Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 7361st Meeting, 19 Jan. 2015, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "Maintenance of International Peace and Security"]

S/PRST/2015/3View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Presidential Statement of the Security Council, under agenda item 27 Maintenance of international peace and security, published in 2015.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

International Security Peacebuilding Peacekeeping Operations War Prevention

What’s in this document?

23 paragraphs

At the 7361st meeting of the Security Council, held on 19 January 2015, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Maintenance of international peace and security: Inclusive development for the maintenance of international peace and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the Council:

* Reissued for technical reasons on 30 January 2015.

“The Security Council reaffirms its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security and its readiness to strive for sustainable peace in all situations under its consideration.

“The Security Council underlines that security and development are closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing and key to attaining sustainable peace. The Council recognizes that their relationship is complex, multifaceted and case-specific.

“The Security Council reiterates that, in order to support a country to emerge sustainably from conflict, there is a need for a comprehensive and integrated approach that incorporates and strengthens coherence between political, security, development, human rights and rule of law activities, and addresses the root causes of each conflict, including through strengthening the rule of law at national and international levels, promoting sustainable economic growth and development, poverty eradication, political, religious and cultural tolerance, freedom of opinion and expression, social cohesion and inclusiveness, national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, gender equality, respect for, and protection of, human rights, and facilitating reintegration and rehabilitation.

“The Security Council affirms that national ownership and national responsibility are key to establishing sustainable peace. The Council reaffirms the primary responsibility of national authorities in identifying their priorities and strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding, with a view to ensuring national ownership.

“The Security Council underlines that integrated action on the ground by security and development actors needs to be coordinated with the national authorities and can significantly contribute to stabilizing and improving the security situation and ensuring the protection of civilians. The Council also notes the importance of cooperation with civil society in this context. The Council affirms that sustainable peace and development cannot be achieved without the inclusion of all relevant stakeholders and underlines that women must be included as active participants in all stages of peacebuilding, peace agreements and development programs. The Council expresses its willingness to engage in dialogue, where necessary, on specific situations on its agenda with other actors, including UN agencies, funds, and programmes and international financial institutions.

“The Security Council encourages Member States to consider developing a UN common approach to inclusive development as a key for preventing conflict and enabling long-term stability and sustainable peace. The Council highlights in this regard the importance of identifying and addressing social, economic, political, cultural and religious exclusion, intolerance, as well as violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, as drivers of conflict. The Council further notes the importance of early awareness and consideration of situations of exclusion in post-conflict States and draws the attention of Member States to the contribution that mitigation actions, including those based on best available practices and models of inclusiveness at the local, national, regional and global levels, can make in this regard.

“The Council recognizes the continuing need to increase women’s participation and the consideration of gender-related issues in all discussions pertinent to the prevention and resolution of armed conflict, the maintenance of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding and reiterates its intention when establishing and renewing the mandates of United Nations missions, to include provisions on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women in conflict and post-conflict situations.

“The Council calls upon Member States to take concrete measures to further assist youth, particularly those in armed conflict situations, and encourages the involvement of young people, where appropriate, in activities concerning the protection of children and youth affected by armed conflict situations, including in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and postconflict processes.

“The Security Council recalls the need for inclusive and effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes (DDR), including those relating to the release and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups, with the involvement of affected individuals and local communities, while respecting the need to fight against impunity.

“The Security Council stresses that terrorist groups benefiting from transnational organized crime may contribute to undermining affected States, specifically their security, stability, governance, social and economic development, complicating conflict prevention and resolution efforts. The Security Council emphasizes that the combined presence of terrorism, violent extremism, and transnational organized crime may exacerbate conflicts in affected regions and notes that terrorist groups benefiting from transnational organized crime can, in some cases and in some regions, complicate conflict prevention and resolution efforts.

