A stand-by peace-keeping component welcomed: an agenda for peace.

The initiative undertaken by the UN Secretariat for the creation of a "stand-by Headquarters component within the Mission Planning Service of the Department of Peace-keeping Operations" was welcomed by the Security Council on 19 December.

In a statement by its President, Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation, the Council also encouraged Member States "not yet doing so" to participate in the stand-by arrangements. It invited them, along with States already taking part in such arrangements, to provide information in "as detailed a manner as possible" on those elements which they were ready to make available to the UN, and to "identify components, such as logistic support elements and sea/airlift resources, presently underrepresented in the arrangement".

In strongly supporting the Secretary-General's efforts to enhance the UN capacity for the "planning, rapid deployment and reinforcement and logistical support" of peace-keeping operations, the Council also joined with him in suggesting the establishment of "partnerships between those troop-contributing countries that need equipment for units that may be provided to the United Nations and those Governments ready to provide such equipment and other support".

Council debate

There was a need for a "more formal and institutionalized mechanism of consultations" between troop contributors and the Security Council, including, perhaps, the establishment of a subsidiary consultative organ to be chaired by a Council member specially appointed every year, Emilio J. Cardenas of Argentina said in Council debate on 20 December, as it held a special meeting to consider "An Agenda for Peace".

Speaking for a group of 32 countries, Ambassador Cardenas also suggested that the Council, when considering the establishment of a new operation, should consult potential troop contributors already approached by the Secretariat and continue its practice of inviting to those meetings Member States that had made "special contributions to peace-keeping operations, other than troops", such as trust funds, logistics and equipment.

Alain Dejammet of France, while favouring the strengthened information flow among partners in peace-keeping operations, questioned the "merit of attempting to make such consultations a form of Security Council meeting". Behind such suggestions, he felt, there might be a "political, rather than a practical reasoning, linked to the idea of opening Council sessions to States that were not members of the Council".

Karl F. Inderfurth of the United States said the Council should consider "further refinement and improvement in consultative arrangements" with troop-contributors. However, the existing basic format was a "good one", and efforts should be directed towards strengthening it, rather than setting it aside in favour of new arrangements.

Ahmad Kamal of Pakistan, in stating that a system of prior consultations between Council members, prospective troop-contributors and the Secretariat should be institutionalized, declared that peace-keeping operations exemplified the "sustained political commitment of Member States to the concept of collective security and maintenance of international peace and security".

No rapid reaction capability yet

The system of stand-by arrangements, whose purpose was to have a "precise understanding of the forces and other capabilities a Member State will have available at a given state of readiness", had proven "most useful in its ability to expedite planning", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali reported (S/1995/943) on 10 November.

Nevertheless, while there was "certainly no lack of willingness" to make troops and equipment available to the stand-by arrangement for peace-keeping operations--as of 31 October, 47 Member States had made such pledges, involving a total of 55,000 personnel, compared to 21 States with some 30,000 troops in 1994--the UN was "currently far from having a rapid reaction capability", he said.

In welcoming the Member States' recent initiatives in that regard, the Secretary-General stated that the Secretariat, for its part, would continue its dialogue with Governments, "with a view to broadening the geographical base of available resources and obtaining the information necessary to facilitate and accelerate the organization, planning and deployment of peace-keeping operations.