Security Council Resolution 2436 (2018) [on Developing a Comprehensive and Integrated Performance Policy Framework for Un Peacekeeping Operations]

S/RES/2436 (2018)View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 18 United Nations peacekeeping operations, published in 2018.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Accountability Peacekeeping Operations Performance Appraisal Performance Standards Sex Crimes

What’s in this document?

20 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms its support for the development of a comprehensive and integrated performance policy framework that identifies clear standards of performance for evaluating all United Nations civilian and uniformed personnel working in and supporting peacekeeping operations that facilitates effective and full implementation of mandates, and includes comprehensive and objective methodologies based on clear and well defined benchmarks to ensure accountability for underperformance and incentives and recognition for outstanding performance, including, inter alia, innovative and effective training, exceeding operational standards, delivery of key enabling capacities, excellence in the provision of mission support functions, demonstrated progress in mandate delivery, and committed and proactive leadership, and that specifies measures for performance accountability that include a range of responses proportionate to the identified performance failures, including, as appropriate, transparent public reporting, withholding reimbursement, and repatriating or replacing units, including the possibility of replacement by units from another troop- or police-contributing country from the Peacekeeping Capabilities Readiness System (PCRS), as well as revocation of delegated authorities, performance improvement plans, training, change of duties, or dismissal or non-renewal of contracts for civilian personnel;

Recognizes that the effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates is the responsibility of all stakeholders and is contingent upon several critical factors, including well-defined, realistic, and achievable mandates, political will, leadership, performance and accountability at all levels, adequate resources, policy, planning, and operational guidelines, and training and equipment;

Urges all troop- and police-contributing countries to meet UN performance standards for personnel, training, and equipping, and to support the effective implementation of mandated tasks while maintaining the highest standards of conduct, further urges all civilian mission components and Secretariat staff supporting peacekeeping operations to meet performance standards and comply with staff regulations, notes the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop a comprehensive performance assessment system to help troop- and police-contributing countries meet United Nations performance standards, and calls upon all stakeholders to support these efforts;

Reaffirms the importance of adhering to the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy in providing United Nations peacekeeping-related support to non-United Nations security forces in line with the Charter of the United Nations;

Recognizes the need for enablers to bolster peacekeeping performance and calls on the Secretary-General to continue efforts to ensure that United Nations peacekeeping missions have effective operational command and control architectures, necessary, capable and efficient enablers including airlift, medical and casualty evacuation, and adequate medical support facilities and qualified personnel;

Emphasizes the primary responsibility of host countries for the protection of civilians, and affirms the need for peacekeeping missions with a mandate that includes the protection of civilians to ensure full mandate implementation, and underlines that where mandated, peacekeepers are authorized to use all necessary means, which includes the use of force when required, in order to protect civilians under threat of physical violence, in accordance with mission mandates, the United Nations Charter and other applicable international law, and stresses the importance of continued and further engagement by senior mission leadership, with a view to ensuring that all mission components and all levels of the chain of command are properly informed of, trained for, and involved in the mission’s protection of civilians mandate and their relevant responsibilities;

Recognizes the role of United Nations peacekeeping operations in the protection of women and children, and the crucial role of protection-related personnel such as women protection advisers and child protection advisers in mainstreaming of protection and leading monitoring, prevention, and reporting efforts in missions;

Calls on the Secretary-General to ensure United Nations peacekeeping missions have capable and accountable leadership, including through improving transparent selection processes that are based on merit, competence, and the needs of the mission, improving training and mentoring programs for selected and prospective leadership, and developing a cadre of experienced future candidates for senior leadership positions, and recalls that the paramount consideration in this regard shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity, and that due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting on as wide a geographical basis as possible;

Welcomes the commitment of Member States to support improved training and capacity building activities to strengthen peacekeeping, including, inter alia, predeployment training and assessments, triangular partnerships, co deployments, and smart pledging, and encourages further activities in this regard, and welcomes the Secretary-General’s commitment to implement a light coordination mechanism, within existing resources, to facilitate 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 this mechanism to be made operational as soon as possible, and further encourages Member States to engage with this mechanism;

