Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, 24 May 2021, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations"]

S/PRST/2021/11View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Presidential Statement of the Security Council, under agenda item 18 United Nations peacekeeping operations, published in 2021.

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 subjects

Peacekeeping Operations Security Management Staff Security

What’s in this document?

16 paragraphs

On 24 May 2021, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “United Nations peacekeeping operations”, in accordance with the procedure agreed in light of the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and set out in S/2020/273, the President of the Security Council issued the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council recalls its previous relevant resolutions and presidential statements addressing peacekeeping, in particular its resolution 2518 (2020) on the safety and security of United Nations peacekeepers.

“The Security Council underscores the importance of peacekeeping as one of the most effective tools available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security, and reaffirms the basic principles of peacekeeping, such as consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

“The Security Council notes with appreciation the progress made in efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General to mobilize all partners and stakeholders in support of more effective United Nations peacekeeping through the Secretary-General’s “Action for Peacekeeping” initiative, which places high importance on, inter alia, the safety and security of peacekeepers, and the continued focus on improving the safety and security of peacekeepers under the “Action for Peacekeeping+” initiative. The Council pays tribute to all peacekeepers, police and military as well as civilian personnel, who have been injured or lost their lives while serving with the United Nations. In this regard, the Council recalls the report on “Improving Security of United Nations Peacekeepers”, the related Action Plan on improving safety and security, and notes the establishment of the Group of Friends on the Safety and Security of United Nations Peacekeepers.

“The Security Council expresses deep appreciation for all UN personnel in UN peacekeeping operations, including personnel from troop- and police-contributing countries, for their extraordinary efforts in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, and stresses the importance of their health and well-being, encourages the vaccination of United Nations peacekeepers in-theatre and prior to deployment with safe and effective vaccines, in line with UN guidelines and best practices, based on the principle of informed consent. The Council welcomes assistance from Member States in this regard.

“The Security Council expresses grave concern about the security threats and targeted attacks against United Nations peacekeepers in many peacekeeping missions, which constitute a major challenge to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and condemns in the strongest terms the killing of and all acts of violence against United Nations peacekeeping personnel, which may constitute war crimes. The Council reaffirms its calling on all Member States hosting peacekeeping operations to promptly investigate and effectively prosecute those responsible for attacks on United Nations personnel, and to keep the relevant troop- and police-contributing countries informed of the progress of such investigations and prosecutions.

“The Security Council underscores the importance it places on the safety and security of peacekeepers in the field and the need for the Secretary-General and troop- and police-contributing countries and Member States to work together to ensure that missions are adequately resourced and all peacekeepers in the field are willing, capable and equipped effectively and safely to implement their mandate.

“The Security Council underscores the importance it places on the safety and security of peacekeepers on the ground and the need for troop- and police-contributing countries to, ensure where appropriate, that all peacekeepers in the field are equipped, informed and trained to mitigate the threat posed by landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices. The Council requests the Secretary-General to provide the Security Council, no later than 15 December 2021, with an independent strategic review of United Nations peacekeeping operations’ responses to improvised explosive devices, assessing capabilities and measures necessary to better mitigate this threat.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all appropriate measures to improve the safety and security of peacekeeping personnel, including by strengthening, where necessary, the situational awareness of peacekeeping missions and their front-line peacekeepers through measures to improve their information acquisition and analysis capacities, including surveillance and monitoring capacities, within the limits of their mandate and area of operation and in line with existing United Nations guidelines and regulations. The Council notes ongoing work to better integrate the use of new technologies for the purposes of increasing safety and security, improving situational awareness, enhancing field support and facilitating substantive mandate implementation, and encourages troop- and police-contributing countries and field missions to support field-focused, reliable and cost-effective new technologies that are driven by the practical needs of end users on the ground and in this regard stresses the need for consultations with Member States and host countries, as appropriate.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to continue to review and ensure uniformity of United Nations standards on training and performance, thereby improving safety and security of peacekeepers, and calls upon Member States to take action to help enhance training for United Nations peacekeepers, including but not limited to countering and mitigating threats from improvised explosive devices, reinforcing health and basic first aid and improving situational awareness, with the support of the Secretariat as appropriate, and encourages building appropriate capacities, including language skills, and calls on the United Nations to further operationalize the Light Coordination Mechanism, to facilitate and further coordinate improved training and capacity building activities between Member States to include troop- and police-contributing countries, providers of training and capacity building, and the United Nations, and encourages Member States to engage with this mechanism, with the aim of improving training on safety and security.

“The Security Council reaffirms the importance of operational health support and casualty and medical evacuation, and calls for improved evacuation systems for injured peacekeepers and the deployment of the required medical facilities, capabilities and qualified personnel to provide the essential “10-1-2 response” at all times.

“The Security Council underscores the primary responsibility of the safety and security of United Nations personnel and assets rests with host states. In this regard, the Council condemns the violations of status-of-forces agreements by any party to those agreements, recognizes the grave risks such violations can present to the safety and security of peacekeepers, and affirms that the entry of personnel or equipment into the country and freedom of movement within the mandate should not be hindered, including for casualty and medical evacuation. The Council also highlights the importance of engagements and communications between United Nations peacekeeping operations and the host governments, the local authorities and the population to build trust and mutual understanding and improve safety and security, including to address misinformation and disinformation.

“The Security Council reaffirms its determination to take effective steps to further enhance the partnership between the United Nations and regional as well as sub-regional organizations in relation to safety and security of peacekeepers and encourages partnerships to support the African Union’s efforts to continue to develop policy, guidance and training to ensure the safety and security of its peacekeepers.

“The Security Council reaffirms the importance of full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peacekeeping operations at all level and all positions, including senior leadership positions and stresses the importance of ensuring safe, enabling and gender-responsive working environments for women, addressing threats and violence against them, and conducting and integrating a gender analysis and gender assessments when considering the safety and security of peacekeepers. The Council reaffirms its support for the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on all forms of sexual harassment.

“The Security Council reaffirms the critical link between safety and security and the performance of civilian and uniformed peacekeeping personnel, and that institutionalizing a culture of performance in United Nations peacekeeping will contribute to better delivery of peacekeeping mandates, as well as lead to improvements in the safety and security of peacekeepers. In this regard, the Council notes the development of the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Accountability Framework, and underscores the importance of performance assessment and accountability at all levels.

“The Security Council calls on the Secretariat to increase its efforts to implement an integrated approach to enhance the safety and security of peacekeepers, including at the headquarters level, and invites the Secretary-General to include in reports to the Security Council on individual peacekeeping operations, a summary of actions taken to improve safety and security and address relevant challenges.”

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