Speech by Ms Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, United Nations, Worldwide Organizations, Human Rights and Francophonie Director
Delivered
Secretary Basic,
Women and gents,
I wish to be part of all of those that have thanked and congratulated the Ghanaian authorities for organizing this convention at an important time, creating a really heat {and professional} ambiance.
I’d additionally prefer to commend your entire UN staff, notably Beneath-Secretaries-Basic Jean-Pierre La Croix and Atul Khare.
Expensive colleagues,
On this 12 months marking the seventy fifth anniversary of the Blue Helmets, it is very important meet to reiterate the essential position that they play in worldwide safety and peacekeeping.
Throughout the globe, the Blue Helmets have sacrificed their lives to serve the best of peace, many people right here have paid tribute to the 4,337 Blue Helmets who’ve died on project since 1948, and the 56 Blue Helmets who have been misplaced in 2023.
I point out these numbers as a result of we can not stay detached when these troopers who put on this very iconic blue helmet and who defend this very iconic blue flag of the United Nations are being bodily attacked on the bottom however are additionally the targets of hate speech, and I can solely agree with the panellists and audio system who assume that we have to take motion collectively to cease these assaults on the security and fame of our Blue Helmets.
Women and gents,
I wish to discuss three factors.
1. First, peacekeeping remains to be essential to peace and safety within the twenty first century.
Greater than 70,000 Blue Helmets are deployed worldwide in 12 operations.
With the lower in employees members and the variety of missions, and extra not too long ago requests for Blue Helmets to depart sooner than deliberate in sure conditions, there have been some unfavourable undercurrents, which have induced the issues my colleague from Gambia talked about. Some have determined that peacekeeping as we all know it’s not related.
We’re not alone to assume that peacekeeping has by no means been extra vital. After 43,000 civilians died in 2023, we already know that armed conflicts are going to affect civilians exponentially within the years forward.
On the subject of the position of peacekeeping troopers, I believe that we talked concerning the very current and really clear instance of Lebanon, the place at this time even the Blue Helmets (9,500 and greater than 1,000 civilians as help) are working to implement the ceasefire, defend civilians from violence and above all keep away from a regional conflagration that may be disastrous.
That doesn’t imply in fact that the peacekeeping operations we’re creating are to go on indefinitely in a given nation. The primary aim is to create an area in order that lasting peace might be established.
Portugal’s Minister of Defence defined very clearly this morning that safe areas should be created collectively with native authorities and civil society the place a political transition can happen and an electoral course of can occur.
We’ve seen a constructive instance of this very close to right here, very close to Ghana, in Côte d’Ivoire the place the UNOCI was ended after serving to to stabilize the nation. It’s subsequently attainable.
2. Second, France desires to play a full half in supporting peacekeeping.
As a everlasting member of the Safety Council, we’re working to craft many peacekeeping operations, and we plan to work in shut coordination with the host States and the opposite nations contributing troops to make the mandates adopted by the Safety Council strong, life like and tailored to the native conditions.
Intense discussions are held earlier than Safety Council resolutions on mandates are adopted to make sure this convergence between the aims and the state of affairs and explicit context of the nation.
On this regard, I welcome the superb cooperation that has prevailed in the latest discussions on MINUSCA with the Central African Republic and MONUSCO with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Most of the audio system earlier than me underpinned that after mandates are outlined, it is very important ensure that capabilities are tailored.
To reply to this want, France has invested in peacekeeping by deploying almost 700 Blue Helmets on the bottom, primarily in Lebanon, which I discussed earlier.
Along with this presence, as it is very important be acquainted with the sector and see the peacekeeping operations up shut and never merely from our capitals, France has continued to contribute to the coaching of Blue Helmets.
I’m not going to learn the pledge to you, however our goal is to coach 10,000 troopers a 12 months in three areas:
- The primary space: 8 peacekeeping coaching centres worldwide the place France has posted army cooperation officers (Ghana may be very acquainted with one in all these centres as a result of it’s the Kofi Annan Worldwide Peacekeeping Coaching Middle);
- The second space: help for particular coaching programmes organized by the Secretariat. France will contribute quickly to cell coaching programmes for Blue Helmets; and we’re going to give the primary French-speaking classes within the Gender Navy Advisor programs;
- The third space: language coaching classes; we’re immediately conducting them, as in different nations on this room have talked about, in cooperation with the Worldwide Organisation of La Francophonie.
All these efforts require monetary sources, in fact, and along with its contribution to the entire vary of peacekeeping operations of $300 million a 12 months, France is the main monetary supporter of initiatives of the Division of Peacekeeping Operations and the Division of Operational Assist inside the framework of the Motion for Peacekeeping+ Programme, with greater than $4 million in 2023.
3. Third, we have to decide the way forward for peacekeeping.
We’ve heard many proposals at this time. That’s the function of the New Agenda for Peace commissioned by the Secretary-Basic and to which we’ve got made contributions.
We want to revitalize the political processes on which peacekeeping operations are primarily based – which has already been stated. We can not keep peace when no person desires peace: a political transition and political goal are wanted.
We have to higher embrace the efforts of the United Nations and regional organizations through the use of all of the levers at our disposal.
And like others earlier than me, I’d particularly like to spotlight the hassle that’s being made within the Safety Council to look at in-depth the problem of United Nations help for the regional peacekeeping operations, notably African peacekeeping operations.
On this regard, Ghana’s efforts to place ahead a Safety Council decision, and to hunt the adoption a framework decision this 12 months making it attainable to determine standards for shared financing of those operations, are all actually exemplary.
Via this instance, we’ve got famous that peacekeeping has developed: after the first-generation operations, together with some which are ongoing and after the second-generation or multi-dimensional operations, we’re going to see an rising variety of regional operations licensed and supported by the United Nations, such because the current determination in regards to the Multinational Safety Assist Mission to Haiti.
These operations will all co-exist, at one time or one other, to be able to present the worldwide neighborhood with a broader vary of devices.
This requires cross-cutting strategic monitoring and operational help to make sure the coherence of those various kinds of operations and adherence to human rights compliance frameworks. It is usually key to proceed to coach in a converging method, with converging requirements, troopers and cops who will serve in these operations.
We imagine that is a vital process that the Division of Peacekeeping Operation and Member States ought to collectively accomplish.
Thanks.
