‘Need to repurpose peace operations’

Peace operations need to be repurposed and retooled, Fiji’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Satyendra Prasad said.

Mr Prasad said this was necessary to ensure peacekeepers could keep missions safe while maintaining services and protecting populations caught in conflict between warring faction and parties.

He was speaking during the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) virtual debate on “Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts”.

Mr Prasad drew attention on the UNSC progress that Fiji was making in bringing COVID-19 preparedness into the training and deployment of Fiji’s peacekeepers.

He said the UNSC needed to take firmer and urgent action to arrest this alarming development, which could only lead to tragic consequences.

In recognising the United Nations Action for Peace, Fiji joined other UN members states in supporting the call made by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, for a “global ceasefire”, and for the world to collectively focus its efforts to containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UNSG said the COVID-19 pandemic was “causing enormous human suffering and additional stress to health systems, economies and communities. Those that are already weakened by years of armed conflict are particularly vulnerable. COVID-19 is not only spreading sickness and death; it is pushing people into poverty and hunger. In some cases, it is reversing decades of development progress”.