, the following measures are required. First, we need a comprehensive annual review of United Nations peacekeeping reform in line with the recommendations set forth by resolution 2378 (2017). We would like to note that the United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial, held in Vancouver in November, provided a good platform for the troop- and police-contributing countries to receive updated information on the progress of the transformation of United Nations peacekeeping, on the enhancement of the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations and on responses to challenges to peace and security. Second, we need to tighten the requirements and raise the standards for the selection and training of peacekeeping military and police troops, their personnel, armaments, materiel and technical base. Third, we must intensify the professional training of peacekeepers on the ground, including in-service training, especially in high-risk situations of armed and terrorist attacks. Fourth, better strategies are needed to react to the threats posed by illegal armed groups posing a threat to peacekeepers, civilian personnel and local populations. Fifth, we must heighten peacekeeper awareness on the protection of civilians when there is an increase in the displacement and movements of civilians. Sixth, we need closer dialogue and ongoing consultations between the Security Council, the Secretariat and the troop- and police-contributing countries. Seventh, we must increase the number of troop- and police-contributing countries in peacekeeping operations, which could strengthen and increase trust in them on the part of the people in the areas where the missions are conducted. Lastly, it is important that information-sharing is improved and that the best practices of individual peacekeeping missions are disseminated to other missions in a timely manner through the central apparatus of the United Nations. These best practices should be taken into account in preparing peacekeepers for their tasks in peacekeeping operations. It is clear that force generation alone is not sufficient. Peacekeeping operations need to be effective in fulfilling their mandates. It is therefore necessary for police and military personnel to see themselves as essential partners contributing to enabling peace processes and implementing agreements. The peacekeeping operations must support the work of the civilian component in realizing the overall mandates and objectives of the United Nations.

At the outset, I would like to thank Ms. Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for her briefing and for the efforts made by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the light of the increasing challenges facing peacekeeping operations, both on the ground and at the conceptual level. I would also like to thank the Japanese presidency for convening today’s meeting on the occasion of the publication of the report of the Secretary-General on measures to fill the gaps in peacekeeping. This is another opportunity to operationalize the efforts of developing and reforming peacekeeping operations. Reform and review efforts over the past two years focused on addressing operational and technical aspects of peacekeeping missions, notably the efforts to broaden the base of troop- and police-contributing countries and force generation. These efforts included developing the United Nations Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and holding conferences on peacekeeping operations, the latest of which was the United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial, held in Vancouver. It is high time for those efforts to take tangible form in improved effectiveness of peacekeeping operations on the ground. In this regard, I would like to highlight three points. First, force generation and capabilities for United Nations peacekeeping operations are directly linked to operationalizing the tripartite mechanism for consultations among the Security Council troop- contributing countries and the Secretariat. This tripartite mechanism directly contributes to achieving a comprehensive and clear vision for issuing and reviewing mandates, in accordance with United Nations capabilities and capacities, while taking into account the political and on-the-ground realities in all stages of the conflict as well as the specific context, especially when it comes to the issuance of sequence mandating. This approach guarantees the effectiveness of missions and prevents unlimited mandate extension where there is no fixed time frame for withdrawal. It further allows for the Council to define a comprehensive vision, thereby enabling it to take decisions on extending, reviewing and amending mandates in an effective and realistic manner. Secondly, reforming and developing peacekeeping operations includes significant efforts to enhance aspects related to training, following the chain of command and control and authorizing those on the ground to take decisive action in emergency situations. In this regard, we stress that increasing capacities and force generation and broadening the base of troop- and police-contributing countries must not come at the expense of meeting the highest standards of performance, the availability of equipment and training, and complying with the strictest standards of discipline and conduct, including combating sexual exploitation and abuse. Evaluating the performance of forces must be in accordance with clear standards and benchmarks in peacekeeping-operations policies and in close consultations with troop- and police-contributing countries. There is a clear link in that regard between the availability of training, capacities and equipment, on the one hand, and enhancing the capability of forces to protect civilians and ensure their own safety, on the other hand. In recent months, we