 So good afternoon again. I hope you are all enjoying your lunch and we ask you to please continue to do so But we're going to go ahead and get started with our keynote our keynote speaker So it's my honor to introduce ambassador George moose Currently serving as the vice chairman board of directors here at USIP a little bit about ambassador moose He's a career member of the US Foreign Service where he attained the rank of career ambassador His service with the US State Department included assignments in Asia Africa the Caribbean in Europe He's held appointments as US ambassador to the Republic of Benin Senegal and from 1991 to 1992. He was US alternate representative to United Nations Security Council in 1993 he was appointed assistant secretary of state for African affairs a position he held until August of 97 from 1998 to 2001 He was a US permanent representative to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva and in June 2007 He was appointed by the White House to the board of directors of the US Institute of Peace where he now serves as I mentioned the vice chair Please welcome. Help me welcome ambassador George moose Thanks very much and As vice chair of the board of the US Institute of Peace, it's a great honor and pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this important workshop We here at the Institute of had a long history of involvement with the United Nations in particular and In an effort to bring our learning and our experience to bear on the enormous challenges that the United Nations faces and no greater challenge than the challenge of peace operations As your Conversations this morning Have helped to reveal the landscape of peacekeeping has never been more complex or more challenging And with under secretary general about through this morning meeting with our president Nancy Lindborg we were cataloging the different situations Where the UN has been called upon to play a Critical role in maintaining peace but going well beyond that in Finding ways to protect civilians in trying to promote Human rights in trying to encourage good governance in dealing with issues of of Institutional incapacity But increasingly having to do that not only in permissive environments But having to do it in in some of the most difficult and dangerous places in the world And having to adapt its operations its policies to those situations Needless to say that makes the challenges of communicating even more difficult The number of constituencies Internal as well as external who have to understand the mission Understand what the UN is there to accomplish and to achieve and hopefully To be a part of that effort in achieving success so we've had this morning conversations about the if you will The conceptual framework for strategic communication, but that all needs to be informed By some practical realities, and I can't think of anybody better To help us understand those practical realities than the current under secretary general for for peace operations at the United Nations Ambassador of a Latzu has headed the department of peacekeeping since October 2011 But he comes to that job with a wealth of experience Primarily in the French foreign service Having served in a number of positions in the French foreign ministry in Asia particularly But also as the deputy permanent representative for France in the United Nations office at the human in New York And more recently as the permanent representative of France to the organization for security and cooperation in Europe in Vienna Experience in some of those areas where UN has been called upon to play peacekeeping roles such as in Indonesia into more or less and more recently as France's ambassador to the people's Republic of China so He brings to this job just an enormous range of both practical and diplomatic experience we were talking specifically about the role he played as the spokesman for The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France and agreed that of all of the missions that a diplomat is called upon to play That is perhaps the most difficult and challenging and therefore He comes with that experience With particular appreciation for the importance of communication and strategic communication. So it's my We are honored to have Him here today. It I think only validates the importance of the subject of this conference And so it's my pleasure to welcome to the podium under secretary general Irvay Latzu and Please join me in walking me. It's the ambassador Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for those kind words. It's the ambassador and Indeed it is also for me a great privilege to be able to address you today under this circumstances where do we just had the report of the review panel coming out last week and this is going to Inform our work over coming weeks and months But then firstly, I would like to thank the United States Institute of Peace and the folk Bernadotte Academy for Organizing this very important meeting today So let me perhaps jump straight into the matter and say describe to you very briefly how critical the juncture is that we are entering for UN peacekeeping Because our work no longer is about manning static positions overlooking Cease fire lines. It is no longer only about monitoring the Implementation of a peace agreement that has been signed between well-defined parties Today peacekeeping is about military and civilian peacekeepers working together To protect civilians to strengthen national security forces to strengthen political institutions To disarm and to demobilize combatants It is about creating a climate of trust that would reduce the levels of violence Create space for reconciliation and peace processes to take hold Ultimately to allow for peace agreements to be signed. It is also about being prepared to use force when necessary About being prepared certainly to defend against attacks So the conflicts that we are addressing today Mostly are within not between states They involve frequently competing modes of governance and protection between the state and the armed groups that have often taken control of various areas of the country in Some places such as in the Sahel The interests of some parties are increasingly linked with transnational crime new asymmetric tactics Suicide bombs, IEDs are now being used by armed actors in some areas where we operate and In Mali indeed we have become the target of such attacks So it is a change in nature and I think it has created new security and political challenges