KEEPING PEACE THROUGH DIPLOMACY: Experiences of a Lady Diplomat SEMINAR ON GENDER IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATION

Transcription

1 KEEPING PEACE THROUGH DIPLOMACY: Experiences of a Lady Diplomat SEMINAR ON GENDER IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATION

2 2) Purpose of this Seminar This Seminar is to expose the participants on the importance of the involvement and function of peacekeeping, irrespective of the gender issue, in order to achieve the peacekeeping objectives. However, the organizers would like me to highlight the gender aspect and provide guide to integrating gender into the planning process for peacekeeping operations.

3 3) Career Diplomat I have had interesting experiences as a lady Ambassador during the 32 years of my service as a career diplomat. I had been posted to serve in many countries Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and twice to the United States. Four of these posts were at the Ambassadorial level. My last post before retirement was as Ambassador to the United States of America.

4 4) Malaysia at the United Nations My PhD thesis was on Malaysia at the United Nations: A Study of Foreign Policy Priorities, which I have published as a book. I am currently an Adjunct Professor at the Dept. of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya.

5 5) Diplomacy I am a diplomat and you are soldiers let me underline the basic difference in our work. Please take note of the important adage that Diplomacy is the front line of defence. It is when diplomacy fails that force steps in.

6 6) Keeping Peace through Diplomacy My stint at the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna as Malaysia s Permanent Representative had left a lasting impression on me, given the importance of diplomacy for keeping peace. Negotiations are important between conflicting parties thus the importance of jaw-jaw and not war-war.

7 7) Millennium Development Goals The United Nations focuses on gender equality and women s empowerment not only as human rights but also because they are pathways to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development. Millennium Development Goals are 8 international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in Out of these 8 goals, the third goal is to promote gender equality and empower women. Malaysia as a member of the UN has also committed to help achieve these goals, among them to promote gender equality and empowering women

8 8) Peacekeeping Definition of Peacekeeping? Peacekeeping, as defined by the United Nations, is a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace. Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the UN to assist host countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional mandates. UN peacekeepers provide security and the political and peace building support to help countries make the difficult early transition from conflict to peace. A Peacekeeping Operation consists of military, police and civilian personnel who work to deliver, security, political and early peace building support.

9 9) Peacekeeping Operations Peacekeeping is flexible and over the past two decades has been deployed in many configurations. There are currently 17 UN peace operations deployed in 4 continents. Today s multidimensional peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security but also to facilitate the political process, protect civilians, assist in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, support the organization of elections, protect and promote human rights and assist in restoring the rule of law.

10 10) Gender Issue Is gender an important aspect to consider when the country tries to achieve its objectives in defending and promoting the national interests? To tell you the truth, as a lady ambassador I do not worry too much about gender but about the objectives to be achieved, whether you are a male or female diplomat. So should you as a soldier and armed personnel, male or female.

11 11) Diplomatic Experiences As a lady diplomat and an ambassador, I have had interesting experiences in keeping peace through diplomacy when I served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations Office in Geneva and in Vienna.

12 12) Nuclear Weapons As a young officer I had been trained as a disarmament fellow by the UN and little did I expect that I would become the President of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva dealing with nuclear issues which pose a very big threat to the safety of this world, judging by what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which had experienced nuclear bombing. As Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, I was invited to address the 2002 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in August 2002 in Hiroshima as a tribute to the victims of the weapons of mass destruction. My presence for the first time in the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which had suffered from the devastating effects of a nuclear bomb explosion had further strengthened my personal resolve to fight for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are not, as claimed by countries who maintain them, weapons of deterrence, but rather are weapons of human annihilation. While in Vienna, I dealt with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the issue of Iran s nuclear programme. As Ambassador to the United States, I dealt with a nuclear power whose possession of nuclear weapons could always be a threat in case war is to break out, especially with Russia and China, who are also nuclear powers.

