July 19, 2024
Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, recalling that the founders of the United Nations “recognized the necessity of collective efforts to ensure peace in an increasingly complex world”, emphasized that this requires partnership at all levels.
“Now, more than ever, a more effective United Nations relies on stronger and deepened cooperation with regional and subregional organizations,” she said, which include the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Tensions and competition among States challenge the principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations, resulting in lost trust, new conflicts and risk of escalation that affects all regions and impacts the Organization’s ability to respond effectively to challenges worldwide.
Against that backdrop, she said that the three organizations “have all been — and remain — important players for the United Nations”. Over the years, the UN has enhanced its partnerships with them, including through the Secretary-General’s direct engagement with his counterparts, formalized frameworks for cooperation and strengthened coordination in the field — particularly in support of peace processes and preventative diplomacy.
More specifically, she welcomed ongoing efforts by the Secretariat and CSTO members to enhance peacekeeping cooperation, the important platform for regional dialogue provided by CIS and — recalling the Secretary-General’s participation in the summit held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on 3 and 4 July in Astana — underlined that body’s important role in addressing today’s global challenges “as the largest regional organization”. She added that the UN aims to further strengthen cooperation with these organizations in areas such as early warning, preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping.
“As we meet today, the Eurasian region faces rising tensions and emerging threats that require urgent joint action,” she stressed, spotlighting violent extremism and terrorism, drug trafficking, unresolved border issues and the impact of climate change as examples. In Central Asia, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy actively engages with the leadership of all three organizations to coordinate preventive efforts — including the implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in the region. She also reported that the UN is seeking opportunities to advance international engagement with Afghanistan in a “more coherent, coordinated and structured manner”, and on Ukraine, she stressed that the UN is ready to support “all meaningful efforts and initiatives” towards a just peace based on the Charter of the United Nations.
Noting that the “New Agenda for Peace” outlines actions to promote diplomacy and rebuild trust, she stressed that regional and subregional organizations have a “critical” role to play in this context. They can bring credibility and legitimacy, help increase trust and reduce misperceptions, invest in prevention and provide mechanisms for crisis management and conflict resolution. Further, they “offer much-needed avenues for bridge-building”, she said, stating that it is “essential” to strengthen regional frameworks for dialogue and cooperation in regions “where long-standing security architecture and mechanisms are collapsing or mired in stalemate — or where they have never existed”.