S/PV.8360 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2018/853, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2436 (2018). I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the United States. One of the themes of the United States Security Council presidency is transparency. The focus on outreach, inclusion and speaking the hard truths was also the approach we brought to the development of resolution 2436 (2018). If we were ambitious in our goals for the resolution, it is because defenceless people in some of the most dangerous places on Earth are counting on us. That is hard work. It demands high standards. We cannot be afraid to ask for and expect the very best of our peacekeepers. Therefore, resolution 2436 (2018) mandates a timely and transparent reporting process for performance failures. It creates real accountability measures for when those failures occur and applies objective criteria — data, not politics — to match the right police and troops with the right peacekeeping roles. Our team rejected business as usual for this resolution. We focused on engaging major troop- and police-contributing countries that are not on the Security Council but are at the forefront of United Nations peacekeeping. For our non-Council friends who helped shaped this draft — which is their resolution too — their experiences, ideas and even criticisms are reflected throughout the text. We are proud of this transparent and inclusive approach, not for its own sake but because it produced a strong final draft. The Secretary-General has challenged all of us to step up and strengthen peacekeeping, and today the Security Council responded to the call. The United States is grateful for the Council’s leadership. The actions we take today will make the United Nations a better, more effective instrument of peace and security and a more trusted caretaker of the people we are pledged to protect. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I shall give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

We welcome today’s unanimous adoption of a landmark resolution on performance in peacekeeping (resolution 2436 (2018)). As the penholder, the United States deserves our appreciation for all its efforts in facilitating the negotiations on the draft text. We know that it was not an easy process, but in the end we are very pleased that we managed to achieve the necessary consensus. We want to commend the flexibility that all the delegations concerned have shown and that made it possible for this important resolution to be adopted unanimously. It will undoubtedly define future discussions on peacekeeping, particularly at a time when efforts are geared to enhancing its overall efficiency and effectiveness. It is no secret that, as a major troop-contributing country (TCC), we had our concerns, and we participated actively in the negotiations in order to make sure that those concerns were adequately addressed in the text, working closely with other troop- and police-contributing countries (PCCs) and reflecting their interests and concerns in the negotiation process. As a result, the resolution recognizes that realistic mandates, adequately resourced missions, capable and well-equipped personnel and strong leadership at all levels are essential to peacekeeping performance. It also urges the uniformed and civilian components of missions, as well as the Secretariat staff supporting peacekeeping operations, to meet performance standards. It ensures that missions have capable and accountable leadership by underscoring the importance of improving the transparency of a selection process based on merit and competence, with due regard for the consideration of recruitment on a wide geographical basis. The resolution determines that special investigations should be initiated whenever instances of significant failure in performance are alleged, while also underlining the importance of improving the methodology and transparency of such investigations, including through engagement with TCCs and PCCs. It requests that special investigation reports include all factors that lead to performance failure and emphasizes that their findings should inform the design of operation mandates, while stressing that performance failure by a few should not tarnish the achievements of many. It therefore contains a fair balance of references to indicators of both performance failure and excellence, accountability measures for performance failure and recognition and incentives for outstandingly high performance. It also indicates that decisions on accountability measures and on recognition and incentives must be based on objective facts and data, thereby ruling out any chance of the decision-making process being influenced by political considerations. Finally, we want to recognize what the United States has done by reaching out informally to TCCs and PCCs and consulting extensively with them. We also appreciate the efforts made to accommodate most, if not all, of their concerns, thereby enabling us to strike the right balance in trying to achieve the necessary consensus. That is an exemplary practice that should become part of future negotiations on peacekeeping.

