youtube URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OetaAGWOU20
transcript
Mr. President and distinguished members of the Security Council, I thank you for convening this briefing. I look forward to the discussion. I’m very happy to be joining this meeting from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where, as you know, we have an important peacekeeping mission. I will ask the Council’s indulgence, because due to prior commitment, I will have to leave this meeting in about one hour. But in the meantime, as I say, I’m very pleased to be joined today by the police commissioner from our peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic, and the senior police advisor from our mission in Cyprus. And of course, very happy also to be with my colleague, the police advisor, Mr. Faisal Shaka. We deeply appreciate the Security Council recognition of United Nations peacekeeping as one of the most effective tools in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. In this context, the recognition of the critical role United Nations police plays in peacekeeping. Each of us here in this chamber, member states, Council members, host countries, and military, police, and financial contributors have a stake in the success of peacekeeping operations. This is never truer than at times like these when multilateralism is facing significant headwinds. We must all continue to strive to ensure that peacekeeping remains relevant and responsive to the greatest challenges to global peace, security, and development today. This session, coming as it does in advance of the peacekeeping ministerial level meeting in Berlin this May, is well-timed for us to discuss a critical question. How can we position United Nations police to be prepared for the future and the challenges that even as they evolve, retain many known aspects? Such challenges include lack of adherence to the rule of law, corruption, disregard for international law, transnational organized crime, and human rights violation. It is therefore essential that we work collectively to ensure that United Nations police are properly prepared, equipped, and resourced to meet whatever tomorrow brings. I have said before to this August body that the gap between peacekeeping mandates and what the missions can in practice actually deliver has become increasingly apparent. The Action for Peacekeeping or A4P agenda, and notably the areas that we have prioritized within A4P+, continues to be helping to close this gap. We have made great strides in advancing our commitments under the A4P initiative and in advancing the priorities of A4P+. Rigorous and transparent monitoring of the performance and impact of peacekeeping operations provides the foundation for improving our operations. We recently released our sixth A4P-plus progress report, which indicates that we remain on track in fulfillment of our commitment. The first priority of A4P+, which is collective coherence behind political strategies, underscores that political solutions are a requirement for long-term peace and stability, and this mission must exert continued efforts in partnership with all United Nations entity member states and other relevant stakeholders, such as regional and sub-regional organization. In the Central African Republic, our United Nations police are aligning their work with the missions political strategy 2023-2028, which remains the overall strategic framework for mandate implementation in line with Security Council Resolution 2759, which was the last time the Security Council extended mandate of MINUSCA. This includes capacity building of international security – sorry, internal security forces to be able to protect civilian governance. The second A4P-plus priority focuses on fostering greater strategic and operational integration. To this end, the Office of Military Affairs and Police Division organized the first Heads of Military and Police Components Conference last October to strengthen integrated planning and operability among mission components, including civilian elements, and with headquarters. Further, in UNISFA, the United Nations police have been critical to the development and implementation of the rule of law support strategy for Abyei, which brings together the entire mission with UN country teams in Sudan and South Sudan to address the immense rule of law challenges in Abyei box. The Department of Peace Operations is also working to enhance capabilities and mindset, which is the third A4P-plus priority. As part of the United Nations police training architecture, the first significant step in the full revision of the United Nations police commander’s course was undertaken in January with the pilot of the revised course in Nairobi, Kenya. Concurrently, preparations are already underway for the 2026 meeting of the contingent-owned equipment working group. Regarding the fourth A4P-plus priority, accountability to peacekeepers, the community-oriented and police intelligence-led approaches undertaken by United Nations police not only further their mission but equally support safety and security of peacekeeping personnel. In Minerso, the United Nations police have contributed to enhancing the safety and security of United Nations personnel by implementing an information management system that collects, collates, analyzes, and disseminates accurate security information promptly to support informed decision-making. To narrow the gender gap in working and living conditions in field missions, collaboration with the ELST initiative has been extended into 2026 with five pilots project now having been completed in four missions. These projects have result – resulted in refurbished and constructed camp accommodation that meet the need of our female peacekeepers. The United Nations police also continue to enforce zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse to enhance pre-deployment and in-mission training, strengthening the accountability for our peacekeepers. Regarding strategic communication, which is the sixth A4P-plus priority, the United Nations police contribute to the efforts of the Department of Peace Operations to proactively counter misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech through daily community-oriented policing and awareness-raising activities. In line with the seventh A4P-plus priority, we are redoubling efforts to improve cooperation with host countries. In the Central African Republic, the United Nations police continue to support the political peace process by equipping and training the internal security forces in preparation for the upcoming elections. UNPOL have also contributed to the development of key strategic documents, such as a Code of Ethics for the National Police and a Transhuman Security Work Plan with the aim of enabling the host authorities to better fulfill their responsibilities to protect the population. The women peace and security agenda is mainstream across A4P-plus, and the United Nations police remain fully committed to reinforcing engagement with authorities, civil society, and women rights organizations. In South Sudan, United Nations police are building the capacity of female hosted police officers to enhance their skills to assume leadership roles, while in Abyei, the United Nations police launched a women network to address issues of joint interest. Furthermore, with the support of our member states, the United Nations police achieved their gender parity targets for 2024. Women currently comprise one in five United Nations police officers, including 32 percent of individual police officers and 17 percent of members of foreign police units. Finally, the strategy for the digital transformation of the United Nations peacekeeping remains our guide as we continue to embrace technology, data, and innovation to modernize and improve peacekeeping. The United Nations police have been working to advance the use of the UniteAware platform, which provides a comprehensive, integrated database that consolidates data from various sources, including essential information related to patrol planning, incident reporting, and operational activities. Maximizing the potential of UniteAware is essential for enhancing situation awareness, allowing police personnel and other missions components to visualize critical data in real time, significantly improve coordination, decision-making, and response capabilities across peace operation. Mr. President, Excellencies, A4P Plus is part of a renewed collective engagement to strengthen peacekeeping as an invaluable instrument for peace and security and as an expression of international solidarity. Through it, we are in a better place to address today’s challenges to peace and security and ultimately to improve the lives of the people we serve. This briefing to the Council is an opportunity to reaffirm the vital role that the United Nations police play across the conflict prevention spectrum, from peacekeeping to peacebuilding. It offers a forum to consider how training and capacity building of United Nations police could be improved and how member states might wish to broaden the range of countries to which United Nations police assistance could be provided. Such assistance would help to further foster responsive and accountable police services, which are the cornerstone of the broader peace and development objectives of the organization. I remain grateful for this Council’s ongoing support for A4P commitments and A4P Plus priorities and for your generous contributions of highly qualified police personnel to serve with the United Nations police. And I thank you.
summary
In a briefing to the Security Council, the speaker, addressing from Kinshasa, highlights the importance of United Nations peacekeeping, emphasizing the role of UN police in promoting international peace and security. The speaker acknowledges the collective efforts of member states, host countries, and other contributors in the success of peacekeeping missions, noting the challenges of multilateralism and the gap between mandates and missions’ practical capabilities. The Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative and A4P+ priorities aim to address these gaps by improving political strategies, strategic integration, capabilities, accountability, gender parity, and strategic communication. The discussion also focuses on advancing the police’s preparedness for future challenges, fostering cooperation with host countries, enhancing the role of women in security, and embracing digital transformation through platforms like UniteAware. The speaker stresses the need for continued international solidarity and collaboration to enhance the impact and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.