Security Council: Peace through Dialogue
Note: A full summary of today's Security Council open debate will be available after its conclusion.
PEACE THROUGH DIALOGUE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL, SUBREGIONAL AND BILATERAL ARRANGEMENTS TO THE PREVENTION AND PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES
Briefings
MOHAMED KHALED KHIARI, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, noted that, today, the stakes for preventive diplomacy and dialogue could not be higher, warning that absent a negotiated two-State solution for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the vicious cycle of violence risks plunging the entire region into conflict for years and generations to come. With the post-cold-war period over and a transition under way to a new global order, he noted that “the world has entered a new era”, but already it is marked by deepening divisions and retrenchment, with geopolitical tensions at their highest in decades. “The ensuing loss of trust — and the risks of escalation — affect almost all regions,” he pointed out, noting that many States have been sceptical about the multilateral system and have profound grievances regarding unmet commitments and double standards. “Women and men everywhere also have a deep sense that Governments and international organizations are failing to deliver for them,” he added.
“With increasing geopolitical strife and challenges to international norms, negotiated settlements of conflicts have been harder to achieve,” he said, pointing to the pursuit of military solutions prominently featuring in recent conflicts for which the civilians are paying a heavy toll. Moreover, the deterioration of global and regional arms-control frameworks has increased the possibility of dangerous standoffs, miscalculations and escalation. He highlighted that: “Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General’s policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace outlines how Member States can take action to re-engage, deescalate, recommit to diplomacy for peace and rebuild trust.” While it takes risk-taking, persistence and creativity, diplomacy must be the driving force for a more effective collective security system, he said, stressing: “Diplomatic engagement is important among countries that think alike. But it is crucial between those that disagree.” Diplomacy demands, above all else, a commitment to the pacific settlement of disputes, he emphasized, pointing to Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations, which prescribes that all States shall rely on peaceful means as their first option to resolve disputes.
Regional organizations and frameworks, which have a critical role in resolving armed conflict, can bring credibility and legitimacy for preventive diplomacy, increase trust and reduce misperceptions, as well as enhance mechanisms for crisis management, he pointed out. They can also offer avenues for trust-building and détente, he added, highlighting that regional actions have successfully prevented conflicts and escalation throughout recent history. While not all lessons are transferrable from one region to another, they show how to initiate dialogue to overcome differences — and seek assistance of a trusted intermediary when needed; ensure that channels of communication remain open even when the disputes escalate into violence; and take account of the fears and concerns of one’s rival and actively work to reduce these by building frameworks that enhance trust. Strengthening, building or rebuilding regional frameworks and organizations is particularly important in regions where long-standing security architectures are collapsing or mired in stalemate — or where they have never existed, he stressed, adding that strong partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations are also needed.
“As A New Agenda for Peace recognizes, the Member States of the United Nations have the responsibility — and the means — to meet the shared obligations entrusted to them by the United Nations Charter,” he said, noting that the good offices of the Secretary-General, and his envoys, remains at their disposal — not only as a tool to prevent and mediate conflict, but as an impartial vehicle to bring Member States together to seek mutually acceptable solutions. “In this increasingly divided world, we need at least one institution in which all can trust,” he emphasized. No stone can be left unturned in the search of avenues for de-escalation and trust-building, he said, stressing that: “For this to work, we need courage to listen to the views of others and consider them in good faith.” Regional frameworks and institutions play a key bridge-building conduit in this regard, he said, stating: “At a time of heightened tensions, it is our shared responsibility to do everything in our power to maintain the system of collective security that our predecessors built.”
MICHELLE BACHELET, former President of Chile, underlined that, amid a shifting world order, the world must adjust to a more fragmented geopolitical landscape. The growing complexity of the conflict environment makes its resolution more difficult, as local and regional dynamics intersect in complex ways with the interests of external parties. To address such challenges, she called for the building of a robust and universal approach to prevent conflict and violence guiding action across the human rights and sustainable development pillars, adding: “Prevention saves lives and safeguards development gains.” Outlining the provisions of Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations, which lays out tools for prevention of disputes, she noted that preventing crises is primarily the responsibility of Member States.
On Chapter VIII of the Charter, which contains provisions concerning the role of regional arrangements in maintaining peace and their relations with the Council, she said that, more than ever, the United Nations is called on to encourage dialogue among Members to strengthen regional organizations to enhance their role in maintaining international peace and security. She highlighted that, in the policy brief on the Secretary-General’s A New Agenda for Peace, published in July, he calls for robust regional frameworks and organizations in the face of growing competition at the global level and increasingly transnational threats. These regional frameworks and organizations should promote trust-building, transparency and détente. “But, we cannot forget that conflicts breed where there is poor governance, human rights abuse and grievances over the unequal distribution of resources,” she stressed.