13 13) Issue of Gender in Peacekeeping Operation Should Malaysia continue to take women into peacekeeping operations? The answer is certainly yes because woman can play an important role too besides the men. Since global problems are on the increase, it is important that women should play a role in resolving these problems, together with men, in line with the Millennium Development Goals. One area of participation would be in peacekeeping and it is in this regard that the Malaysian Peacekeeping Training Centre in Port Dickson could play an important role since it was established to train and provide Armed Forces officers, Royal Malaysian Police and NGOs with appropriate knowledge in peacekeeping prior to their assignment with the UN. Together, men and women will fight for peace and keep peace, the objectives for both gender will remain one and the same.

14 14) Women s Role in Peacekeeping The involvement of women will emphasize the gender equality and provide the female intuition into decision making especially when it involves women and children as victims of war. UN Peacekeeping work to ensure that the voice of women and girls are included in all areas of peacekeeping. This includes supporting local women to participate in peace processes, protecting women and girls from sexual violence, advocating and promoting the inclusion of women in electoral systems, providing support in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme and engaging women s voices in legal and judicial procedures. Female peacekeepers will act as role models in the local environment, inspiring women and girls in often male-dominated societies to push for their own rights and for participation in peace processes

15 15) Security Council Resolutions UN Peacekeeping is mandated to address gender through specific Security Council Resolutions on Women and Security. Thus the importance of including women in peacekeeping operations since women may have different techniques and psychology on how to deal with the victims of war, especially women and children.

16 16) Countries in Conflict As a soldier, whether male or female, what is Important is to bring peace back to countries that are in conflict, so that mankind can achieve progress in peace and harmony. But if war is to break out, who will be affected? men, women and children. A country that is in turmoil and trying to achieve peace also includes men, women and children. Just take a look at what is happening now in Gaza, Palestine. Thus far, during one month of indiscriminate brutality by Israel against Gaza, 1,875 Palestinians and 67 Israelis have been killed. And while the overwhelming majority of Palestinians dead are civilians 430 of them children and 64 of the Israelis dead are soldiers, it is Hamas that is branded terrorist, rather than the Israeli armed forces armed with the most sophisticated targeting technology in the world.

17 17) Malaysia s bid for UNSC seat Malaysia s peacekeeping initiatives would help our bid for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) non-permanent seat for which will be decided in October this year. If Malaysia is successful, we would play even a more meaningful role in peacekeeping efforts through the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council

18 18) UN Security Council Resolutions It was UN Security Council resolution 1325 in October 2000 on women, peace and security which became the breakthrough for the establishment of an institutional framework to address the concerns and roles of women in conflict environments. This resolution was the fruit of the combined efforts of women s organizations in conflict-affected areas and the UN system, as well as the firm support of some members of the UN Security Council. Security Council resolution 1325 recognizes the contribution of women to the maintenance of and promotion of peace and security and also reaffirms women s roles in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and peace-building. In 2013, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2122 which among others calls for stronger measures regarding women s participation in conflict and post-conflict processes such as peace talks, gender expertise in peacekeeping missions, improved information about the impact of armed conflict on women, and more direct briefing to the Council on progress in these areas.

19 19) Malaysia s Role in Peacekeeping Malaysia has traditionally been a major contributor in terms of personnel for peacekeeping operations under UN aegis. Malaysia s biggest battalion is currently in Lebanon. Malaysia also has monitors in a number of African countries such as the Congo, South Sudan, Western Sahara etc. Malaysia has had large peacekeeping troops in Bosnia and Somalia. The peacekeeping operations in Somalia were headed by a Malaysian. Malaysia currently has nearly 1,200 peace keeping troops stationed around the world. According to Dato Hussein Haniff, our Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, our training programmes held in Malaysia for peacekeepers and personnel from several developing countries have been well appreciated internationally.

20 20) Malaysia s Contribution to Peacekeeping In May 2014 Foreign Minister Dato Sri Anifah Aman highlighted Malaysia s peacekeeping contributions in Malaysia s bid for the UNSC candidature. Anifah highlighted Malaysia s contribution for nearly 55 years to UN Peacekeeping Operations which meanwhile evolved from the traditional peacekeeping activities to the establishment of transnational authority providing electoral assistance and preventing human-rights violations and monitoring enforcement of sanctions.

