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09 March 2000

U.N. Security Council Discusses Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance

(Council statement links the two) (710)
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The relationship between peacekeeping and providing
humanitarian assistance to war-affected civilians was the topic of a
day-long debate in the Security Council March 9.
Council members discussed how to make humanitarian assistance more
effective and how to include humanitarian concerns in the council's
efforts to foster peace and security. They ended the session with a
statement emphasizing that humanitarian concerns must be included in
peace negotiations and agreements.
The statement "represents the Security Council's acknowledgement of
the direct relationship between security and humanitarian crises,"
U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said.
"Now we must act on what we started. This means concerned follow-up
for concerted planning and coordination both within the U.N. system
and the wide humanitarian community. It means assuring that
peacekeepers and humanitarian workers are trained and educated and
means pressing our governments and the private sector for the
necessary resources," Holbrooke said.
"Humanitarian aid does not exist in a vacuum," Secretary General Kofi
Annan told the council.
"From the Great Lakes to Bosnia, we have learned that while the
humanitarian imperative is sacred, there is also a humanitarian
dilemma...that too often has forced us to provide food and clothing
not only to the victims of conflict but also to its architects. It is
the dilemma that too often allows combatants to use humanitarian aid
and its recipients as tools in war," Annan said.
"It is the dilemma that at times has turned camps created for the
needy and vulnerable into havens for extremists and bases from which
they could continue their acts of hatred," he said. "It is the
dilemma, finally, that makes clear that humanitarian assistance is no
substitute for political action."
Inadequate support for humanitarian action can have adverse effects by
exposing civilians to the risk of increased suffering and by
undermining the positive contribution the aid could make to peace and
security, Annan warned.
But the secretary general quickly added that the humanitarian dilemmas
have made humanitarian missions more important, not less.
Annan said that the Security Council can strengthen support for
humanitarian action in at least three ways.
First, the council can press member states to commit themselves fully
to provide the financial support needed for humanitarian programs;
second, it could include the financing of the early stages of
rebuilding and restoration of the rule of law as part of peacekeeping
operations; and third, it must address the problem that after the
peace is signed, funds for most aid activities begin to dry up.
Weak support for aid can result in delays in refugee reintegration,
lack of adequate assistance to demobilized combatants, and failure to
restore livelihoods or rebuild societies, he pointed out. On the other
hand, effective humanitarian action can give civilians a sense of
stability, restore respect for human rights, and lay the foundation
for reconciliation.
The secretary general also discussed three major issues facing
humanitarian efforts: how to make the aid affect peace efforts in a
positive way; how to integrate humanitarian and political-military
elements of U.N. operations; and how to ensure that the legal and
principled basis of humanitarian action is respected and strengthened.
Holbrooke said that although the council's first priority "must always
be to prevent conflict, we must also be prepared to deal effectively
with humanitarian crisis if we fail. It is imperative, therefore, that
we do as much as possible to see that humanitarian needs are
integrated with our planning efforts."
The ambassador also stressed that U.N. peacekeepers must be familiar
with human rights law, sensitized to the need for prevention and
control of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, and be able to
assess refugee situations.
Holbrooke added that the international community must do more to
guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers, although the primary
responsibility for their safety is the responsibility of the states in
which they are working. The council must continue to explore ways to
reduce the vulnerability of both relief workers and refugees to
attacks and intimidation, he said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
usinfo.state.gov)