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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 018284 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR AMGT SC GA
SUBJECT: FEBRUARY 23-MARCH 20, 2009 SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF 
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS 
 
REF: A. (A) 2008 STATE 21247 
     ¶B. (B) 2008 STATE 30936 
 
¶1. (SBU) The annual substantive session of the General 
Assembly's Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations 
(the C-34) will be held February 23 to March 20.  We have 
reviewed the 2008 C-34 report (A/62/19), as well as the 
Secretary-General's report on implementation of the 
recommendations of the 2008 session (A/63/615 and 
A/63/615/Add.1).  Canada chairs the working group, and 
will produce the first draft of the 2009 C-34 report.  The 
top U.S. priorities for this session are strengthening UN 
police capacities and supporting development of doctrine 
and guidance to implement mandates and improve 
performance.  Overall guidance for the C-34 session is 
contained in paragraph 3.  You may draw on the points in 
paragraph 2 for inclusion in the U.S. opening statement 
as well as for your discussions with other missions and 
the UN.  USUN should also use this cable as the basis for 
discussions during the C-34 session; updated and 
additional guidance will be provided as necessary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Begin points for opening statement: 
 
--The United States thanks the Chair and members of the 
Bureau for their work in organizing these meetings.  We 
also would like to thank the Under-Secretary General for 
Peacekeeping Operations, the Under-Secretary General for 
Field Support, the hard-working members of the 
Secretariat, and the many brave and dedicated men and 
women who serve as military, police and civilian 
peacekeepers around the world. 
 
--For almost a decade, there has been a steadily growing 
demand for peacekeeping operations to support 
international efforts to restore peace and stability in 
conflict-torn regions of the world.  The 140,000 
peacekeepers serving in 18 missions have complex 
responsibilities and are working in very challenging 
environments. 
 
--The U.S. is proud to be taking a leading role in helping 
to build capacity for peacekeeping, particularly with 
regard to military and police programs.  We look forward 
to exploring, during this meeting and on a continuing 
basis, the development and expansion of partnerships 
across the board with supporters of peacekeeping to 
respond to critical and emerging needs. 
 
--We also recognize the international community must give 
careful attention to the resources available and the 
context in which peacekeepers are operating, so that we 
collectively are making the best use possible of UN 
peacekeeping to support sustainable peace. 
 
--Over the past two years, we as a group have supported 
the Secretary-General's recommendations for a radical 
restructuring and strengthening of the entire spectrum of 
UN peacekeeping operations. 
 
--The U.S. welcomes the substantial progress that has been 
made on filling positions created as part of the 
restructuring of DPKO and creation of DFS, and the 
strengthening of the Office of Military Affairs.  We hail 
the strides being made in institutionalizing these 
critical changes in approach. 
 
-- We look forward to seeing the fruits of this 
restructuring and strengthening across the board, with 
greater speed and consistently high quality product and 
performance at every stage, from planning to 
deployment, to continued support in the field, and through 
mission exit strategies. 
 
-- The U.S. welcomes the strategic review of the Police 
Division.  This review follows naturally on last year's 
review and strengthening of the Office of Military 
Affairs, and recognizes the central role that UN police 
play in providing appropriate responses to civil unrest, a 
wide range of specialized contributions to peace 
operations, and critical mentoring, training and 
institution-building as societies make the transition to 
sustainable peace. 
 
--It is clear the Police Division needs more capacity -- 
staff, planning, communications -- to carry out the job we 
are asking of it, and we look forward to a detailed review 
of specific proposals. 
 
-- We also welcome the substantial progress made in 
building the Standing Police Capacity, and commend the 
detailed analysis provided by the Panel of Experts.  The 
U.S. expresses broad support for the report's 
recommendations on improving flexibility, setting 
priorities, and building the Standing Police Capacity's 
ability to implement its core functions.  We look forward 
to a more detailed discussion. 
 
-- The U.S. would like to take this opportunity to commend 
the rapid production of an impressive volume of 
high-quality work being produced by DPKO/PET, including 
doctrine, guidance, and training materials.  This office 
has stepped up very quickly to the challenges facing UN 
peacekeeping, and we look forward to continuing to work 
with them in future. 
 
--The growing number of peacekeeping missions with 
mandates for protection of civilians is posing a challenge 
for staff in the field to implement.  We believe 
development of clear doctrine and guidance for missions is 
critical. 
 
-- We continue to be concerned about indications the 
integrated operational teams (IOTs) are variably 
successful, with some IOTs operating very well, and others 
still not fully clear on their role or relationships. 
This connection across Departments is a key element in 
improving communication between headquarters and the 
field, and we hope to see progress in the year ahead. 
 
--We are also concerned about continuing shortfalls in 
finding personnel in all categories for missions in the 
field, and look forward to working with the rest of the 
Committee and with the Secretariat to find solutions. 
 
--We as Members should take note of the efforts we have 
made collectively to establish and improve the UN's 
systems for reporting and addressing the problem of sexual 
exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers.  We must all 
ensure we do our part by holding our own peacekeepers 
accountable. 
 
--As a group over the past several years, we have 
generated a range of tools designed to address various 
aspects of this issue, including the Victims' Assistance 
Strategy and the Model Memorandum of Understanding.  There 
are now training requirements and reporting procedures for 
all missions, and we are encouraged to see that progress 
is being made in creating an atmosphere where women and 
children are more willing to report abuses. 
 
--We look forward to the resumed discussion of Legal 
Experts later this year on holding UN civilian staff and 
experts on mission accountable for misconduct.  The United 
States shares the expectation of its colleagues on this 
Committee that Member States will take appropriate action 
against those who have committed abuses. 
 
-- During the spring of 2009 the General Assembly will 
review a comprehensive report on the welfare and 
recreation needs of all categories of peacekeeping 
personnel, as called for in the 2008 report of this 
committee.  We share the concern of our colleagues that 
adequate provision be made in this regard. 
 
-- The U.S. welcomes the steps taken during 2008 to 
improve and clarify security procedures across the 
board.   The safety and well-being of UN personnel 
operating in often dangerous places is of prime concern to 
us all. 
 
 
End points. 
 
¶3. (U) USUN's starting point for discussion is the 2008 
report, which is consensus language.  We will work with 
you as in previous years to review all proposed edits. 
While there is a long list of topics likely to be 
considered, much of it is well-travelled ground.  USUN 
should concentrate U.S. efforts in the 2009 C-34 session 
on ensuring the report supports the following, in order of 
priority: 
 
--Strengthening of the Police Division and Standing Police 
Capacity.  We note both the December 10, 2008 " 
Comprehensive Analysis of the Police Division" and the 
Panel of Experts' report on the Standing Policy Capacity 
(A/63/630) contain specific resource and organizational 
recommendations.  The U.S. delegation should seek to have 
the report express strong support in general terms for 
strengthening UN policing, with specific details on budget 
and management to be addressed by the ACABQ and Fifth 
Committee.  The focus should be to endorse police 
strengthening in terms of adequate staffing and other 
resources, enhanced planning capacity, expanded and 
improved doctrine, and improved organization, with the 
goal of speeding deployments and improving police services 
in the field.  UN police responsibilities run from crowd 
control and individual specialized functions at one end of 
the spectrum to building police institutions, training and 
mentoring on the other end.  The 2007 restructuring made 
the Police Division part of the Office of Rule of Law and 
Security Institutions, with the Police Advisor reporting 
to the Assistant Secretary-General heading that office. 
The 2008 C-34 report recommended giving the Police Advisor 
rank equivalent to the Military Advisor, with a reporting 
line to the Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping 
Operations.  We understand there has been recent 
discussion among Police Experts at the various missions to 
the UN of whether this is an appropriate time to consider 
revisiting that arrangement, with the Police Advisor 
heading a stand-alone office (like the Office of Military 
Affairs) responsible for police force generation for 
traditional active policing functions, with the 
capacity/institution-building function retained by the 
Office of Rule of Law.   The U.S. would want to see and 
review a specific proposal before making a final 
decision.  Therefore, for the 2009 C-34 report, we would 
support a request for a review and recommendations from 
the Secretariat on revising the organization of police 
functions.  The U.S. supports efforts to coordinate rule 
of law initiatives with efforts to improve police 
capabilities, to ensure such programs are mutually 
reinforcing. 
 
