UN Security Council highlights early warning in conflict prevention

The UN Security Council Thursday highlighted the importance of early warning mechanisms in preventing and ending armed conflicts, calling for efforts toward cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations.

Unanimously adopting a resolution ahead of a day-long meeting on conflict prevention, the council called attention to the importance of early awareness and consideration of situations which may deteriorate into armed conflicts, Xinhua reported.

The 15-nation body expressed its determination to enhance the effectiveness of the UN "in preventing and ending armed conflicts, their escalation, spread when they occur, and their resurgence once they end", and underlined the overriding moral, political and humanitarian imperatives as well as the economic advantages of taking such a preventive approach.

The resolution emphasised that the UN, including the security council, should "heed early warning indications of potential conflict and ensure prompt and effective action to prevent, contain or end conflicts, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

The council in its resolution also affirmed that "a comprehensive conflict prevention strategy should include, inter alia, early warning, preventive diplomacy, mediation, preventive deployment, peacekeeping, practical disarmament and other measures to contribute to combating the proliferation and illicit trade of arms, accountability measures as well as inclusive post-conflict peace-building, and recognising that these components are interdependent, complementary and non-sequential."

The resolution highlighted the efforts toward cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations on conflict prevention, including the need to pursue these initiatives further at a working level. It also noted that terrorism is an important element in an increasing number of conflict situation.

In addition, the resolution requested UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to submit a report to the Council on actions taken to strengthen and promote conflict prevention within the UN system.