00:00 We have a more divided world.
00:02 We have conflicts that are multiplying.
00:05 And we have more threats and a deteriorated security
00:10 environment in most of our peacekeeping operations.
00:12 How can we deal with that?
00:14 How can we deal with misinformation
00:16 and disinformation?
00:17 How can we deal with the negative impact
00:20 of new technologies, armed groups, terrorism,
00:25 the illegal exploitation of natural resources,
00:29 and all these factors of conflict?
00:33 We've done a lot of trying to address all these challenges,
00:40 all these initiatives on safety and security,
00:42 or misinformation, disinformation,
00:43 and many other-- more women in peacekeeping.
00:46 We call that action for peacekeeping.
00:49 We need to continue, but we need to go further.
00:52 And this meeting in Accra is an opportunity
00:55 to look at what we've done and what more needs to be done.
00:59 In Africa, there have been some successes.
01:01 We are talking about South Sudan and also
01:04 Central Africa Republic.
01:05 But in Mali and DR Congo, the success hasn't been there.
01:09 How do you feel about the mixed successes
01:11 you've chalked in Africa?
01:13 In Mali, the mission has been faced
01:16 with the phenomenon for which there
01:19 needs to be another response.
01:21 I mean, I'm not saying, again, that MINUSMA
01:23 did a lot in Mali in terms of protecting civilians
01:26 and helping the state capacities to be strengthened.
01:31 But the regional terrorism that is affecting Mali
01:36 requires another type of response.
01:38 That's why also the UN supports a strengthening
01:43 of peace enforcement operation, particularly
01:45 African peace enforcement operation.
01:49 In the DR Congo, we are also faced
01:51 with a number of challenges.
01:53 Again, that doesn't mean that we don't do a lot for population.
02:00 But we have this sort of regional conflict
02:02 that doesn't speak its name in the Great Lakes.
02:05 However, I think it's important to highlight
02:08 from my personal experience that when
02:12 you go to the places where our peacekeepers are deployed
02:17 and you meet the population that they are protecting,
02:19 that they are interacting with, the feedback
02:22 is always positive.
02:24 They never tell us, go away.
02:26 Neither in Mali, nor in the DRC, certainly not
02:29 the Central African Republic, South Sudan.
02:32 That doesn't mean that they may not criticize us.
02:35 They may ask us, OK, do more.
02:37 We need this.
02:37 We need that.
02:38 Now, talking about reforms that have been called for UN
02:41 peacekeeping mission mandates to be reformed so that your troops
02:45 can have more power to be proactive instead of being
02:47 reactionary, what will you say to that?
02:50 It's not peace enforcement.
02:52 We're not waging war.
02:54 But we have mandates that enable us to do a lot.
02:56 And actually, our peacekeepers are
02:58 doing a lot in countering the threats like these armed groups
03:04 and other forms of threats.
03:08 And the mandates allow that.
03:11 But there needs to be more effort, certainly,
03:14 to make sure that we make the full use.
03:16 And at the same time, when peacekeeping reaches its limit,
03:19 when it's about peace enforcement against terrorism,
03:23 against these kind of threats, when
03:26 there is no peace to keep, then it
03:28 has to be something else than peacekeeping.
03:30 Why will you argue still for the relevance of the UN
03:33 peacekeeping mission?
03:34 First of all, we should think of what the alternative is.
03:38 Do we have better alternative?
03:39 What if tomorrow you remove all these peace corporations?
03:43 What about the ceasefires that are being protected and monitored?
03:46 What about the hundreds of thousands of civilians
03:48 that are protected?
03:49 And sometimes, the peacekeepers are
03:51 alone in protecting these hundreds of thousands
03:55 of civilians.
03:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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