UN
Women,
Peace &
Security
Statement
Stalls on
Mandate Creep
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 23 --
As the Women,
Peace and
Security
debate of
the UN
Security
Council
entered its
resumed
afternoon
session with
fully 32 more
speakers to
go, the draft
Presidential
Statement had
still not been
agreed to.
The
UK
criticized the
delay, while a
number of
other Security
Council
delegations
said the draft
tried to
expand too far
the mandate of
UN's Sexual
Violence in
Conflict
expert, Margot
Wallstrom.
These
countries,
which raised
the same
issues
regarding the
Children and
Armed Conflict
mandate of
outgoing
expert Radhika
Coomaraswamy,
say
the work
should focus
on situation
of armed
conflict,
which can be
defined, and
not extend to
"areas of
concern."
Wallstrom,
on the
other hand,
told Inner
City Press
that the work
of her unit
needs to
remain
"relevant" to
deal with new
situations. In
her
speech to the
Security
Council she
raised, among
others, Libya
(abduction of
women), Syria
(sexual abuse
of imprisoned
men),
developments
in Guinea and
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo.
The
third
speaker, Amina
Megheirbi of
the NGO
Working Group
on WP&S,
also brought
up Sri Lanka.
The country
has been ever
more in the
news
at the UN
since it tried
to get General
Shavendra
Silva, named
in the
UN Panel of
Experts
Report, made a
member of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
Senior
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping
Operations.
Inner
City
Press for
twenty six
days
questioned
Ban, and his
head of
peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous,
about Silva as
adviser, only
to be told
that neither
had any
position, it
was entirely
up to member
states.
Even
now
when belatedly
the
chairperson of
the SAG Louise
Frechette
barred
Silva from the
Group, twice
outside the
WP&S
session Herve
Ladsous
refused to
comment in any
way on whether
Silva should
have
been a UN
adviser on
peacekeeping.
Meanwhile
inside the
Council,
Ladsous
pontificated
about
accountability,
even about
vetting
Congolese
armed groups
for rights
violations.
Why then no
position on an
alleged war
criminal as an
adviser on UN
peacekeeping?
Wallstrom,
to her
credit,
answered Inner
City Press'
question on
Silva, click
here to
view.
As
it
hit 4 pm,
still the PRST
had not been
agreed to. One
speaker told
Inner City
Press he took
out of his
speech a line
regretting the
failure to
agree,
thinking that
a deal would
be made. At
4:06 pm,
Italy's
Permanent
Representative
said he hoped
an agreement
could be
reached. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
Radhika
Coomaraswamy
told Inner
City Press she
will stay at
the UN to
the summer,
then will
teach at NYU.
It's said the
staff in her
office
don't yet know
who will
replace it,
even what the
process will
be. Meanwhile
there's talk
of the
creation of a
new position,
a sort of
Special
Representative
on climate
change
investing,
with one Kevin
Parker's name
being
circulated.
We'll see.
, 
