Mr. Chairman,

Let me begin by expressing appreciation to Under-Secretary-Generals Ms. Ameerah Haq and Mr. Hervé Ladsous for their comprehensive briefings. 

While Ukraine aligned itself with the statement by the Delegation of the European Union, I would like to outline some issues in my national capacity.

To begin with, we would like to express satisfaction with the results of the last session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations which managed to break a spell and to produce a substantive report. This bodes well for genuine revitalization of the C-34. We hope that its next session will be no less constructive.

Like most of the previous delegations Ukraine embraces the Secretary-General’s initiative to conduct a Strategic Review of Peace Operations as both timely and necessary. We believe that it should be an inclusive process involving all stakeholders and are ready to constructively engage in this exercise.

At this stage already, we would like to suggest for the prospective Review Panel to pay priority attention to one of the most pressing issues of the modern UN peacekeeping, namely filling its capability gaps. This relates primarily to the chronical lack of the most effective force multipliers – military helicopters. As USG Ladsous pointed out in his briefing, the number of such enablers critically needed for the UN PKOs stands at 20.      

Here our key point remains unchanged – real long-term solution warrants creation of more robust incentives to countries contributing military helicopters. This is the only sustainable way to bridge this critical gap.

Ukraine pays a great deal of attention to the issue of safety and security of peacekeeping missions, including as regards commercial helicopters procurement. I would like to recall the briefings by the Mission of Ukraine sharing deep concern in connection with the dangerous decreasing of attention to the safety and security in the area of the helicopter procurement, as well as the relevant tender procedures.

Mr. Chairman

Taking comfort from the adoption of the C-34 report, my Delegation encourages UN Secretariat to make the best use of its recommendations. One of these relates to the enhancement of legal mechanisms of investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against deployed United Nations peacekeepers. 

In our view, a number of recent tragic incidents targeting member states’ uniformed personnel in the field testify to the pressing character of this initiative.

As an active police-contributing country Ukraine closely follows developments in the area of strengthening UN police policies and capacities. We fully support UN Police Division’s efforts to this end. These include adoption of the Policy on UN Police in PKOs and SPMs, ongoing Strategic Guidance Framework (SGF) initiative, as well as the new Standard Operating Procedure on Assessment of Individual Police Officers for Service in UN PKOs and SPMs.

Although the growing contribution and demand for UN Police assistance in post-conflict settings is evident, there is still a need for its wider political backing. In this respect Ukraine fully supports a member states-led Group of Friends of UN Police.  

Mr. Chairman,

There can be no success stories in UN peacekeeping without genuine strategic partnership between TCCs, PCCs, UN Security Council, Secretariat and FCCs. We call on all these sides to do their part so as to take this partnership forward.  

We see an important role in this exercise and welcome operationalization of the Office for the Peacekeeping Strategic Partnership as announced by USG Ladsous.

Ukraine is encouraged by the outcome of the UN Summit on Peacekeeping Operations held last month on the US initiative. My country stands ready to contribute to the Summit’s follow-up, which we hope will become a process with the Summit’s reconvening in one year on the margins of the UN GA in September 2015.

Mr. Chairman,

UN peacekeeping is and will remain at the heart of Ukraine’s activity at the UN.

Let me recall that Ukraine entered the third decade of its peacekeeping engagement with a solid baggage of participation in over 20 missions under the UN mandate. As of today my country has contributed over 34,000 “blue helmets” to UN peacekeeping efforts in every region of their deployment around the world.

Our share in global partnership called UN Peacekeeping encompasses military, police, civilian as well as political dimensions.

Even external aggression did not change our commitment and engagement in UN PKOs. It relates inter alia to the mentioned vital asset for the most complex and multidimensional operations as military helicopter units. This enables UN missions, in particular in DRC, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire, to further implement their mandates, to protect civilians and to ensure appropriate level of safety and security of peacekeepers.

Ukraine will remain a dedicated and committed UN partner in peacekeeping which, we are convinced, will remain one of the greatest endeavors of this Organization in the years to come.

Thank you.