TROOP-CONTRIBUTING COUNTRIES (TCCs)

1. After a steady decline in UN peacekeeping activities in recent years, UN peacekeeping is once again seeing another resurgence. New UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) have been deployed to Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). Another, to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), awaits full deployment. The number of troops, military observers and civilian police personnel has risen to about 40,000, from approximately 15,000 a year ago. More peacekeepers are expected to be deployed in 2001. Some UN PKOs have also expanded significantly in scope. Complex, multi-disciplinary UN peacekeeping missions in the form of interim administrations are in place in Kosovo (UNMIK) and East Timor (UNTAET).

2. However, in the midst of this resurgence, UN peacekeeping suffered a serious setback when several hundred UNAMSIL troops were detained by RUF rebels in May 2000. An Assessment Team despatched by the Secretary-General to Sierra Leone concluded that there were many reasons for this setback. However, one reason that has again come to the fore was the lack of co-operation and consultation between the UN Security Council and the Troop-Contributing Countries (TCCs). This is déjà vu. We had witnessed how similar problems plagued UNPROFOR (the Balkans) and UNOSOM (Somalia). Determined not to repeat the same mistakes, efforts were made in the early 1990s that led to concrete steps being taken to improve co-operation and co-ordination between TCCs and the Security Council. These were enshrined in two Presidential Statements, PRST/1994/62 dated 4 November 1994 and PRST/1996/13 dated 28 March 1996.

3. Significantly, in its last Presidential Statement on enhancing consultations among TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat (S/PRST/1996/13), the Council stated that "the Security Council will continue to keep arrangements for consultations and the exchange of information and views with TCCs and prospective TCCs under review and stands ready to consider further measures and new mechanisms to enhance further the arrangements in the light of experience." Against the backdrop of recent experiences of UN PKOs and to build upon the momentum towards strengthening the capacity of the UN in peacekeeping, generated by the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations of 21 August 2000 (or the " Brahimi Report "), it is perhaps time for the Council to undertake such a consideration.

Recent Efforts to Enhance Co-operation with TCCs

4. The issue of co-operation between the UNSC and TCCs was addressed by the Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations, including the link between the commitment gaps in the provision of troops for UN PKOs and the need for better co-ordination and consultation between TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat. In his report on the implementation of the Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations issued on 20 October 2000, the Secretary-General reiterated this need. The issue was also referred to by many delegations during the 55^th UN General Assembly Fourth Committee General Debate on "Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peacekeeping Operations in All Their Aspects" from 8 to 10 November 2000. Both the UN Security Council (on 13 November 2000) and the General Assembly (on 8 December 2000) adopted resolutions, which endorsed the recommendations of the Panel on UN Peace Operations on strengthening consultations between TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat.

5. Significantly, in its Resolution 1327 (2000), the Security Council stated its commitment to hold private meetings with the TCCs at various stages of the establishment and implementation of UN PKOs. Under this arrangement, the Council would meet the TCCs directly with the Secretariat. This is potentially a significant improvement over the meetings with TCCs established by the Security Council via PRST/1996/13, in which the meetings were in substance between the Secretariat and the TCCs although they were chaired by the President of the Security Council.

6. Interestingly, even before Resolution 1327 was adopted, a "private meeting" was held with the UNAMSIL TCCs on 4 October 2000 to seek their views before the Security Council Mission to Sierra Leone led by Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom travelled to Sierra Leone. Many TCCs found the meeting to be very useful, especially since it was an interactive meeting. It would seem that in committing to hold private meetings with TCCs in Resolution 1327, the Council decided to formalise such a meeting format. This was supported in the statement of the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdury, at the Security Council formal meeting to adopt Resolution 1327: "Our understanding is that such meetings would be in the format of the 4 October 2000 meeting on UNAMSIL. These consultations, whatever the provisions of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, should be neither traditional troop-contributors meetings nor private formal meetings in the Council Chamber. Rather, they should be in a format that allows a free exchange of views between Council members and TCCs, and they should include the necessary substantive briefings."

Security Council Open Debate on "Strengthening Co-operation with TCCs" on 16 January 2001

7. The Security Council open debate on "Strengthening Co-operation with TCCs" on 16 January 2001, which will be held during Singapore’s Presidency of the Council, is intended to provide an opportunity for UN member states to discuss and give their views on fostering a new spirit of co-operation between TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat. Much effort has been spent in the last decade to fortify this co-operation, which is a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping activities. However, more can be done. In this regard, the open debate on 16 January 2001 would be an opportunity for member states of the United Nations to address the following key questions.

(a) Conduct of Meetings with TCCs.

It should be acknowledged that a step forward was made in formalising a process of consultations between the Security Council, the Secretariat and the TCCs through establishment of the meetings between them. Many of the guidelines for TCC meetings established by PRST/1994/62 and PRST/1996/13 continue to be valid and if these guidelines had been implemented fully, not just in form but more importantly in spirit, TCC meetings had the potential of becoming the principal process for co-operation and co-ordination between the Council, the Secretariat and TCCs on peacekeeping matters. Unfortunately, in practice, TCC meetings have become proforma and ritualistic and have fallen short of the expectations of TCCs. How could we therefore improve the content and form of private meetings with TCCs to make them more interactive and productive?

(b) Strengthening the Link between the Security Council and TCCs in Peacekeeping.

Besides meetings, what other mechanisms can be used to strengthen the link between the Security Council and TCCs in peacekeeping? In a Security Council open debate on "No Exit Without Strategy" on 15 November 2000, Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock commented that: "I think the Brahimi Report covers a lot of what we want. I am not sure that we do not need a special subcommittee of the Council on PKOs to take up some of these professional and detailed points." It may be useful to hear the views of member states on his suggestion.

(c) Co-operation between the TCCs, Security Council and the Secretariat in addressing Problems in Peacekeeping.

Participants may also wish to suggest how the relationship with TCCs can go beyond consultations to real co-operation between the three crucial partners of UN peacekeeping. In this connection, we may need to address the commitment gaps in the contribution of troops to UN PKOs, the previous failures and shortcomings of UN PKOs, and the problems concerning the safety and security of UN peacekeepers. How can TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat co-operate to tackle these problems?

8. We have no pre-conceived notions of the likely desirable outcomes of this open debate. The main purpose of this debate is to provide all participants in UN peacekeeping an opportunity to reflect on recent experiences, with a view to distilling some lessons that can be learnt. We hope that as a result of this exercise, some concrete recommendations will emerge that will lead to a better relationship between TCCs, the Security Council and the Secretariat, and a new spirit of cooperation among the three partners.

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