S/PV.9181Resumption1 Security Council

The President: I would like to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than four minutes in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. Flashing lights on the collars of the microphones will prompt speakers to bring their remarks to a close after four minutes. I now give the floor to the representative of Slovakia.

Mr. Chatrnúch (Slovakia): Slovakia welcomes the opportunity to share its remarks on this important topic and start a conversation on reconfiguring United Nations peace operations to ensure a situationally determined balance between kinetic and non-kinetic actions aimed at restoring peace and addressing the underlying causes of conflict. Slovakia attaches great importance to a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace, particularly through the prevention of conflict and addressing its root causes; national reconciliation and unity, including through inclusive dialogue and mediation; gender equality; and respect for, and the protection of, human rights and fundamental freedoms. We believe that sustaining peace in Africa is a challenge that needs to be addressed in a holistic way. For many years, Slovakia has long identified security sector reform (SSR) to be one of the key elements for effective conflict prevention and successful post- conflict rebuilding and stabilization. The direct experience of many United Nations and African Union peace missions and operations clearly shows that a nationally led and inclusive SSR process can progressively deal with the root causes of insecurity and fragility and create an enabling environment for bringing about sustainable development and peace. In that context, we need to accord priority support to broadening inclusion and diversity so that peacebuilding processes are nationally owned in the fullest sense. Slovakia also recognizes the importance of the women and peace and security agenda in contributing to peacekeeping operations that create the conditions for stability and lasting peace. The combined contributions of uniformed women peacekeepers and local women networks and organizations ensure that women’s concerns are part of conflict prevention and resolution efforts. In that context, Slovakia appreciates resolution 2594 (2021) on United Nations peacekeeping missions’ transitions, which underlines the need to include engagement with the local community and civil society with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities. Moreover, youth can play an important role in conflict prevention. It has been proven to be the case that, when young people are meaningfully engaged in peace processes, the outcomes are usually more lasting and sustainable. Therefore, it is important to underline the importance for peace operations to have a strong youth, peace and security dimension. Nevertheless, supporting youth advocates goes beyond just giving them a platform. It is about building capacity, fostering partnerships and fully integrating their perspective across the full spectrum of work. Last but not least, let me assure you, Madam President, that Slovakia, as the co-Chair of the Group of Friends of Security Sector Reform, together with South Africa, stands ready to provide continued support and commitment to the United Nations security sector reform agenda.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of the Netherlands.

Ms. Brandt (Netherlands): Let me start by congratulating you, Madam President, on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month and thanking you for organizing this open debate. We also thank the briefers for their insightful contributions. As a member of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and a champion of performance and the protection of civilians, as defined within the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping agenda, the Kingdom of the Netherlands feels that this debate on resilience and the nexus between peacebuilding and peacekeeping is both timely and of crucial importance. We align ourselves with the statement to be made on behalf of the European Union, and I would like to make three points in my national capacity. First, it is crucial that peace operations have strategic political mandates that include long-term objectives to enhance resilience and achieve sustainable peace. That means that adequate attention for transition needs to be incorporated into mandates from the very start of the operation. We believe that, in order to achieve that, a stronger role for the PBC is warranted. The PBC is well-placed to provide timely strategic guidance on peacebuilding efforts during consultations and briefings on mandate renewals. Secondly, when it comes to peacebuilding, we support the systematic inclusion of areas such as inclusive justice, mental health and psychosocial support, and, as my colleague from Slovakia just mentioned, the full integration of the women and peace and security and the youth, peace and security agendas. And we really need to increase our work with local actors in those areas if we want to build resilience and sustainable peace, especially at the community level. Thirdly, with regard to funding, although the point has already been made, let me repeat that investing in prevention and peacebuilding is one of the best investments that we can make. It has been proven to work, save lives and, in the end, save money. Clearly, peacebuilding is not a short-term, one-off effort. Therefore, short-term, one-off funding will not work either. Building peaceful inclusive societies requires long-term commitment and predictable funding, which requires genuine commitment that also translates into some form of assessed contributions. The Kingdom of the Netherlands takes that commitment to adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for peacebuilding seriously and has therefore decided to contribute an additional €10 million to the Peacebuilding Fund on top of our annual contribution of €20 million — which speaks to the issue of adequate funding. And we have made that commitment for a period of five years — which speaks to the issue of predictable and sustainable funding. Lastly, we feel that there is great value in coordinating efforts with organizations such as the African Union and international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Joint analysis has already proven itself to be valuable, for instance, in the Sahel, and we strongly encourage further cooperation and coordinated action among all players — whether local or international — as we have a common interest in investing in effective resilience-building and sustainable peace.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Japan.

Mr. Ishikane (Japan): I thank Ghana for organizing this ministerial-level open debate. We strongly believe that, in any conflict situation, building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions is key to achieving a sustainable peace that is resilient in the face of today’s multifaceted challenges that threaten human security in many parts of the world. In order to overcome such challenges, it is indeed time to update and strengthen the functions of the United Nations, including its peace operations. Today I would like to offer a few ideas on how United Nations peace operations, namely, peacekeeping operations and special political missions, can work with United Nations entities and other partners to more effectively promote institution-building and resilience-building for sustainable peace. First, the role of United Nations peace operations to coordinate and integrate efforts to support nationally led peacebuilding activities must be strengthened. In situations in which United Nations peace operations are deployed, the bulk of peacebuilding activities are shared and implemented by a wide range of partners, including United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, international financial institutions, regional organizations and civil society organizations, to name a few. In that environment, the most important role of United Nations peace operations is that of coordination and integration, and we strongly believe that that role should be further strengthened. Meanwhile, other partners, including Member States, can contribute to coordination and integration by promoting openness and transparency regarding their own activities and by recognizing each other’s roles and advantages. Secondly, the Security Council should more regularly request, deliberate on and draw upon the advice of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), so that the activities of peace operations can take into account the longer-term perspective required for peacebuilding and sustaining peace, consistent with each mission’s specific situation on the ground. In that regard, I commend Ghana, as President, for having invited the PBC to provide written advice to the Security Council on today’s discussion. Thirdly, on the question of sustainable funding in support of resilience-building against security threats, including in the Sahel and coastal West Africa, we should further leverage the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), as well as the Peacebuilding Commission, to promote a more coordinated, effective and sustainable use of resources. The PBC should bring together all relevant actors to marshal resources where the need for addressing threats is identified, while the PBF should strengthen its primary function as a seed fund to mobilize other bilateral and multilateral financial resources. Moving forward, Japan will remain committed to supporting resilience-building and efforts to address the underlying root causes of conflict in order to advance sustaining peace.

The President : I now give the floor to Mr. Gonzato.

