Remarks by Brigadier-General Elhadji Mouhamadou KANDJI, Deputy military advisor, UNDPKO
Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Generals,
Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in United
Nation Headquarters, I would like to express our gratitude to you,
Mr. Chairman, for the smooth, efficient and effective manner in which
you have guided our deliberations.
I also wish to commend the organizers of this important seminar, the
Governments of Ghana the host country and France, as well as ECOWAS
Secretariat for their generous support and commitment to the noble
cause of peace. Thanks to the Commandant and staff of this beautiful
training center for the warm hospitality they have extended to us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In my beliefs, some confluence of events must be taken as good omens. It is very much pleasing that this seminar is closing at the same time as the AU is opening a new page in its history : the Africa Union Peace and Security Council has been established yesterday. This is a huge leap forward, and I don't think the Union could expect a more valuable birthday present.
Mr. Chairman, we from the United Nations Headquarters have found this RECAMP-IV political and military Seminar extremely pertinent and instructive. We have benefited tremendously from the quality of the participants and their very thoughtful contributions, starting from the plenary session to the fruitful exchanges in the four syndicates. Let me just mention a few key aspects of the seminar that we have found particularly useful.
The exchange of information with high ranking officials who have had recent experience on the ground in peacekeeping operations like MONUC, ARTEMIS UNAMSIL, UNMIL, LICORNE. This has been very useful.
The contributions from the EU and other experienced partners in post-conflict management have also been very instructive.
This seminar gave us the opportunity of a more focused picture on some other international partners' contributions to our joint effort to reinforce African peacekeeping capacity. In this regard, we are grateful to the EU for the update on how the Africa Peace Facility is envisaged to work. And we also thank the representative of Japan for the important commitment of his Government towards peacekeeping in Africa.
Coming now to RECAMP-IV itself, we are leaving the seminar with a better picture of how this important initiative works.
The simulated exercises in the four syndicates served very important
purposes in our view. Not only have the syndicates provided all of us
a further opportunity for sharing ideas and information from
participants with varied but complementary backgrounds, but we trust
that the outputs from the syndicates will be useful to the planning
of the next phases of the exercise, which we understand will be
mainly the military stages.
In sum, Mr. Chairman, the cross fertilization of ideas was very
useful. The themes have depicted the daily concerns in all our
missions in Africa. And the issues addressed regarding post-conflict
situations were quite pertinent, including the DDRR programmes, the
linkages between the exploitation of natural resources and the
illegal arms trafficking, the consolidation of state authority, as
well as the issue of refugees and displaced populations, and the
important question of devising an exit strategy. In some cases,
reality has even gone beyond fiction.
Mr Chairman, this was a valuable opportunity given to DPKO to highlight the role the UN plays for African peace and security, and to explore all related areas in which there are possibilities for further support.
But before I conclude, I would like to reiterate that the United Nations really attaches great importance to the enhancement of African peacekeeping capacity, as it benefits the United Nations peacekeeping capacity, which heavily relies on African massive and valuable contributions.
In addition, African regional peacekeeping operations are crucial in complementing the UN's role, particularly in crises where the UN is not in a position to deploy rapidly enough, as it was the case in Liberia and in Cote d'Ivoire recently. The United Nations therefore stands ready to continue to work together with other international donors and partners to help Africa further develop its capacity.
And as I mentioned in my opening statement, we have already identified a number of areas where the UN is ready to provide full support to the AU, to the other sub-regional organizations and to the individual African member states. This includes the establishment of an African Standby Force.
Otherwise, the spectrum is quite wide, ranging from the reinforcement of AU strategic headquarters capacity, to the training of HQ staff officers, to information sharing, to mission planning, to best peacekeeping practices, to documentation, to direct linkage between the UN and the AU situation centers, etc. We even encourage the AU to consider the UN recommendation for attaching a military adviser on peacekeeping issues to the AU Permanent Observer Mission in New York. He would serve as the focal point in liaising for the implementation of the recommended military activities. Of course, other areas of interest such as logistical and political supports are also important parts of the general agenda.
I will end my closing remarks with not only that window but all the
doors wide open. Because it's our conviction that the UN is not an
organization separate to the others. You must not forget that the UN
is not a separate organization. The UN is, and you are the UN. Each
state and each regional organization is part of it, and any action
taken initiated from that building has been dictated by you, because
the member sates play the key-role, since they are the ones that
truly direct our action, for the sake of Peace and Security all over
the world.
Thank you for your attention.