Security Council meeting 5981

The President

Pursuant to the invitation extended to him at the 5980th meeting, I invite the representative of Chad to take a seat at the Council table.

The President

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations.

Members of the Council have before them document S/2008/616, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the United States of America.

Members of the Council also have before them document S/2008/601 and Addendum 1, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad.

It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

Sir John Sawers (United Kingdom)

I have asked to speak before the voting in order to make a number of points about the draft resolution before us.

We share the concerns expressed at our previous meeting today about the regional and humanitarian situation in Chad. We welcome the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, which is beginning to play an important role in building up policing capacity in both Chad and the Central African Republic. We agree that, in principle, a follow-on United Nations force should replace the European Union-led peacekeeping force (EUFOR) in Chad, and for those reasons we shall support the draft resolution.

But there is much work to be done before the Council can take a firm decision on a new peacekeeping mission. An expanded United Nations mission in Chad needs clear objectives, an achievable mandate, a sensible time frame for deployment, measurable benchmarks and a realistic end state that, once achieved, will enable the force to withdraw. We also question whether a force twice the size of EUFOR is needed.

We also continue to have reservations about the case for a military presence in the Central African Republic. We share the concerns expressed by the Secretary-General in his report in that regard. We have yet to see persuasive evidence that such a presence would bring real value. We look forward to receiving the detailed advice on those issues that will be included in the Secretary-General’s November report.

In his address to the General Assembly yesterday, the Secretary-General highlighted the pressures on United Nations peacekeeping. Mr. Ban Ki-moon said that Member States cannot continue to mandate ambitious peace operations without the necessary troops, money and materiel. It is our view that the Security Council needs a disciplined and strategic approach to the management of scarce peacekeeping resources. Missions should not be considered in isolation. We need to take into account ongoing and future peacekeeping commitments and be realistic about the resources likely to be available. We believe that it would be helpful in the weeks ahead for the Council to hear the Secretariat’s assessment of the pressures faced by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at present on how collectively we can achieve a more strategic approach to peacekeeping.

The President

The Council will now proceed to take a decision on the draft resolution (S/2008/616) before it.

The President

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1834 (2008).

There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.