Discurso do Representante Permanente Alterno, Embaixador Norberto Moretti, em reunião do Conselho de Segurança sobre Operações de Paz das Nações Unidas - 14 de novembro de 2023 (texto em inglês)
Statement of the Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Norberto Moretti, on United Nations peacekeeping operations
Novembr 14th, 2023
Mister President,
I thank Under-Secretary-General Lacroix and Police Adviser Shahkar for their briefings. I also thank Commissioners Fossen and Bizimungu for their remarks and for their valuable work. Also my appreciation to Ms. Landgren for her insights.
The police component of United Nations missions has carried out increasingly complex tasks. Working in areas where State institutions are weak or non-existent, United Nations police personnel may be called on to re-establish order and protect civilians in very challenging environments. In this context, it is very positive that police components are especially well positioned to engage with local communities, which is key for any mission’s success and to promoting sustainable peace. Due to the nature of their mission, police also act as partners in transitional periods, when communities are at security risk and the State cannot adequately perform its functions. The police contingents in United Nations missions are also very relevant in peacebuilding. There, the institution-building aspect is central to support the political processes aimed at achieving normalization and social stability.
The United Nations police can and should promote the women peace and security agenda. The deployment of female police officers has a positive impact on engagement with communities, where women tend to be in rather vulnerable positions. Female officers play distinctive role in building trust and confidence with communities, contributing to a more efficient implementation of missions’ mandates. To advance those gains, more women should occupy command and leadership positions.
Mister President,
The performance of missions and their police components depends on proper capacities and resources. In his New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General rightly recommends that mandates be sufficiently resourced and adapted to changing circumstances and political developments. To accomplish this end, police personnel should receive adequate training to respond in a flexible manner to changes in the field and be given the adequate tools to fulfil the mission’s mandate. Brazil continues to be committed to promoting capacity-building in peacekeeping, including for police peacekeepers. Last September Brazil hosted a United Nations certified instructor development course for three training programmes on community-oriented policing, police monitoring, mentoring and advising, and police capacity-building and development.
Police personnel should also have their security ensured in the discharge of their tasks. Investing in strategic communications can dispel mis- and disinformation and curb threats arising from their malicious practices. Having open channels of communication with local communities, national authorities and relevant stakeholders is also crucial to explain the mandates and calibrate expectations towards the missions.
Mister President,
The police personnel in United Nations missions act in fulfilment of one most of the most fundamental tasks of peacekeeping — re-establishing, either directly or ny way of cooperation with local institutions, order and normalcy in conflict-affected societies. In doing so, they contribute to respect for human rights and a resumption of economic activities. They are therefore an essential part of the peace and security architecture to which Brazil is proud to contribute with some of its best lawenforcement professionals.
Thank you.