Thank you Madam President,
I thank the briefers for their comprehensive overviews and the South African Presidency for organizing today’s debate.
The UN and member states approach to the Security Sector Reform (SSR) has over the years been increasingly linked to a wider peacebuilding, sustaining peace and prevention agenda. There is a growing understanding that the SSR dialogue does not reach its full potential and effectiveness if it is only kept to the post-conflict realm, but rather there needs to be a holistic view to the SSR throughout the entire cycle of conflict. Estonia is of the view that early capacity building can prevent countries and communities from relapsing into violence after an active phase of conflict has ended.
Having a whole of society and whole of system view to the SSR is indispensable. The reform of the security institutions as well as security providers needs to take into account the local sensitivities, the context and relevant actors on the ground. This can only be achieved through local, national and regional ownership of the reform process. In this context, we commend the role that the African Union has taken as a mediator and facilitator in negotiations on the SSR specific provisions in political and peace processes.
Moreover, we are encouraged to see progress in the SSR field at country level. Somalia, for example, has made considerable inroads with the security sector reform by getting help both from the United Nations as well as African Union. The Joint Security Sector Governance Programme (JSSGP) is aimed at increasing civilian oversight of the security sector reforms. Importantly, the Programme also supports the engagement of civil society, with a focus on women and youth-based organisations, in the SSR process.
Madam President,
One of the key gaps identified by the UN in the SSR processes has been the lack of the inclusion of women in the security sector and institution building processes, as well as in the dialogues leading to peacebuilding and sustaining peace. It is important not only to include women in the formal processes and official bodies related to the security sector, but to ensure that the SSR is being designed to be gender-responsive. That includes ensuring a gender-sensitive humanitarian response. It is essential to have clear guidelines on how to include more women from all aspects of the society into the SSR process, the judicial reforms and political dialogue on peacebuilding and on sustaining peace. Unfortunately, it is often women and girls that are disproportionately affected by an armed conflict and it is therefore extremely important to make their voices heard.
A crucial aspect of reforming and governing the security sector is the question of accountability and the respect for human rights. There needs to be a greater focus on the human rights based approaches to SSR. It is an important aspect in the overall aim to resolve the root causes of the conflict. Effectively addressing human rights violations and abuses by building accountability into the security sector is a key in restoring trust between the people and the State that is so often lacking in the conflict-ridden societies. Making sure that all perpetrators of crimes against civilians are being held accountable and rooting out the culture of impunity needs to be part of a holistic approach to healing societies and creating conditions for sustainable peace.
Finally, Estonia fully supports the efforts of the UN in improving the effectiveness of peace operations. In this context it is essential to continue finding better and more efficient ways to design and implement the international coordination mechanisms that would support the SSR processes.
Thank you.