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UN / PEACEKEEPING AND TECHNOLOGY
STORY: UN / PEACEKEEPING AND TECHNOLOGY
TRT: 03:01
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 AUGUST 2021, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
18 AUGUST 2021, NEW YORK CITY
2. Pan right, Security Council vote
3. Med shot, Secretary-General and India Foreign Minister at Security Council dais
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“New technologies are changing the scale and speed of attack, as well as the character and nature of violence and destruction in war, with an indelible impact on civilian populations. These developments create new and urgent challenges for peace operations, which are experiencing these challenges first-hand.”
5. Wide shot, Security Council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“UN peacekeeping was conceived in an analogue world. It is now essential that it fully embraces the digital world in which we live, to improve the UN’s agility, anticipation, and responsiveness to conflicts, and to be able to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. A shift in peacekeeping culture, as well as a systemic change, are required for this to happen.”
7. Wide shot, Security Council dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, India:
“Twenty-first century peacekeeping must be anchored in a strong, equal system of technology and innovation that can facilitate UN peacekeeping operations in implementing their mandates in complex environments. After all, it helps them to adapt to changing conflict dynamics and take advantage of increased efficiencies.”
9. Wide shot, Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, India:
“Peacekeeping missions must be able to move fast to acquire and validate information from a wide range of openly available sources to enhance situational awareness, augment security, aid operational planning, and support decision making. UN peacekeeping simply cannot afford to see the information advantage to those actors determined to undermine prospects for peace while using modern technology to aid their violent cause.”
11. Wide shot, end of session
12. Wide shot, Jaishankar walks up to podium
SOUNDBITE (English) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, India:
“The relationship with the Afghan people of obviously continues, and that will guide our approach to Afghanistan in the coming days. At this time, I think this, as I said, this are early days. Our focus right now is on ensuring the safety and security of Indian nationals who are there.”
13. Med shot, Jaishankar walks away
14. Tilt down, peacekeeping memorial
15. Close up, flower wreath
16. Wide shot, Guterres, Jaishankar and officials at peacekeeping memorial
17. Zoom out, peacekeeping memorial wreath-laying ceremony
18. Pan left, moment of silence
Secretary-General António Guterres today (18 Aug) told the Security Council that “new technologies are changing the scale and speed of attack, as well as the character and nature of violence and destruction in war, with an indelible impact on civilian populations.” These developments, he said, “create new and urgent challenges for peace operations, which are experiencing these challenges first-hand.”
Addressing a ministerial-level open debate on “Protecting the Protectors: Technology and Peacekeeping,” the Secretary-General said, “UN peacekeeping was conceived in an analogue world. It is now essential that it fully embraces the digital world in which we live, to improve the UN’s agility, anticipation, and responsiveness to conflicts, and to be able to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. “
He added that “a shift in peacekeeping culture, as well as a systemic change, are required for this to happen.”
Today’s meeting, under India’s presidency of the Council, was chaired by India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Jaishankar said, “twenty-first century peacekeeping must be anchored in a strong, equal system of technology and innovation that can facilitate UN peacekeeping operations in implementing their mandates in complex environments. After all, it helps them to adapt to changing conflict dynamics and take advantage of increased efficiencies.”
He told the Council that “peacekeeping missions must be able to move fast to acquire and validate information from a wide range of openly available sources to enhance situational awareness, augment security, aid operational planning, and support decision making.”
UN peacekeeping, he said, “simply cannot afford to see the information advantage to those actors determined to undermine prospects for peace while using modern technology to aid their violent cause.”
A resolution on the protection of peacekeepers focused on facilitating accountability for crimes committed against peacekeepers, as well as a presidential statement on technology and peacekeeping were adopted.
Outside the Council, responding to a journalist’s question on Afghanistan, Jaishankar said, “the relationship with the Afghan people of obviously continues, and that will guide our approach to Afghanistan in the coming days. At this time, I think this, as I said, this are early days. Our focus right now is on ensuring the safety and security of Indian nationals who are there.”
Earlier today, a wreath-laying ceremony took place at the Peacekeeping Memorial in the North Lawn of the United Nations campus.
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