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STORY: UN / PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS
TRT: 02:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN headquarters
18 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, UNFICYP Force Commander
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
“We are committed to continuing our efforts to increase the role and place of women in peacekeeping, including in senior leadership, but generally speaking in both our military units as well as the civilian component, and I think the trend is encouraging, but we are certainly committed to doing more.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt Gen Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, Force Commander, UNAMID:
“The Sudanese authorities have assured cooperation and support for UNAMID operations including facilitation of smooth exit in accordance with the resolution 2429. It is reiterated that cooperation with host states and other partners is crucial for the success of mandate implementation. Trust and political will are key ingredients to cooperation.”
7. Med shot, delegate
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt Gen Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, Force Commander, UNAMID:
“The mission being given, or DPKO being given enough resources to ensure they can perform, I think that is what is important. Otherwise, there isn’t, I would like to say, as if UNAMID would replace the government, there is a time for us to leave and the country is left to their owners.”
9. Med shot, delegate
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Major General Cheryl Pearce, Force Commander, UNFICYP:
“Impartial execution of UNFICYPs mandate is what allows me and the military component to effectively maintain the military status quo, prevent military-to military tensions and ensure calm and stability in and around the buffer zone. Impartiality is a fundamental principle of UN peacekeeping and one, importantly, that has been reaffirmed again recently through the Secretary-General s Action for Peacekeeping Agenda.”
11. Med shot, delegate
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Major General Cheryl Pearce, Force Commander, UNFICYP:
“The mandate was in 1964. In our current environment with both sides having different opinions about what it is in the buffer zone, we now have a tension between to keep the stability and calm within the buffer zone, but also the normal conditions component of the buffer zone. And what do we mean by the normal conditions? And that for the Greek Cypriots is opening it to farming which actually has an effect on the security. So, we are seeing tensions between the different components of the mandate.”
13. Med shot, delegate
14.. Wide shot, Council
Coinciding with the 17th annual Head of Military Component Conference, the Security Council heard from peacekeeping officials and Force Commanders on issues including the protection of civilians, women in peacekeeping, conduct, discipline and performance.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to “continuing our efforts to increase the role and place of women in peacekeeping, including in senior leadership, but generally speaking in both our military units as well as the civilian component.”
Lieutenant General Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, Force Commander of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) said “the Sudanese authorities have assured cooperation and support for UNAMID operations including facilitation of smooth exit in accordance with the resolution 2429.”
According to the resolution, the closure and handover of team sites for civilian use, drawdown of the peacekeepers, and exit of the mission is scheduled for by June 2020.
Ngondi, stressed that “cooperation with host states and other partners is crucial for the success of mandate implementation. Trust and political will are key ingredients to cooperation.”
He said, “there is a time for us to leave and the country is left to their owners.”
Major General Cheryl Pearce, Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), said, “impartial execution of UNFICYPs mandate is what allows me and the military component to effectively maintain the military status quo, prevent military-to military tensions and ensure calm and stability in and around the buffer zone.”
Impartiality, she said, “is a fundamental principle of UN peacekeeping and one, importantly, that has been reaffirmed again recently through the Secretary-General s Action for Peacekeeping Agenda.”
UNFICYP maintains daily contact with the Opposing Forces on all levels to prevent escalation of tensions.
She noted nonetheless that the mission’s authority in the buffer zone is regularly challenged, recalling that the Council, through resolution 2453 (2019), expressed serious concern at the increased number of violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines and called on all involved parties to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in that area.
Pearce said, “the mandate was in 1964. In our current environment with both sides having different opinions about what it is in the buffer zone, we now have a tension between to keep the stability and calm within the buffer zone, but also the normal conditions component of the buffer zone. And what do we mean by the normal conditions? And that for the Greek Cypriots is opening it to farming which actually has an effect on the security. So, we are seeing tensions between the different components of the mandate.”
Today’s Council meeting focused on the theme of peacekeeping operations’ cooperation with host countries.
