Statement for the 4th Committee Resolution on Special Political Missions

Read the Statement for General Debate and Introduction of Draft Resolution A/C.4/77/L.8 on “Comprehensive review of special political missions” on behalf of the co-facilitators Finland and Mexico, delivered by Mr. Tapio Pyysalo, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations on November 11th, 2022.

Mr. Chair,

We wish to thank Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo and Under-Secretary-General Khare for their remarks. I have the honor to speak on behalf of Mexico and Finland, the co-facilitators of the resolution Comprehensive review of special political missions.

We welcome the very good report on the Overall policy matters pertaining to Special Political Missions. As the number of violent conflicts is now at a record high since the end of the Second World War, the importance of conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace can hardly be overrated. Conflict prevention and peacebuilding are central in the New Agenda for Peace in the Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda. We see the New Agenda for Peace as an important opportunity to improve and strengthen the UN’s diplomatic toolbox. We are looking forward to contributing to this important process.

As stressed in the Secretary-General’s report, Special Political Missions are a very versatile and flexible tool, and they can be used in different phases of conflict – from preventive measures to post-conflict peacebuilding and sustaining peace. In this regard, I would especially like to express our deep appreciation to all the staff in the Special Political Missions for their excellent work in often very challenging circumstances. In order to fulfill their important tasks, we need to make sure that special political missions have the needed capacities and resources, including predictable and sustainable financing for peacebuilding.

The Secretary-General also emphasizes in his report the special political missions’ critical work in the promotion of human rights, and in enhancing the inclusion of women, youth and other marginalized groups in political and peace processes. I would like to emphasize the significance of an inclusive approach to conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace. We must ensure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in peace processes as well as in mainstreaming gender into preventive work. The SPM’s have an important role in this regard. I would also like to stress the important role of youth, and the role the special Political Missions have in engaging them. The Secretary General’s report also takes into account the issue of climate-related issues and the impact on the work of the Special Political Missions in this regard.

Mr Chair,

Let me now turn to present the draft resolution to be considered by the Committee, A/C.4/77/L.8 on “Comprehensive review of special political missions”. The co-facilitators Mexico and Finland would like to thank all co-sponsors for your support and all the Member States for your constructive participation in the negotiations over the past few weeks.

Last year, after two years of technical rollovers, we had substantive negotiations and agreed to strengthen the text of the resolution on several points. These included stronger references to inclusion, the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peace processes, encouraging the missions to foster partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations, as well as acknowledging and identifying climate-related risks. We are glad to see that all these points were reflected in the Secretary-General’s report.

This year Finland and Mexico decided to introduce a more restricted “technical+ update” type of draft resolution. One thing we wanted to reflect in the resolution this year was the GA resolution 76/6 on follow-up to the Secretary General’s vision “Our Common Agenda,” and the relevance of the New Agenda for Peace on Special Political Missions. We are looking very much forward to the upcoming report on the New Agenda for Peace next year and are prepared to take into account any implications to overall policy matters pertaining to Special Political Missions in our next negotiations.

Another development that came up in our consultations and informal negotiations was resolution 76/305 on peacebuilding financing, which also bears direct significance to Special Political Missions. We were glad to include a reference to this resolution in the draft as well and are grateful to all delegations for their flexibility in incorporating this.

We would once more wish to reiterate our firm support for the work of the DPPA and the special political missions, whose role is becoming increasingly important in upholding the international peace and security.

We also wish to thank those delegations who have already cosponsored the resolution, and hope that more will still join to demonstrate the Member States’ support for the work of the Special Political Missions.