--Strong support for Secretariat development of doctrine, 
best practices, other procedural guidance:  As noted 
above, we believe the new, energetic staff in DPKO/PET 
working on best practices and training is doing an 
excellent job.  The U.S. should support language in the 
report reinforcing efforts to link best practices to 
updates of training materials, and to incorporate best 
practices and lessons learned into current operations 
quickly and affirmatively.  As USUN is aware, some in the 
NAM in recent years have interpreted international efforts 
to protect civilians and address gross humanitarian 
violations as interference in internal affairs.  In that 
context, several NAM members were successful in 
eliminating from the 2008 C-34 report a simple, short 
paragraph calling for development of doctrine on the 
protection of civilians.  The U.S. continues to believe 
this doctrine is needed, particularly given the repeated 
request of field commanders for clear guidance on how to 
implement this responsibility (now included in the mandate 
of several missions).  We understand DPKO/PET is working 
on a study in response to a request from DPKO and OCHA, 
but the U.S. believes a statement of support from the C-34 
would demonstrate Member State support.  USUN should work 
with other like-minded countries in seeking again to 
include such language in the 2009 report. 
 
 
--Full implementation of the structural changes and 
staffing increases made since 2007 (including the Office 
of Military Affairs):  as noted above, a number of changes 
(such as creation of integrated operational teams) have 
been made but are not necessarily fully or smoothly 
operational.  This includes ensuring headquarters/field 
lines of communication are clear and functioning properly, 
planning offices are staffed and have the resources needed 
to speed mission planning and modification, and integrated 
mission planning is being used as a tool to eliminate 
duplication of effort and enhanced cooperation. The report 
should ask for an update from the Secretariat on these 
issues by next year. 
 
 
--Enhancement of African peacekeeping capacities (which is 
an important U.S. policy goal). The U.S. has provided and 
will continue to provide support for African Union 
peacekeeping missions through direct bilateral support. 
We are concerned about resource implications, in 
particular any direct transfer of UN assessed peacekeeping 
funds, or assets funded by UN assessed peacekeeping funds, 
to organizations not under UN command and control, or 
accountable to the UN Security Council.  The 2008 report and 
implementation reports, as well as UN Security Council 
Resolution 1809 (2008), do not endorse such resource 
transfers, but tread close to doing so.  [Note: If pressed 
about USG support for UNSC Resolution 1863, which authorized 
the delivery of a UN logistics and support package to AMISOM, 
USUN should stress the support package was authorized at the 
time under extraordinarily unique circumstances, for a fixed 
and limited duration, only "with a view" towards incorporating 
AMISOM into a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, and in 
light of the Council's expressed intent at that time to 
establish such an operation by separate vote. 
The USG maintains its opposition to the use of 
assessed UN funds to support non-UN organizations.]  We 
support DPKO's African Union Peacekeeping Support Team's 
efforts in such areas as providing technical assistance to 
the African Union Secretariat to build its capacity to field 
peacekeeping operations, as well as assistance in linking 
African troop contributing countries with donors who could 
help train and equip African forces (such as through 
participation in the G8++ Africa Clearinghouse meetings). 
 
--Endorsement of the concept of "cooperation with regional 
arrangements" (that is, regional groups other than the AU, 
in particular the EU).  This process is making slow 
progress, and is uncontroversial, since there are no major 
resource implications.  In the context of both this topic 
and the question of enhancing African peacekeeping 
capacities, the U.S. welcomes discussion on how countries 
or entities with resources, skills and assets might better 
target their own programs and form partnerships to respond 
to critical and emerging needs. We also recognize that the 
international community must give careful attention to the 
resources available and the context in which peacekeepers 
are operating, to make the best use possible of 
this critical tool for sustainable peace. 
 
 
--Encourage implementation of the new process to "recognize" 
training programs at the various national peacekeeping centers 
(a UN seal of approval, in effect). This should include 
discussion of whether distance-learning courses provided by 
UNITAR-POCI (which is no longer affiliated with the UN) will 
be recognized. The Secretariat should also be asked to report 
on how web-based training (which we recognize as an invaluable 
tool) will address pre-deployment and in-service training 
needs, as tasks and requirements evolve during the course of a 
mission. 
CLINTON