UN officials agree with India on concerns over peacekeeping mandates

UN's top two peacekeeping officials have underlined the need to have more focussed, prioritised and achievable mandates for various peacekeeping missions, agreeing with India's continued concerns over lack of clarity in peacekeeping mandates.

India has repeatedly raised concerns in the UN over the manner in which UN peacekeeping mandates are framed and adopted. India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Tanmaya Lal had voiced concerns that core issues relating to UN peacekeeping are not being addressed.

Outlining the challenges, he had said that there are serious chronic shortcomings of the lack of clarity of mandates, mismatch with resources available to peacekeepers, lack of consultations with troop contributing countries and lack of focus on political solutions to building and sustaining peace.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix agreed with India's continued concerns over lack of clarity in peacekeeping mandates.

"We need mandates that more prioritised and that are more focused on the key priorities, especially in this very tough and dangerous environment, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said in response to a question yesterday by PTI on India's concerns over UN peacekeeping mandates.

He said in situations where political processes are not moving or moving very slowly and "we can't be all over the place", there is need to focus on key priorities for mandates, particularly where resources are under pressure.

Lacroix said framing focussed mandates is a responsibility for member states particularly from the Security Council as well as of the UN's peacekeeping departments that make recommendations to the Security Council.

"Once mandates are adopted, particularly if they are refocussed, then it is for us to make sure that the mission will evolve accordingly, including structure of the mission, allocation of resources for personnel, he said during a press conference held on the occasion of International Day of Peacekeepers.

Lacroix acknowledged that the task is not easy as there are naturally some resistance. We need to work collectively to achieve mandates that are more clear and more prioritized.

Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Atul Khare echoed similar sentiments, calling for the need for clear and focussed mandates. He said discussions have been ongoing for several years on a two-step mandating process.

"This is an issue which we have to discuss with the Security Council and with member states to ensure that there is a proper mandating process so that the mandates are clear, focussed and achievable and their progress can actually be measured."
"That is why we have engaged in a very intense dialogue with member states but particularly with troop contributing countries."