Implementation

The responsibility to protect belongs primarily to States. That is a consolidated principle of international law from which we cannot waver. But there are, unfortunately, far too many situations in the real world where that principle simply does not work because States are too weak or somehow unable to deliver. That is where the United Nations needs to grab hold of the reins, which it can do only if its Members allow it to.

In the past two years, we have had the privilege of having contributed to the development of the evolving conceptual framework behind the protection of civilians in situations of armed conflict.

We strongly support the Secretary-General's “Rights up front” initiative and call for its swift implementation. The initiative, if taken seriously, has the potential not only to help peacekeeping missions to better protect civilians, but also to place the overall goal of protecting people at the centre of the Organization's policies throughout the system.

Whatever the strength of the protection-of-civilians mandates given to peacekeeping operations, they will be effective only if the operations themselves are beyond reproach. That is why we welcome the policies implemented by the Secretary-General to ensure that the work of the United Nations fully respects human rights.

With the aim of assisting Malian authorities in consolidating peace and security and, more generally, in order to find lasting solutions to the crisis in the Sahel region, in close coordination with other regional and international stakeholders, from the beginning the EU Training Mission in Mali has been incorporating the issues of the protection of civilians, human rights and gender in the training curriculum.

Estonia is particularly concerned about the implications of armed conflicts for the most vulnerable groups. There is growing understanding that women and children are impacted uniquely and disproportionately by the effects of conflict and its aftermath. I should like to encourage the Council to include in the mandates of peacekeeping missions provisions on human rights monitoring, with special focus on the rights of children and women.

While the increased use of sexual and gender-based violence as a war tactic has already been addressed in the Security Council, most notably through its resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008), it is undeniable that this kind of violence continues to occur at an alarming rate.

Many other relevant resolutions were also adopted on the protection of civilian populations, including resolution 1612 (2005), on children and armed conflict, which established a monitoring and reporting mechanism for parties to conflict; as well as resolution 1820 (2008), on sexual violence in armed conflict, adopted 19 June 2008, which provides for the possibility of targeted sanctions being imposed on those responsible for such crimes and g

Over the years, Canada has sought to encourage and facilitate serious work on improving how the United Nations prevents and responds to situations of armed conflict. We are principally concerned with addressing the protection needs of the most vulnerable in these contexts — including women, religious communities and children.

With regard to the composition of missions, there needs to be an appropriate structure and the staffing that is required to protect women and children from violence, in particular sexual and gender-based violence. We recognize the United Nations policy of due diligence in the area of human rights, which should continue to be part of mandates for peacekeeping operations.