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EU Presidency Statement - Security Council Open Debate: Role of Civil Society in Conflict Prevention

Statement by H.E. Sir Emyr Jones Parry, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations, on Behalf of the European Union, The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Prevention and the Pacific Settlement of Disputes, Security Council Open Debate, New York

I have the honour also to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU). The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

Mr President, may I first thank you for arranging this very important debate, and thank our colleagues from civil society, Mr van Tongeren, Dr Bartoli and Mr Gounden, for the genuine insights they have bought to our discussion.

The EU has cause to be grateful for the role civil society has played over the last two decades in contributing to the prevention of violent conflict and peacebuilding across the world, including within the EU's own neighbourhood. And we recognise the contribution civil society makes to strengthening democracy and promoting human rights, both within individual nations, and also at a global level. Civil society plays an essential role in all phases of the conflict cycle.

Mr President, let us be frank: there are different views among members of the Council on the legitimacy of some civil society organisations, and the role these organisations should be allowed to play in comparison to that played by governments. These concerns often arise because of the advocacy and lobbying activities carried out by civil society, and the role that civil society has in holding governments to account. The EU believes that all UN Member States should accept the legitimate right of civil society to express views, recommendations, concerns and disagreements with governments, even though at times this may be a difficult process. It is through such genuine dialogue that democracy is strengthened and that governments are better able to meet the needs of their people.

Governments and civil society must work closely together to reduce the risks of violent conflict breaking out. Where it does, they should work together to enhance justice, reconciliation and to help to bring sustainable peace to those affected. International and regional organisations must also engage purposefully with civil society if they are to be effective in addressing and managing conflict. With this objective in mind, the EU strongly supports many of the recommendations of the Cardoso Report on United Nations-civil society Relations¹, published a year ago.

Such co-operation helps to strengthen societies better to resist and deal with instability, and manage the tensions that otherwise might lead to violent conflict. Local civil society's understanding of points of tension can give useful early warning indicators. For example, civil society can draw attention to violations of human rights, which can often be an early indicator of incipient conflict. The EU believes that the new Human Rights Council should have clear means for interaction with civil society and that the High Commissioner on Human Rights should continue to engage with civil society regularly.

Interaction between civil society and the international community is vital if we are to implement our responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, as recognised, for the first time, at last week's Summit. And civil society can also help reduce hostility, and begin the rebuilding of trust between different groups that might otherwise resort to fighting. In particular, the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, and in rebuilding the peace after a conflict, is vital, as Security Council Resolution 1325 underlines.

While the work of civil society cannot, and should not replace government decision and policy-making processes, civil society engagement is also an important part of efforts to build resilient social and governmental structures, particularly when government structures are weak or ineffective. At the same time, we should acknowledge that civil society can sometimes actually contribute to greater polarisation and exacerbate the social tensions that lead to violent conflict. So it is important that dialogue with civil society organisations is targeted and that it starts from an understanding of the place of civil society organisations in their own societies.

The EU has given considerable resources to supporting civil society in its role in preventing and resolving conflict, and in post conflict peace building:

Mr President, a few words about the first Global Conference on the Role of Civil Society in the Prevention of Armed Conflict and Peace Building, which Mr van Tongeren has already spoken to us about. The Conference set out principles for the engagement of civil society in this field, and agreed a wide-ranging Agenda for Action. We hope the UN and its member states will make good use of the global network of conflict prevention and peace building civil society groups that the Conference created, and will follow up the proposals in its Action Plan.

We particularly agree with the Conference recommendation for a structural mechanism for consultation with civil society in the new Peacebuilding Commission. We need to profit from the experience and views of those working on the frontline. We also agree that the Peacebuilding Commission might, in due course, play its own part in supporting States, at their request, where they are on the verge of lapsing or re-lapsing into conflict.

Mr President, the paper circulated as food for thought for this meeting raised the question of collaboration between the Security Council and civil society in the development of conflict prevention strategies. The EU believes that such collaboration could be implemented in a number of different ways. The Secretary General could include the views of civil society when he reports to the Council on potential conflict situations. The views of local civil society should be reflected in reports to the Council by the Secretary General's Special Envoys. And when Security Council missions visit regions at risk of conflict, they should make time for meetings with local civil society, as Council missions to West Africa did in the last two years.

The Security Council should also continue discussions with civil society here in New York. The Arria formula meetings are extremely useful for this. These meetings bring the Council reliable and independent information about the situation on the ground in a particular area of tension, and new ideas for possible resolutions. We hope the Council will continue to host these regularly, including on countries or regions at risk of conflict, as well as on more immediate crisis situations.

Another way of increasing the effectiveness of Arria meetings and the quality of the exchange with NGOs might be to enable the participation of more local representatives of civil society organisations from the area under consideration. In addition to the Arria meetings, the Council should also consider inviting representatives from civil society to address it during its debates more frequently.

Mr President, in conclusion, I would like to reiterate the EU's interest in seeing the dialogue between the Security Council and civil society strengthened. Let us be brave enough to listen to points of view from across the spectrum, because through this dialogue we will make better policy, and have greater opportunities to ensure that those policies are effective. We all share an interest in the prevention of conflict and civil society makes a vital contribution. We should recognise it and benefit from it.

¹ A/58/817

* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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