YouSaid · the spoken record

Lieutenant General Ahmed

lines on the record
18
first
2014-10-09
most recent
2014-10-09
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “The systems relate to rapid deployment and quick response, flexibility in operations, and the rules of engagement. All of those issues will enter the discussion, and hopefully we will find some answers. With your permission, Madam President, the Force Commanders will answer the respective questions.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  2. “The use of force, under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, is authorized by the Security Council under only two conditions. The first is the protection of United Nations assets and self-protection, and the second is the protection of civilians. That is where the use of force is appropriate. When we say "protection of the mandate", the protection of civilians falls under the mandate: we are thereby protecting the mandate. For self-protection and the protection of the mandate, the use of force is allowed. That principle was valid a decade ago; it is still valid now. We can still look at that if it needs reviewing. Finally, I think the strategic review initiative of the Secretary-General provides a great opportunity to look into systems and procedures in the United Nations.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  3. “We have to train our Headquarters and staff officers to make full use of the technologies and derive greater benefit from them. That is where NATO and the European countries are helping in a big way. I want to take this opportunity to thank them. They are helping us to build that capacity. I am very sure that within a very short period we will be utilizing those capacities to their full potential. There are also some other challenges, but I will leave it to the Force Commanders to respond. Let me touch upon my final point. The point was raised about the principles ofpeacekeeping. I think that, yes, we can look at those. But, to my understanding, the principles of peacekeeping hold good even in a challenging environment. We talk about the use of force and about the robustness of peacekeeping operations.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  4. “It gives us lead time to pre-empt or stop some atrocities from happening, or if we are unable to do that, to react quickly, compared with the old means whereby the information used to travel from one end to the other end, taking days. Now we are receiving real-time intelligence. That is helping a lot and should be repeated. That is my recommendation - also in the other missions, because it is a great enabler under the environment and we should benefit from it. Having said that, the All Sources Information Fusion Unit and the other technologies we are putting in place are still not being utilized at full capacity, let me admit that. Introducing a technology is one thing, but absorbing it within the system is another.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  5. “The troops are there on the ground, but they do not have the necessary equipment, and we are looking for that equipment to be provided as soon as possible. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will have that capability gap bridged to a great extent. That effort will continue. I would also like to talk about technology. That is a very Vital initiative, not only in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but also in other contingents. That is helping us considerably. It helps in two ways. I always say that technology gives us lead time, whether it provides a kind of surveillance capability, signal intelligence, or whatever.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  6. “As most of our missions are in African countries, with some African country contingents also there, the Council is aware that we also have major contributions from various Asian countries as well as from African countries. Some of those TCCs lack capabilities. They can have battalions on the ground, but the contingents are not equal in their equipment and the armoured personnel carriers needed to enable what we want on the ground. There we have been requesting, and I will again request, that where other countries have not been contributing actively, they should help the TCCs to build those capability gaps. With regard to Mali, the representative of Rwanda asked a similar question: Why we are not able to deploy peacekeepers on the ground and why are they not up to the required mark? There is that same capability gap.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  7. “I think that we need to focus more on that. Let me move on to the next issue, which is training. That is an absolute must. With the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and with its Office ofMilitary Affairs in the lead, we are working on 11 manuals that lay down United Nations standards. I am certain that, by the end of this year or early next year, we will have completed all 11 manuals. They will be available to the TCCs to prepare their contingents in accordance with the expectations set out in United Nations standards. I want to thank all TCCs for their support in the preparation of the manuals, both their financial and their physical contributions. They have done a wonderful job. We are now at the final stage of finalizing the manuals. The third area that I want to touch upon is the capability gap.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  8. “The second issue will probably be taken up when we have regional conferences and have more time to focus on that. As the Secretary-General has highlighted, the final segment will probably be about interaction with the chiefs of the defence forces staffs, where we go into the essentials of the details and the capability gaps. That concern will probably be cemented at that time. If that gap in the understanding is bridged, most of the job will be done, because the peacekeepers receive instructions from their capitals as to how to behave, what to do and as to whether they should be more robust or not. If we get their support, then the critical leadership will line up enough resources to train them and enough material to motivate them and establish the direction of how they should perform on the ground.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  9. “In its own country environment, the same contingent will perform in one way. If that same contingent is put in a regional environment, it will perform differently. When the same contingent is re-hatted into Blue Helmets, it will perform differently again. That means that there is a gap in understanding. We need to bridge that gap. I am grateful to the United States and the Secretary-General that a great initiative has been taken to move in that direction. The high-level peacekeeping summit held recently on 26 September (see S/PV.7272) was a first step in that direction, where the critical leadership has started to develop an understanding as to the kind of environment facing peacekeepers. That will greatly help us to bring that mindset back to its original position.