France promotes an ambitious vision for peacekeeping

OPEN DEBATE ON UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

STATEMENT BY MR NICOLAS DE RIVIÈRE,
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED NATIONS

TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL
(TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH)

New York, September 9, 2024

Mr. President,

I would like to thank Mr Lacroix, Ms Ero and Prince Zeid for their briefings.

I would like to emphasize three points.

The success of peacekeeping depends first and foremost on our ability to find political solutions. In order to foster the conditions for a return to peace, this Council entrusts peacekeeping operations with essential missions: support for political processes, the protection of civilians, the facilitation of humanitarian aid, the protection of human rights, strengthening of state capacities. But one thing is clear: only political settlements will enable us to move towards lasting peace after the operations have ended. To this end, we need to mobilize everyone: members of this Council, the host country, states involved in peace processes, neighboring countries. It is important for this Council to be united around a clear political objective, and in its support for peacekeeping operations in implementing their mandates. This is the most reliable way of ensuring that commitments made in a peace process are respected. Cooperation between the host state and the United Nations is crucial. There is no shortage of successful examples. I’m thinking of the UN Missions in Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone - a country which currently sits on this Council. Regional and subregional organizations, as well as neighboring countries, also play a key role. Good coordination with the United Nations’ other means of action is also essential. This centrality of political strategies must be at the heart of our efforts. We hope that the New Agenda for Peace will reinforce our collective action in this direction.

At the same time, peacekeeping operations must adapt to new challenges and new contexts. This is why France supports the "Action for Peacekeeping" initiative and its A4P+ implementation strategy. Our support has been demonstrated in the allocation of 7 million euros over the past two years. France promotes an ambitious vision for peacekeeping. Our aim is to support the United Nations in meeting new challenges, particularly in the fight against the manipulation of information and the strategic communication of operations, digital transformation, as well as peacekeeping training, for example in the fight against improvised explosive devices. Over the next 4 years, we will be providing more than 1 million euros of support to the strategic research sector. France also deploys almost 700 staff in PKOs, most of them within UNIFIL. The role of women is an integral part of our ambition. France is implementing the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda through a national action plan for the period 2021-2025. I would like to salute the commitment of troop- and police-contributing countries to improving the impact of peacekeeping. I salute the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in this noble mission. The momentum generated by the New Agenda for Peace must continue, to encourage this Council to define realistic mandates, based on clear political priorities that are more inclusive and environmentally sound. France, which has contributed to this work, continues to play its full part, in particular through the Summit of the Future.

Finally, strengthening partnerships is essential. The adoption of Resolution 2719 on African peacekeeping operations last December aims to strengthen complementarity between the United Nations and the African Union. France commends efforts made by the two organizations to establish a clear implementation framework. It is contributing $250,000 to the project in 2024, and will continue to support the work in progress. I am also thinking of the partnership with the European Union, whose member states deploy over 5,000 personnel in peacekeeping operations. The EU has allocated 1.5 billion euros in support of conflict prevention and security efforts in sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2021-2027.

France will continue to support all of these efforts.

Thank you.