Let me go first through the security challenges The threats have evolved the level of equipment and military training of those who refuse to give up to peace are Evolving constantly attacks are more complex Equipment is more sophisticated and the UN as I said already is more often and not directly targeted so There is a varying increase in the use of asymmetric warfare and Mali is the best illustration for that to Also, ranging to the use of civilians as a tool of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Mali and I think it is important to note that The review panel has highlighted this maybe In part that is my responsibility, but it is very clear that UN peacekeeping is not and will not be a Tool for fighting terrorism. We are not equipped. We are not designed and we shall not do that But at the same time the terrorists are operating. They are fighting us and Indeed the number of casualties over the past year sadly reflects this Regarding the political challenges, there is I think one major one which has come to our mind over the last year or so Even though it's been there for some time that is the non-compliance By host government to the Security Council mandates This can take the form of restrictions of movement. It can be physical moral harassment PNG of even sometimes very senior personnel Detainment of our equipment at the customs and more generally non-cooperative behavior And you know what I'm referring to it's about South Sudan. It's about Sudan. It's about the DRC for instance it is just not possible to work in a more unstable security situation and at the same time to have to fight To oppose to push back the non-cooperation of the host government So I have launched the idea that maybe we should look at the possibility of compacts between the Security Council And the host government and so far the membership has been rather receptive to an idea and again It is an idea that the panel has taken up so Because it does mention it positively and I think there might be some mileage in this and I can confide in you that will probably try to Apply it Experimentally in the case of the Central African Republic because conditions might be just about right for that I Apologize I got a bad cold traveling a few days ago So facing these new challenges security council has mandated us with increasingly complex and challenging mandates We do have nowadays 125,000 military police and civilians in 16 operations around the world and that's more than ever before So in all these areas from the Golden Heights to the DRC from CAR to Haiti We have to undertake a broad array of tasks in very diverse environments The expectations of the council vis-a-vis us have grown tremendously first of course we are Expected to protect civilians from conflict that is the core of our mandates nowadays But also we do have a number of what we call multi-dimensional functions Supporting stabilization supporting the extension of the authority of the state strengthening the rule of law addressing gender equality inequality Protecting human rights obviously to mention just a few so in order to prepare our peacekeepers to rise to the challenge of What we face today has been in my almost four years on the job a very important personal priority My focus has been on enhancing performance and this particular year perhaps more than any before It's about modernizing. It's about professionalizing. It's about standardizing peacekeeping creating systems that ensure that we are constantly adapting and Incorporating new tools and break processes and I'll just mention four ways in which we are doing this the creation upon my request two years ago by the General Assembly of The office for peacekeeping strategic partnership Sorry, that's you and speak but actually I always refer it to as the inspector general because that is what it's about Led by in fact the streets your three-star general This is a tool to identify gaps opportunities and lessons that we can learn that have an impact on the delivery of mandates for Unibuy uniform personnel So there are periodic reviews of our operations both on the ground Also in headquarters and to make the adjustments were needed The whole goal being to make our operations more nimble leaner more responsive as the needs evolve on the ground for instance in Unimed in Darfur We discovered there was a whole bunch of prison wardens I know you're supposed politically correct speaking to be to say correction officers, but prison wardens They are the fact is that we have a whole bunch of them in El Fasher But they never had any access to prisons. No one are likely to have so obviously the whole team had to pack You know and we recall them is a sort of concrete elements, you know that are just common sense so we have adapted a second element is that we have to Ensure that our people possess the capabilities that are necessary to implement the mandates They need to be prepared to respond to major changes in the security situation as short notice And this was the case 18 months ago if you remember in South Sudan in December 13 This of course requires us to have very robust very mobile capabilities and reserve capabilities to change Sometimes and in the particular case of South Sudan radically our posture and of course Being able to counter the use of asymmetric tactics of psychological operations All that requires a better access to intelligence It requires timely threat assessments. It requires more sophisticated Technology and these three areas are a high priority to me technology and intelligence in particular So to respond to all these needs with our brothers in the field support We have created the uniformed capabilities development agenda and identified eight priority areas for which we need to Develop to improve our performance. So eight work streams Which range from existing or emerging challenges will? Guide our efforts ultimately the goal remaining to make our peacekeepers more fit for purpose in this increasingly non permissive and dangerous environment third For peacekeeping to be effective in the 21st century We must have access to 21st century tools and this brings me back to the subject of technology The symbol of that has been the use that we pioneered of unmanned aerial vehicles surveillance drones surveillance exclusively of course in the DRC and since we've had them may fast not only Made a tremendous difference in the way we work, but also it has actually contributed greatly to the better protection of the civilians and of