The enjoyment of peace by all is what primarily protects civilians. That includes the speedy implementation of development, economic recovery and reconstruction programmes, as well as programmes for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the provision of services and quick-impact projects to ensure stability and the speedy resettlement of returnees.

In its section II, the report of the SecretaryGeneral mentions attacks on humanitarian workers in Darfur, including incidents of kidnapping, robbery and the looting of assets and mobile units.

In closing, we confirm the need to adopt a comprehensive approach that would deal primarily, without selectivity or discrimination, with the root causes of conflicts in addressing the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

I would also like to note that the right to protect civilians in armed conflict is but one aspect of an integrated and interconnected system of rights and duties, as reaffirmed by the 2005 Summit Outcome. The main thrust of the Summit was to follow-up the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, foremost among which are development, combating poverty and preventing conflicts by dealing with their root causes.

At the outset, I should like to associate my delegation with the statement delivered by the representative of Egypt on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. Eleven years have passed since the Secretary General submitted to the Security Council his first report (S/1999/957) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

Against that backdrop, peacebuilding must be the primary priority and concern of the United Nations, which should not be distracted from it by dealing with other symptoms of conflict. Moreover, I wish to reiterate that we must take advantage of regional organizations with proven ability and capacity to build and maintain peace, given their direct link to the causes of conflicts and their comprehensive understanding of them.

While encouraging non-State actors to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law in order to better ensure the protection of civilians is a laudable objective, this may prove to be a double edged sword, as it could also confer unintended legitimacy on violent perpetrators of terrorism and terrorist groups.

We welcome the emphasis put by the Secretary General on the need to achieve a more tangible improvement in the protection of civilians most affected by conflicts.

Today in Sri Lanka, 78 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including local NGOs, and 11 United Nations agencies, are working in partnership with the Government on rehabilitation, resettlement and reconstruction programmes. Sri Lanka takes the policy view that NGOs establishing parallel services to those of the Government that are not sustainable cannot have long term benefits for the welfare of the people.

The Government policy of zero civilian casualties had a deep impact the country's professional armed services, which were trained in humanitarian standards by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC also assisted in evacuating over 7,000 injured and their care-givers to Government-run hospitals.