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Statement by
Conflict prevention and resolution in Africa is a major concern of the Security Council and is an important part of its work for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Council’s institutional and practical cooperation with the African Union in this regard continues to evolve, moving today in the direction of greater partnership. We welcome this development. There are five major points underlining the Indonesian perspective on this issue. The first point of our outlook is that the quantity and quality of conflicts in Africa have been changing. Conflicts that five or ten years ago may have seemed intractable are now being resolved, particularly in the Great Lakes Region and West Africa. Other difficult problems, however, persisted, in Somalia and Western Sahara, and some new ones have emerged, particularly in East and Central Africa. These conflicts, moreover, are far more complicated and wide-ranging, interlinking intra and inter-state conflict dynamics. The United Nations together with the African Union and sub-regional organizations have confronted these issues and are deploying new ways of cooperating and collaborating to address recent and persistent conflicts. Second, preventive measures are cost effective and save lives. The best way to maintain peace and security is to stop conflicts before they start and when they do start, to keep them contained. The tinderbox of unrest in Africa needs to be monitored and kept in check list if it threaten to ignite around polarizing issues and in the face of economic adversity and deprivation. In order to prevent a flame from becoming a wildfire, we need an awareness of the possibility that conflict may occur at an early point. An early warning mechanism helps to alert us to potential or latent conflicts. While the concept of an early-warning system is not new, we believe its full potential has not been realized. It is not enough to be simply aware of conflict hot-spots. We need resources and a means to alter the situation on the ground and contribute to the maintenance of peace, as well as predict where conflict may arise. It has never been very clear, however, what constitutes preventive measures by the international community and what falls within the domestic jurisdiction of states in accordance with Article 2 of the UN Charter. It is, however, clear that conflicts in Africa today are, with one exception, inter-state conflicts. We believe that countries have the primary responsibility to prevent and resolve their internal conflicts. The prevention methods called for in the Secretary-General’s report last year on the prevention of armed conflict are applicable; in all cases these include structural, operational, and systematic prevention methods Our next point, Mr. President, is that conflict prevention is closely related to efforts to address the root causes of conflict. Particularly important to consider is that sources of conflict are frequently economic and social in nature. Consequently, the Security Council should engage more closely its partners in the UN system that are competent in economic and social issues. Indeed, Article 65 of the Charter lays the foundation for such cooperation. The Security Council affirmed, in resolution 1625, its determination to cooperate with the ECOSOC. Fourthly, Mr. President, while we-€an and should-do all we can to prevent conflict in Africa. In terms of troop commitments to peacekeeping, there are many advantages to troops being drawn from within the African region. As recently highlighted in Darfur and Somalia, we need to put some mechanisms into place whereby more troops can be trained and the African Standby Force can be truly operational. Utilizing regional forces is beneficial as it has the advantage of familiarity with the region, cultures and people — and in many cases has the potential of gaining greater trust among the parties. Such forces could also be deployed faster and have an immediate impact on the ground while the Security Council considers the issue. There are also greater incentives to commit troops to conflicts in neighboring countries, because of their inherent interest in regional stability. It is essential that UN peacekeeping operations or UN mandated operations are neutral and perceived as such. Finally, we are convinced that UN-AU cooperation,
coordination and collaboration are essential for the maintenance of
peace and security in Africa. We welcome recent strengthening of that
cooperation, where African countries and the AU play a central role,
while the UN strengthens the provision of resources for the AU. Mr. President, A multi-pronged approach is required to prevent, resolve, and eradicate violent conflict in Africa. There are promising signs in many of the existing conflicts in Africa today, and with appropriate preventive and innovative measures, we may be able to ensure that there are fewer human tragedies in the region in the future. We should commit our intellectual, political, financial, and institutional resources to this effort and develop more advanced coordination with regional economic and political institutions. The time to act is now. I thank you, Mr. President.
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