Peacekeeping

My country would like to congratulate the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Margot Wallström, on her appointment and the work she is doing.

In Argentina, all selection and training procedures carried out when deploying a peacekeeping operation take into account the peacekeeper code of conduct, including issues of gender, abuse, violence and sexual exploitation, as outlined in the concepts and terms established in resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008).

We note the significant risks inherent in any initiative that seeks to operationalize the protection of civilians, especially in the light of the coexistence of divergent, mutually exclusive conceptual approaches to the problem and of the individual nature of each armed conflict.

The protection of civilians in the context of peacekeeping operations is one of many tasks established in Security Council mandates. It is related to other equally important tasks and its implementation is viable only within the regulatory framework that sets out the guiding principles for such operations: the consent of the parties, impartiality and the non-use of force.

In this regard, we believe that we should recognize the valuable progress that has been made over the past two years in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. It is in our interest to continue working constructively along these lines. To that end, on 6 December, together with the Mission of Australia, we will organize a third workshop on the protection of civilians in peacekeeping operations.

We recognize the importance of the collective efforts by the political, peacekeeping, human rights, humanitarian and development components of the United Nations to ensure proper protection from the horrors of war. We have seen the impact the United Nations and its partners have made in such places as Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Timor-Leste and other countries shaken by armed conflict.

The United States hopes that we can work together towards improvements in four key areas. First, we must continue our efforts to better tailor peacekeeping mandates to adequately address situation-specific challenges on the ground. That includes laying out a clear hierarchy of tasks so that peacekeepers can understand the priorities.

The progress of the United Nations is the result of years of hard work at Headquarters and in the field. Resolution 1894 (2009) was a landmark in the global effort to better protect civilians in conflict zones. So, too, is this year's report from the General Assembly's Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (A/64/19). Both documents called for mission-wide planning, better predeployment training and stronger protection strategies.

Secondly, we should increase our ability to provide peacekeepers and humanitarian organizations with the knowledge, training and resources needed to fulfil their protection mandates, including protection against sexual and gender-based violence. Many peacekeeping missions and humanitarian organizations struggle due to inadequate resources and insufficient communication with local communities.

All too often humanitarian workers themselves are the targets of attack by warring parties and terrorists. Such intimidation and violence is appalling and unacceptable. While eight United Nations peacekeeping missions are now mandated to protect civilians from physical violence, many civilians suffer not only from indiscriminate attacks but from attacks directed at them deliberately.