Ambassador Mona Juul: Mediation A Key Instrument for Peace

Mona Juul. Photo: Norway-un.org.

Norway highlighted the role of mediation as a core activity of the UN, and also stressed that we must make sure that the UN is well equipped to take necessary actions for peace. Ambassador Mona Juul gave the Norwegian statement in the Security Council meeting on maintenance of international peace and security Tuesday April 21.

“Time and time again, we see the UN is forced to ‘pass the hat’ among Member States to ask for voluntary contributions in order to do the job mandated in the UN Charter,” said Juul. She continued: “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the size of the organisation’s regular budget matches the size of the job we are asking the UN to do, and it is the UN’s responsibility to be proactive and put this budget to good use in trouble spots around the world”.

Juul said that Norway welcomes the improvement of the UN mediation apparatus, specially the Mediation Support Unit, and stated that Norway strongly supports the development showed through last years’ strengthening of the Department of Public Affairs with an increased number of mediation posts being covered by the regular budget.

Juul also pointed to aspects crucial to all international mediation efforts, despite coping with very varying situations: “Dialogue and access, early engagement, and a flexible and coherent approach. The mediator must talk to and have access to all parties involved. He or she must be impartial to the parties themselves, but not to the actions of the parties. The mediator must be brought into the process as early as possible, said Juul. She also stressed the importance of making for the involvement of all relevant actors, such as the UN, regional organisations, civil society and individual states, in the mediation work to complement each other’s efforts, and pointed to the successful outcome of last years joint efforts in Kenya post election as something to learn from”.

Juul drew, like others before her, the attention to women’s participation in peace processes, reminding that, despite the nearly 10 year old SR Resolution 1325’s strong recommendations that the UN and the Member States take action in this matter, very little progress has been made so far. She called for renewed and strengthened efforts from UN and the Member States to translate the words of SR Res 1325 into concrete action that will bring women into the highest levels of mediation.  

Source: Norway-un.org. (Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations in New York)