Senate Adopts Legarda’s Reso on Review of UN Peacekeeping Operations

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today said that the Senate has adopted on Wednesday (January 21) Senate Resolution No. 1044, which affirms the Senate’s support to the review of the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

Legarda, who filed the Resolution, said that a review of the UN’s peacekeeping operations is needed in light of new challenges and changes in the geopolitical landscape and risks faced by UN international missions.

“In August last year, our Filipino peacekeepers who were conducting their mission at Golan Heights in Syria were forced to defend themselves against Syrian rebels and reposition to avoid further harm. As a founding Member-State of the United Nations and in keeping with our obligations to the international community, our country has at various times deployed peacekeepers to war-torn areas, and though we know the risks, the safety of our soldiers remains our utmost concern. Thus, we support this comprehensive assessment of the state of UN peace operations,” she stressed.

On October 31, 2014, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of a High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, which is tasked to conduct a major external review of UN’s peacekeeping and special political missions. Its findings will be taken up for consideration by the UN General Assembly at its 2015 General Debate.

The Panel is chaired by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta (Timor-Leste) and was originally composed of thirteen (13) other members namely, Jean Arnault (France); Abhijit Guha (India); Ameerah Haq (Bangladesh); Andrew Hughes (Australia); Alexander Ilitchev (Russia); Hilde F. Johnson (Norway); Bruce Jones (Canada); Youssef Mahmoud (Tunisia); Ian Martin (United Kingdom); Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu (Ghana); B. Lynn Pascoe (US); Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto (Brazil); and Wang Xuexian (China).

Three additional female panelists were later included. They are Marie-Louise Baricako (Burundi); Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka); and Rima Salah (Jordan).