Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations

2000 Statement

H.E. Mr. Hideaki Kobayashi

Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations

At The Meeting Of Special Political And Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on Item 86, "Comprehensive Review Of The Whole Question Of Peacekeeping Operations In All Their Aspects"

8 November 2000

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your able guidance during the course of the current session of the Fourth Committee. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Jean-Marie Guéhenno on his appointment as Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations, and also to thank him for his presentation of the midterm review this morning.

Mr. Chairman,

The report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and its Implementation Plan presented by Secretary-General Kofi Annan contain many useful insights and recommendations. We appreciate highly the initiative of the Secretary-General in commissioning the report and thank Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi and other Panel members for their excellent work.

Mr. Chairman,

In the course of the past decade, there were both increase and decrease of UN peacekeeping operations. The rapid increase in the years from 1993 to 1995 was followed by a sharp decline thereafter, and now we are witnessing again a second surge. The number of personnel serving in peacekeeping missions increased from a little over 10,000 last year to nearly 40,000 at present. More importantly, many of the recent operations are organized in response to intrastate conflicts, so that their mandates often include humanitarian assistance, various peace-building efforts and even civil administration. The increasing diversity of peacekeeping operations on top of the rapid growth of the number of personnel involved has posed many new challenges to Member States as well as to the Security Council and the Secretariat.

The Brahimi Report and the Implementation Plan present a number of practical ideas to meet these challenges. Among them Japan renders strong support for recommendations to use fact-finding missions by the Secretary-General more frequently, to improve the working methods of the Security Council, to build up rapid deployment capabilities in terms of mission leadership, military personnel, civilian police and civilian specialists, and to create Integrated Mission Task Forces and other measures to strengthen the capabilities of the Secretariat. Besides, such suggestions made in the narrative of the Report as to introduce a system based on merit in the Secretariat and the field missions as well as to respect local norms, cultures and practices, are equally important.

Mr. Chairman,

With regard to the request for additional resources through a revision of the current regular budget and support account, however, I have to stress that we should focus only on requirements of great urgency which are not re-deployable from existing resources.

Mr. Chairman,

One important issue that was not addressed in the Brahimi Report or the Implementation Plan is the safety of UN personnel. Between 1992 and September 2000, the lives of 198 UN civilian personnel were claimed in incidents and accidents in the course of duty, and some 300 military personnel lost their lives in hostile actions. The tragedies that occurred in recent months in Sierra Leone, East Timor, West Timor and Guinea are still fresh in our memory. Three weeks ago, the Secretary-General issued a report on the safety of UN personnel. While I am encouraged by the publication of the report, I regret that it only addresses the safety of civilians. For we believe that coherent efforts to enhance the safety of peacekeepers are equally essential. I therefore urge the Secretariat to "complete a general and comprehensive review of security requirements" of peacekeepers, as repeatedly recommended by the Special Committee. Japan, for its part, is prepared to cooperate in that endeavor. And, with regard to the Committee's encouragement to convene a seminar on the safety and security of United Nations personnel in peacekeeping operations to facilitate such a review, I am pleased to confirm that Japan, in cooperation with DPKO, will host an international seminar next March.

Mr. Chairman,

In concluding, I would like to reiterate that my delegation is determined to contribute positively to the deliberations of the Fourth Committee and the Special Committee throughout this session.