UNITED NATIONS, October 31 (RIA Novosti) — The United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named a new High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations on Friday and appointed former Timor-Leste leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta to chair the panel.
"The world is changing and UN peace operations must change with it if they are to remain an indispensable and effective tool in promoting international peace and security. That is why I am announcing today the establishment of a High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations. I have appointed Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste to chair the panel, which will draw together individuals with a wide range of experience and expertise. The Panel will make a comprehensive assessment of the state of UN peace operations today, and the emerging needs of the future," the UN leader said.
"It will consider a broad range of issues, facing peace operations, including the changing nature of conflict, evolving mandates, good offices and peace-building challenges, managerial and administrative arrangements, planning, partnerships, human rights and protection of civilians, uniformed capabilities for peacekeeping operations and performance," he added.
UN Peacekeeping was last subject to an external review in 2000, led by Lahkdar Brahimi of Algeria. Unlike that study, this one will include both peacekeeping operations and special political missions, such as those in Iraq and Libya.
"As we approach the 15-year anniversary of the Brahimi report, we must acknowledge that peace operations today are increasingly called on to confront politically complex and challenging conflicts, often in volatile security environments, where operations are directly targeted. We must take stock of evolving expectations and consider how the Organization can most effectively advance peace, assist countries, caught in conflict and ensure that our peacekeeping operations and special political missions remain strong and effective in a changing global context," the Secretary-General stated.
"The Panel's recommendations to me will be available for consideration by the General Assembly at its 2015 General Debate," he concluded.
Beyond Ramos-Horta, the Panel's members include Jean Arnault of France, Abhijit Guha of India, current Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh, Andrew Hughes of Australia, Wang Xuexian of China, Hilde Johnson of Norway, Bruce Jones of Canada, Youssef Mahmoud of Tunisia, B. Lynn Pascoe of the United States, Ian Martin of the United Kingdom, Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu of Ghana, Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto of Brazil and Alexander Ilitchev of Russia.
