PRESS RELEASE : The contribution of United Nations Police to the Action for Peacekeeping Plus Priorities [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 November 2022.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council briefing on UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Thank you President. My thanks here to Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, and to all our briefers for the presentations today. And let me take the opportunity to thank all our UN Police forces for their essential work in sometimes really tough conditions.

I am pleased today’s discussion is focusing on A4P and A4P+. UN Police have an important role to play in delivering whole-of-mission approaches to these reform priorities. So I will focus on the areas covered by the two Police Commissioners – protection of civilians and performance.

First, I thank Commissioner Fossen for her invaluable insight into implementing a protection of civilians mandate in UNMISS. We can sometimes forget when talking about Protection of Civilians how important unarmed approaches are. Of course, it is only part of the picture, and both armed and unarmed activity complement each other. We must consider the full range of tools to prevent and respond to civilian threats.

Peacekeepers need not only to protect civilians from physical violence, but provide a protective environment, and the space for mediation and dialogue. UNPOL are uniquely placed for this task. They are often the first and the last to meet with the local population during any intervention or response to a crisis. They need to establish strong relationships with those populations founded on trust.

Secondly, President, on performance. I thank Commissioner Berethe for speaking to this point in the MONUSCO context. Operating in any mission environment has its challenges, but MONUSCO is arguably one of the most challenging, as demonstrated by increased violence directed toward the Mission in recent months.

The UK welcomes the ongoing implementation of the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Accountability Framework and of CPAS to monitor and evaluate performance and review progress against mandate implementation. Better performance means better missions.

For UNPOL to operate and perform at its best, it needs to deliver the full range of policing roles it is mandated to fill. This should include capacity-building and development efforts of host-State police and justice and corrections institutions.

In line with the findings of the 2016 External Review of UNPOL, there could be more focus on institution building and specialist capabilities, not simply the number of personnel deployed. It is these skills that support sustainable peace and restoration of the Rule of Law.

Finally Mr President, our briefers and many speakers today have underlined the importance of the contribution UNPOL makes to the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. The UK strongly supports this, and welcomes the progress made to date.

We look forward to continuing to work together to strengthen UNPOL to deliver on its full potential. I thank you.