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  10. “Peacekeepers find it very hard to obtain the kind of support from the political leadership that we all seek. There is therefore one gap. The second gap is between expectations and responsibilities. When peacekeepers are deployed, the host nation, the public and the population have very high expectations. We can cite a number of missions as cases in point. There are also the responsibilities that lie mainly with the Security Council, the Secretariat, the Force Commanders and the TCCs. The Council and the Secretariat, and to some extent the Force Commanders, understand the responsibilities, but they have to get the job done by the TCCs. Therein lies the problem, the source of the pressure coming from the capitals pulling on the peacekeepers. I will cite another example. Take any country contingent.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  11. “Some TCCs and their capitals, including political decision-makers, think that peacekeeping involves the same, decades- old conventional missions, where peacekeepers are respected by all actors on the ground and no harm is done to them. They are there just to absorb the tension and to report to the Security Council in order for diplomatic pressure to be applied. What has been said today has shown that we understand that such an environment no longer exists, even in traditional peacekeeping missions. But that understanding has not been communicated to the home capitals. IfI may say, and most military commanders in the respective capitals share this View with me, the fact is that we find it very difficult to convince our Cabinets and our political leadership that peacekeepers are being deployed under very challenging environments.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  12. “One involves the physical protection of the peacekeepers themselves and of United Nations personnel and assets. The second task, which is mandated by the Council, is the protection of civilians. That also falls into the domain of physical protection, because protection has a broader connotation. The problems relating to those two fundamental tasks are linked to the understanding of the troop- contributing countries (TCCs). I want to re-emphasize that point, because my interactions over the past year with a number of military commanders and the leadership of the various TCCs, police-contributing countries and troop/police-contributing countries has revealed a real gap in understanding.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  13. “Today's discussion will give them enormous confidence because of the Security Council's understanding of the complexity of the challenges with which they are confronted and the Council's commitment to supporting the missions on the ground. I think that the Force Commanders will leave the Council reassured, and that they will be prepared to complete their task with more zeal and commitment, as expected by the Security Council. It is a great day for me and for my Force Commanders. Let me touch broadly on two of the broader issues under discussion. The two issues deal, from a military perspective, with the fundamental tasks of the peacekeepers in the various missions. In my understanding that there are two tasks at hand when we talk about military peacekeepers.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  14. “Lieutenant General Ahmed: I wish to thank the Security Council and all its members for their statements and very pertinent questions. I will tackle some of the broader questions that have been raised concerning the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the missions in general, and leave some of the areas to be answered by the respective Force Commanders on subjects that they are tackling in their particular missions. Let me begin by saying that this should, in my understanding, be a great day for the Force Commanders present in the Chamber. Most of them are new. That is why we are holding this meeting this month - it is usually held in June or July.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  15. “The protection of civilians will be presented by the Force Commander of MONUSCO, Lieutenant General Dos Santos Cruz; expectations from the military contingents under a changed security environment by the Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, Major General Kazura; and the accomplishment of traditional mandates under changed political and military environment by the Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, Lieutenant General Singha.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  16. “The Central African Republic, the Sudans, the Golan and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) are some of the other challenging missions. The Force Commanders are operating in failing or failed States where there is, frankly, hardly any peace to keep. Ebola is yet another dimension of this complexity. The Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia is our usual conference guest and is sitting behind me. Lieutenant Silas Ntigurirwa commands more than 20,000 soldiers in a very difficult environment in Somalia. This year's conference theme is "mandate accomplishment and capabilities in the field, expectations and future initiatives". Within that framework, we have selected key topics for presentation today.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  17. “The meeting of Force Commanders with the Council has become a tradition and is one of the highlights, if not the highlight, of the conference. It underlines the Council's much-appreciated commitment and interest in gaining first-hand information. The Force Commanders are very honoured and very eager to share their experiences with the Council in order to contribute to well-informed decision-making. Currently they are commanding more than 90,000 soldiers out of 105,000 uniformed personnel, and this number is likely to grow in the coming period. They operate in an environment that is often very difficult. Mali is a case in point, where we have suffered maximum casualties this year.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source

  18. “Lieutenant General Ahmed: It is always a great honour and pleasure to interact with the Security Council. Today I am here to introduce the panel of Force Commanders who will deliver statements to the Council. I would like to begin, however, by saying that, for the first time in the history of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, the very first female Force Commander, Major General Kristin Lund, Force Commander of United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), has been appointed. The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Ladsous, was very keen to personally introduce the panel, but, as the Council is aware, he is currently on his way from Mali to New York. Madam President, I am very thankful to you for the invitation to this dialogue about our peacekeeping missions on various peacekeeping topics.”

    2014-10-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7275 (2014) · source