8393rd Security Council Meeting: United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

Speakers stress gender-responsive approach, fighting organized crime as top priorities, at Police Commissioners’ annual briefing to Security Council at 8393rd meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:14:58
• Production Date: 6 November 2018
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Corporate Name: DEPARTMENT OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS - DPKO; INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION - INTERPOL; UNITED NATIONS MISSION FOR JUSTICE SUPPORT IN HAITI - MINUJUSTH; UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN – UNMISS; UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME - UNODC; UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION STABILIZATION MISSION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - MONUSCO; UNITED NATIONS POLICE – UNPOL
• Subject Topical: CRIME PREVENTION; ORGANIZED CRIME; PEACEKEEPERS; PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS; POLICE; RULE OF LAW
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO; HAITI; SOUTH SUDAN
• MAMS Id: 2302598
• Parent Id: 2301503

Description

Gender-responsive policing, the fight against organized crime, strengthening rule of law, protecting human rights and building consistency across all United Nations peacekeeping missions were among priorities voiced as heads of police components briefed the Security Council today.

Such priorities are among the constituents of a police presence that is “people-centred, mission-oriented, modern, agile, mobile and flexible, specialized and rights-based,” Alexander Zouev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said ahead of the annual briefing by United Nations Police Commissioners.

Commissioners present today were Unaisi Lutu Vuniwaqa of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Awale Abdounasir of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and Serge Therriault of the Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH). Also briefing was Tuesday Reitano, the Deputy Director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

Underlining the importance of gender-responsive policing, Mr. Zouev said more women police officers is a top priority, as they can inspire future female leaders, increase access to justice for women and children and improve information-gathering and analysis by building bridges to vulnerable groups. “To reach our full potential, we must bring more women police officers into the fold,” he stressed, describing the Police Division’s action plan for that purpose.

Ms. Bolatolu-Vuniwaga described UNMISS’ gender-responsive policing approach to its civilian protection mandate, enhancing protection for 200,000 internally displaced persons. Despite those efforts, gender-based violence remains pervasive, requiring specialized units. In addition, support for national policing has been strengthened through a gender-policing approach as well.

Mr. Therriault said that development of capable local policing is a key social and political component of MINUJUSTH, the only United Nations peacekeeping mission without a military presence. Noting that the Mission includes over 1,500 women, he stressed that police reform has a multiplier effect as a vector of stability in any society, plays a central role in conflict prevention and helps create the conditions for rule of law.

Mr. Abdounasir emphasized that organized crime has become an international scourge that threatens the stability of many countries around the world. Noting that countries often try to militarize the struggle against organized crime, he said United Nations Police components can help to build criminal justice capacity to fight it more effectively and sustainably. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO officers work with local police to build technical skills needed to confront crime networks, among other areas.

Ms. Reitano said that given the growing convergence of criminal activity, illicit markets and conflict, the response across the peacebuilding cycle has not kept pace in a consistent manner. “The way in which criminal actors have embedded themselves in conflict zones suggests that policing must be a strategic consideration at all stages,” she argued. She urged the Security Council to move the issue to the mainstream of its work.

Speaking after the briefers, Council members agreed that police work is a crucial part of United Nations peacekeeping and that priority concerns should include gender-sensitive policing, building the capacity of local police and law enforcement and helping countries fight organized crime. Some emphasized national ownership and building law-enforcement capacity in fragile countries as the most critical work, along with having a clear strategy to hand over responsibility to national forces.

Increased deployment of women police was underlined by many speakers as a way of building trust with local populations, for which purpose the importance of the deployment of ethnically diverse units was also stressed. Some underlined pre-deployment training of United Nations Police, particularly in human rights and gender issues. The representative of the United Kingdom emphasized the need for precise expertise for the particular situation faced by each mission. The aims and scale of deployments must also account for changing dynamics in host States, the Russian Federation’s representative added, calling for continuous dialogue on all aspects of peacekeeping among relevant parties.

Also speaking today were the representatives of Cote d’Ivoire, Bolivia, Peru, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Poland, United States, Sweden, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kuwait, France and China.

The meeting began at 3:01 p.m. and ended at 5:16 p.m.

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