H.E. Mr. HIDEAKI KOBAYASHI

Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan

At a Meeting of the Security Council on the Maintenance of Peace and Security and Post-Conflict Peace-Building

23 March 2000

Mr. President,

I would like to begin by commending you, Mr. President, on your initiative in convening this meeting to consider ways and means of strengthening United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the area of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DD and R). The importance of the DD and R process cannot be overemphasized, as it is key to preventing the recurrence of conflict and to paving the way for post-conflict peace-building.

My delegation is grateful to the Secretary-General for preparing the thorough and inspiring report (S/2000/101) before us; we fully share the concerns described in it. Japan, as one of the financial contributors to the Lessons Learned Unit study, is particularly gratified that many elements contained in the Unit
fs report have been incorporated into that of the Secretary-General. We are also pleased to note that the report embraces many of the recommendations made by the Group of Governmental Experts on Small Arms under the chairmanship of Ambassador Donowaki of Japan.

Mr. President,

Of the wide range of issues covered in the Secretary-General
fs report, I would like to focus my remarks on three of them: namely, the need for greater coordination, the need to address the question of child soldiers, and ways to secure adequate financial resources.

The first point is the question of coordination. As stated in the report, the process of DD and R is a complex and multidimensional one, involving various actors such as former warring factions, international organizations and NGOs.

Coordination among the different actors is essential to the success of the process. From the viewpoint of ex-combatants, for example, the decision to cooperate with the DD and R process is in itself a difficult one, and so it is up to the international community to ensure that a well-planned, coordinated, and reliable mechanism is in place to support that decision.

In order to achieve this goal, coordination must be improved at three levels, namely, within the UN Secretariat, between the UN and related organizations—including the Bretton Woods institutions—and in the field. Of those three levels, I would like to stress the need for coordination in the field, as this is the level at which all actors finally get together and directly face the ex-combatants who are to be disarmed, demobilized, and reintegrated into society.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General has an especially important coordinating role to play. Past experience has taught us that when a Special Representative is well-selected and is given appropriate authority and resources, coordination in the field is enhanced, making the chances for success that much greater. We wish therefore to stress that the position of Special Representative should be filled by a highly qualified and capable person and that he or she be given sufficient authority to effectively carry out that role.

Mr. President,

My second point relates to the issue of child soldiers.

My delegation shares the view of the Secretary-General that this question demands particular attention throughout the DD and R process. Children are the foundation of the future of a country, and the specific physical and psychological needs of those who have been used as soldiers must be attended to if the country is to achieve lasting peace.

In this context, my delegation welcomes the recent appointment of Child Protection Advisors to the UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone and to the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We would like to encourage the Secretary-General to review other UN peacekeeping operations in order to identify situations where the appointment of Child Protection Advisors may be necessary.

Mr. President,

Permit me on this occasion to reiterate the position of the Government of Japan that children under the age of 18 should not, under any circumstances, be used in hostilities. Japan strongly supports the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by a Working Group of the Human Rights Commission in January.

Mr. President,

My final point concerns financial resources needed for the DD and R process, although I realized that financial matters are also dealt with in other relevant fora of the Organization.

As the Secretary-General pointed out, the resources for disarmament activities within a peacekeeping operation are generally provided through the assessed contributions to the budget of that operation, while the resources for demobilization and reintegration activities are provided through voluntary contributions. My delegation recognizes that the current practice of utilizing resources from trust funds established with voluntary contributions for such purposes has its merits. As a matter of fact, Japan contributed $960,000 to the Trust Fund to Support United Nations Peacekeeping-Related Efforts in Sierra Leone to be used exclusively for the purpose of DD and R. Although by virtue or its flexibility this trust fund formula has proved to be useful, we recognize that providing the necessary resources from the assessed budget would enhance an operation
fs financial stability.

Bearing in mind these considerations, I would like to stress that Japan, which is responsible for 20 percent of the assessed budget of all peacekeeping operations, is willing to consider a proposal which the Secretary-General put forward in his report to examine how the DD and R activities in a peacekeeping operation should be financed.

Mr. President,

In concluding, let me one again underscore the importance my delegation attaches to today
fs debate in the Security Council. I might add that the concerns expressed by the Council at its previous meeting on this subject in July of last year, and the points made in the Secretary-General
fs report are fully consonant with the position my delegation has been advocating in other fora of the United Nations, such as the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, the First Committee, and the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. You may be assured, Mr. President, that Japan will actively participate in the consideration of this issue, and make every effort to enhance the chances of success of the DD and R process.

Thank you, Mr. President.