Mr. Gonzato: First, let me congratulate Ghana on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November – I should have done so yesterday, but I forgot, so I am doing it today. We welcome today’s open debate on how to better equip peace operations to address the underlying causes of conflict and promote sustainable peace. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its member States. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the country of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Georgia, align themselves with this statement. The European Union and the United Nations enjoy a close strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management, dating back two decades. Today 13 of the 18 EU missions and operations around the world work side by side with United Nations missions, for example in the Central African Republic, Somalia, Libya and Iraq. Promoting a holistic approach to conflict prevention and crisis management is an essential element of EU foreign and security policy. The support to dialogue, reconciliation and mediation of agreements to end violent conflict are demonstrated best practices to address conflict. However, building resilient peace means looking beyond peace agreements and taking into account long-term reconciliation, social cohesion, institution-building, respect for human rights and economic development. It also means continuously working on the underlying root causes of conflict, such as climate change, food insecurity, inequality and fragile governance. In the Sahel, the United Nations, supported by the EU, promotes stability and peace through a range of actions focusing on peacebuilding, dialogue, mediation and stabilization. An example of that is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-led and EU-funded stabilization facility for the Liptako- Gourma region, which supports the establishment of State authority and the delivery of essential services. In West Africa, the EU also focuses on conflict prevention with a multi-country “arc of stability” action of €17 million to address the risks of contagion of the Sahelian crisis in the coastal countries of Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Working as One United Nations and across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus is essential to ensuring a coherent strategy in support of breaking the vicious cycles of conflict. To that end, the EU pledging conferences on the Horn of Africa and the Sahel successfully brought together humanitarian, development and peace instruments and actors, thereby ensuring a comprehensive response to those crises. Another example is the FREXUS project on improving security and climate resilience in fragile contexts through the water-energy-food security nexus, in the Niger river basin and Lake Chad basin, which is co-funded by the EU with €4 million. The women and peace and security and youth and peace and security agendas are mainstreamed across our EU-United Nations joint priorities. The EU promotes gender mainstreaming and the participation of women in conflict prevention, as much as in conflict response and recovery. À good example of how that can be built into prevention measures is the Liptako-Gourma stabilization facility, which emphasizes the role of women in generating and sustaining livelihoods – an important factor in relaunching local economies. The recent Youth Action Plan in EU External Action is aimed at strengthening engagement with young people worldwide and will contribute to the implementation of the United Nations youth and peace and security agenda. Among other actions, the EU will incorporate the youth, peace and security dimension into conflict prevention and crisis management efforts. The Security Council must be informed by and work in sync with United Nations country offices and organizations specializing in conflict prevention and sustaining peace. À good example of tapping into the expertise of United Nations agencies is the Climate Security Mechanism, which brings together the conflict prevention and early warning expertise of the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs with the climate mitigation and adaptation expertise of UNDP and the United Nations Environment Programme. The establishment of the Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security is also an important example of connecting the Security Council to other organs of the United Nations to better address the emerging threat of climate and security. The EU and its member States support many of the United Nations bodies that focus on various aspects of peacebuilding and sustaining peace, including the Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers, the Peace and Development Advisers and the Peacebuilding Fund. Those are only some of the many valuable aspects of the conflict prevention and sustaining peace architecture of the United Nations. There is clearly a need for a strengthened and more coherent approach to peace and security. We fully support an ambitious New Agenda for Peace, as proposed by the Secretary-General. We look forward to contributing and engaging in a global conversation on that important initiative in the coming months. Finally, as always, sustainable funding is a key part of the puzzle. Since 2004, the EU has provided some €3 billion in support of African-led peace and security operations on the continent. We will remain heavily engaged, politically and financially, as demonstrated by the recent adoption of a €600 million package in support of the African Union’s mandated peace and security operations on the continent for the period 2022–2024. The EU has 11 training and capacity-building missions across Africa, providing training to more than 30,000 African soldiers, police officers and magistrates. The European Peace Facility is now up and running. It has already adopted several support measures for African countries and has more in the pipeline. In all those efforts, we encourage cohesion with the peacebuilding and stabilization efforts of African subregional organizations and initiatives, such as the Southern African Development Community, the Economic Community of West African States or the Accra Initiative. The EU and its member States are among the biggest contributors to the Peacebuilding Fund, providing more than 60 per cent of the funding to that mechanism. We do, however, recognize the gap between demand and available resources of the Peacebuilding Fund and peacebuilding efforts at large. We therefore welcome the adoption by consensus of General Assembly resolution 76/305 on financing for peacebuilding, facilitated by Kenya and Sweden, which sends a strong signal about the shared commitment of all States Members of the United Nations to peacebuilding. We now need to match that political signal with adequate and concrete financial commitments, and we look forward to a positive outcome in the Fifth Committee in that regard, in addition to other forms of support to peacebuilding by the United Nations membership as a whole. More broadly, the EU is committed to creating more sustainability and predictability in the funding of peace operations. At the African Union-EU Summit held earlier this year, the European Union and the African Union committed to continue our support to African-led peace support operations and the ongoing discussions to use United Nations assessed contributions for operations authorized by the Security Council.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Chile.

Mrs. Narváez Ojeda (Chile) (spoke in Spanish): Chile thanks the Permanent Mission of Ghana for convening this timely debate, and the briefers for their important interventions. Peace operations can be considered one of the most visible tools of the work of the United Nations, but we recognize that the complex international context in which we find ourselves subjects them to various tensions and new needs. For example, the spread of the coronavirus disease intensified many national and international conflicts as a result of the social and economic tensions caused by the health crisis, which directly affected peace operations throughout the world. Against a global backdrop marked by the complexity of conflicts and after more than 70 years of history, peace operations face a particularly worrisome political environment for multilateralism, which has been greatly aggravated in some parts of the world by the emergence of ultranationalism, xenophobia and populism. In view of the difficult scenarios that peace operations must confront, a comprehensive and multidimensional approach to conflicts is required in order to address their structural causes. In the same vein, priority attention must be given to existing vulnerabilities, which compound inequalities, poverty, the loss of ecosystems, the scarcity of resources, the spread of disease and forced displacement. Moreover, we cannot forget that peace operations are often deployed in areas severely damaged by climate change. In order to achieve successful peace operations, coordinated work among the three pillars of the United Nations system is essential, especially with regard to the need to harmonize the objectives of international peace and security with the Sustainable Development Goals and human rights provisions. Therefore, peace operations should also seek to foster stable, more just and inclusive societies that are based on the rule of law, human rights and the empowerment of young people and women, among other principles. I would like to emphasize that women’s empowerment can be achieved only through the increased presence of women in peacekeeping contingents and leadership positions linked to decision-making. In that connection, 28 per cent of Chilean peacekeepers deployed to missions as military experts are women, and that level is slated to reach 57 per cent by December. In addition, we must take into consideration the various threats faced by field operations, such as organized crime, terrorist attacks, cyberattacks and pandemics. That also means that the security of Blue Helmets must be among the Organization’s priorities. Finally, the work of regional mechanisms for peace and security in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations — such as the European Union and the African Union, which have a wealth of experience in the field of peace operations — should be highlighted.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Tunisia.

Mr. Ladeb (Tunisia): Let me first congratulate you, Madam, on assuming the presidency of the Security Council and wish you and your able team every success during this month. I thank the briefers for their insightful presentations and commend you on the decision to dedicate your first signature event to discussing the issues of effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace. I am glad that today’s topic recalls similar discussions initiated by previous African members of the Council aimed at highlighting the need for this organ, in discharging its primary responsibilities, to take into consideration the changing security landscape and fully address the underlying causes and drivers of conflict. In fact, despite the active engagement of the Council in the maintenance of international peace and security by making use of the various tools at its disposal as provided for in the Charter of the United Nations, sustainable peace remains beyond reach in many parts of the world. That is especially the case in fragile contexts in Africa, where a number of underlying, diverse and interconnected drivers have undermined the resilience of populations, exacerbating existing tensions, fuelling cycles of violence and protracting conflicts. Such drivers include the spread of terrorism and violent extremism benefiting from the illegal trafficking of natural resources, organized crime and the smuggling of small arms, chronic poverty, mass unemployment, exclusion and growing inequalities, which have all fuelled tension and discontent among populations. The absence of State authority and efficient institutions often provide breeding grounds and safe havens for terrorist groups, transnational crime networks and violent non-State actors, who use those contexts as strongholds to conduct their destabilizing operations locally and on a larger scale, threatening the stability, security and even the territorial integrity of neighbouring States. The disastrous impact of environmental shocks due to climate change, combined with threats to food security, risk reviving intercommunal violence and add another layer of complexity when it comes to addressing peace and security in those contexts. Some Council members may argue that some underlying drivers of instability and conflicts do not fall within the mandate of the Security Council. It has to be pointed out, however, that failing to address those issues properly has clearly impacted the efficiency of the Security Council and undermined its credibility. If left unattended, such structural factors could jeopardize efforts aimed at restoring peace and security and contribute to the resurgence of conflicts during or after peace operations. They might even have a spillover effect that amplifies insecurity at the regional level, given their cross-boundary nature. It is clear that those security challenges require the Council to reflect further on how to ensure that peace operations respond in such fragile contexts through better coordinated and tailor-made mandates that also integrate effective measures for building resilient communities and bridging efforts related to State institution-building. Today more than ever, the Security Council is required to devise comprehensive approaches to international peace and security, including in terms of its interaction and cooperation with other United Nations organs, regional organizations, especially the African Union, and international financial institutions, in order to support national and regional efforts to build resilient communities and facilitate complementary and coherent responses for sustainable peace.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of South Africa.

