Statement of ERC Kenzo Oshima at the open meeting of the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict

New York, 10 December 2002

Madame President,
Secretary-General,
Members of the Security Council,
Excellencies and Colleagues,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to address the Council, once again, on the issue of the protection of civilians in armed conflict. There could be no more appropriate occasion to review the progress we have made and the challenges remaining in protecting the lives, rights and fundamental freedoms of civilians around the world than this International Human Rights Day.

In this respect, I would like to take this opportunity to convey the special thanks of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, for holding this Open Session on protection of civilian populations in armed conflict today, 10 December, World Human Rights Day. This is a clear recognition on the part of the Council that this is both a central human rights as well as a humanitarian concern.

Mr. President,

We have provided the Council and Member States over the past three years with a solid framework of practical measures to protect and assist vulnerable populations caught in conflict situations. Much progress has been made in drawing attention to the plight of the millions of civilians who have died over the last decade alone as a result of armed conflict, the tens of millions who have been displaced by war, and the countless number of women and children deprived of a future and a life free from fear.

We have raised awareness of the steps and measures that are needed to protect civilians more effectively, both physically and legally. And, we have succeeded in drawing greater attention to the complexity and interconnectedness of the challenges posed by the vulnerability of civilians in violent conflict. The Council itself has given greater priority to the protection of civilians and has on several occasions indicated its willingness to apply the findings and lessons enshrined in the aide memoire it has adopted on 15 March 2002. The review of the mandates of UNAMSIL in Sierra Leone and, just recently, of MONUC for Eastern DRC are only two such examples; examples that there is no substitute for the willingness to act if we want to transcend the sheer endless cycles of violence.

Also, a number of the world's protracted conflicts - Afghanistan, Angola, Sudan, Sri Lanka and now Aceh in Indonesia - have started to subside or have entered a transitional period from conflict to peace. This is additional proof of the indispensability to engage the parties to a conflict in a political process and of the responsibility to provide incentives for sustainable peace in which we do not lose sight of protection priorities.

However, these encouraging developments must not make us complacent or slow down. The establishment of the "Culture of Protection" called for by the Secretary-General in his last report is still a distant goal. Civilians remain the main casualties of conflict today. The violence and attacks in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Côte d'Ivoire, in the occupied Palestinian territory, or in Burundi are only the most recent reminders of this fact. Daily, these acts take an unacceptable and high toll on human life and livelihoods. And, civilians are in dire need of protection and assistance in many other crisis situations around the world.

While we continue to move on, jointly, implementing and mainstreaming the recommendations of the previous two reports we must not forget to bring new challenges to the Council's attention and to remind Member States of the many unresolved challenges that remain in protecting the vulnerable. In my view, the Security Council has been and continues to be an appropriate forum to discuss these issues.

This third report of the Secretary-General on the protection of civilians in armed conflict identifies three significant new challenges to the international community, Member States and agencies alike: the gender-based violence in humanitarian crisis and conflict situations, the harmful consequences of the commercial exploitation of conflicts, and the escalating threat of global terrorism. At the same time, the report reiterates three key findings from previous reports: the need for safe and unimpeded access to vulnerable populations, the importance of separating civilians from armed elements in camps for displaced persons, and the centrality of vigorously promoting respect for the rule of law in conflict areas.

Mr. President,

In order to create the culture of protection the United Nations - Member States as well as departments, funds, and agencies - have worked collectively to devise the necessary policy and analytical framework for the protection of civilians in armed conflict. In addition, we have intensified our efforts to raise the level of awareness and understanding of Member States and agencies of the multi-faceted nature of protection and the toolkit now available to us.

The aide memoire, adopted by the Council in March 2002 after an exemplary interactive process between the Council members and UN departments and agencies, is the centerpiece of these efforts. Serving as a checklist for Council deliberations it also represents the "ten commandments", as it were, of protection and is the backbone of our training exercises.

Its first practical application came in July as the Security Council initiated a workshop reviewing the peacekeeping mandate in Sierra Leone. Along the lines of the aide memoire, participants reviewed the UN's mandate in the Mano river region measuring operational effectiveness by its success in meeting the protection and assistance needs of civilians. We welcome this approach and look forward to additional and regular reviews of other peace operation efforts in areas of serious concern for the protection of civilians.

Also, as indicated earlier, the Security Council has started to take into account the protection needs of civilians in its recent revision of the United Nations mandate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The resulting resolution affirms the expansion and location of additional resources taking into account the Council's deep concern over the humanitarian situation throughout the country and in particular in the Ituri region. It calls for full humanitarian access and guarantees of physical security for humanitarian workers. This is the implementation we are calling for - the protection of civilians agenda in action.

Moreover, and as suggested during my last briefing to the Council on this matter in March, we have now held the first three of a series of regional workshops on the protection of civilians in armed conflict in South Africa to cover the Southern African region, in Japan for the East Asia/Pacific region, and in the United Kingdom for Europe, including the Balkans and Russia. To date, some thirty countries have participated in these workshops. I wish to express my special thanks to the Governments of South Africa, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom for their support in this respect.

Aiming specifically at Government officials, diplomats and military staff of Member States, the workshops are an important means of familiarizing participants with the basic concept and multiple facets of protection, of providing tools for more effective physical and legal protection in practice, and of building a growing consensus and constituency around the concept of protection. The workshops specifically promote the use of diagnostic tools such as the aide memoire to assess potential regional threats to peace and security and identify ways to address them. This way, the policy work that has been deliberated in New York is making its way into political capitals, and ultimately into the communities experiencing conflict.

These are the first steps on our "long march" towards establishing the culture of protection. They will be followed by at least three more workshops in the Pacific Rim, Africa and Latin America next year. So far I am very encouraged by Member States' response to these workshops and their commitment.

Mr. President,

As we all know, progress in protecting civilians cannot be measured in workshops and policy discussion. What ultimately matters is the effects these efforts have on the concrete situation of civilians in the field, what matters is the implementation of the recommendations made in previous reports. I am aware that this is not an easy task and will require a continuing and persistent effort. However, it is the humanitarian imperative to persist.

Great importance is therefore attached to the "roadmap" called for by the Council in June 2001. Clarity of responsibility and task will help expeditious implementation. The initial roadmap that has been annexed to this third report is a preliminary version, prepared in consultation with the relevant UN departments, agencies and funds, organizes recommendations from the previous two reports on which the Council has agreed, by theme. It is intended to provide a broad initial picture. A more thorough process of detailed consultation with Member States, UN bodies, departments, funds and agencies is now needed. The ultimate objective would be to produce a Plan of Action for implementation, with specific responsibilities assigned and timeframes where appropriate.

Effective implementation of the agenda on the protection of civilians requires the continued engagement and support of Member States. I am extremely encouraged by the establishment this week of a Support Group of Member States, led by Norway, to create a broader support base for the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The group aims to develop momentum and focus among Member States, by creating a forum to promote conceptual, technical, financial and political support to the protection of civilians in armed conflict. At a political level the support group will promote and encourage the use of the aide memoire by the Security Council, Member States, the Secretariat, among NGOs and in the field. It will also serve as a forum for information exchange between Member States and OCHA on behalf of the humanitarian community. I thank the Government of Norway for taking the lead in this vital initiative and we look forward to working closely with the members of the group.

Secondly, within the Secretariat, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Secretary-General's coordinating body of UN agencies dealing with humanitarian concerns, has decided to create an Implementation Group for the Protection of Civilians. This group will spearhead the production of the Plan of Action. Moreover, it will liaise with the Protection of Civilians Support Group, donors and the Security Council. It will also provide guidance and inputs into the regional workshops, and work to develop training materials and modules for UN staff and national authorities.

For its part OCHA will continue to work with concerned UN departments and agencies to ensure that the UN system addresses the implementation of the protection of civilians agenda in a coordinated manner. We will also continue to engage with the IASC members throughout this process. An Understanding on Standard Operating Procedures between DPKO and OCHA has now been signed committing both Departments to collaboration on the protection of civilians in peace operations, as called for in the Secretary-General's report. This collaborative approach has been exemplified by joint OCHA/DPKO briefings to the Security Council on the Mano River in July as I mentioned earlier, and more recently on Eastern DRC. OCHA and DPA will also strengthen their collaboration to ensure the full integration of civilian protection issues in the planning and implementation of peace missions and peace processes, particularly during the transition period from conflict to sustainable peace.

To facilitate this greater inter-departmental cooperation, we will be conducting joint training for staff at Headquarters and in the field, within OCHA, DPKO and DPA and in peacekeeping operations. Our goal is to ensure that UN personnel and their national counterparts more systematically give priority to the humanitarian and protection needs of civilians in conflict.

In my comments to you today I have reviewed what I consider to be the three core tasks in establishing the culture of protection: to advocate, to educate and to implement. To advocate and educate we are using the regional workshops, developing training materials and modules, and setting up collaborative planning mechanisms to mainstream the protection of civilians in the daily work of the United Nations. To implement this, we are systematically drawing up plans of action with our partners and working alongside Member States to put new energy, political will and resources into this ongoing commitment. We must match momentum with action.

With your agreement, I will report back to you on our progress in six months, while the Secretary-General will report comprehensively to the Security Council every eighteen months. When confronted with a challenge of this magnitude it is important to recognize that progress depends on incremental change. The steps that we have taken so far will make a difference in the awareness and commitment to provide better protection to civilians. The practical actions outlined in the report will help to address some of the most immediate threats challenging civilians today.

We must systematically build awareness, responsibility and support among Governments and armed non-state actors to ensure that where there is conflict, there is proper regard for the protection of civilians.

Thank you, Madame President.