UN, June 18. /TASS/. The efficiency of UN peacekeeping missions depends on the level of cooperation between the peacekeepers’ leadership, local officials and conflict parties, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya informed on Tuesday at the UN Security Council session.
"The key to the success of any UN peacekeeping operation is establishing the day-to-day constructive cooperation between peacekeepers, local government bodies, and sides to the conflict, as well as following the key goals of the mission in the deployment country," he noted. "It is clear that the receiving parties assume the main responsibility for the protection of civilians and establishing political process, eliminating crisis factors and facilitating post-crisis recovery. We think that there is potential for involving the deployment states in full-fledged cooperation between the UN Security Council, the UN Secretariat and the troop-contributing countries. I am confident that this would raise the efficiency of the operations."
The peacekeepers’ aim "is not to replace the government bodies, but to provide the necessary support in stabilizing the situation to exit a crisis." "The countries in which the peacekeepers have managed to establish effective cooperation with the governments of the deployment states have created the favorable conditions for the post-crisis national reconciliation and recovery," Nebenzya stressed.
The Russian envoy addressed the leadership of the peacekeeping operation in Darfur, urging them to "ensure a smooth transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding."
"We hope that this will take place in Darfur in the context of the downsizing of the joint operation of the UN and the African Union, set for the year 2020," he added.
An armed conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 because of disagreements between the Arabized population relying on Khartoum’s support and rebel groups of the local population. In 2006, a truce was agreed on. The number of the victims of the armed conflict is estimated at 300,000, about 2 million people had to leave their homes. Since then, peacekeepers have been operating in the region.