Mr. Mabhongo (South Africa): My delegation expresses its appreciation to you, Madam, and your delegation for convening this important meeting to shine a spotlight on the imperative role of resilience-building in peace operations to sustain peace. We extend our gratitude to Secretary-General António Guterres and all of our briefers for their insightful interventions this morning. South Africa reiterates its support for United Nations peacekeeping as one of the mechanisms at the Organization’s disposal for promoting international peace and security, especially the protection of civilians. We echo the view that we should pursue peacekeeping operations that are relevant, effective, efficient and fit for purpose in a changing and dynamic environment. The evolving nature of threats, the dynamism of international peace and security and the complex, volatile and dangerous environments in which peacekeeping missions operate, including their increasing exposure to asymmetrical threats, requires us to continually strengthen collective resilience and adaptation in the wider peacemaking architecture. As many speakers have highlighted in today’s debate, peace operations have undergone significant shifts since they were first conceived of. Those changes, accompanied by an evolving dynamic environment, call for adaptation and resilience in peace operations in order to ensure that they meet present and future security needs. We were also reminded today by some delegations, including that of Kenya, that the idea of peacekeeping operations in itself was an innovation that was not included in the Charter of the United Nations. Peacekeeping by its nature should therefore continually evolve and adapt to changing circumstances. Nevertheless, in ensuring the evolution of peacekeeping, we should use all its existing tools mandated by the Security Council to their full extent. For example, the existing doctrine gives peacekeeping missions sufficient tools to fulfil their mandates for the protection of civilians, so it is when peacekeeping missions underperform in those areas that their efficiency and utility are questioned. We are pleased that the ongoing reform process of United Nations peacekeeping operations is exploring the use of new technologies to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in terms of strategic communications, as well as ensuring the safety and security of peacekeepers, shelter and camp management, health, the protection of civilians and the overall efficient implementation of the mandates. South Africa had the honour of hosting the sixth International Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping Symposium in June, where we discussed the role of advanced modern technology in peacekeeping operations and identified the successes, challenges and opportunities that the United Nations could leverage. We would like to join other speakers in underscoring that transformative and innovative strategies must be adopted as part of resilience-building in peace operations. They include but are not limited to the full implementation of commitments made to advancing the women and peace and security agenda. We must therefore pursue every means of ensuring targeted recruitment and the availability of facilities that are adequate and appropriate for women peacekeepers, as well as women’s mentorship and training programmes, in order to increase the level of women’s participation in peacekeeping operations. We would also like to emphasize the importance of partnerships between the United Nations, regional organizations and subregional organizations. In line with the outcome of the sixteenth African Union-United Nations joint consultative meeting, held on 14 October, the African Union (AU) and regional organizations continue to be at the forefront of working to pacify conflicts on our continent in support of the Security Council’s mandate to maintain international peace and security. In that context, we reiterate our call for the United Nations to do its part and contribute to the financing of AU-led peace support operations authorized by the Council from its core resources, as recognized in many of its resolutions, in particular resolutions 2320 (2016) and 2378 (2017). Finally, we underscore the importance of synergies and complementarity between peacebuilding and peacekeeping and call for enhanced collaboration between the Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council, particularly during the consideration of mission mandates and transition periods.

The President : I now give the floor to the representative of Algeria.

Mr. Gaouaoui (Algeria) (spoke in Arabic) : At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Madam President, on your country’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council this month and express the Algerian delegation’s best wishes for success in your tasks. We also thank the Secretary- General and the briefers for their statements. Our meeting’s topic today is a good and very important choice, especially for Africa, which continues to be plagued by conflicts and crises. Algeria shares the view that every peacekeeping operation should strive to restore sustainable security, consolidate and maintain the pillars of stability and create a foundation for rebuilding peace, sustainable development and preventing conflict, coupled with working to address the root causes of crises and conflicts and eliminating them through peaceful dialogue and negotiations. The success of a transitional phase towards a peaceful solution is tied to the extent to which peacekeeping operations support efforts aimed at genuinely realizing the goals of concluded peace agreements, as well as the political arrangements agreed between the parties to the conflict. In view of that basic role, and before the mandate of any peace process is terminated, its mandate and mission should be completely fulfilled and its withdrawal carried out gradually and in a way that ensures that no security vacuum is created that could lead to a relapse into violence and conflict. The peacebuilding process requires the establishment of a coherent, comprehensive national political structure based on legitimacy through elections, the building of a constitutional base, the establishment of strong national institutions in all fields that crystallize good governance, the rule of law, justice and respect for human rights without discrimination or exclusion. The process of rebuilding peace is not complete without the political will to develop a comprehensive strategy for building society with the participation of all actors. At the same time, one of the dangers of conflicts is the huge amounts of weapons that flow from within or from outside and are difficult to control, whether during a conflict or even after it ends. So the activation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes during and after conflicts plays an important role in restoring stability and aligns with strengthening national military capabilities and unifying their ranks to ensure security and stability throughout countries’ territories and confront various threats, including those of armed and terrorist groups and the proliferation of weapons. We are fully aware that the rapid evolution of security threats in both scope and nature may at times exceed the ability of peace operations to respond to them, and in some cases those threats can pose an imminent danger not only to civilians but to peacekeepers themselves. That is unfortunately something we have witnessed in recent attacks by terrorist groups on the sites and personnel of some United Nations peacekeeping operations. In order to address those asymmetric threats, we must strengthen early-warning systems, enhance the capacity of States and their competent national structures to combat terrorism and violent extremism, strengthen cooperation among national agencies, including regional and international ones, intensify coordination in the exchange of information, promote national security at borders and combat organized crime, which is frequently a source of funding for terrorist and extremist groups. In conclusion, raising the level of prevention and prior warning against any security threats in the peacebuilding phase in order to avoid a return to conflict requires strengthening the capacity of individuals and societies by spreading awareness and educational programmes. Moreover, building peace requires international support and accompaniment, especially in developing the economy and infrastructure to ensure sustainable development.

The President : I now give the floor to the representative of Peru.

Mr. Llosa (Peru) (spoke in Spanish) : I would first like to thank Ghana, in its capacity as President of the Security Council, for inviting us here and taking the initiative to convene today’s open debate, which is an opportunity for us to examine together the need to integrate the aspect of resilience into peace operations in order to achieve sustainable peace. The traditional practices of peace operations are being enhanced by taking into account the need to structure approaches to ensuring resilience in areas previously affected by conflict. It is therefore essential to build trusting relations between the personnel of peace missions and key local actors, such as the national authorities, the private and productive sectors and local and grass-roots movements, such as those led by women and young people. The structure of such approaches should be consistent with processes of transition from conflict to peacebuilding, as well as being reflected in the mission mandates established by the Security Council, while taking into account key principles, such as respect for human rights, the promotion of gender equality, the strengthening of the rule of law, the eradication of poverty and the building of robust and resilient institutions, in order to achieve peaceful coexistence. Peru strongly supports the gradual evolution of the regulatory and operational frameworks of peace operations. We are committed to that in our own diplomatic activities, which is why we have actively contributed to six operations aimed at consolidating peace in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, South Sudan, Abyei and Lebanon. That is further demonstration of our commitment to multilateralism and collective security. With regard to the root causes of conflict and insecurity in areas where missions are deployed, Peru believes that the development of approaches to building resilience must be based on flexible criteria and independent evaluation indicators and benchmarks on a case-by-case basis, as well as ethical considerations, moral imperatives and the fact that strengthening governance leads to increased trust and the restructuring of the social fabric, in which civil-society partnerships and other civic groups are the main stakeholders. In that regard, and in order to support national and regional efforts to address conflict situations, we believe that effective resilience must include the participation of women and young people in the various decision-making bodies and processes, particularly with regard to all aspects related to peace and transition processes involving previously conflict- affected areas. That should involve their leadership in their communities, their increased participation in political life and their inclusion in economic recovery and transitional justice processes. It is vital that coordination efforts between the Security Council and United Nations agencies engaged in resilience planning in conflict-affected areas focus on improving the capacity of local authorities in their work to bridge the divides that can fuel violent collective struggles by prioritizing food security, health care, citizen security and political participation. Finally, with regard to funding to support resilience-building against security threats, we commend the work being done by the Peacebuilding Fund in its efforts to ensure that resources, from both the public and the private sectors, are predictable and sustainable and that they prioritize the protection of civilians and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, while, at the same time, increasing capacities in the areas of justice and security, as well as productive entrepreneurship.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Ukraine.

Mr. Dvornyk (Ukraine): Ukraine highly appreciated the initiative of the presidency of Ghana to hold this important open debate. We express our gratitude to all the briefers for their thoughtful briefings. Ukraine aligns itself with the statement made on behalf of the European Union, and we would like to make a few comments in our national capacity. The recent coronavirus disease pandemic has explicitly shown how dramatically newly emerging challenges can complicate our efforts to address long- lasting threats. Health emergencies, food insecurity, poverty, environmental degradation and climate change are just a few of the new challenges that could become triggers of conflict. Given the fact that most such triggers take no notice of national borders, we fully agree with the assumption made in the concept note for this debate (S/2022/799, annex) that unaddressed structural factors could contribute to the resurgence of conflicts, even during or after peace support missions. Regrettably, the practical activities of the international efforts to respond to the contemporary threats and challenges remain insufficient. One of the explanations is that, along with facing new challenges, we are still compelled to confront the threat of a large-scale inter-State conflict as a result of an armed aggression and the full-fledged invasion of a sovereign State. It is even more worrisome that the aggressor resorts to deliberate terrorist practices, attacking critical infrastructure in an attempt to deprive millions of civilians of electricity and water, striking ahead of the winter season. That attack occurred despite, and in violation of, resolution 2341 (2017), on the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks, adopted unanimously in 2017. It is clear that an efficient remedy to the underlying causes of insecurity across the globe, such as poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa, will hardly be possible without a proper and sufficient response to the aggressive behaviour of Russia. Its war of aggression against Ukraine has already affected global food supplies, thereby exacerbating the food crisis in the most vulnerable regions. Russia recently resorted to blackmailing the world by threatening to undermine the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which, I recall, enabled the supply more than 9 million tons of foodstuffs from Ukraine between August and October. We praise the United Nations and Türkiye, the brokers of the Grain Initiative, which took a strong stance, along with Ukraine, to ensure the continuation of the Initiative. Civilians and their rights are among the first to be hit by any war. Taking into account our own tragic experience following the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, we believe that it should be a top priority for any peacekeeping operation to fully implement its mandate in relation to the security and safety of civilians. Ukraine’s experience as an active contributor to United Nations peace operations attests to the fact that the efficient protection of civilians should be in conjunction with supporting the capacity-building of the host State, rule-of-law institutions and democratic procedures. In conclusion, let me reiterate that a human rights violator and abuser of the fundamental norms of international law can hardly be a reliable partner in addressing the pressing problems on the global agenda, including the underlying root causes of conflicts worldwide. That is why we are convinced that, now more than ever, we need a strong Security Council, where all members are legitimate and responsible, as well as reliable contributors to safeguarding the rules- and values-based international order.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Canada.

Mr. Arbeiter (Canada): Allow me to congratulate Ghana on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November. We thank Ghana for having convened this open debate to explore the peacekeeping and peacebuilding nexus and to consider how the Security Council can better respond to threats without borders, such as climate change and terrorism. We also look forward to Ghana hosting the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial in 2023 and to contributing to the process. We know that we are in good hands, and we want Ghana to know that it can count on our support. I will use my time today to offer some perspectives on integrating resilience in peace operations to sustain peace. First, on the Council’s role in ensuring that United Nations peace operations can address the causes of conflict and insecurity, over time we have come to understand that certain ingredients are key to mission success — genuine commitment by the conflict parties to a gender-responsive and inclusive peace process, clear and achievable mandates with the resources to match, the full backing of the Security Council and positive regional engagement. But in many contexts where United Nations peace operations are deployed, those ingredients are missing and, where they are absent, missions are struggling. The Security Council has a central role in putting the peace operations it authorizes in the best possible position for success, using all of the tools at its disposal. But the peacekeeping partnership extends beyond the Security Council — from host Governments to local civil society and women’s rights organizations, to troop- and police-contributing countries, financial contributors, regional organizations and the Secretariat. Mission success depends on all of those actors working together and holding each other accountable. Peacekeeping is one of the most effective and efficient tools we have to mitigate conflict and protect civilians. It is incumbent upon all of us to think constructively and critically about how to ensure that peace operations can evolve and deliver to meet existing and new challenges. This open debate is a welcome start to that discussion, which Member States can carry through the upcoming session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, as well as the 2023 Peacekeeping Ministerial process. Secondly, on how we can leverage thematic agendas, like the women and peace and security agenda, to build resilience, Canada is part of a growing number of countries — 104 — that have developed a national action plan on women and peace and security. That is a testament to the commitment of more than 50 per cent of the United Nations membership to implement, at home, resolution 1325 (2000) and the subsequent nine Council resolutions on women and peace and security. Canada is now in the process of drafting its next women and peace and security national action plan. As part of that process, we are seeking to address a broader range of security issues and recommitting to meaningful engagement with civil society and indigenous representatives. We are also determined to promote and protect women peacebuilders in all their diversity, recognizing that supporting them is one of the single most important contributions we can make to building sustainable peace. We are redoubling our own efforts, together with partners, to implement resolution 2538 (2020) and address the barriers that women peacekeepers face. I wish to commend Ghana for its leadership in that regard. Canada’s Department of National Defence recently undertook an independent assessment of barriers to the meaningful participation of women from the Canadian Armed Forces in peace operations. And having renewed the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations for another five years, we will continue to deepen the work we are doing within our own institutions, and with partners globally, in order to ensure receptive environments for women uniformed personnel. (spoke in French) Thirdly, on the collaboration between the Council and other United Nations organs to ensure more coherent strategies to build resilience, we believe there is good practice to build on, fortunately, in the form of the relationship between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). Thanks to the work of consecutive PBC Chairs, including Bangladesh and Egypt, there has been good progress in strengthening the Commission’s crucial advisory role, in particular in offering advice to the Security Council. Canada also made that a pillar of its term as Chair in 2020. The strength of the PBC is that everything is done at the request and with the consent of the countries and regions with whom the Commission engages. The PBC speaks with countries, not just about them. Its work is grounded on national priorities to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies. There is deep value in the advice that the PBC can offer to the Security Council, particularly on the renewal of mandates for United Nations peace operations — and especially in contexts where the United Nations is transitioning. It is in those contexts in particular where we must leverage the strengths of these two organs and support countries on the path to sustainable peace. Fourthly and finally, on the funding mechanisms available to support resilience building, particularly for Sahelian and coastal States in West Africa, the General Assembly took an important step in September by adopting by consensus the resolution on financing for peacebuilding (General Assembly resolution 76/305). We thank Kenya and Sweden for acting as facilitators for that resolution. The clear call for Member States to increase their contributions to peacebuilding and peacekeeping, including through voluntary, innovative and assessed contributions, is important. Peacebuilding and conflict prevention is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. The earlier we are able to act, the more tools we have at our disposal and the more lives and financial resources we can save. In December, Canada proudly announced a commitment of $70 million over three years to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund in order to help close the peacebuilding funding gap and support gender-focused interventions. We are making that investment because we believe the Peacebuilding Fund is a critical mechanism and catalyst to help sustain peace, particularly for States under the stress of armed conflict and climate change. We look forward to working with partners to continue to close the financial gap in the area of peacebuilding, and we hope to continue to receive guidance from the United Nations so as to ensure adequate funding for its peacebuilding activities.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Bangladesh.

