Among the several aspects of such a wideranging issue as the protection of ci...

Among the several aspects of such a wideranging issue as the protection of civilians, I would like to focus my comments today on three points: reporting, peacekeeping and the root causes of conflict. Comprehensive though they may be, periodic reports of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians have not provide detailed enough information on the protection aspects of all agenda items where such aspects are of concern. Brazil would therefore welcome more information on protection issues in the Secretary-General's country-specific reports to the Council, as also mentioned by the Permanent Representative of Austria. Such enhanced reporting could also use information that is already available to the United Nations and currently shared in a more limited and informal fashion, for instance with the Security Council informal Expert Group. Broadening and deepening the treatment of protection issues in country-specific reports by the Secretary-General would also allow protection information to be disseminated to the wider membership.