course to the better protection of our people and Now that it's been a good experience Actually, this has launched a whole process To reflect on the use of technology and innovation and we had a rather remarkable report on this last winter Which we are implementing because they are great recommendations to Capitalize on those new technologies. It's about communications data analysis Greening the blue although as we say that's greening our technology and so we are working to do that fourth, it's also about effective performance and therefore the need to attract new High-performing contributors to peacekeeping and retain our most effective troop and police contributing countries at the same time We have had a long-standing relationship with member states on their contributions But maybe we have lacked a more strategic approach that would provide coherence To our outreach with existing and potential troop and police contributors And this is why we have recently established a strategic force generation and capabilities planning cell Which is designed to be an interface for strategic engagement with member states over the longer term and We continue to work on this and I must say that the forthcoming peacekeeping summit this September will be a unique opportunity to push that further and translate it into actually Reality, and I'm very grateful to the United States for the support at the highest level That they were bringing us they are bringing us to help achieve this and we continually prospect for new contributors I was ten days ago in Vietnam to talk to that government Which is for the first time ever starting to contribute modestly of course, but these are Potential Contributions that we must continue to encourage So these are the big actions that we are undertaking to improve The overall performance of peacekeeping We pledge to do our best to ensure that uniform personnel have what they need to perform To the maximum of their abilities But of course those countries have to fulfill their side of the bargain They have to make sure that their people their women and men are adequately trained They are well-equipped. They are prepared for deployment of our operations so a lot of work to continue to be done about pre-deployment training Including about protection of civilians about sexual and gender-based violence about child protection It also means that they have to be fully aware that Accountability will take place for anything that deviates from the integrity we expect of our peacekeepers so to come back to the central reason of today's meeting it is obvious that in this very New landscape effective communications is a priority more than ever for strategic peacekeeping We have to communicate strategically to the local People to the parties in conflict to the regional actors to other international actors and partners on the ground All that has to be a critical component of an effective political strategy We need support of the key audiences to succeed because it is not by force alone that we will win it's by conquering the Souls and the minds conquering is a medicare that it's what's about and communication is the only thing that can achieve that Of course, I have to say you have we have seen recently very negative press stories that make allegations of inefficiency all sometimes malfeasance and It is true that reputation and awareness are As important an asset as armored vehicles rumors Misperceptions can have actually real security implications on the ground So that calls for really targeted External relations initiatives and campaigns in the context into which we are now asked to build to maintain support So effective strategic communication does build support with key partners with key stakeholders It should dispel make misconceptions. It should provide situational awareness that helps us also to Protect better civilians as well as our personnel Without an adequate strategic communications capability these key constituencies can actually become spoilers and Misconception and misinformation can also undo months of solid operational work on the ground This is why development of a tailored and dynamic communication strategy based not on a monologue, but on dialogue is critical and there again as in the field of technology we cannot do 21st century peace operations with the tools of the past century and this applies particularly to communications we need to adapt to modern techniques and technologies and We have to make sure that our people our staff are trained adequately to handle this The best information comes from communities themselves and this is of course essential to Understand better the needs of the people that we are there to serve to convey also the limits of UN capabilities to manage the expectations and In times of crisis to maximize the support of response Not only on the ground, but also at the level of the Security Council As you are aware the peace panels review report actually includes strong and concrete proposals on strategic communications and I Support those recommendations, especially the one that the UN's public information approach Has to be more dynamic Has to embrace modern communications methods that will help us remain relevant in a fast moving world Now nick this is not a reflection on your work quite a contrary I value that I value your contribution But it's true that it's a constant effort to modernize Uh, you know when we look at the operations on the ground It is maybe not very well known, but in the drc It is the UN that runs the biggest radio operation in the country radio capy, which is considered universally popular trustworthy To the population unfortunately lately the government has been less convinced to that and has been trying to Force us to if not close it at least to curtail it I remember the foreign minister when I was last there six weeks ago telling me and You should discontinue this Show which is one of dialogue with people on the phone that is Absolutely not in line with legislation So I listened to him and going out of his office. I told my people. Okay. I'm going to do that show tomorrow morning And well, I think that's a good messaging So we have to continue doing that We have now radios also in mali radio micado that do All this outreach work We have established Recently one also in the car Rado gaera, which is the name of the tree under which people gather in the villages to discuss situations and all this is really I think Doing part of the job at the same time. I think