Remarks delivered by Mr. Tiyani Ray Sithole, Counsellor, South African Permanent Mission to the United Nations, at the virtual Arria-Formula meeting of the Security Council on “Mandating peace: Enhancing the mediation sensitivity and effectiveness of the UN Security Council”
9 October 2020
South Africa joins other delegations in expressing our appreciation to the Missions of Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Vietnam for convening this meeting to deliberate on the important topic under consideration.
Chairperson,
Before we make brief remarks, we wish to extend our gratitude to Director-General Sybille Sorg, Professor Laurie Nathan, Mr Nicholas Haysom, Ms Nathalie Gherman, Mr Mohammed Ibn Chambas and of course, Co-chairs of the GoF of Mediation, Turkey and Finland for their insightful remarks and comments.
Chairperson,
We wish to make the following three points:
1. Why mediation matters
Mediation matters as one of the instruments in the preventative diplomacy toolbox. The promotion of the peaceful resolution of conflict is a cornerstone of South Africa’s foreign policy. This is born out of our historical experience in successfully and peacefully transitioning to a constitutional democracy based on respect for human rights of all persons - following decades of repressive and discriminatory governance under the Apartheid regime which was dismantled through, amongst others, mediation by the various international partners including the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (EPG).
Chairperson,
As a strong proponent of the peaceful resolution of conflict, including through mediation, South Africa has always been supportive of Secretary-General’s call for a “surge in diplomacy for peace”, in which he calls upon the Security Council to make greater use of Chapter VI of the UN Charter. It is also for that reason South Africa fully supports the appeal for global ceasefire so as States can focus on the battle against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We thus support the promotion of peaceful resolution to conflict through mediation, peace-making, peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts.
UN peacekeeping should not be a means to an end but instead complement these essential tools of peace-making. This has always been part of our priorities during our membership of this Council as an elected member beginning in 2019.
Chairperson,
2. The role of Women and Youth
As we mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1325 resolution, we wish to underscore the vital role women play in mediation, peace-making, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts. The Council’s call to increase the equal participation, representation and full involvement of women in preventive diplomacy efforts, and the call by the General Assembly through resolution 65/283 on strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflict prevention and resolution requires vigorous implementation. This is important as these august organs call for support, as appropriate, local women’s peace initiatives, processes for conflict resolution and initiatives that involved women in implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements, including through the local-level presence of United Nations field missions.
The role young women and men play in the maintenance of international peace and security in line with Council resolutions 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020) is imperative as the Council seeks to enhance its mediation sensitivity and effectiveness.
Chairperson,
3. Partnerships
Mediation is one of the Secretary Generals’ policy priorities and a central element of a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace as outlined in the 2016 twin resolutions of the UNSC and the General Assembly as well as the SG’s reform priorities.
We believe that the existing cooperation through the “Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security” is critical to deepening partnership in order to collectively address the risks and challenges to international peace and security in Africa.
We wish to highlight that the Security Council should continue to support regional mechanisms, including the AU Peace and Security Council, and prioritise consultations with African mediators in specific conflict areas. These individuals should be called upon, where possible, to brief the Security Council, to deepen its understanding of those conflict situations under consideration, as well as the process of mediation and its specific nuances and challenges in different contexts.
In Conclusion, Chairperson
We wish to reiterate our gratitude to Professor Laurie Nathan for the extensive research on the subject matter of mediation whose ground-breaking outcomes and key findings were presented here this morning.
South Africa notes and welcome the recommendations made in the report. For instance, recommendations such as the formation of a Mediation Working Group of the UNSC comprising as many non-permanent members to deepen the UNSC’s understanding of the logic, dynamics and challenges of mediation, both in general and in specific cases is both a salient and futuristic recommendation worth consideration by the Council.
I thank you.
Rev. Tuesday, 13-Oct-2020 8:27 AM