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STORY: UN / PEACEKEEPING LACROIX INTERVIEW
TRT: 07:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED / MINUSMA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - MINUSMA - BAMAKO, MALI
1. Various shots, peacekeeping Chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix saluting MINUSMA troops
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“We're on the way to completing this drawdown by the 31st of December as planned. I was in Mali essentially to thank our colleagues for all their good work; they have been very active in providing protection to civilians. During my many visits to Mali, to those places where our MINUSMA colleagues were deployed to protect civilians, the feedback from the local population was always very positive and grateful and indeed, if there was any demand from them, it was that we should stay and do more.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
3. Various shots, MINUSMA troops leaving Mali
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“The peacekeeping mission, in fact, any un mission cannot operate if we don't have the support of the host government, of the host party. So, it had to happen. And I think that the key challenge for us was to make sure that withdrawal would happen in a way that would be as protective as possible to our colleagues, safety and security of our personnel is a top priority, of course.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
5. Various shots, MINUSMA troops on patrol
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“The multiplication of crises, the more exacerbated divisions across the member states, makes it more difficult for us to operate. And especially because political efforts in this climate of division and tension are not making progress, not enough progress. So, these tensions at the global level also are reflected at the local level. However, the protection of civilians remains very active. And again, I mean, every single day there are hundreds of thousands of civilians that depend on our peacekeepers for their protection.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
7. Various shots, peacekeepers interacting with civilians
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“Sometimes there are difficulties with the host government, sometimes there are frustrations because expectations, particularly when it comes to our protection of civilian mandate, are very high. And we cannot always meet these expectations because of the situation on the ground, because of the capacities that are being given to us. But our peacekeepers are really doing their best to meet the challenges.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
9. Various shots, peacekeepers in formation
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“We absolutely need to step up the efforts to respond to these challenges now. There are many ways. One of them is to improve the engagement and trust building with the communities. It's very important to explain what we're doing, why we're there, of course, to deliver, to be effective in delivering to counter fake news and disinformation. Because let's face it, there are groups and vested interests who are not interested in our success. They are actually interested in peacekeeping failure. They're interested in preserving chaos because that benefits to these groups and vested interest.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
11. Various shots, peacekeepers interacting with civilians
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“The ideal conditions are when the peacekeeping operation leaves after the final and successful completion of a political process. In other words, when the durable political solution has been achieved with the support of peacekeepers. And I'm saying with the support because peacekeepers, peacekeeping operations, cannot be alone, cannot achieve these outcomes alone.”
FILE - MINUSMA - MENAKA, MALI
13. Various shots, UN and Mali flags
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“In many countries in in the past, the list of countries where these durable solutions were achieved with the support of peacekeepers is a very long list. In Africa, the countries such as Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, etc., etc., not to mention countries in other continents. But it's much more difficult to achieve the outcome now because of the lack of support and certainly lack of united and committed support to those political efforts, particularly from our divided member states. I think this is really a key challenge that we're having to deal with.”
FILE - MINUSMA - BAMAKO, MALI
15. Various shots, Lacroix placing wreath at MINUSMA fallen troops memorial
08 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations:
“But the role of the United Nations on peace and security can only be as strong and effective as the commitment and support and unity of member states is. I think we need to be absolutely clear eyed about that. That doesn't mean that we cannot, and we should not keep making efforts to improve the way in which we operate on our peacekeeping operations and more generally on our field-based operation and peace and security. But at the same time, we need to make it clear to our Member States that our success ultimately is predicated on the amount of support and united support that we're getting from our Member States. There has to be an appetite and a commitment from our Member States for multilateral responses to crisis.”
FILE - MINUSMA - BAMAKO, MALI
15. Various shots, MINUSMA fallen troops memorial
As the 10-year-old mission in Mali, MINUSMA is currently winding down ahead of its end of December deadline to leave, the head of UN Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix said, a UN mission “cannot operate if we don't have the support of the host government,” and the key challenge “was to make sure that withdrawal would happen in a way that would be as protective as possible to our colleagues.”
In an interview with UN News to discuss the state of peacekeeping in South Saharan Africa, Lacroix said, “we're on the way to completing this drawdown by the 31st of December as planned. I was in Mali essentially to thank our colleagues for all their good work; they have been very active in providing protection to civilians. During my many visits to Mali, to those places where our MINUSMA colleagues were deployed to protect civilians, the feedback from the local population was always very positive and grateful and indeed, if there was any demand from them, it was that we should stay and do more.”
Noting that UN peacekeeping missions in Sub-Saharan Africa are operating under more challenging political and security conditions due to a multiplication of crises, the peacekeeping Chief said, “the more exacerbated divisions across the member states, makes it more difficult for us to operate. And especially because political efforts in this climate of division and tension are not making progress, not enough progress. So, these tensions at the global level also are reflected at the local level. However, the protection of civilians remains very active. And again, I mean, every single day there are hundreds of thousands of civilians that depend on our peacekeepers for their protection.”
He said, “sometimes there are difficulties with the host government, sometimes there are frustrations because expectations, particularly when it comes to our protection of civilian mandate, are very high. And we cannot always meet these expectations because of the situation on the ground, because of the capacities that are being given to us. But our peacekeepers are really doing their best to meet the challenges.”
Lacroix said one of the ways to respond to these challenges is “to improve the engagement and trust building with the communities” and “to explain what we're doing, why we're there.”
He said, “there are groups and vested interests who are not interested in our success. They are actually interested in peacekeeping failure. They're interested in preserving chaos because that benefits to these groups and vested interest.”
The ideal conditions, he continued, “are when the peacekeeping operation leaves after the final and successful completion of a political process. In other words, when the durable political solution has been achieved with the support of peacekeepers.”
Lacroix noted that in the past, “durable solutions were achieved with the support of peacekeepers” in countries such as Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, and others, but stressed that “it's much more difficult to achieve the outcome now because of the lack of support and certainly lack of united and committed support to those political efforts, particularly from our divided Member States.”
He said, “the role of the United Nations on peace and security can only be as strong and effective as the commitment and support and unity of member states is,” and added that “we need to make it clear to our Member States that our success ultimately is predicated on the amount of support and united support that we're getting from our Member States. There has to be an appetite and a commitment from our Member States for multilateral responses to crisis.
MINUSMA held an official closing ceremony last week, but still has a presence in three bases - Gao, Bamako and Timbuktu and won't be fully withdrawn from Mali until 31 December.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly in September this year, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombohe, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, called for the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, to also begin its withdrawal from the country.
Africa still remains the chief focus of peacekeeping operations in terms of the number of missions and personnel deployed.
