Discorso pronunciato dall’Italia al Comitato Speciale sulle Operazioni di Peacekeeping —
Thank you Mr Chair,
Italy aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union and I would like to add few remarks in our national capacity.
Mr Chair,
Italy welcomes the decision to structure the C34-report in accordance with the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative and I would like to thank the Bureau for its leadership in this process.
The C-34 remains an indispensable platform for the Secretariat and Member States to meet the challenges peacekeeping is facing today and this decision will reinforce this role.
Mr. Chair,
As the top contributor of Blue Helmets in the Western Group and one of the main financial supporters of peacekeeping, Italy is particularly aware of the challenges peace operations are facing today.
The efforts of the Secretariat, together with members States, to identify gaps in the peacekeeping operations, are a positive example of the virtuous dialogue we need among all the stakeholders, in particular TCCs and PCCs, to create synergies and best practices.
I would like to stress 5 points:
First, pre-deployment and in-mission training are of the key importance.
They provide peacekeepers with up-to-date expertise, high professional and ethical standards, and common operating procedures.
In this respect, we wish to mention the role of the CoESPU Training Center in Vicenza, which is already engaged in a very productive cooperation with the DPO.
Second, we have to work jointly to increase the number and role of women in the field, and to promote gender perspective within the military and police personnel through targeted training.
Third, we have to ensure that we continue providing peacekeeping operations with our best troops, first quality equipment and appropriate enablers.
In this context Italy supports the Secretary-General’s Zero Tolerance policy against sexual exploitation and abuses and it is proud to be the first contributor to the Trust Fund to the Victims of SEA.
Fourth, we have to orient our resources into sectors that can ensure the performance of our peacekeeping and at the same time can benefit the host State once the mission is complete.
That is why we have been strongly advocating greater attention to environmental impact of UN peace missions.
Together with Bangladesh, Italy has the honor to co-chair the “Group of Friends for leading on environmental management in the field,” the main purpose of the Group is to support implementation of the environmental strategy for field missions issued in 2016 by the then Department of Field Support.
Fifth, partnerships with regional organizations are also essential. As a founding Member of the EU, Italy is fully committed to strengthen UN-EU partnership and synergies. Italy also welcomes the cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations, which we hope will lead to a secure, more predictable and sustainable financial support to the African peace operations.
