Security Council meeting 4312-Resu.1

The President

I should like to inform the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Indonesia, Israel and Nepal, in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council's agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

The President

I propose, in the absence of objection, to extend an invitation under rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure to Mr. Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

I invite Mr. Oshima to take a seat at the Council table.

I give the floor to Mr. Oshima to respond to comments made and questions raised in the debate so far.

Mr. Oshima (Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs)

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to make some brief remarks at this juncture in the Council's debate. Let me first state that I am deeply impressed by the importance that the Council has attached to the issue, and by its commitment to identifying practical steps to move from expressions of intent to real implementation. In particular, I note the emphasis that Council members have put on the need to integrate better measures aimed at enhancing the protection of civilians on the ground by ensuring that these are considered in the design and planing of peace operations. The development of a checklist, as mentioned by several delegations, seems a very practical and useful measure in that respect.

In the same context, I support the proposal made by the President of the Council and by other delegations on the establishment of a cross-cutting team of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to ensure that issues related to the protection of civilians are adequately addressed in mandates of peace operations. As the focal point within the Secretariat for the protection of civilians, my Office, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stands ready to assume a more active role in that respect. I urge the Council to support the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in fulfilling that important role.

In its reporting and daily activities, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will seek to mainstream and give prominence to issues relating to the protection of civilians, and I will use the opportunity of my briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for that purpose.

As many delegations have noted, the protection of civilians caught in armed conflicts lies at the core of the United Nations mandate and is the primary subject of the daily struggle of numerous humanitarian agencies and organizations in the field. Let me therefore briefly reiterate some of the most important points in that connection.

The primary responsibility for the protection of civilians rests with States and their Governments. International action can only be complementary and can never be a substitute for that responsibility. Armed groups have a direct responsibility under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to refrain from attacks on them. Given the predominantly internal nature of today's armed conflicts, it is indispensable to engage in a structured humanitarian dialogue with armed groups, based on core humanitarian principles such as impartiality, and without legitimizing the claims of those groups. And finally, where conflicts develop a regional dimension due to massive cross-border movements of displaced populations, a regional approach to crisis is necessary. These, I note, are some of the main issues reflected in the Secretary-General's report (S/2001/331).

I would like to take this opportunity to respond briefly to some of the proposals of a practical nature made in this morning's debate, and to outline a number of practical steps that my Office and its humanitarian partners are undertaking or envisaging to improve the protection of civilians in practical terms. In that connection, I would like to call for the Council's active support for the implementation of those steps.

First, in order to develop better coordinated and more creative approaches to access negotiations, to which many delegations referred, the Secretary-General has requested the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to develop a manual of best practices and guidance for access negotiations and strategies. It will include benchmarks for the engagement and disengagement of aid agencies, demands for conditionality, clearance procedures, needs assessments, monitoring of the delivery of relief and assistance, and other principles. Drawing on past experience, my Office will take the lead in this matter, working closely with the members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. As a first step in that direction, a group of key agencies has already been formed; it will meet next month for an initial working-level session to be followed by the endorsement by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee of an appropriate mechanism for further efforts.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee has been working on the issue of strengthening the safety and security of humanitarian personnel in the field. In that connection, I would like to mention also that non-governmental organizations are daily engaged in the work of humanitarian assistance; non-governmental organizations are indispensable partners of United Nations agencies in providing humanitarian relief assistance to vulnerable people. While their national and international staff, like United Nations personnel, are increasingly made the target of attack, the current security framework does not adequately address staff safety. Therefore, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee has formed a working group to strengthen collaboration between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations on this issue at the field level. As part of my regular updates on the protection of civilians, I stand ready also to update the Council on results and progress on these matters, as appropriate.

Secondly, effective coordination can significantly enhance the protection of civilians, as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance. To draw lessons from recent field experiences with a view to strengthening value-added features of coordination arrangements, my Office has commissioned a study on humanitarian coordination. The preliminary draft points to the need for early on-the-ground coordination among agencies, donors and other relevant actors.

I would also like to mention some other proposals that have been made concerning the practical implementation of the 54 recommendations of the report on this issue. I welcome the idea of an informal working group of the Council to facilitate a more interactive process between the Council and the Secretariat on the matter. As a first step, however, I would like to encourage the Council to design a clear road map for implementation of the recommendations, as suggested by the Ambassador of Norway. In this respect, my Office, OCHA, stands ready to work closely with the Council in elaborating a road map with clear time-lines aimed at identifying the respective roles of Member States, the Secretariat and other parts of the United Nations system and at categorizing and prioritizing recommendations for implementation by each entity. In my capacity as Emergency Relief Coordinator, I also stand ready to update the Council regularly on the progress made in this regard.

As for the next report of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians, I was particularly struck by the intervention made by the Norwegian Ambassador. Such a follow-up report to the Council should focus primarily on progress made in implementing the recommendations. In this context, I would like to express my readiness to report, as has been suggested, within six months -- by October 2001 for example -- on progress made in elaborating the road map. The follow-up report could then be issued another 12 months later -- for example in October 2002 -- reflecting the action taken to implement the road map.

In conclusion, I would like to express once again my deep appreciation for the importance the Council attaches to the issue of the protection of civilians. It has proved a significant opportunity to give a voice to the tens of millions of victims who are suffering in silence in many parts of the world. The seriousness of today's debate so far has further contributed to drawing the necessary attention to the civilian victims and, furthermore, to the need to effect real progress in this very difficult area. Civilians in war need decisive and timely action by the Council in implementing the many pivotal recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's reports.

The President

I may well come back to the Under-Secretary-General or to his representative during the course of the discussion to pick up points from the debate as it is taken forward by non-members of the Council.

We now move to the speakers' list under rule 37, and I intend to get through the speakers' list today, however long it takes. I hope that people will leave room for later speakers.

The next speaker on my list is the representative of Canada, whom I invite to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Heinbecker (Canada)

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