Mr. Muhith (Bangladesh): We congratulate Ghana for taking over the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November. I also thank you, Madam President, for organizing this important open debate. I express my sincere appreciation to all the briefers for their insightful and comprehensive briefings this morning. The whole gamut of peacekeeping missions changed in the past decade owing to numerous evolving challenges, including the surge in the activities of non-State armed groups, climate-related crises, natural disasters, displacement, poverty and so on. Traditional and non-traditional security threats exacerbated the root causes and drivers of conflict both directly and indirectly. It is quite evident that military operations alone are not sufficient to bring effective and sustainable peace to conflict-affected areas. Capacity-building of relevant host country institutions is important in peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Peacekeeping forces can play a vital role in building resilient host- country institutions so as to ensure sustained peace when peacekeeping operations leave the host country. An integrated approach is needed in order to ensure that peacekeeping operations are fit for purpose and that they are a true collective investment in global peace and security. In that regard, the role of the Security Council is crucial. Being the leading troop- and police-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping operations, Bangladesh has been making remarkable contributions to the peacebuilding components of peacekeeping operations that facilitates resilience-building in host countries. Within the limited mandate, Bangladesh peacekeepers have prevented conflicts, enforced peace deals, monitored truces and successfully mobilized the affected populations in various nation-building activities. I would like to recall Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ active engagements in many countries in facilitating the transition to democratic process and playing a supporting role in electoral processes, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes and infrastructure development, including the construction of roads and schools and agricultural development. We are also contributing to strengthening the judiciary, reforming the security sectors and supporting institution- and capacity-building in host countries. Allow me to briefly touch upon some important points for effective resilience building. First, institution-building is a major prerequisite for strengthening resilience. Effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are needed in order to facilitate national reconciliation efforts and ensure a country’s capacity to maintain peace. In that regard, we underscore the critical role of peacekeeping missions in reforming judicial and security sectors and assisting service delivery by national institutions, within the mandate. Secondly, inclusivity is the key to the effective implementation of the peacekeeping mandate. In that regard, the full and effective implementation of resolutions 1325 (2000) and 2250 (2015) and the subsequent resolutions are essential to realizing the full and meaningful participation of women and youth in peace processes. We also emphasize the inclusion and engagement of civil society and local stakeholders. Thirdly, we underscore the role of effective partnership and coordination among peacekeeping operations, special political missions, United Nations country teams, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, international and regional financial institutions and regional and subregional organizations in order to undertake and subsequently maintain an integrated and coordinated approach towards resilience-building. In addition to this partnership, national ownership is critical. We recall resolution 2594 (2021) in this regard. Fourthly, witnessing a surge in climate change effects, we encourage intensifying efforts to reduce the overall environmental footprint of peacekeeping operations. The Council should set the mandate of peacekeeping operations in a way that leaves a positive legacy for the host community and contributes to its own efforts aimed at sustaining peace and development. Fifthly, emphasizing the synergies and complementarity between peacebuilding and peacekeeping, we recognize the critical advisory role that the Peacebuilding Commission plays, particularly in mandate-setting for peacekeeping operations. We also highlight the importance of ensuring adequate, predictable and sustained financing for peacebuilding activities so as to facilitate effective resilience-building. Before concluding, I reiterate Bangladesh’s commitment to contributing to the peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities of the United Nations.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Poland.

Mr. Szczerski (Poland): Let me begin by thanking Ghana for organizing today’s important debate. Poland also wishes to express its appreciation to all the briefers for their insightful remarks. The international peace and security architecture requires broad and effective engagement of all countries devoted to the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter, and these countries must be ready to defend the Charter. That is why United Nations peace operations remain a core instrument of our collective endeavours aimed at conflict resolution and protection of those who cannot defend themselves. However, the recent rapid evolution of the global security environment has posed new challenges for all Member States, which now require better-tailored approaches and strategies of engagement. It is essential that United Nations peace operations, having faced the perfect storm of the coronavirus disease pandemic, disruptions of supply chains, food and energy insecurity stemming from the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as climate challenges, evolve. Now, more than ever, they need to be approached holistically. Only then will we be able to stop the domino effect of wars creating new crises and new crises causing new wars. We believe that there can be no long-term stability without eliminating the underlying causes of conflicts, including, inter alia, the lack of sociopolitical unity, exclusion from political processes, inequalities, weak institutions, climate-related risks and food insecurity. That is why Poland attaches great significance to promoting actions that are driven by the humanitarian- development-peace nexus. In other words, we need to overcome the silo mentality and apply a more comprehensive approach that cuts across the areas of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Reducing the risk of conflicts requires resilient and accountable State institutions, good governance and social cohesion, as well as investments in infrastructure resilience as an element of sustainable development — in short, sustainability through resilience. We are fully aware that the peace and security landscape has been increasingly influenced by climate change and environmental degradation. Climate insecurity often overlaps with an increase in poverty and social disparities. Scarcity of food, water and other natural resources forces people to migrate, undermining the stability of entire regions. While our understanding of complex interactions between climate, food and conflict is improving, allowing us to better anticipate potential frictions, we need to deliver innovative and cross-cutting approaches to ensure that stabilization and peace efforts are climate-sensitive. As an active participant in peacekeeping operations, Poland recognizes the need to continue our collective efforts aimed at better adaptation of United Nations missions and the enhancement of their effectiveness. Partnerships are another important ingredient of sustainable peace. Poland endorses closer cooperation among the United Nations, other international and regional organizations, including international financial institutions. We commend the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and the Peacebuilding Fund for bringing together international, national and local stakeholders to examine and address complex peacebuilding challenges. We strongly support the PBC’s collaboration with various United Nations bodies, including the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and United Nations missions in the field. Peace operations have proved their strategic worth in building foundations for sustainable peace. What we must do now is keep them relevant and resilient. Poland stands ready to work towards this goal, both at the negotiating table and on the ground.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Morocco.

Mr. Kadiri (Morocco) (spoke in French): Let me first congratulate Ghana and you personally, Madam President, for assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month and for organizing today’s open debate on a key issue affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of our action in favour of international peace and security. Our fraternal country, Ghana, can count on Morocco’s full support during its presidency of the Security Council. I also thank Secretary-General António Guterres, Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee, Commissioner Bankole Adeoye, Her Excellency Mrs. Mary Robinson and Ms. Karin Landgren for their briefings and the enlightening elements they shared with us. As we have heard many times in today’s debate, it is clear that United Nations peacekeeping operations are the Organization’s most effective means of responding to threats to international peace and security. The tasks of peacekeeping operations have evolved over the past decade to include conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities in modern multidimensional missions, in accordance with their respective mandates. However, the gap between the ambitious aspirations of multidimensional mandates and the resources available to peacekeeping operations remains wide. The response to today’s challenges, which are multiple and complex in nature, must be based on new and innovative approaches that anticipate and intervene rather than simply observe and react. It is therefore essential that the work of peacekeeping operations be supported, with greater efforts and resources being devoted to strengthening the various tools at the disposal of the United Nations in order to guarantee complementarity in missions’ actions and to ensure that they receive all the political and financial resources they need. To that end, we welcome the sustained and continuous attention the Secretary-General has given to this issue, including his proposal to develop a new agenda for peace with the objective of achieving a more proactive and coherent collective approach in and more effective results from action by the international community. We reiterate our firm belief that the establishment of lasting peace requires investing in the peace-security-development nexus in order to eliminate the root causes of conflict and strengthen the capacities of Member States to prevent and respond to risks of crisis. Morocco, which has put the peace-security- development nexus approach at the heart of its commitment to peace and security, would like to emphasize the following three points. First, preventive diplomacy, mediation and special political missions, as important elements in the United Nations toolbox, must be able to fully play their roles. Morocco expresses its appreciation for the work of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) in this context, in particular in terms of building the local capacity of women and youth for mediation and conflict prevention and supporting political processes. In this regard, Morocco is honoured to have been a member of the DPPA donor group for several years. Secondly, the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), its country configurations and the Peacebuilding Fund play a central role in strengthening the integration of peacekeeping and peacebuilding through economic- recovery and capacity-building efforts based on national ownership, which underscores the need to strengthen complementarity and coordination between the Security Council and the PBC. On the eve of each renewal of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic mandate, the Central African Republic country configuration, which Morocco is honoured to chair, continues its good practice of sharing recommendations with the Security Council based on peacebuilding priorities in the Central African Republic. Finally, we reiterate the importance of the Security Council developing clear, focused, sequenced, prioritized, realistic and achievable mandates in consultation with host States and troop- and police-contributing countries and providing peacekeeping missions with all the support they need to accomplish their tasks. Financial support to these missions is, of course, also fundamental. We commend the continued efforts of the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support that regard. In conclusion, I would like to affirm Morocco’s full and active support for efforts aimed at preventing conflicts and maintaining and building peace.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Turay (Sierra Leone): At the outset, Madam President, let me congratulate you on Ghana’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November 2022. I thank Ghana for organizing today’s open debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Sierra Leone concurs with the view that integrating resilience in peace processes is critical for conflict prevention and sustaining peace. For some peacebuilding proponents, resilience can act as a boundary object that facilitates cooperation among security, humanitarian and development actors involved in a protracted crisis. Resilience also relates to strengthening capacities, as opposed to fragilities or the phenomenon of so-called failed States. That is a powerful metaphor to remind peacebuilders that successful outcomes for peace depend on local actors engaging with the peacebuilding community in order to value prevention more and focus those outcomes on the long term and on peacebuilding at the local level, and not only at the national level. A key factor in building sustainable peace is local ownership, which is often inadequately attended to or undermined by international actors in the process of humanitarian action, development assistance, disaster recovery and peacebuilding efforts. That is compounded by the fact that external actors often focus only on the fault lines of conflict in a country and fail to notice, invest in or prioritize the sources of resilience of the people in the most difficult circumstances. Therefore, it helps greatly to work closely with local actors to fully and truly understand the conflict perspective and context-specific characteristics of a given region, as well as people’s strengths, assets and strategies in the face of violence. In that way, we can identify and strengthen the capabilities for resilience that are crucial for the development of peace and the transformation of conflict. A resilience-building approach therefore offers a crucial tool for analysing and designing policies and programming that are tailored to the specific needs of people at the local level. In building peace and national reconciliation and avoiding polarization, it is critical for all stakeholders, Governments, civil society, the private sector, women and young people to be holistically engaged. In conclusion, we believe in the axiom that there can be no peace without development and no development without peace. Together we are stronger, and it is much easier to sustain peace with all the stakeholders on board than when some are of them are excluded or marginalized.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Rwanda.