have witnessed an increased frequency in attacks against units participating in peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Mali. These incidents have uncovered shortcomings in the capacities available for protection — whether in terms of training, the nature of the equipment or the availability of information, including for risk-assessment purposes. We believe that we urgently need to address these shortcomings in order to enhance the credibility of peacekeeping missions and protect the lives of personnel, for they are the true assets of these missions. Thirdly, when it comes to filling gaps in capacities and capabilities, I would like to highlight the contribution of Egypt in specialized units in the most difficult United Nations missions. Because we are committed to supporting the efforts of the United Nations in peacekeeping, we have pledged to provide the necessary equipment to fill the gap in many missions, including our contribution of 100 armoured vehicles to them. In addition to contributing this equipment and personnel, we have adopted the highest training standards for our police and military troops. We have held detailed training sessions prior to deployment, notably on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse, in accordance with United Nations training curriculums. Egypt is also contributing to training and building the capacity of future troop-contributing countries. The Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding is holding a number of training sessions for troops from these and other countries. We have received a financial contribution from the Government of Japan. Finally, it is important for the Security Council to address the matter of force capability and performance as well as the provision of equipment. However, we believe that enhancing the role and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations starts with the mandates themselves and the review of those mandates in the general framework of the primacy of political solutions, and in making sure that there are sufficient resources for implementing those mandates on the ground, as Ms. Keita mentioned in her briefing. The performance of these missions must be evaluated on the basis of their contribution to providing the necessary conditions for a political solution. In that regard, presidential statement S/PRST/2017/27, which we have just adopted, represents an important contribution to enhancing the capacity of the Security Council and the Secretariat in ensuring that political solutions are our primary focus. The presidential statement calls on the Secretary-General to include relevant reports when reviewing peacekeeping operations, that these reports contain analyses based on the seven guidance elements set forth in the statement, with a view to evaluating the efficiency of mandates and the availability of favourable conditions for the success of peacekeeping operations. Since Ms. Keita is with us today, I would like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of this vital dimension and to express our appreciation for her focus on enhancing capacities, availability of equipment, training, conduct and discipline.

We thank you, Mr. President, for organizing today’s meeting. We have found the briefing by the Assistant Secretary-General, Ms. Bintou Keita, to be quite useful. We welcome the efforts made by the Secretary-General in the area of increasing the effectiveness of training and the capacity-building of peacekeepers. The United Nations is currently undergoing a period of large-scale transformations. One of the key areas for reform is the peace and security architecture, which is the precise context for addressing the issue of United Nations peacekeeping operations. The ultimate goal of this process is to increase the effectiveness of peacekeeping by making sure that the Blue Helmets are adequately equipped, trained and prepared for the implementation of Security Council mandates. What is important here is not just the qualifications and professional training of the personnel, but also the possibility of the timely deployment of missions and their mobility in the field within the framework of their mandate. Unfortunately, members of the Council have not had enough time to study the report of the Secretary- General. Our capitals will continue to consider it very carefully. At the same time, we observe that the document correctly notes that the main responsibility for the issue of training, which the United Nations cannot decide on its own, lies with the States themselves, which is not just a question of the countries developing and providing training programmes but, rather, first and foremost, it is a question of the countries providing contingents in the field. Their role cannot be overstated because without them it is not possible to implement the stated goals of the Security Council. We are convinced of the need for close triangular cooperation and coordination of efforts on the issue of training and capacity-building among the Security Council, the troop- and police-contributing countries and the United Nations Secretariat. However, what is no less important are the direct contacts between States that are developing the training programmes and those that are participating in them. Of course, it is extremely important to take into account the contemporary realities and the demand for peacekeepers, understand what kind of peacekeepers we need today and determine the most relevant areas for training. In this regard, we need to mention language training  — an aspect that the Secretary-General has singled out as an issue in his report. We acknowledge that 48 per cent of peacekeepers work in French- speaking environments, and perhaps we need to bear this in mind. However, the troop- and police-contributing countries and the host countries must together carefully weigh whether it is a priority issue. The opinions and concerns of contingent providers need to be taken into account because their troops and police officers know more than anyone what tasks are required in the field and what kind of skills are necessary to complete them. In that context, we cannot help but notice that the Secretary-General’s report makes mention of forums whose initiators, starting in 2015, were individual Member States. Our opinion is that those issues — which are of principal importance for peacekeeping, for the United Nations system, for all Member States and for the contingent contributing countries in particular — need to be discussed at intergovernmental forums within the United Nations system. However, creating alternative forums is no guarantee of real improvements in practice. For example, despite the efforts undertaken outside the United Nations to staff the mission in Mali, which have been ongoing over a number of years, the police component has reached only 88 per cent of the force ceiling, and the military component has only reached the even lower level of 85 per cent. We believe that work in the area of peacekeeping should be conducted on the basis of discussions and decisions reached in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, which comprises more than 150 States members. The recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General, as far as we understand, lay out proposals for the organization within the Secretariat of two mechanisms designed to enhance the effectiveness of States’ interactions on training and capacity- building issues. We will carefully consider these initiatives. Generally speaking, we hope that linking intra-State cooperation with the Secretariat will not create additional obstacles or provoke unnecessary competition between States that are providing training programmes. We hope that this will improve the awareness of troop- and police-contributing countries about the programmes available to them. Russian peacekeepers  — men and women  — are serving in 10 peacekeeping operations. We support greater participation of women in United Nations peacekeeping. Indeed, women already represent 23 per cent of our peacekeeping units. The number of women among military observers is also increasing. Our country has gained significant experience in training peacekeepers. Russian centres train not only our peacekeepers, but also foreign peacekeepers  — both police and formed units, as well as military observers. We have designed a training system, which includes both general and specialized training, that peacekeepers undergo just before their deployment. Language training is also being adapted to existing needs. Work is under way to create additional centres to educate and train peacekeepers. In order to broaden our contribution to the training of foreign experts for United Nations missions, we are also considering the possibility of using our General Staff Academy of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces in the city of Naro-Fominsk. We stand ready to continue offering all possible assistance needed to strengthen the peacekeeping capacity of the United Nations as a whole.

Thank you, Mr President, for convening today’s important meeting. I would also like to thank Ms. Keita for her briefing. United Nations peacekeeping operations play a critical role in containing and reducing conflict, often in the most challenging circumstances, such as in Mali and South Sudan. There are many examples of the effectiveness of these missions. There are also, unfortunately, examples of the sacrifices that individual peacekeepers make, as we were reminded by the outrageous attack that killed 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers earlier this month. Today we have been briefed on the persistent gaps that remain in peacekeeping operations. We do not always have the right capabilities, equipment and trained personnel to deploy and deliver the demanding mandates that the Security Council sets. We must do more to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of United Nations peacekeeping. This will enable us to better manage the conflicts where peacekeepers are deployed and better protect civilians caught up in conflict, as well as the peacekeepers who take up this crucial role. To achieve this we must invest in the United Nations force generation process. There have been significant improvements to the process, but more needs to be done. When the Council last discussed force generation (see S/PV.8064), the United Kingdom set out three steps which, if taken, would improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions: deployment innovation, improved mission performance, and better long-term planning and strategic force generation. Today, I want to update the Council on the United Kingdom’s actions to support these three areas. Last year we trained more than 11,000 troops from some 30 countries to prepare them for deployments to United Nations missions, including the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the African Union Mission in Somalia. Support has ranged from instructor and leadership training through to assistance with the planning, conduct and delivery of national predeployment training for troop- and police-contributing countries. In addition, we continue to support mandatory e-learning predeployment training for all troops to prepare them to respond to and prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. The Women Peace and Security Chiefs of Defence Network, which we launched alongside Canada and Bangladesh in November, is a critical tool to strengthen training and capacity-building on gender throughout peacekeeping and at all levels. We have also provided over $800,000 in extrabudgetary funding to the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support. The United Kingdom now has over 700 personnel deployed on eight United Nations missions operating in seven countries. These include 380 troops in South Sudan, 40 in Somalia and 280 in Cyprus. We have embraced smart pledging, which was raised by my Minister of State for Defence at the Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference in Vancouver. This innovation will enable us to better meet our obligations through a coordinated response with partners. For example, through our deployment to UNMISS, we are working with Viet Nam, the United States of America and Australia to provide a field hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan, which ensures the provision of medical care for peacekeepers. But coordination needs to go further. First, we must collect performance data and use this to better understand and focus our limited resources to where training and capacity-building are most needed. We must coordinate our collective efforts more broadly. Cooperation should be expanded to cover leadership, gender integration, protection and victim support. Secondly, we must see more partnerships and more smart pledges. We need to develop mechanisms that match up countries that can provide equipment and technology, specialist skills and personnel or logistical support. Smart pledges will help plug persistent gaps. Finally, we must consider the non-military components of peacekeeping. We must support capacity-building work carried out by individual police officers and specialized police teams. This approach bolsters recovery and creates long-term stability. We must also consider how we can generate the civilian component, so that missions do not just keep the peace, but build and sustain it as well. Wider work on management reform has a role to play. Crucial civilian posts must not remain unfilled. We all recognize the positive impact peacekeepers have worldwide. We ask them to take on enormous challenges to protect the most vulnerable. We must do our utmost to improve the systems that support them. We owe this to the brave women and men who serve under the blue banner.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for organizing today’s briefing and Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her insightful remarks. How to make peacekeeping more effective and efficient is one of the major questions to be addressed. It not only encompasses the issues of gaps in force generation and capabilities, which were recently addressed at the Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference in Vancouver, but is also part of the broader reform of the United Nations system. This is because peacekeeping is still a very important tool that the United Nations can use to address the contemporary challenges to international peace and security, as we discussed yesterday in the open debate on complex challenges in this area (see S/PV.8144). Italy is doing its part as a provider of global security. We are one of the most generous financial contributors to the peacekeeping budget and we are the largest contributor of Blue Helmets in the Group of Western European and other States. Currently, we have more than 1,000 units deployed in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Cyprus and Mali and in the military observer group in India and Pakistan. Moreover, our defence and police forces are also providing assistance and protection in other areas of the globe — from Somalia to Afghanistan, from Iraq to Libya and the Mediterranean, the Arab Gulf, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and, as of a few weeks ago, in the Niger in the Sahel region. As Assistant Secretary-General Keita said with respect to the capability gaps, there is an urgent need for air assets to improve the mobility of troops, for medical assets to provide assistance and fast medical evacuation, including to civilians, if needed, and for units for explosive-ordinance disposal to remove mines and improvised explosive devices. Italy has already pledged to support enhancing these capabilities in the next year, which we confirmed in Vancouver. Technology is key in order to increase the safety and security of peacekeepers. We think that the use of drones in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has effectively and efficiently improved the gathering of information, which provided institutional awareness that has been crucial for the protection of civilians and the safety of Italian workers. Training is also vital to improving capability and ensuring that the mandate can be effectively delivered on the ground. Since 2005, the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units, located in Vicenza, managed by our carabinieri together with the United States, offers qualified training for United Nations peacekeeping through a specific training module on the rule of law, international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, protection of cultural heritage, environmental management and prevention of sexual and gender- based violence in conflicts. It also focuses in particular on training-of- trainers courses, especially for military personnel from West Africa and the Sahel region. These training programmes have developed standard and common operational procedures to be applied during robust police activities. We are convinced that future police cooperation will be increasingly based on specialized police units that are focused on stabilization, 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. That was also the aim of the Security Council resolution 2382 (2017) on policing and peacekeeping that was adopted during our presidency last month. Another major gap in peacekeeping operations is the presence and role of women. The participation of women at all levels is key to improving the effectiveness and performance of missions. Their role is