UNIFIL insists problems identified in report 'have been addressed'.

Byline: Andrew Wander

Summary: The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon says it has resolved structural problems that may have prevented it from fulfilling its mandate as recently as a year ago. The issues were flagged up in an internal risk assessment report obtained by The Daily Star which details the findings of an audit conducted.

BEIRUT: The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon says it has resolved structural problems that may have prevented it from fulfilling its mandate as recently as a year ago. The issues were flagged up in an internal risk assessment report obtained by The Daily Star which details the findings of an audit conducted by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

Research for the report was carried out in October 2007 to evaluate UNIFIL's potential weaknesses and the document was sent to the force's commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano in February 2008. It was leaked onto the internet last month along with a slew of other documents relating to United Nations missions.

The report found that it was "likely" that the mission "may not be adequately structured to implement UNIFIL's expanded mandate under Security Council resolution 1701," and hinted that the problem was not a new one.

It said that a previous audit also found that UNIFIL "had not properly structured" its new functions, which were assumed as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hizbullah that ended July War in 2006.Aa

UNIFIL spokesperson Yasmina Bouziane said that since the assessment was received by the force, the problems had been resolved. "These are reports that are publicly available to member states at their request to ensure transparency in our work," she said. "Many of these documents, such as this one, are old reports from the OIOS; in the meantime the issues have been addressed by the mission."

The risk assessment indicated that in the months following its expansion, UNIFIL had failed to establish a set of benchmarks against which the progress of the mission could be judged. This, the report noted, hampered efforts by the UN Security Council to accurately judge the situation in southern Lebanon.

The report noted that "the lack of action" on information about whether "stakeholders" subject to Resolution 1701 were fulfilling their commitments "may result in the failure to monitor the achievement of the mission's mandate."

It also said that despite regular meetings between senior UN military officials from across the region during the first 15 months of UNIFIL's expanded mandate, some the issues raised were not acted upon.

"Although the Force Commanders of UNIFIL, UNTSO [based in Jerusalem] and UNDOF [based on Syrian-Israel border] regularly meet to share their experiences and concerns, these exchanges and concerns are not translated into an action plan," it said.

The risk assessment also found it was "possible" that the UNIFIL's aircraft were not being properly maintained in the months after the expansion. "There were instances that UNIFIL did not comply with regular maintenance schedules and did not conduct aviation safety checks," the report notes.

The assessment did not paint an entirely negative picture of UNIFIL. It found that progress had been made in developing security precautions against the threat of war and terrorist attacks, detailing plans to maintain two weeks worth of food at all military outposts in case supply lines were cut.

It also referred to the improvement of a system of security wardens responsible for coordinating a response in case the political situation deteriorated in the force's area of operations. "UNFIL had made some progress toward establishing proper security and safety mechanisms," it said.

The report's findings were based on a series of meetings and questionnaire responses from senior UNIFIL officials. The authors then calculated the likelihood of series of negative scenarios and the impact that they would have on the mission's success if they occurred. A letter to Graziano accompanying the audit urged the force "to use the results of this risk assessment to put in place appropriate risk mitigation measures." UNIFIL says that this process is now complete.

Copyright 2009, The Daily Star. All rights reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company