Mr. Gatete (Rwanda): I thank you, Madam President, for giving me the floor to share Rwanda’s views on this important topic. I congratulate Ghana on assuming the presidency for this month and convening this high-level debate. I also commend the briefers for sharing their informative perspectives, which contribute substantively to this discussion. There is no better time to discuss such a consequential topic as “Integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace”, given the current global and regional security contexts. Effectively sustaining peace entails a deliberate process and political will. Real peace cannot be achieved when actors, stakeholders or their guarantors turn a blind eye to the root causes and drivers of the conflict itself. The inability to sustain peace results from the failure to address the conflict’s real root causes and outsourcing solutions that do not match the context. The history of some successful processes shows that addressing the actual causes of conflict with impartiality builds trust among all actors, which in turn allows the establishment of a solid foundation for political processes, facilitates peacebuilding and creates a positive peace. Given the current security dynamics, the Charter of the United Nations alone does not appropriately guide the conduct of peacekeeping; there is therefore a need to tailor the mandate to each specific country’s realities and to implement it using various bilateral and multilateral mechanisms in order to bring about the synergy that is required. The question is: how do we make peace operations fit for the specific purpose and context? A country- specific or region-specific approach to address the specific underlying issues should be implemented in line with the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative and in partnership with the host country. In most cases, the priority is to protect civilians and deliver humanitarian responses, while finding long- lasting solutions through negotiations and dialogue. That priority must be well-communicated. There should be an awareness-raising strategy to educate communities on their role in restoring peace and rebuilding the country to create ownership. Expectations should also be well articulated to avoid local communities having false expectations. Let me now focus my intervention on the role of the host nation. Peacekeeping operations should support and mobilize host country authorities in enacting their vision and strategy to address the issues that compromise their security and stability. Host countries should be able to develop and implement what is best for them, bearing in mind the importance of including all relevant stakeholders, including young people and women, and ensuring that their needs, including those of the most vulnerable, are addressed. There is no one-size-fit-all template designed to build resilience. Instead, the country-specific or region-specific context should inform the best course of action. After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, homegrown solutions were embedded in the reform framework. Initiatives such as Gacaca courts, Imihigo, or performance contracts, Umuganda, or monthly community work, mediation committees, land reforms and accountability, to name only a few, helped solve critical issues that would otherwise have taken several years to accomplish had we chosen classical methods. Sustaining peace requires comprehensive institutional reforms to enable effective and democratic security delivery by reducing poverty and promoting sustainable economic, social and political development. However, the host country remains fragile without an efficient and well-governed broader security architecture. Rwanda was able to establish institutional reforms with the support of partners. However, we preferred that the questions of what and how be left to Rwandans. In that way, we could be accountable for our decisions and note our failures as our own. Finally, peacekeeping is essential for creating the conditions in which the host country may ameliorate its priorities and set strategies for achieving sustainable socioeconomic transformation and proper institutional reforms based on the local context. In that regard, we echo the call for adequate funding to support peacebuilding activities during both peacekeeping and transitions.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Argentina.

Mr. Mainero (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): The number of armed conflicts worldwide is increasing and, in those challenging environments, the humanitarian needs of the affected populations far exceed the capacities of national and international organizations to meet them. People have no other choice than to become resilient for their own immediate survival. In such life-or-death situations, resilience is used to describe the capacities of people and their communities to survive and maintain essential life-sustaining services when they are faced with extreme violence. When people are pushed to their limits, their innate resilience for survival and resistance can be seen clearly at the community level. Inevitably, families and neighbours, with the support of local organizations, are the first to respond to provide essential life-sustaining resources. In times of need, people work together and organize themselves to mutually support each other, using their networks to access assistance and critical resources. In a broader sense, resilience can also mean the ability to adapt to and recover quickly from a crisis situation. In situations brought about by natural or human-made crises, it is important to address both the symptoms and the root causes, especially in conflict situations in which history tends to repeat itself. Emerging trends and dynamics linked to traditional and non-traditional security threats are presenting the Security Council with new challenges. That makes it imperative for the Council to develop new approaches to ensure an effective response in order to achieve sustainable peace. Implementing an approach centred on resilience is predicated on learning from past experience and addressing both emergency and long-term needs. It also requires that special attention be given to issues related to peacebuilding and rebuilding the State. The nature of conflict and violence has been substantially transformed since the United Nations was founded more than 75 years ago. Although the number of wars between States has decreased since 1946, intra-State conflicts and violence have continued to increase. Regional tensions, the breakdown of the rule of law, the absence or takeover of State institutions, illicit economic gains and a scarcity of resources exacerbated by climate change have become the main drivers of conflict. Furthermore, new threats to international peace and security are emerging that are difficult to address through traditional responses, such as transnational criminal networks and advances in weapons technology through the use of cyberspace. In the current landscape of constantly evolving conflicts, United Nations peace operations have had to adapt and reinvent themselves. In recent years there has been a growing call for robust mandates for peace operations to respond to changing security dynamics. Ensuring that peace operations are adapted to modern times is therefore critical to the credibility and effectiveness of the Council itself.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Indonesia.