At the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are facing pushback in all regions, she went on, adding: “Painfully, we see a significant retrenchment of human rights and an erosion of the rule of law, including in contexts of armed conflicts.” Against this backdrop, she underlined the urgent need to return to core principles. The United Nations is a norms-based organization, she said, underscoring the need to rebuild consensus among Member States. Diplomacy should not just be a tool for reducing risks of conflict, but also to manage heightened fractures marking the geopolitical order today. On this, she emphasized the need for women’s participation in mediation for lasting peace, which goes beyond the silencing of guns. Precipitating women’s meaningful participation in decision-making, eradicating all forms of violence against women, among other measures, would help shift power and enable progress in sustaining peace, she added.
On the positive role of bilateral, subregional and regional arrangements in building confidence and maintaining peace, she spotlighted the imminent twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Brasilia Agreements, a historic moment which ended a boundary dispute in the Americas, with the participation, as guarantors, of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States, which provides evidence of the value of the regional actors in building sustainable peace.
THABO MBEKI, former President of South Africa, noting that for decades, the overwhelming majority of UN peacekeepers have been deployed to Africa, said that the continent, and more specifically the African Union, will continue to cooperate directly with the Security Council on peace and security challenges. Highlighting past failures, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Mali, he reminded the Council of two elements of the 2015 report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, which called for politics to be the hallmark of the United Nations approach in peacemaking and for global and regional partners to work together for peace and stability. These points are still important because of their direct relevance to what needs to be done to strengthen the peace effort globally, he said.
The African Union, with its strong peace and security architecture, is best placed to ensure the politics for prevention and resolution of conflict in Africa, he continued, adding that this idea applies equally to other regional organizations in other parts of the work. Going forward, a bold new agenda is required through partnerships. He called for some UN resources to be used to fund African Union peace operations, explaining that this will not weaken the Council, but rather help it to discharge its obligations through strong regional partners.
JOSEFINA ECHAVARRÍA ÁLVAREZ, Director of the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM), said that sustained dialogue is most needed when there are disagreements and political difficulties. “These are the best times to deepen our understanding on how and when the implementation of peaceful arrangements fails — not an uncommon occurrence — and focus our attention on how to design and implement peaceful arrangements that can succeed in the short, mid- and long term.” The Peace Accords Matrix project at the Kroc Institute has researched more than 34 intra-State comprehensive peace accords signed since 1989. The project’s data offers insights into the types of provisions that are more or less likely to be implemented, how implementation processes unfold over time and how implementation affects different post-accord outcomes. “We make use of this research-based knowledge to engage conflict parties, mediators, negotiators and civil society organizations in dialogues and with technical advice on process and content issues,” she said.
Most peace accords fail when they are not comprehensive in relation to the issues they cover, when not all actors and stakeholders are engaged in negotiation and implementation and, importantly, when a peace accord lacks strong and independent verification and monitoring mechanisms, she said. Peace agreements are more likely to succeed when the commitments included in the accord go beyond military and security provisions, such as those dealing with demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants. “They are more likely to succeed when they incorporate questions of political and social development, gender and ethnic rights, as well as justice-related reforms that benefit society as a whole.” Research shows that peace accords with third-party mechanisms have almost a 47 per cent higher rate of implementation success over those that do not, she said.
Turning to the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace in Colombia, signed between the Government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC-EP) in 2016, she said that the project provided technical support during negotiations in Havana. The signatory parties gave a mandate to the Kroc Institute to be part of the International Verification Mechanism and monitor the implementation of the entire accord in real time. “We created a matrix based on 578 concrete, observable and measurable commitments.” The peace accord’s strong, independent and reliable mechanism of verification also has a crucial component, namely the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, she added. This is vital for maintaining the momentum, support and resources of the United Nations and the international community on the peacebuilding process.
Statements
SÉRGIO FRANÇA DANESE (Brazil), Security Council President for October, speaking in his national capacity, called on members to look inwards and outwards. The former means rediscovering the Council’s own tools while the latter means learning from initiatives that have been successful elsewhere. Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations gave the Council wide latitude to be creative, he pointed out, adding that, unfortunately, creativity in political solutions has waned recently as the Council focused on coercive measures. The over-reliance on Chapter VII has made consensus harder to reach. The Council must also examine where preventive diplomacy, mediation and other tools of peaceful settlement have proven successful. While it has been prolific in creating subsidiary bodies to monitor sanction regimes, there is scarcely any subsidiary body dedicated to supporting political processes under Chapter VI, he pointed out. Calling for “a healthy degree of humility”, he stressed the need to expand the Council. “More voices around the table can help overcome the logic of rivalry that periodically paralyses many decisions here,” he stressed.
IGLI HASANI, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, pointing to the conflict in Ukraine and the escalating situation in the Middle East, said that the rules-based international order remains an essential tool for promoting peace and stability. Recalling that the Secretary-General’s policy brief “The New Agenda for Peace” calls for strong partnerships between the United Nations and regional frameworks, he said that it is imperative to reflect on the most efficient form of cooperation between the Security Council and regional organizations. He underscored the European Union’s role in promoting peace, security and human rights, meeting humanitarian and development needs, mitigating climate change and strengthening accountability for violations of international law. He also spotlighted the recent Summit of the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans, an initiative that has launched a process of reconciliation, peaceful resolution of bilateral issues and improved regional economic cooperation......
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc14548.doc.htm
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий