Canada & the UN >  Canada on the Security Council (1999-2000)

Summary of Key Observations

The seminar Canada on the Security Council 1999-2000: Objectives for the Second Year and Beyond focused on the need to maintain the momentum of reforms achieved in the first year of Canada’s term on the Council and looked to practical measures for further advancement of the Canadian priorities of increased Council accountability and broadening its mandate to embrace the concept of human security. The following observations were put forward as a contribution to those goals. The order in which they appear does not reflect their relative importance.

Significant progress has been made in restoring authority and credibility to the Security Council. There is now greater transparency and inclusiveness and a gradual broadening of its mandate to embrace the concept of human security and Canada has played a role in achieving that progress. Canada should continue to pursue its transparency agenda, and it should continue to speak out for Security Council reform, including membership and veto issues.

Rather than looking to new directions, Canada should build on its achievements in inserting human security in the Council agenda. It should consolidate and institutionalize new processes and establish models for Security Council activity that will ensure a Canadian legacy. Canada should carry its Security Council agenda to other areas of the UN to ensure that the reform effort is continued.

The issue of resources remains a matter of concern. The new human security challenges, like threats to civilian populations in conflict zones, will require the Security Council to address the problem of resources and long-term management. If the UN is to undertake complex peace support missions sufficient financial, personnel and logistic resources must be made available. If the adequate resources are not available, the UN should perhaps reconsider its involvement. Canada might consider sponsoring an international conference on the UN and peace-keeping to consider the question of financing. Canada should ensure a clear definition of its peace and security agenda and be aware of the resource implications. Canada should continue to define its niche role in peace-keeping and peace-building activities. This is a long-term issue that may entail an increase in training and budget of the Canadian Forces.

While supporting a wider interpretation of Chapter VII of the Charter, Canada should establish priorities so that the Security Council’s capacities are not overwhelmed. Canada should keep in mind that other UN organs might be better suited to deal with certain issues and ensure that its human security agenda is pursued beyond the Security Council.

Canada should seek a leadership role in an informal way, working through existing structures and institutions and better utilizing the functions of the Secretary General. It should also work to improve coordination between the political and developmental sides of the UN, in order to encourage a continuum from conflict resolution to post-conflict initiatives. In the area of humanitarian assistance, Canada should encourage the UN to take advantage of the potential already in place within existing international legal instruments, for instance the Convention on Genocide. There are norms under present international law that could be strengthened to offer a choice other than military intervention.

Canada could encourage the Council to look at the root causes of conflicts, acting on a case by case basis, while recognizing that knowledge of root causes may be limited in some instances. In its second year, Canada should focus on building the conceptual groundwork for human security through an emphasis on conflict prevention and pro-active responses that build peace as well as enforce it.

Canada has achieved marked success in the area of sanctions. Canada should try to apply the Angolan model to other sanctions regimes in the hope of having it adopted as the standard method of practice. Targeted sanctions, such as actions against the financial resources of the elites, that would spare the civilian population, offer a promising alternative to the present situation or to a shift from economic to military sanctions. A Sanctions Watch organization that would gather objective data on UN sanctions and work to encourage compliance with Security Council resolutions might be considered. Regional organizations might also be encouraged to broaden the scope of their existing institutions and agreements to assist in the enforcement of non-military sanctions.

The Security Council should receive information from a greater variety of sources, including NGOs. The Council should learn from experiences in Rwanda and East Timor.

Partnerships and outreach should be encouraged. Transparency in Security Council operations could be greatly enhanced by taking advantage of the World Wide Web to disseminate information to regular UN members and the general public. Canada might provide assistance to smaller states in setting up their own Web sites. There might also be opportunities for Canada to further the cause of Council reform through the promotion of issue-related meetings of NGOs and conferences between like-minded states for the purpose of exchanging ideas on the UN and human security. Increased co-operation with NGOs working in relevant policy areas should be encouraged. The UN should continue to build partnerships with NGOs.