21 21) Malaysia s Participation in Peacekeeping Malaysia has participated in over 30 peacekeeping operations since 1960 and contributed a total of 29,000 peacekeepers to the PKO. Currently there are 932 Malaysian military and police personnel serving in various capacities in seven UN missions, the largest contingent being in Lebanon. Malaysia s first UN peacekeeping mission was in the Republic of Congo in 1960 soon after it joined the UN in 1957

22 22) Changing Nature of Peacekeeping In the last decade, the nature of conflicts has changed. Peacekeepers are no longer dealing with inter-state conflict but in complex intra-state conflict and civil wars which require longer term interventions. The increasing complexities of working in conflict-torn countries in recent years have also resulted in the expectations that peacekeeping missions will operate in ways which go beyond their original mandate of maintaining peace and security. UN peacekeeping and peace building missions today are increasingly involved in assisting political processes, supporting judicial, training law enforcement and police forces, disarming and reintegrating former combatants and supporting the return of internally displaced persons and refugees

23 23) Speech by UNSG Ban Ki-Moon UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon s speech at the Peacekeeping Training Centre in Port Dickson on 22 March 2012 highlighted that: Peacekeepers must be versatile, flexible, ready to deploy anywhere in the world. You must be able to able to wear many hats in this job not just the blue helmets of peacekeepers. These days, you must also be peace-builders, helping to create trust in our UN mission and reaching out to all communities and groups. In a way, you are called upon to be diplomats, like us. To emphasize that modern peacekeepers wear many hats, Ban Ki Moon said that You have to understand more than military tactics and logistics. More and more, you have to know the culture in which you operate. That means knowing the local language, understanding its ethnic or religious diversity, having a sense of its history. You may be involved in maintaining security during elections. You might find that you can help defuse local tensions that might otherwise flare into conflict. And always always you must be the face of the United Nations. A human face that people can look to with trust and respect, and never fear. Simply put, we are aiming for the highest possible performance from all of the women and men who serve. There is only one standard: the best.

24 24) Culture UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon had underlined a very important point when he pointed out that peacekeepers need to understand the culture of the country in which he/she operates, that means knowing the local language, understanding its ethnic and religious diversity. In the same manner, career diplomats get posted to a different country every 3 or 4 years and it is essential that he/she tries to adapt quickly to the culture of the place she/he gets posted to so that it would be easier to operate. For instance the culture in Saudi Arabia as a Muslim country would be different from that in United Kingdom where a woman need not wear a hijab and can drive a car. So understanding the culture and environment of the place that a peacekeeper is to be posted to should be an important part of the training programme

25 25) Art of Diplomacy Peacekeepers should also learn the art of diplomacy. Many problems can be resolved through quite diplomacy as Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak did in resolving the MH 17 issue in Ukraine. Maybe a talk by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) which trains our diplomats on the art and practice of diplomacy could be a useful experience for our peacekeeping participants. IDFR could also give a talk on the country to which our peacekeepers would be posted to, including the role of the Malaysian Embassy in that country. In simple terms, diplomacy is the art of saying no without saying no. What is important is to achieve your objectives as peacekeepers without having to resort to violence

26 26) Role of Entertaining When I was a young diplomat, I learnt the art of resolving differences in position between countries at United Nations Conferences through discussions at lunch, dinner and coffee breaks. Why is this so? It is because when one is relaxing over a meal or a cup of coffee, differences in opinion can be easily resolved. That is why there are many coffee places at the United Nations in New York and my four year old niece says that a diplomat s job is to makan-makan.

27 27) Congratulations I would like to congratulate all the trainees today, especially the ladies, for having been chosen as peacekeepers in problem areas of the world. It is certainly not an easy task to perform, in terms of safety and operation, and I salute all of you for being chosen. At the end of the day, focus on the objectives to be achieved which would contribute to the peace and harmony in this world.

28 28) Thank You Good Luck on your Peacekeeping Mission and Bon Voyage.