Sumario: EU Presidency Statement - UN Security Council Public Meeting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeeping Personnel (23 February 2006).
United Nations Security Council Public Meeting on Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse by United Nations Peacekeeping Personnel; Statement by Minister Alexander Marschik, Deputy Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union.
Mr President,
I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of
Moldova align themselves with this statement.
Let me begin by saying how deeply regrettable it is that the UN has found itself having to confront instances of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping personnel in the first place. It is tragic that the shameful misconduct of a few should detract from the enormous sacrifice and vital contribution to peace and security made by the women and men serving in UN peacekeeping operations. The very credibility of the UN as a whole, and therefore the viability of UN peacekeeping operations in
particular, is undermined by such appalling behaviour. It is imperative, therefore, that this scourge be stamped out.
The UN, through its relevant instances and its Member States, has already taken some important steps to achieve those ends. The EU has supported from the beginning the strong stance taken by the Secretary-General on this issue, including his initiative in appointing an Adviser on the question of sexual exploitation and abuse, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan. The EU itself has consistently been engaged in the combat against this problem and was therefore greatly encouraged by the
sense of urgency shared by all members of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations last year following publication of the report prepared by Prince Zeid. At its resumed session last April, dedicated solely to the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeeping personnel, the Special Committee made a number of recommendations for urgent action addressed to the Secretary-General, to the Secretariat and to the Member States themselves. The central theme underlying those
recommendations is the need to establish and implement a policy of zero-tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations.
In May last year, the Security Council added further momentum to these efforts when it welcomed the Special Committee's report and called on the Secretary-General and on troop contributing countries to ensure implementation of the recommendations without delay. The Security Council also set itself the task of considering inclusion of provisions on prevention, monitoring, investigation and reporting of misconduct cases in its own resolutions concerning peacekeeping mandates. We are pleased to
see that the Council has since acted upon that instruction on several occasions.
It is vital that we do not lose any of the momentum generated last year for tackling this problem. The EU therefore welcomes the opportunity offered by today's meeting to reflect on what has been achieved so far and, more importantly, to press for renewed efforts to ensure speedy implementation of all outstanding recommendations from the Special Committee's report. The timeline that has been set for full implementation of those recommendations, no later than 1 June 2007, must be
respected.
As regards achievements to date, the EU is pleased to see from the Secretary-General's report to this year's session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that the Secretariat has already taken some of the steps that fall within its purview, and has set in train measures to implement others. The EU thus welcomes the Secretariat's work on a revised Model Memorandum of Understanding for Troop Contributors and hopes that these efforts will lead to its adoption by the General Assembly
before the end of its 60th session. In addition, as one of the core recommendations of the Special Committee, the EU is pleased to see the progress made by the UN on establishing a professional and independent investigative capacity in the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). In this context it is crucial that effective cooperation is assured between OIOS and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The EU encourages collaboration between troop contributing countries and
the OIOS investigative capacity in order to ensure that any evidence collected is admissible in the relevant national jurisdiction. This is vital in the fight against impunity for acts of misconduct.
Given the importance of keeping the interests of the victims, both female and male, adults and children, at the forefront of all these efforts, the EU also warmly welcomes the Secretariat's progress in developing a bold and comprehensive policy on support to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse and looks forward to discussion on this in the upcoming session of the Special Committee. Likewise, the EU strongly supports the establishment of a sufficient number of Conduct and Discipline teams
to meet the need for such capacity in peacekeeping missions and favours the transformation of the present headquarters team into a permanent Conduct and Discipline Unit in DPKO, as proposed by the Secretary-General in his report.
High standards of conduct and discipline must be applied to all categories of peacekeeping personnel. A particular responsibility rests with us, the Member States, to train, prepare and hold accountable members of national contingents, including at the very senior level. Managers and commanders have the responsibility to create and maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse. They must be clearly directed to facilitate investigations and they must be held accountable for
failures in this regard.
The EU would also encourage troop contributing countries to share best practices in their use of UN welfare payments aimed at providing for the recreation of troops. Since the Special Committee identified the provision of welfare and recreation services as an important preventive measure against sexual exploitation and abuse, promulgation of best practices in this area would be an invaluable resource for other troop contributors to draw on.
The EU has taken measures to ensure that there is a policy of zero-tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse by personnel participating in its own European Security and Defence Policy operations. Though individual EU Member States retain jurisdiction over their national troop or police contingents, the EU has taken steps to standardise the norms of behaviour of all categories of personnel participating in such operations, through the adoption last year of generic standards of behaviour
covering all relevant areas, including the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse. Moreover, these generic standards clarify the responsibilities of senior commanders and management, require their incorporation into the planning documents of every European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operation, call for the establishment of complaint procedures and reporting mechanisms, and require the inclusion of education on the standards of behaviour into national as well as EU-level pre-deployment
training.
None of us should become complacent on a subject as serious as this, however. The EU remains fully committed to intensifying its efforts, and to encouraging the wider UN membership and the Secretariat to redouble theirs, in order to ensure full implementation of all of the Special Committee's recommendations as soon as possible and in any event within the June 2007 timeframe.
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