Welcomes initiatives of the Secretary-General to conduct Special Investigations into issues related to the performance of troop, police, and civilian personnel, including with regard to protection of civilians, and requests the Secretary-General to act with urgency to initiate these Special Investigations into alleged instances of significant performance failures and underlines the importance of improving the methodology of the investigations and transparency of the findings of such investigations, as well as the potential of these Special Investigations to facilitate further engagement and dialogue between the United Nations, troop- and police-contributing countries, and other relevant stakeholders to improve performance and inform decisions regarding mandate design;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide detailed reporting on the findings and implementation plans of Special Investigations to the Security Council and relevant Member States, as appropriate, to include recommendations to address all factors contributing to any identified failures, as well as accountability measures, as appropriate, for uniformed and civilian components, including mission leadership and mission support personnel, including, as appropriate, remedial training and repatriation or dismissal of personnel;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that decisions to recognize and incentivize outstanding performance and decisions regarding deployment, remediation, training, withholding of financial reimbursement, and repatriation of uniformed or dismissal of civilian personnel, are predicated on objective performance data, and calls for greater utilization of the PCRS to ensure the recruitment and retention of qualified uniformed personnel, and further calls on the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to improve analytics and evaluation of mission operations through implementation of the Operational Readiness Assurance and Performance Improvement Policy and commensurate policies for police in peacekeeping missions;

Welcomes the Secretary-General’s initiative to undertake regular strategic reviews of peacekeeping missions, including those at the request of the Security Council, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure relevant findings of future Secretary-General commissioned reviews are shared with the Security Council and, as appropriate, relevant Member States, alongside the Secretary-General’s integrated analysis, strategic assessment and frank advice;

Requests the Secretary-General to include in reports to the Security Council on individual peacekeeping operations, a summary of actions taken to improve mission performance and address performance challenges including lapses in leadership, national caveats that negatively affect mandate implementation effectiveness, and demanding operational environments, as well as any actions taken in line with paragraph 12 above;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on instances of outstanding performance in order to highlight best practices and promote their widespread adoption, and encourages the Secretary-General to apply risk and enabling premiums to eligible troop- and police-contributing countries, and to advance public recognition of outstanding performance, including to raise awareness of the importance of peacekeeping in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security, as well as of the significance and sacrifice of peacekeepers and troop- and police-contributing countries;

Underscores that any form of sexual exploitation and abuse is unacceptable and reaffirms its support for the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, and welcomes the Secretary-General’s victim-centred approach and the Secretary-General’s measures to strengthen the prevention, enforcement and remediation efforts against all forms of sexual misconduct, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to include a section on adherence to his zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse in all his reporting to the Security Council, both thematic and country-specific, and urges all troop- and police-contributing countries to redouble their efforts to take the steps necessary to vet and train their personnel and conduct investigations of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by their personnel and take appropriate steps to hold accountable those responsible, and recognizes the need to make further visible and measurable improvement on addressing sexual exploitation and abuse;

Expresses concern regarding allegations of sexual harassment in peacekeeping operations, and affirms its support for the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on all forms of sexual harassment;

Encourages Member States, as appropriate, to provide training to peacekeeping personnel to be deployed in United Nations peacekeeping operations on issues related to sexual violence in conflict, trafficking in persons in the context of armed conflict, and gender expertise, and to ensure that these considerations are fully integrated, as appropriate, into performance and operational readiness standards, and further encourages Member States to nominate individual military and police personnel to act as focal points on these areas;

Recalls its resolution 2242 (2015) and its request that the Secretary-General initiate, in collaboration with Member States, a revised strategy to double the numbers of women in military and police contingents of United Nations peacekeeping operations by 2020 and further requests that this strategy ensures the full, effective and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of peacekeeping, and that this revised strategy is presented to the Security Council by March 2019;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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