Ms. Dhanutirto (Indonesia): Let me begin by conveying my appreciation to all the briefers for their notable insights. My delegation commends Ghana’s initiative highlighting the need to ensure that peace operations are fit for purpose. I would like to underline three points in that regard. The first is establishing mandates that are suited to individual peace operations. As challenges related to peace and security evolve with time, the Security Council must be more agile in assigning the appropriate type of mission throughout the peace continuum. Inclusive participation and national ownership must come into play in order to capture the actual situation on the ground and ways to move forward. Moreover, clear, focused and achievable mandates should be devised to guide the course of the peace operations concerned. The second point involves ensuring a positive impact for the local population. That is critical, especially when host countries embark on their transitional processes, not only in facilitating national stakeholders to promote dialogue and cooperation in addressing the root causes of a conflict but also to avoid the emergence of new security risks. In that light, optimizing the role of women peacekeepers will be essential to enhancing the performance of peace operations, particularly in reaching certain elements of the local community, especially vulnerable groups, including women and children. The third point concerns strengthening training and capacity-building. Indonesia believes that proper training would ensure that peacekeepers are deployed with competence that is adequate to their exercise of their mandate. To that end, we consider it important to foster partnerships to support targeted training and capacity-building aimed at achieving specific tasks. Soft skills, language skills and an understanding of local culture are also needed to better connect with communities. For its part, Indonesia has included community engagement aspects as an integral part of predeployment training for peacekeepers. In conclusion, Indonesia reiterates its commitment to being part of the collective commitment to improving the quality and effectiveness of peace operations.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Lebanon.

Ms Mrad (Lebanon): We would like to congratulate the delegation of Ghana on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month and express our thanks for the organization of this debate on a signature and timely theme. Our appreciation also goes to all the briefers for their valuable input, which has enriched the guidelines of the discussion. Today the Security Council, which normally deals with country-specific issues of war and peace, such as crises in the Middle East and similar problems around the world, is holding a day-long high-level debate on the root causes that fuel conflict in the world, such as poverty and underdevelopment, and the role that peacekeeping operations might play in that regard in the light of the emerging security threats that are currently confronting the Council with new challenges. That said, we believe the Security Council should intensify its deliberations on social and development issues in order to ensure effective transitions to peace. Many cases around the world have presented blatant examples in which socioeconomic issues may constitute serious threats to international peace and security in their own right. The evidence for that abounds. Nine of the 10 countries with the lowest human-development indicators have experienced conflict in the past 20 years. Countries dealing with stark inequality and weak institutions are at an increased risk of conflict. Poorly distributed wealth and a lack of sufficient jobs, opportunities and freedoms, particularly for populations with a large percentage of young people, can also increase the risk of instability. That is the main basis for our belief that sustainable peace implies a comprehensive approach to security. We can no longer address the two components, development and security, in silos, because the root causes of conflicts and crises in peace and security are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. In that context, some scenarios are calling for drawdowns or the withdrawal of Council-mandated peacekeeping operations by providing more seamless transitions through the delegation of specific tasks to United Nations country teams and other development actors. While we believe that the Council might be required to devise new approaches to ensure a balanced response to both military operations and the underlying causes of conflict to ensure sustainable peace, at the same time we are in favour of the establishment of United Nations country teams to work as parallel and complementary structures together with peacekeeping operations in the discharge of their mandated responsibilities with the aim of creating, in tandem and in close coordination with local communities and Governmental entities, an enabling environment for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The nexus between climate change, security and development in all its ramifications is becoming an imperative focus in terms of revisiting mechanisms to respond to changing security dynamics. Nevertheless, what is seen today to be a sustainability gap for peace operations should not constitute an alibi for revisiting the initial raison d’être and mandate of peacekeeping operations and troops in countries where they are deployed, bearing in mind that any dilution of their mandate configuration should remain subject to a nuanced understanding and balanced provisions of Security Council resolutions.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Portugal.

Ms. Baptista Grade Zacarias (Portugal): Portugal commends Ghana for convening today’s debate and thanks the briefers for their insightful remarks. We fully align ourselves with the statement made earlier on behalf of the European Union. Others have said it before — peacekeeping operations are one of the most effective tools available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. We pay tribute to the Blue Helmets and honour those who have lost their lives in the service of peace. Portugalhasconsistentlymaintaineditsparticipation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We are currently engaged in several missions, namely, in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Colombia. As such, we are well aware that peacekeeping has become increasingly demanding as we face new actors in more complex and hostile operational environments. That is particularly evident with regard to terrorism and violent extremism, which are on the rise in several parts of the world, especially in Africa. While militarized responses to terrorism and violent extremism can be effective in the short term, they tend to address the symptoms rather than the root causes of conflict. Political engagement at all levels is necessary to address grievances and rebuild trust between citizens and the State. An approach that involves the military, law enforcement and intelligence services must be complemented by measures to tackle climate change, build institutions, promote employment and build a just and inclusive economy. Portugal has tried to follow that approach, for instance, in our cooperation with Mozambique and support for Mozambican authorities in their national strategies, in particular in the context of the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado. While contributing to the training of Mozambique’s armed forces, we also supported initiatives related to Mozambique’s justice, security and defence sectors, as well as projects aimed at fostering employment for young people and women in the northern region of Cabo Delgado. We are fully committed to seeking ways to make peacekeeping operations more effective, while using an integrated approach that promotes national and local ownership and embraces the triple nexus of peace, development and human rights. In that context, we fully support the peace and security reform proposed by the Secretary-General, including the Action for Peacekeeping agenda and its implementation strategy. As a member of the Peacebuilding Commission, we believe that effective peacekeeping should be combined with efforts aimed at preventing conflicts. Peacekeeping and peacebuilding must be undertaken together if they are to be sustainable in the long term. There is also a need to enhance the complementarity between the work of the Security Council and the work of the Peacebuilding Commission. Inclusivity is also essential to the sustainability of peace. The involvement of women and young people is crucial throughout those processes, particularly given the disproportionate impact on their lives of conflicts and their aftermath. In that context, we support the full implementation of the women and peace and security and the youth and peace and security agendas. Finally, the Action for Peacekeeping Plus initiative recognizes the key role of regional organizations in ensuring local ownership and promoting trust and dialogue. In that context, we hope a decision will be taken soon to ensure predictable and sustainable financing for African Union-led peace support operations. I would like to conclude by reiterating Portugal’s commitment to peacebuilding and resilient peacekeeping operations in order to ensure sustainable peace.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Nigeria.

Mr. Muhammad-Bande (Nigeria): Let me begin by commending Gabon for its leadership of the Security Council during the month of October and congratulating Ghana on its assumption of the presidency for the month of November. Ghana can count on Nigeria’s full support throughout its tenure. Allow me to also thank Ghana for convening today’s very important open debate on the topic “Integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace”. I thank the briefers for their insights. Peace and security remain the bedrock of sustainable development. With the new and emerging threats faced by countries around the world and the destabilization of communities, we are reminded that the Security Council must enhance its tools to develop new coherent strategies to deliver sustainable peace. We have seen, especially in the Sahel, that communities affected by the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism require the restoration of livelihoods, social protection and basic social services in order to build resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to radicalization and recruitment. In Nigeria, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is working with subnational Governments, United Nations agencies and development partners to effectively implement social intervention programmes in order to lift more than 100 million people, especially those affected by conflict, out of poverty by next year. As peace operations remain the Council’s apex apparatus for securing peace in conflict settings, integrating a holistic support mechanism that puts resilience-building at the forefront is vital. In that regard, let me highlight five key areas in which the Security Council can integrate effective resilience-building in peace operations to better deliver sustainable peace. First, the Security Council cannot ignore climate change and its impact on peace operations. Most United Nations peace operations are conducted in countries that are ranked among the most exposed to climate change. To that end, the Council needs to urgently identify partnerships and strategies for properly planning for and addressing climate-related security risks, particularly where we have peacekeeping missions. Secondly, for now and beyond the coronavirus disease pandemic, peacekeepers can play a vital role in supporting national responses to health crises. In Africa, we have seen the important role they play in conflict settings by providing more secure environments for health workers, who risk their lives to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Thirdly, protecting civilians from violence and maintaining peace, while also supporting national responses to build and restore livelihoods in vulnerable communities, is important for the Council. As such, peacekeeping operations could provide greater support for the delivery and funding of vocational and skills training in order to help local communities generate income to support families. Fourthly, Nigeria also recognizes the importance of mainstreaming both the women and peace and security and the youth and peace and security agendas in peace processes. The disproportionate impact of conflict on women and young people remains a hindrance to all our efforts to build resilience. Women and young people are crucial partners in strengthening the pillars of lasting peace, economic recovery and social cohesion. Therefore, the Council needs to continue empowering them to play active roles in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and post-conflict mechanisms. Lastly, without adequate, predictable and sustainable funding, building resilience against security threats in the Sahel and coastal West Africa will remain a Herculean task. Nigeria welcomes the progress being made by the United Nations in securing increased funding for peacebuilding, including through assessed contributions, and emphasizes the need for those efforts to guarantee greater funding and support for African Union and Economic Community of West African States peacekeeping operations in order to enable them to play a more critical role in their areas of mandate. In conclusion, as a long-standing troop- contributing country, Chair of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and member of the Peacebuilding Commission, Nigeria remains committed to working with members of the Council to improve the effectiveness of peace operations and will continue to make significant contributions to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding in West Africa, the Sahel and wherever needed.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

