Statement by H.E. Ambassador ISHIKANE Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the Security Council Open Debate on “Protecting the Protectors: Technology and Peacekeeping”
2021/8/18
Mr. President,
I thank you for convening this important open debate.
UN Peacekeeping retains a significant role in maintaining international peace and stability. Today, peacekeepers are deployed in many challenging environments, and Japan believes it is paramount for all stakeholders, including TPCCs, Member States, the UN Secretariat, and host countries to ensure their safety and help them implement their mandates more effectively and efficiently. Here, modern technology must play a role in enhancing their capabilities.
Simply providing technology to missions or to those in need will not alone be sufficient to make the most of its benefits. Also, all stakeholders are responsible to ensure that the technology will be applied in accordance with relevant rules and policies such as the UN rules and regulations, international law, and laws and regulations of the host country. The use of technology should take a human-centric approach and the dignity of individuals should always be respected. Illicit transfer or theft of technology and technology related information should not be allowed. Therefore, critical is Member States’ assistance to capacity building of peacekeepers to be deployed and of missions in maximizing the enabling potential of technology.
Today, as a firm believer of training and capacity building’s possibilities to enhance peacekeeping’s performance as a whole, I would like to showcase two examples of Japan's good practices.
Trainings and Capacity-Building of Peacekeepers (UN C4ISR Academy)
Japan has been a committed supporter of the United Nations C4ISR Academy for Peace Operations since it was founded in 2015 with the aim of providing standardized, mission-specific trainings. Japan has contributed approximately 4.3 million USD of voluntary budget to the Academy in total to date, thus strengthening communications within missions.
Peacekeepers have diverse backgrounds, and when the UN procures and incorporates a certain technology into peacekeeping, it is critical that all peacekeepers are capable of applying it in the field. Standardized trainings are therefore fundamental.
Gender considerations must also be reflected in training and capacity-building. As technology is more often deployed to the field, female and male peacekeepers must have equal opportunities to gain necessary skills. Part of Japan’s grants directly support the Women's Outreach Course, in which 177 female military and police officers from 57 countries have participated.
Assistance to Mission Application of Technology (telemedicine project)
Besides training and capacity-building for peacekeepers, it is also critical to help the missions adopt new technologies, particularly in relation to preserving the lives and safety of personnel.
Responding rapidly to the COVID 19 outbreak, Japan offered grants of 1.5 million USD for a telemedicine project by the UN Secretariat. With this, the UN will plan pilot projects of applying telemedicine in certain missions on the ground, which will provide technological solutions to save the lives of peacekeepers deployed in remote places.
It is expected that through this project, the UN will identify the telemedicine capabilities needed in other missions, which will lead to a broader adoption of tele-technology in the future.
To have such contributions and reduce capacity gaps in the use of technology, we would like to urge partnerships among the UN, Member States, and TPCCs to be further enhanced. For instance, the Triangular Partnership Programme provides a systematized arrangement to make this matching easier, and it has helped Japan to make timely and relevant contributions to missions and personnel.
In closing, Japan believes these and other efforts will help the UN incorporate technology into its missions in a way that will allow technological innovation to become a true strategic enabler.
We stand ready to continue our efforts in this regard.
I thank you.
I thank you for convening this important open debate.
UN Peacekeeping retains a significant role in maintaining international peace and stability. Today, peacekeepers are deployed in many challenging environments, and Japan believes it is paramount for all stakeholders, including TPCCs, Member States, the UN Secretariat, and host countries to ensure their safety and help them implement their mandates more effectively and efficiently. Here, modern technology must play a role in enhancing their capabilities.
Simply providing technology to missions or to those in need will not alone be sufficient to make the most of its benefits. Also, all stakeholders are responsible to ensure that the technology will be applied in accordance with relevant rules and policies such as the UN rules and regulations, international law, and laws and regulations of the host country. The use of technology should take a human-centric approach and the dignity of individuals should always be respected. Illicit transfer or theft of technology and technology related information should not be allowed. Therefore, critical is Member States’ assistance to capacity building of peacekeepers to be deployed and of missions in maximizing the enabling potential of technology.
Today, as a firm believer of training and capacity building’s possibilities to enhance peacekeeping’s performance as a whole, I would like to showcase two examples of Japan's good practices.
Trainings and Capacity-Building of Peacekeepers (UN C4ISR Academy)
Japan has been a committed supporter of the United Nations C4ISR Academy for Peace Operations since it was founded in 2015 with the aim of providing standardized, mission-specific trainings. Japan has contributed approximately 4.3 million USD of voluntary budget to the Academy in total to date, thus strengthening communications within missions.
Peacekeepers have diverse backgrounds, and when the UN procures and incorporates a certain technology into peacekeeping, it is critical that all peacekeepers are capable of applying it in the field. Standardized trainings are therefore fundamental.
Gender considerations must also be reflected in training and capacity-building. As technology is more often deployed to the field, female and male peacekeepers must have equal opportunities to gain necessary skills. Part of Japan’s grants directly support the Women's Outreach Course, in which 177 female military and police officers from 57 countries have participated.
Assistance to Mission Application of Technology (telemedicine project)
Besides training and capacity-building for peacekeepers, it is also critical to help the missions adopt new technologies, particularly in relation to preserving the lives and safety of personnel.
Responding rapidly to the COVID 19 outbreak, Japan offered grants of 1.5 million USD for a telemedicine project by the UN Secretariat. With this, the UN will plan pilot projects of applying telemedicine in certain missions on the ground, which will provide technological solutions to save the lives of peacekeepers deployed in remote places.
It is expected that through this project, the UN will identify the telemedicine capabilities needed in other missions, which will lead to a broader adoption of tele-technology in the future.
To have such contributions and reduce capacity gaps in the use of technology, we would like to urge partnerships among the UN, Member States, and TPCCs to be further enhanced. For instance, the Triangular Partnership Programme provides a systematized arrangement to make this matching easier, and it has helped Japan to make timely and relevant contributions to missions and personnel.
In closing, Japan believes these and other efforts will help the UN incorporate technology into its missions in a way that will allow technological innovation to become a true strategic enabler.
We stand ready to continue our efforts in this regard.
I thank you.