The work on the draft text for resolution 2436 (2018) proposed by our American partners was not easy. At one point, frankly, we were on the verge of radical decisions and a situation that would have deprived the Council of unity on an issue of major importance requiring a collective decision. We are pleased that patient efforts ultimately enabled us to include language that had Council members’ unanimous support. This was made possible thanks to the authors’ willingness not merely to hear but also to listen to the expectations and concerns of a broad range of States, particularly troop-contributing countries, that play a key role in United Nations peacekeeping. The Russian Federation therefore found it possible to support the resolution’s adoption. The consultations on the text confirmed that where there is a will the Council is capable of finding a way to take decisions on issues, however complex, and we would be happy and ready to help to ensure that this constructive practice can be translated to other items on our agenda. Issues related to optimizing peacekeeping missions’ activities are extremely important and require the closest possible attention of all participants in peacekeeping operations. We fully support the desire of all to strengthen Blue Helmets’ safety and make their work of implementing Council mandates more effective, but while the diagnosis is generally the same, the proposals as to which methods should be applied frequently differ. For example, we think that simplistic solutions, such as continually strengthening missions’ mandates, cannot guarantee sustained solutions. However, these differences are not insuperable, and the work done on the resolution we adopted today shows that we definitely can and should seek common approaches that enable us to achieve the broadest possible consensus. For that reason, we believe that so-called general peacekeeping issues should be considered by the widest possible range of stakeholders, or our efforts will not be very effective. The General Assembly’s Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations — which brings together the members of the Council, troop-contributing countries and host States, as well as ensuring close cooperation with the Secretariat — was established and operationalized in order to engage the largest possible number of States in this process for that purpose. We would like to point out that the logic of collective effort is central the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative. The principal parties implementing Council mandates, the troop-contributing countries, should therefore, like host States, not be left on the sidelines when key decisions are made about the parameters for peacekeeping operations. We believe that if collective, consensus-based approaches prevail, as happened today, we can resolve United Nations peacekeeping problems, however difficult they are, thereby achieving the goals we all share and preserving and strengthening the authority and role of the United Nations in conflict resolution.

Today the Security Council is sending a strong and clear message in support of wider efforts to improve and strengthen United Nations peacekeeping. Last week’s debate on peacekeeping (see S/PV.8349) provided ample evidence for the timely nature and necessity of resolution 2436 (2018). We all know that peacekeeping faces serious challenges, that many United Nations missions are operating in complex and dangerous environments and that the high number of casualties under peacekeepers is worrisome. At the same time, improving performance demands our continuous attention in the broader context of peacekeeping reform. Today’s resolution is an important step towards promoting better support for Blue Helmets and ensuring effective protection for civilians. I would like to highlight three important aspects of the resolution. Innovative force-generation is a way to improve the performance of operations. Moreover, this resolution pleads for well trained and equipped personnel with the right capabilities to implement the tasks mandated by the Security Council. It includes accountability for underperformance and acts of sexual exploitation and abuse. That includes a wide range of measures that could be taken, including repatriation, and, most important, it requires a culture change in missions. At the same time, excellence should be rewarded. In that regard, we welcome reporting on outstanding performance. We must continue to learn from lessons, positive and negative. It is a positive sign that the Council managed to agree on this resolution unanimously, since peacekeeping is the Council’s main and most visible instrument when it comes to conflict management. Today we managed to take another significant step towards making peacekeeping fit for purpose.

United Nations peacekeeping plays an important role in maintaining international peace and security. China supports efforts aimed at improving the performance of United Nations peacekeeping operations, enhancing mandate-delivery capabilities and strengthening safety for peacekeepers. China therefore voted in favour of resolution 2436 (2018), just adopted by the Security Council. China would like to highlight the following points. First, improving peacekeeping performance is an important aspect of efforts aimed at strengthening United Nations peacekeeping, which requires joint efforts on the part of the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop-contributing countries (TCCs) and peacekeeping missions. The Secretariat and the civilian component of missions, needs to provide more efficient and high-quality support to ensure peacekeeping forces are able to deliver on their mandates. Due regard should be given to the real needs of TCCs, especially those from the developing world, in order to support their capacity-building in peacekeeping. Secondly, peacekeeping operations should abide by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and adhere to the basic principles of peacekeeping, namely, the consent of the parties concerned, impartiality and the non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate. Peacekeeping operations should focus on the central tasks of maintaining peace in order to create conditions for the political settlement of conflict. Peacekeeping operations should respect the sovereignty of the countries concerned, heed their views and assist in their capacity-building efforts. Thirdly, in devising a peacekeeping mandate, the Council should take into consideration the full spectrum of factors, including the realities and needs of the countries concerned, and the capacities and conditions of peacekeeping missions so as to ensure the mandate is clear, realistic and achievable, while allowing for timely adjustments to the priorities and key tasks at each stage in response to local dynamics. It is important to fully use the strength and role of regional organizations, such as the African Union, and to strengthen information exchange and policy dialogue with a view to forging synergies with United Nations peacekeeping.