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Yearbook of the United Nations 2009

Page 24

Report of the Secretary-General the United Nations Security Council’s decision to broaden the scope of its consideration of matters of peace and security to include violence against women and children, with special attention to Africa. B.  Peace and security 40.  Unfortunately, in too many corners of the world, conflicts continue unabated and both State and non-State actors act with considerable disregard for civilians, often targeting women with particularly heinous crimes. Wherever possible, the United Nations is actively pursuing opportunities for peace. Over the past year the United Nations did have some success in improving the situation of those most-affected and needy populations. The global economic crisis added a new layer of complexity to our work by catalysing social unrest and political instability in many places. 1. Preventive diplomacy and support to peace processes

41.  A key role of the United Nations is to assist national actors in resolving conflict at an early stage, and to help build national capacity to sustain peace and protect human rights. Without political settlements, the world will be left with festering conflicts which place a heavy burden on humanitarian delivery systems and on peacekeeping. 42.  This past year, the Organization’s engagement in preventive diplomacy and support to peace processes was extensive. Support was provided to the peace processes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Comoros. Following the elections, intensive diplomatic efforts took place in Zimbabwe under the overall mediation of the Southern African Development Community and South Africa. The Organization was also asked to support political processes in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Madagascar. In all these cases, it offered political and technical support, often in cooperation with partners such as the African Union. 43.  The Organization continues to support fullfledged negotiations in Cyprus and political dialogue and reconciliation in Iraq. In Nepal, the Organization provided assistance in the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement. In Central Asia, it worked closely with all countries of the region to facilitate joint approaches to cross-border challenges, including terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, and the management of natural resources. 44.  As part of recently intensified diplomatic efforts by the international community in the Middle East peace process, the good offices of the SecretaryGeneral have continued. The need for the resumption of direct talks on a two-State solution and comprehensive regional peace was underscored by events such

7 as the major armed crisis in Gaza, discontinuation of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations undertaken in the Annapolis framework and limited progress towards Palestinian unity. In Lebanon, the Secretary-General’s good offices were extended with a view to sustaining the relative calm that has prevailed in the postelection period. 45.  The Organization looks forward to working further with Member States on investing in capacities to respond to crises quickly and effectively and to support peace processes more predictably and professionally. 2. Peacekeeping

46.  The challenges that peacekeepers face today are unprecedented in scale, complexity, and risk level. Their engagement includes supporting political dialogue between parties, assisting national Governments to extend State authority, strengthening human rights and the rule of law, advising on security sector reform, supporting disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes and protecting civilians. The latter, in particular, is challenging the capacity of the Organization’s peacekeeping missions to robustly implement authorized mandates. 47.  The Department of Peacekeeping Operations, with the support of the Department of Field Support, currently manages 17 operations deployed across five continents. These operations comprise more than 117,000 deployed military, police and civilian personnel. The budget has risen to nearly $7.8 billion a year, at a time when available resources are in danger of shrinking. 48.  On the ground, peacekeepers encounter a full spectrum of environments ranging from those where some form of conflict continues, to those where a fragile stability has been reached, to those where solid peace processes are in place and peacebuilding processes dominate. 49.  Over the past year the United Nations peacekeeping presence in Chad, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo increased. In Chad, a United Nations peacekeeping mission successfully succeeded the military force deployed by the European Union in March. In Darfur, deployments increased allowing the mission to project its presence more effectively. Nevertheless, the mission continued to lack resources, including helicopters, critical to the effective implementation of its mandate. The United Nations Mission in the Sudan has continued to support the resolution of core issues of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which promise to enhance the prospects for stability in the entire region. 50.  In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, renewed fighting erupted at the end of August 2008. The Security Council approved in November the mis-


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