we have also to Change to the extent possible the culture of the people And I took the initiative two years ago As we were having our yearly Meeting of the force commanders. We just had this year's last week I insisted on building a segment into that week of work to give them Our generals a bit of media training. I don't know in other armies, but in the one I know best La grande muette says it all the great mute Military don't usually speak to media, but I think in our operations. It's very different than actually Under the authority of the srsg obviously, but I think They have to communicate. They have a number of messages to spread and this is happening Gradually so this is just another Attempt again to give a different culture to our people so This is what it's about of course being here in this Great capital city. I should also mention That we are mindful of financial constraints That we continue to take steps to Reduce the cost of peacekeeping and the fact It is true that we are doing more more than less More with less. Do you know that there is only one internationally deployed arm force in the world that has over the last five years Achieved a reduction in cost per head by 16 percent in real terms I think no army can boast of that, but we have done it But there is a limit to what can be cut And of course as we need to deploy more equipment More sophisticated protection Counter ied counter battery radars Other UAVs mine protected vehicles I think we also continued we need to continue To receive adequate financial support from member states So this is where we are ladies and gentlemen. This is what we do But we are I think all working hard. We try to make peacekeeping Better every day. There's still lots of things to do But I think with the support of the membership with your support We can actually make further progress. So thank you very much for your attention I always enjoyed the question and answer part even better, but under secretary general lots who does have Some other commitments and this afternoon, but he does have maybe a couple of minutes five minutes, and I know we have some Extremely knowledgeable people in the room and with Kelsey from from the department of defense tori holt From from the state department, but this is your opportunity. So Perhaps I might just start by asking what What you would Wish most to see come out of the process. It's now been launched the high level panel You've had an enormous opportunity now in september With presumably the presentation of a report to the general assembly Do you what's your vision of how this process might unfold over the next few months? Well, thank you very much. Mr. Ambassador. I think the expectation is that You know peacekeeping Has long been a partnership It's a partnership between our governing body the security council the secretariat and the community Of contributors of troop and police and this has to be constantly nurtured and fed and I think by the fact that This review has actually Rehighlighted the issues. I think it can Bring forward the rejuvenation of the partnership it also Brings back brings us and this is also to be one of the major Virtues of that peacekeeping summit we're going to have in september bringing in either a renewed commitment or new commitments from Contributors and indeed we've seen Sprouting of countries, you know who come to me and say well We're interested. Usually I have to say every year I receive four or five visits by ambassadors Whose country is running for the security council Non-permanent seat, you know in the autumn And usually they come to see me sometimes in the preceding winter and say oh, by the way Could we do something for you? You know, so sometimes it's uh modus. Sometimes it's not some others That's always welcome. But now we have seen a spate Of countries new to peacekeeping who Because they got the message the political message because also The end of the operations in afghanistan and that applies particularly to nato and e-u countries Because afghanistan has come to an end for them Then they have capacities that they're ready to bring back or to bring for the first time to u n peacekeeping. So this it's all a sort of coming together Of new trends that are absolutely welcome and i'm grateful to All those who are making that possible Thank you. Thanks very much You've already mentioned the summit, but perhaps you could share with us Some of the capabilities that you think the u n has in short supply given the breadth and depth of missions arranged from Some of the challenges in places like mali, but there's also missions where it's truly post conflict And we're seeing a transition back to uh the capacities of the government So you have a broad sweep of potential capacities that the u n needs for this range of missions And also I would ask if there's anything in the high level panel that you think should just move forward that you would recognize I I note that that mentions rapid deployment useful analysis There's a number of tools and while it's never easy to um, I'm sure if there was a review of the state department We'd feel a little funny about it But um giving you the opportunity to maybe highlight some of the reforms if you've had a chance to see the panel report That you bring to our attention. Thank you. Thank you for that. It's true that we have Worked a lot on looking at what it is that we need And what it is that we require from member states and it's true that It means uh old sorts of initiatives, you know to either strengthen cooperation bilaterally with member states or Encouraged triangular cooperation, you know the examples that the u.s. Have been giving you know in This program called aprep To help six african countries, you know to be better prepared to Come into our operations and japan is doing the same right now by training some african military engineering forces Training and equip them. So I think that goes all in the same positive Direction so really we have to continue on that way, but Thank you victoria for your support of your government Very good. Let me and on behalf of all of us here. Thank you under secretary general Not sue for his presence But even more for his contribution to our our reflection today Peace operations broadly, but importantly within that framework the increasing importance of our ability to communicate To all concern what it is we're about What we're trying to do absent, which we Will not succeed in our missions. And so thank you again for joining us. Thank you