“The Security Council encourages Member States to engage relevant local communities and non-governmental actors in developing strategies, including through interreligious, interethnic and intercultural dialogue, to counter the violent extremist narrative that can incite terrorist acts, address the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, including by empowering youth, families, women, religious, cultural and education leaders, and all other concerned groups of civil society and adopt tailored approaches to countering recruitment to this kind of violent extremism and promoting social inclusion and cohesion.

“The Security Council re-emphasizes the importance of considering and initiating peacebuilding activities from the earliest stages of planning and implementation of peacekeeping operations, as appropriate, including through clear and achievable mandates. The Council stresses the importance of clarity of roles and responsibilities of the UN peacekeeping operation and the UN country team and other relevant actors for the delivery of prioritized support to a country consistent with its specific peacebuilding needs and priorities, as outlined by national authorities, in order to ensure effective integration of efforts, in particular where peacekeeping missions and special political missions are operating alongside other UN peacebuilding actors, and regional and subregional organizations. The Security Council further emphasizes the importance of integration of UN efforts during the transition process of Security Council-mandated operations.

“The Security Council notes that successful implementation of the many tasks that peacekeeping operations could be mandated to undertake in the areas of security sector reform; disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration; rule of law; transitional justice; and human rights requires an understanding of and acting with a perspective which takes into account the close interlinkage between security and development. In this context, the Council notes with appreciation the contribution that peacekeepers and peacekeeping missions make to early peacebuilding, including through creating a conducive environment which enables economic recovery and the provision of basic services. The Council acknowledges that this contribution can help to establish and build confidence in the mission.

“The Council underlines that reconstruction, economic revitalization and capacity-building constitute crucial elements for the long-term development of post-conflict societies and in generating sustainable peace, and, in this regard, attaches special importance to national ownership and stresses the significance of international assistance.

“The Security Council notes that in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security under its consideration, conflict analysis and contextual information on, inter alia, social and economic issues is important, when such issues are drivers of conflict, represent a challenge to the implementation of Council mandates or endanger the process of consolidation of peace. In this regard, the Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that his reporting to the Council contains such contextual information.

“The Security Council recalls the role played by the illegal exploitation of natural resources in fuelling some past and current conflicts. In this regard, the Security Council recognizes that the United Nations can play a role in helping the States concerned, as appropriate, upon their request and with full respect for their sovereignty over natural resources and under national ownership, to prevent illegal access to those resources and to lay the basis for their legal exploitation with a view to promoting development, in particular through the empowerment of governments in post-conflict situations to better manage their resources.

“The Security Council encourages close cooperation within the United Nations system and with regional, sub-regional, and other organizations on the ground and at Headquarters in order to properly engage in conflict and post-conflict situations, in accordance with its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations, and expresses its willingness to consider ways to improve such cooperation.

“The Security Council calls for the rapid implementation, in consultation with regional organizations, of regional strategies encompassing security, governance, development, human rights and humanitarian issues such as the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel region.

“The Security Council encourages Member States, particularly those represented on the governance structures of the UN agencies, funds, and programmes, to promote coherence in the United Nations’ work in conflict and post-conflict situations.

“The Security Council recalls its resolution 1645 (2005) and acknowledges the important role of the Peacebuilding Commission in the Peacebuilding Architecture and stresses its willingness to strengthen its links with the Peacebuilding Commission by, inter alia, making greater use of its advisory role. The Council calls upon the Commission to make further efforts in promoting improved coherence and alignment of partner’s policies around national peacebuilding strategies and priorities, and ensure regional and international support and effective response through engagement and establishing partnerships with international financial institutions, neighbouring countries and regional and subregional organizations. The Security Council underscores the importance of the regional aspect of peacebuilding and the need for engaging and collaborating with regional actors in policy related and country-specific issues in the advice made by the Peacebuilding Commission

“The Security Council highlights the contribution that the Economic and Social Council can make in addressing economic, social, cultural and humanitarian issues and underlines the importance of close cooperation in accordance with Article 65 of the Charter of the United Nations.”

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