Browne raps on UN peacekeeping

Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lewis Garseedah Brown, II says there is a need for effective transition from ‘peacekeeping to peace building’ to feature highly in the reform of the UN peace and security architecture.

Ambassador Brown said immediately withdrawing support from a nation at the end of peacekeeping operations could have adverse effects. Reflecting on the peacekeeping journey in Liberia, Ambassador Brown said the transition process was clearly communicated in terms of purpose and timeline; resulting to better coordination between the Government and the United Nations.

A dispatch from Liberia’s Mission to the United Nations however quotes Ambassador Brown as saying ” as the UN ends its peacekeeping mission in Liberia this month, it is not time for the United Nations and the International Community to step back; rather it’s the time to support Liberia in a way that gives confidence and holds the Government accountable for its commitments”.

The Liberian diplomat thanked the UN for the many years of support and also acknowledged the role of the region in ensuring the success of peacekeeping operations in Liberia. “If countries of a region are equally invested in the peace of a nation, then peacekeeping operations have a high possibility of succeeding. But if instability of a nation benefits the region, such conflict could continue despite peace keeping efforts” Ambassador Brown stressed.

Ambassador Brown was speaking Monday at a meeting between UN Secretary General António Guterres and host nations of UN peacekeeping missions including Liberia, Timor Leste, Guatemala and Afghanistan.

The meeting followed the presentation of a proposal by the host nations on the reform of the UN peace and security architecture. The proposal supports the UN Secretary General’s reform initiative of the structure and management of the peace and security departments and suggests a more robust and neutral process of recruiting SRSGs, and collaboration across pillars of development, human rights, and peace and security.

In response, Secretary General Guterres thanked the host nations for the proposal and acknowledged the inefficiency of peacekeeping processes over the years. He attributed the situation to fragmentation in the structure of the peace and security architecture and said the reform intends to ensure integration and regional cooperation for better efficiency.

The UN Secretary General also acknowledged that transition from “peacekeeping to a future without” is difficult and stressed the need to focus on strengthening Peacebuilding Support Offices in countries.

Disclosing that a proposal for the creation of a Peacebuilding Trust Fund for Liberia is being considered, the UN Secretary General said funding Peacebuilding Support Offices is central to his reform initiatives. “In my resolution on prevention and maintaining peace, a big demand I make is for increase resources for the Peacebuilding fund, to support countries and UN country teams. For me the architecture is clear, whether the resources will be there or not is what we will like to see” the Secretary General concluded.