"We should think creatively about the part that policing can play in resolving instability"
Statement by Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of the UK Mission to the United Nations at the Security Council Briefing with UN Police Commissioners
As President let me thank everyone for asking so many questions, too many in fact to respond to all of them in the session today. So let me pull together the three overarching themes that have come out from the questions and ask our briefers to respond to those.
Firstly is the co-operation inside missions, between police components and other parts as they relate to the protection of civilians. The second is the institutional framework, including our own role in this Council, on supporting policing as part of peace operations. And thirdly, there are questions related to resources and capabilities of policing, including crucially, the role of women in policing.
Let me say a little bit more about each theme. Under the first theme, some of the questions are an important follow up to the Secretary-General’s report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in June and I hope that they will be also a key part of the upcoming independent police review. For instance, how effective is co-operation between police and other force components when dealing with the protection of civilians. Are rules of engagement clear? Do they differ for the police and for the force? How far do the police components coordinate with political affairs sections within missions particularly on issues like electoral violence?
On the second theme, the institutional framework, the starting point is that the police component of peacekeeping is quite often neglected compared with others. So we should think creatively about the part that policing can play in resolving instability. Is Security Council Resolution 2185 fully effective? What more do you need from us in this Council? What more needs to be done to ensure that mission leadership understands the role of UN policing? There is a lot of support I think for having this briefing every year and we look forward to working with the Presidency of Senegal which will be next November.
And thirdly, lots of questions about resources and capabilities of policing, some directed at specific Commissioners which I will not recap now and will leave you to respond to them. A number of questions about the important role of women in policing as well as comments about the strategic guidance framework. And finally, some about the use of technology, other equipment and management.
So I’ll return the floor back now to the briefers for responses to questions posed and for any other brief remarks that they may wish to offer.