Regional Organisations Co-Operation with the United Nations in the area of Crisis Management, Peace Support and Peace Enforcement Operations
Dublin Castle - 1 February, 2013
Opening Address by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence,
Alan Shatter TD
Excellencies, Secretaries General, Chief of Staff, distinguished speakers and moderators, ladies and gentlemen:
I am honoured to open this seminar today which will address “Regional Organisations Co-Operation with the United Nations in the area of Crisis Management, Peace Support and Peace Enforcement Operations”.
On a personal basis, I would particularly like to thank our distinguished speakers and moderators for agreeing to participate and present at this high level seminar.
Ireland has always been a strong supporter of the UN and of UN Peacekeeping. In 2004, during Ireland’s last EU presidency, we hosted a seminar on EU/UN Cooperation. Last year Ireland promoted and championed a new impetus in UN Cooperation at EU level which resulted in the Action Plan to enhance EU CSDP Support to UN Peacekeeping.
This Action Plan has reinvigorated cooperation between the UN and the EU, including the role of the UN-EU Steering Committee on Crisis Management, originally established to advance the goals of the 2003 Joint Declaration on EU-UN co-operation in Crisis Management, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
In today’s rapidly changing world our values and interests are being continually challenged. Transnational terrorism, organised crime, cyber-crime, proliferation in weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, failing States, climate change, energy insecurity, unregulated population migration, trafficking in drugs and people, in particular women and children, and piracy, are real and substantial threats to our communities and to international peace and security.
Our ongoing search for sustainable international peace and security poses one of the greatest challenges to human development. It is striking that, in our globalised world, these threats have become more difficult to address and are more interrelated. Also, in this era of increasing globalisation the gains made by those with the means to access the global economy are often being undermined by ethnic and religious divisions and through the unequal distribution of economic wealth between and within countries. The result of this is a rise in the number of armed conflicts, which have, in turn, unleashed untold levels of violence and human suffering in the lives of innocent civilians.
In order to address these complex challenges, over the past decade, the peacekeeping environment has changed extensively. Peacekeeping operations have grown in number, complexity and robustness. While military contributions remain the backbone of many peacekeeping operations, the many faces of peacekeeping now include civilians, police officers, administrators, economists, legal experts, electoral observers and human rights monitors to name but a few.
In addition, the “Regionalisation” of peace operations is also a very significant trend of recent years. We are seeing an increasingly prominent role being assumed by organisations such as the EU, NATO, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Arab League in leading or supporting peacekeeping operations authorised by the UN Security Council.
The deployment of multiple UN authorised missions, involving multiple regional organisations and international partners, present in the same theatre of operation, for example Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, is a significant challenge, impacting on the UN’s role in maintaining international peace and security. In that regard, the EU, NATO and the African Union are now major players in UN mandated peace support and peace enforcement operations. Ongoing and emerging conflicts and tensions in the Middle East, Africa, Central America and elsewhere ensure a continuing demand for UN peacekeepers.
The changing and evolving nature of peacekeeping operations brings with it new challenges, requiring new capabilities and skills. As we endeavour to tackle or indeed overcome these many challenges, some of which I have mentioned earlier, such as failing States and regional conflicts, this will require us to strengthen the United Nations and the international response to these crises.
In an increasingly globalised world, the impact of destabilisation and conflict in one part of the globe, can have very significant effects elsewhere. No community or State is immune to this, as we have seen to our cost. As part of the international community of nation States, we all have a stake in ensuring international peace and security, human rights and the rule of law, and, in turn, a responsibility to support multilateral efforts to this end, including through the commitment of peacekeepers to UN operations.
Support for and an agreement to make forces available for UN peacekeeping operations is a fundamental commitment made by all Member States of the UN. Since the foundation of the UN, EU member States have traditionally been strong supporters and participants in UN peacekeeping operations’ both bilaterally and, more recently, through international organisations such as the EU and NATO and in providing support to the African Union. However, in recent times we have seen a considerable reduction in the participation in UN peacekeeping operations by the forces of EU Member States, particularly in Africa.
For example, of the top 20 contributors of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping operations as of 31 May 2012 only one was from an EU Member State, which contributed some 1,159 personnel. In 2008, four EU Member States were listed in the top 20 contributors – contributing some 7,300 personnel. While the contribution of EU Member States uniformed personnel has been steadily declining over the years, it is of note that eleven EU Member States are listed in the top 20 providers of assessed contributors to the UN Peacekeeping budget in 2012.
