New York - Berlin: Europe and the Arabs
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, stressed the importance of peacekeeping in light of the increasing complexity and drivers of conflicts, and expected countries to demonstrate their strong support for this "important tool" at the ministerial meeting scheduled to be held next month in Germany. According to the UN Daily News, a copy of which we received on Friday morning, Berlin will host the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting on May 13 and 14, with the participation of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and a "very encouraging" attendance, according to Mr. Lacroix.
At a press conference yesterday in New York, Lacroix said the meeting represents a "unique opportunity" to highlight the value of peacekeeping operations and the "shared resolve to address the current challenges" facing them, as well as their drivers and enablers.
He said that today's global landscape is full of challenges, with "more conflicts within and between states than at any time since World War II," adding that the nature of these conflicts is evolving rapidly. He said that conflicts are "increasingly complex and intertwined," and this is happening within an "increasingly divided and polarized international community, which remains the greatest challenge."
The UN official emphasized that peacekeepers in the field "protect hundreds of thousands of lives every day, often the difference between life and death." In addition, he said, their work prevents the resumption of hostilities in ceasefire contexts, supports political efforts, and helps build the capacity of host governments, among many other tasks.
Mr. Lacroix emphasized that the Berlin ministerial meeting represents a critical opportunity for the United Nations and Member States to determine "how we can, going forward, address all challenges and ensure that we work collectively so that peacekeeping remains an important, viable, reliable, and effective tool for the United Nations and multilateralism in the future."
He added that participants will also explore ways to make peacekeeping more cost-effective, "because we recognize that we are and will be operating under increasingly severe financial constraints."