important in all peace and security efforts. It is also crucial to train peacekeepers to protect people, key values and principles so as to ensure the credibility and reputation of the United Nations. In this context, I would highlight the fact that Italy has joined the Circle of Leadership on the prevention of and response to sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations operations and has signed the voluntary compact to eliminate this scourge. We have also contributed to the Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. We should not forget logistics. The capacity for operations to deliver and fulfil their mandates is closely related to the swiftness of deployment and the operational effectiveness of field missions. The United Nations Global Service Centre’s Logistics Base, located in Brindisi since 1994, is a crucial hub for the provision of logistical support to peacekeeping missions around the world. 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 efficiency and improved safety and security for troops and for civilians of host countries and eventually for the better delivery of mandates. On this very last aspect, let me thank all our colleagues for the issuance today of the press statement we proposed on environmental management in relation to peacekeeping operations. For the first time, a member of the Security Council recognized the importance of comprehensively addressing the relationship between peacekeeping operations and the environments in which they are deployed. This is a win-win goal that has the potential to improve mandate delivery. Italy will continue to support it in all the relevant bodies of the United Nations. Finally, I received a communication that we will meet tomorrow at 1 p.m. to approve a draft resolution, so technically this is not our last meeting. But tomorrow will be even closer to the holidays than today is so I prefer to thank everybody now. It has been an honour and a privilege to work with everyone, both professionally and in a personal sense. Unlike Ambassador Rosselli Frieri, I cannot give Council members an appointment in 2034 so I will give members an appointment when the reform of the Security Council has taken place.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Japan. I thank Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her briefing. Japan appreciates the efforts by the Secretariat to compile the recommendations contained in the letter of the Secretary-General. This year the Council has had several meetings on peacekeeping, including the open debate on reform of United Nations peacekeeping operations (S/PV.8051), in which resolution 2378 (2017) was adopted, under Ethiopia’s presidency. It has been repeatedly emphasized that there are persistent force generation, capacities and capabilities gaps. Japan believes that training and capacity-building are important tools to fill the gaps. In particular, training and capacity- building need to be well linked to actual deployments of troop- and police-contributing countries. To ensure that training and capacity-building happens, successful matchmaking by the Secretariat between providers and recipients is essential. Not only the Secretariat but also missions on the ground can play a role in ensuring the linkage between training and capacity-building and deployments. Missions can contribute to identifying training and capacity-building requirements from their experience on the ground and report them to New York. A mission review provides a good opportunity for recommendations from the field. The Council should consider including in the mandate of a mission review an evaluation what the Secretariat and missions can do to address the specific gaps of the mission under review. The ongoing United Nations reform should result in a more effective working relationship between the Secretariat Headquarters and the missions. Through United Nations reform, fragmentation within the Secretariat should be eliminated, and nimble communication between the Secretariat and the missions should be enhanced. There should be increased synergy in the area of training and capacity- building between New York and the missions. The United Nations is not the only actor that is called to address the capabilities gaps. Filling the gaps must be a collective effort by the wider community of Member States. Many good examples were shared in the 2017 United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference held in Vancouver. The Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations and the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations can also be utilized. I propose that the Working Group and the Special Committee organize a joint session to take stock of existing efforts and pledges, identify challenges and share ideas for improvements. Tangible contributions and assistance by Member States are also vital. Japan welcomes the Secretary- General’s letter recommending the expansion of the Triangular Partnership Project to include additional geographical regions and additional enabling capabilities. This month Japan decided to provide further support to the United Nations Signals Academy. Japan will further enhance training and capacity- building support in countries of the Indo-Pacific region which spreads from the Asia-Pacific to Africa. I sincerely hope that views and proposals raised by Council members today will lead to discussions and concrete actions in 2018. That is how we will be able to institutionalize a virtuous loop of training and capacity-building and deployment within the United Nations system. Japan will continue to be committed to this collective endeavour to fill the gap by contributing in discussions in New York and providing tangible support to troop- and police-contributing countries. I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers.