Remarks by H.E. Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at Informal Conference on the 2015 UN Peace & Security Reviews: “UN Peace Operations Review: Taking stock, leveraging opportunities and charting the way forward”
Monday 11 April 2016
Mr. Secretary-General, Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here with you this morning.
A series of conflicts and escalating violence in many parts of the world together with an incredible global humanitarian and refugee crisis expose some glaring weaknesses at the heart of the architecture and that we, the international community, have developed these past 70 years to maintain international peace and security.
It is fitting therefore that reviews on UN peace operations, on peacebuilding and on women, peace and security – as mentioned by the Secretary- General – are currently underway.
Coupled with the process for selecting the next UN Secretary-General, they provide us with genuine opportunities to rethink and reassert effective multilateralism in this sphere.
On 10th and 11th of May, I will hold a High-Level Thematic Debate which aims to get policy-makers to take a step back from these individual reviews, and to take a look at the bigger picture.
I am pleased that this initiative has been broadly welcomed by the different constituencies and groups within the General Assembly and has already raised the interest of a great number of Ministers, candidates for the position of UN Secretary-General and distinguished experts.
Many of them will participate actively in the High-Level Thematic Debate.
Your meeting today is an important part of a broader set of meetings and regional workshops that have taken place across the world in order to bring forward this discussion, seek solutions – and also inform the May meeting.
I have delivered messages to all of those meetings and workshops – from Brussels to Shanghai, Brasilia, Cairo, Addis, Monrovia, Geneva and elsewhere.
I have steadily encouraged experts and stakeholders to move beyond the ill-defined ‘need for change’ and focus instead on concrete steps to make that change happen within a reasonable timeframe.
To do so, I believe that we need to look closer at the patterns that are emerging from the different reviews, for example, regarding the need to recognize the primacy of politics; to increase investment in prevention and sustainable peace; to advance a people-centred approach and to strengthen partnerships, particularly with regional organizations.
And, specifically, we need to identify the specific actions needed to respond to those patterns including in terms of enhancing flexibility in budgetary and management issues.
During the High-Level Thematic Debate, we will share the outcome of all those deliberations – informed by the practical challenges, practices and policies that have emerged in the different regions of the world.
It will be an opportunity also for Ministers and other guests to share their experiences and ideas on how to reinvigorate our peace and security tools and approach.
Let me finish by thanking warmly the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia and the Permanent Mission of Norway for their sustained support of this common endeavour and for joining their efforts today.
I want to thank also the International Peace Institute for the great partnership to date.
I wish you all successful deliberations and very much look forward to hearing the outcome of your meeting and to seeing as many of you as possible at the high-level thematic debate in May.
Thank you.