Dublin Castle - 1 February, 2013
Opening Address by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence,
Alan Shatter TD
Excellencies, Secretaries General, Chief of Staff, distinguished speakers and moderators, ladies and gentlemen:
I am honoured to open this seminar today which will address “Regional Organisations Co-Operation with the United Nations in the area of Crisis Management, Peace Support and Peace Enforcement Operations”.
On a personal basis, I would particularly like to thank our distinguished speakers and moderators for agreeing to participate and present at this high level seminar.
Ireland has always been a strong supporter of the UN and of UN Peacekeeping. In 2004, during Ireland’s last EU presidency, we hosted a seminar on EU/UN Cooperation. Last year Ireland promoted and championed a new impetus in UN Cooperation at EU level which resulted in the Action Plan to enhance EU CSDP Support to UN Peacekeeping.
This Action Plan has reinvigorated cooperation between the UN and the EU, including the role of the UN-EU Steering Committee on Crisis Management, originally established to advance the goals of the 2003 Joint Declaration on EU-UN co-operation in Crisis Management, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
In today’s rapidly changing world our values and interests are being continually challenged. Transnational terrorism, organised crime, cyber-crime, proliferation in weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, failing States, climate change, energy insecurity, unregulated population migration, trafficking in drugs and people, in particular women and children, and piracy, are real and substantial threats to our communities and to international peace and security.
Our ongoing search for sustainable international peace and security poses one of the greatest challenges to human development. It is striking that, in our globalised world, these threats have become more difficult to address and are more interrelated. Also, in this era of increasing globalisation the gains made by those with the means to access the global economy are often being undermined by ethnic and religious divisions and through the unequal distribution of economic wealth between and within countries. The result of this is a rise in the number of armed conflicts, which have, in turn, unleashed untold levels of violence and human suffering in the lives of innocent civilians.
In order to address these complex challenges, over the past decade, the peacekeeping environment has changed extensively. Peacekeeping operations have grown in number, complexity and robustness. While military contributions remain the backbone of many peacekeeping operations, the many faces of peacekeeping now include civilians, police officers, administrators, economists, legal experts, electoral observers and human rights monitors to name but a few.
In addition, the “Regionalisation” of peace operations is also a very significant trend of recent years. We are seeing an increasingly prominent role being assumed by organisations such as the EU, NATO, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Arab League in leading or supporting peacekeeping operations authorised by the UN Security Council.
The deployment of multiple UN authorised missions, involving multiple regional organisations and international partners, present in the same theatre of operation, for example Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, is a significant challenge, impacting on the UN’s role in maintaining international peace and security. In that regard, the EU, NATO and the African Union are now major players in UN mandated peace support and peace enforcement operations. Ongoing and emerging conflicts and tensions in the Middle East, Africa, Central America and elsewhere ensure a continuing demand for UN peacekeepers.
The changing and evolving nature of peacekeeping operations brings with it new challenges, requiring new capabilities and skills. As we endeavour to tackle or indeed overcome these many challenges, some of which I have mentioned earlier, such as failing States and regional conflicts, this will require us to strengthen the United Nations and the international response to these crises.
In an increasingly globalised world, the impact of destabilisation and conflict in one part of the globe, can have very significant effects elsewhere. No community or State is immune to this, as we have seen to our cost. As part of the international community of nation States, we all have a stake in ensuring international peace and security, human rights and the rule of law, and, in turn, a responsibility to support multilateral efforts to this end, including through the commitment of peacekeepers to UN operations.
Support for and an agreement to make forces available for UN peacekeeping operations is a fundamental commitment made by all Member States of the UN. Since the foundation of the UN, EU member States have traditionally been strong supporters and participants in UN peacekeeping operations’ both bilaterally and, more recently, through international organisations such as the EU and NATO and in providing support to the African Union. However, in recent times we have seen a considerable reduction in the participation in UN peacekeeping operations by the forces of EU Member States, particularly in Africa.
For example, of the top 20 contributors of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping operations as of 31 May 2012 only one was from an EU Member State, which contributed some 1,159 personnel. In 2008, four EU Member States were listed in the top 20 contributors – contributing some 7,300 personnel. While the contribution of EU Member States uniformed personnel has been steadily declining over the years, it is of note that eleven EU Member States are listed in the top 20 providers of assessed contributors to the UN Peacekeeping budget in 2012.
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