Open Debate on Integrating Effective Resilience-Building in Peace Operations for Sustainable Peace

November 3, 2022 - New York

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Thank you, Mr. President, and allow me to congratulate Ghana on assuming the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of November.

We thank Ghana for convening this Open Debate to explore the peacekeeping and peacebuilding nexus, and to consider how this Council can better respond to threats without borders, like climate change and terrorism.

We also look forward to Ghana hosting the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in 2023, and to contribute to the process.

Mr. President, I will use my time today to respond to the four guiding questions in the concept note for this Open Debate. Canada does not have all the answers to these questions, but we would like to offer some perspectives based on our experience. 

First, on the role of the Security Council in ensuring UN peace operations can address the causes of conflict and insecurity:

Over time, we have come to understand that there are key ingredients for mission success:

Genuine commitment by the conflict parties to a peace process. Clear and achievable mandates with the resources to match. The full backing of the Security Council. Positive regional engagement. 

These principles, enshrined in the UN’s Capstone Doctrine of 2008, remain valid today. But in many contexts in which UN peace operations are deployed, these key ingredients are missing. And where they are absent, missions are struggling.

The Security Council has a central role in putting the peace operations that it authorizes in the best possible position for success, using all of the tools at its disposal.

But the peacekeeping partnership extends beyond the Security Council – from host governments to local civil society, troop and police contributing countries, financial contributors, regional organizations, the UN Secretariat. Mission success depends on all of these actors working together – and holding each other accountable.

Mr. President, peacekeeping operations are one of the most effective and efficient tools we have to mitigate conflict and protect civilians from physical. Given the challenges these operations are facing today, it is incumbent upon all of us to think constructively — and critically — about how to ensure peace operations can evolve and deliver to meet existing and new challenges.

This open debate is a welcome start to this discussion, which member states can carry through the upcoming session of the C34, as well as the 2023 Peacekeeping Ministerial process.

Second, Mr. President, on how we can leverage thematic agendas, like Women, Peace and Security, to build resilience:

Canada is part of a growing number of countries – 104 in total – that have developed a National Action Plan on WPS.

This is a testament to the commitment of more than fifty percent of the UN membership to implement Security Council Resolution 1325 and the subsequent nine Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security at home.

Canada is now in the process of drafting its next WPS National Action Plan. As part of this process, we are seeking to address a broader range of security issues, and recommitting to meaningful engagement with civil society and Indigenous representatives.

We are also determined to promote and protect women peacebuilders in all their diversity, recognizing that supporting them is one of the single-most important contributions we can make to building sustainable peace.

We are redoubling our efforts, together with partners, to implement Security Council Resolution 2538 and address the barriers that women peacekeepers face. I wish to commend Ghana for its leadership in this regard.

Canada’s Department of National Defence recently undertook an independent assessment of barriers to the meaningful participation of women from the Canadian Armed Forces in peace operations. And having renewed the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations another five years, we will continue to deepen the work we are doing within our own institutions, and with partners globally, to ensure receptive environments for women uniformed personnel.

Third, on the collaboration between the Council and other UN organs to ensure more coherent strategies to build resilience.

Fortunately, we believe there is good practice to build on, in the form of the relationship between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.

Thanks to the work of consecutive PBC Chairs, including Bangladesh and Egypt, there has been good progress in strengthening the Commission’s crucial advisory role, in particular in offering advice to the Security Council. Canada also made this a pillar of its term as chair in 2020.

The strength of the PBC is that everything is done at the request and with the consent of the countries and regions with whom the Commission engages. The PBC speaks with countries, not just about them. Its work is grounded on national priorities to build peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.

There is deep value in the advice that the PBC can offer to the Security Council, particularly on the renewal of mandates for UN peace operations – and especially in contexts where the UN may be transitioning.

It is in these contexts in particular where we must leverage the strengths of these two organs and support countries on the path to sustainable peace.

Fourth, and finally, regarding the funding mechanisms available to support resilience-building, particularly for Sahelien and coastal West African states:

The General Assembly took an important step this September, through the consensus adoption of the peacebuilding financing resolution. We thank Kenya and Sweden for their role in facilitating this resolution.

The clear call upon Member States to increase their contributions to peacebuilding and sustaining peace, including through voluntary, innovative, and assessed contributions, is an important one.

That’s because peacebuilding and conflict prevention are not just the right thing to do. They are the smart thing to do. The earlier we are able to act, the more tools we have at our disposal, and the more we can save human lives and financial resources.

In December, Canada was proud to announce a commitment of $70M over three years to the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), to help close the peacebuilding financing gap and to support gender-responsive interventions.

We are making this investment because we believe that the Peacebuilding Fund is a critical – and catalytic – mechanism to help sustain peace, particularly for those states feeling the stress of armed conflict and climate change.

We look forward to working with partners to continue to close the peacebuilding financing gap, as well as to receive continued guidance from the UN to ensure the adequate resourcing of its peacebuilding activities.

Thank you, Mr. President.