Mr. Mohamed (Sudan): Allow me to congratulate you, Madam President, on your country’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month, which we believe will be seminal for revitalizing interactive debates on a number of important issues. I want to share with the Council some practical remarks from our national ownership perspective of peacekeeping. Based on my country’s experience, peacekeeping seeks to create favourable conditions that prevent the recurrence of violence. However, it also seeks to achieve several other short- and long-term goals through its goodwill and good offices, such as the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration of armed units; security sector reform to prevent the recurrence of conflict or war; and the monitoring of elections and institution-building in conflict-affected areas, in accordance with national ownership. Among the expected objectives are stimulating, peaceful and constructive processes that aim to increase self- regulatory efficiency in order to enable societies to effectively manage internal and external pressures. To accommodate the diverse interests and needs of communities, they should be represented through practical efforts to build inclusivity within a process of partnership and collective learning. What the process of nationalizing peacebuilding means to us is the ability to exercise options, circulate knowledge, wisdom and experiences and synthesize practices from within communities themselves in order to initiate various community and sectoral initiatives and cooperative mechanisms while constantly modifying the practices and modalities of peacebuilding. Peacebuilding should be implemented by focusing on the principles of resilience and national or local ownership in sustaining peace. It should endeavour to achieve realistic peace through peaceful means by positively linking the international peacebuilding process to local political, cultural and social legitimacy and by targeting methods of establishing peace through contexts that promote sustainability with the participation of the largest possible number of local actors. The main aims of peacebuilding should target the restoration or improvement of governance and governance institutions, the consolidation of established peace agreements and the restoration of human and State security. Peacebuilding operations should also help to launch socioeconomic reconstruction and development; promote healing, reconciliation, justice and human rights; provide humanitarian emergency assistance; encourage the participation of women and young people; build strategic partnerships at the national, regional, continental and global levels and bolster resource mobilization. In the Sudan, we expect peacebuilding efforts to help mobilize the necessary resources and provide support for national efforts aimed at establishing the necessary mechanisms for drafting our Constitution, without prejudice to the national ownership of those efforts. They should also coordinate and unify the efforts of the United Nations country team and all other organizations and agencies, including international financial institutions, in order to provide the necessary support for transition and peacebuilding as stipulated in paragraph 2 (iv) (c) of resolution 2524 (2020). Peacebuilding efforts should be coordinated with the work of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women in order to support the participation of women in accordance with our constitutional document of 2019. It will also be necessary to raise awareness of women’s sectors in various communities and groups, especially communities of internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as of the importance of women’s participation in the political process. And it will be vital to coordinate with international electoral observation centres such as the Carter Center, which work alongside UNDP to train local observers from various civil-society organizations. The mobilization of United Nations organs and agencies, especially UNDP, UNICEF and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is key to rehabilitating returnees and facilitating their voluntary return in calm areas and host communities, as well as in the provision of education, health and water facilities. Peacebuilding operations should include the implementation of quick-return and quick-impact projects in the areas and villages of voluntary return in order to encourage IDPs to return to their places of origin, homes and communities. It is also important to work with donors to provide the resources required for the implementation of reparations as a basis for reconciliation and the support needed for the implementation of our national plan for the protection of civilians, field protection and environmental protection. Peacebuilding operations should support the establishment of detection and early-warning mechanisms to avoid communal and intercommunal confrontations. Other tasks include coordinating with UNICEF on the implementation of field surveys for integrating human rights into the curricula of both general and higher education, providing financial and material resources for State police to reinforce patrols and community policework and supporting the establishment of subheadquarters for national mechanisms for the protection of civilians. As stipulated in the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, peacebuilding efforts should support the implementation of the third stage of the national project for the collection of weapons and unlicensed vehicles. They should mobilize the resources required for the completion of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process as a priority within the implementation of the security arrangements protocol. Peacebuilding operations should also be carried out with the international community to provide technical and logistical support, including capacity-building in the areas of illegal immigration and cross-border crimes, especially arms smuggling and human trafficking. Finally, peacebuilding operations must mobilize donors to provide the support required to realize the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly those pertaining to poverty eradication and addressing the root causes of conflict and violent extremism.

The President: I now give the floor to the representative of Germany.

Mr. Zahneisen (Germany): Along with many other delegations, I would like to congratulate you, Madam, on Ghana’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council and to wish you every success in that important task. I thank you for putting this important issue on the Council’s agenda so early on in your presidency. At the outset, I would also like to underline that we fully align ourselves with the statement delivered earlier on behalf of the European Union. It is our firm belief that peace operations can do more to adapt to new security threats, increase their overall impact and work even more efficiently towards sustainable peace. Allow me to highlight some aspects in that regard. First and foremost, peace operations are constantly striving to improve their situational awareness. However, while they often have a very high level of analytical capacity, their systematic analysis and use of data needs improvement. Germany supports several initiatives in the Secretariat aimed at leveraging digital technologies to address that gap. We believe it to be an important contribution to the fight against disinformation, which is increasingly becoming a problem for peacekeeping operations around the world. We have also been advocating for increasing the ability of peacekeeping missions to analyse how climate-related factors play into conflict dynamics. Climate security advisers in mission settings provide important analyses to mission leaderships, and we welcome the recent inclusion of such an adviser in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. We believe such positions should be established in all appropriate mission settings and call on Council members to support those much-needed capacities. Secondly, we believe firmly that consistently implementing and advocating for the women and peace and security and youth and peace and security agendas will help create more just and stable societies. They offer clear pathways to greater resilience and should therefore receive more political support and funding. Finally, peace operations should start with clear objectives and benchmarks and a strategy for achieving them. Thinking ahead of deployment about the desired end state and the various steps that must be taken in between, including finding appropriate partners, is crucial to making those operations more effective and therefore more sustainable. In our view, the key to solving the sustainability gap in peace operations is to integrate the different instruments of the United Nations — prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding — in a more coherent way. The persisting institutional silos need to be overcome. In terms of our own approach to stabilization, we believe it is crucial to overcome the silo-centric way of thinking if we want to have a real impact on the ground. In that regard, we believe that the Peacebuilding Commission has an important role to play as one of the crucial instruments for addressing the root causes of conflict and supporting national and regional efforts to build resilient communities. The Commission currently gives written advice to the Council, but we believe that the cooperation between the two institutions should be further enhanced. For instance, the Peacebuilding Commission could brief the Council on aspects that it has not yet given sufficient attention to. In order to address the growing threat of violent extremism and terrorism in Africa, the Security Council has been discussing adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for African Union-led peace support operations. Germany looks forward to discussing further what the modalities of such funding could look like. In the Sahel and coastal West Africa specifically, Germany has undertaken efforts aimed at buttressing resilience against security threats. The Group of Seven Plus Plus Working Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea, currently co-chaired by Germany, aims to support regional and national engagement in addressing maritime threats such as piracy, transnational organized crime, illegal and unregulated fishing, environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity. In addition, Germany supports an integrated border stability mechanism in West Africa to implement regional and national strategies to improve the security situation in border areas. I want to underline that we will continue to support your work, Madam, as well as the work of the Council. We look forward to continuing our joint endeavour to strengthen resilience in Africa by making the most of all the United Nations tools available for the benefit of the continent. The meeting rose at 4.50 p.m.