Peacekeeping

Secondly, the protection of civilians is a shared responsibility. Humanitarian workers and peacekeepers have distinct roles and responsibilities, but these need to be brought together in a coherent and strategic way.

From Chad to Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo to Liberia, to Sierra Leone and the Sudan, United Nations peacekeeping missions have had a significant impact on enhancing the protection of civilian populations.

Finally, we must ensure an accountable approach. Systematic monitoring and reporting on the impact of our efforts to improve the protection of civilians is essential. We need to assess and report on the extent to which our actions are making civilians safer. That also applies to all relevant actors, not only peacekeeping missions, as well as all relevant situations, not only those in which peacekeepers are present.

As the Secretary-General's report notes, the progress made in the last 18 months has been in the further strengthening of the Council's approach to protection. That has been embodied in the Council's thematic resolutions on the protection of civilians, on women and peace and security, and on children and armed conflict.

Secondly, with regard to protection by United Nations peacekeeping operations, Norway welcomes the publication of Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence — An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice. We also attach great importance to the ongoing work to develop training modules and scenario-based exercises to strengthen missions' protection capacity.

The acts of rape perpetrated by rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in August and the recent assault on civilians in Western Sahara illustrate the magnitude of the task of civilian protection. Difficult protection challenges remain in Afghanistan and Somalia.

As a major troop-contributing country, Nigeria is aware of the acute resource constraints that United Nations peacekeepers face in the field daily. Such constraints limit their ability to effectively protect civilians, guarantee safe passage for IDPs, facilitate the movement of humanitarian actors and, crucially, establish assessment and early-warning mechanisms to prevent a crisis.

To track progress in implementation, the development of indicators for systematic monitoring and reporting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict by the Emergency Relief Coordinator would be helpful. When included in protection benchmarks, such indicators could help us to assess the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions and identify remaining gaps and challenges.

If successful compliance with protection standards requires an integrated and comprehensive protection strategy in collaboration with the main humanitarian actors, it remains that the primary responsibility for civilian protection rests with the concerned Government itself. Furthermore, occupying Powers have the clear obligation under international law to protect the population under foreign occupation.

Turning to the consistent approach, Japan welcomes the recent development of the operational concept by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support aimed at promoting consistency. Cooperation between the military and civilians should be strengthened to further ensure humanitarian access. It is also a priority to protect humanitarian aid workers in order to prevent them from becoming the target of attacks.