Discorso pronunciato dall’Ambasciatore Sebastiano Cardi, Rappresentante Permanente dell’Italia presso le Nazioni Unite, al dibattito in Consiglio di Sicurezza su “Collective Action to Improve UN Peacekeeping Operations: Supporting greater impact and performance in today’s complex and high-risk environments” —
Madame President,
Let me congratulate the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the Presidency of the Security Council.
I have the honor of delivering this statement on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect consisting of 50 Member States and the European Union, and co-chaired this year by Italy and the State of Qatar.
The Group would like to thank the Kingdom of the Netherlands for bringing this very important issue to the forefront of discussion in the Council. I also would like to extend my gratitude to the Secretary-General, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Director of the NGO GREFFA (“Groupe de Recherche d’Etude et de Formation, Femme Action”) for their highly useful and important briefings.
Madame Chair,
This is the first time the Group of Friends on R2P makes an intervention in an open debate in the Security Council. While it is clear that protecting civilians is the primary responsibility of governments, the protection of civilians has become a central element of many peacekeeping missions’ mandates. UN Peacekeeping missions often have a broad range of mechanisms aimed at supporting and assisting states in strengthening the protection of civilians, reconstructing communities and creating the conditions for sustainable peace. Many missions have been given mandates pertaining to the rule of law in order to help ensure accountability for atrocity crimes, including by strengthening national capacities and by supporting national, hybrid and international courts and justice mechanisms.
Against this backdrop, the Group of Friends would like to stress the following points:
Firstly, threats of violence against civilians should inform planning and decision-making in peacekeeping operations. Strengthening the links between threats-based assessments, planning, and decision-making can enable stronger mandate implementation and strengthen protection of civilians.
Secondly, UN Member states and the UN Secretariat should enable UN peacekeeping operations to improve their analytical skills by providing them with adequate tools that can help in identifying threats as they emerge. Having better awareness of emerging threats can allow for a greater capacity to effectively respond before a situation escalates. In this context, tools such as the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes can assist in the analysis of conditions that may increase the likelihood of atrocities or trigger their commission. We recognize and encourage the important role of women and female peacekeepers in the prevention of atrocity crimes, as active actors in early warning, promoting cooperation, capacity building and creation of more cohesive and inclusive societies.
Lastly, the effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates requires a shared responsibility among all stakeholders to support efforts to deliver peace and security, including partnerships with regional organization and regional arrangements, as appropriate, as well as to strengthen partnerships among the UN’s own entities. As we have seen throughout the world, regional and sub-regional arrangements may play a key role in leading international responses to mass atrocities.
Madame President,
We hope that through this forum we can identify strategies that can protect men, women and children more effectively and help to implement our joint commitment to protect and promote human rights, including as embodied in the concept of R2P.
