PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS, MAINTENANCE AND CONSOLIDATION OF PEACE: ROLE AND MEANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Resolution adopted by 1122 votes to 19, with 66 abstentions,
by the 91st Inter-Parliamentary Conference
(Paris, 26 March 1994)

The 91st Inter-Parliamentary Conference,

Deeply concerned that the high expectations of peace and stability created by the end of the Cold War remain unfulfilled and that internal and interstate disputes and conflicts in many parts of the world persist and escalate,

Mindful of the growing potential for conflict throughout the world, which is due more and more to non-military factors such as worsening economic, social, humanitarian and ecological conditions as well as newly emerging ethnic, nationalist, territorial or religious conflicts,

Confirming the need for the international community to reject the threat or use of force as a means of settling disputes and problems between States and make every effort, especially within the framework of the United Nations and the regional organizations concerned, to settle all disputes between States by peaceful means,

Affirming that it is the duty of parliaments to support the United Nations and regional organizations in their efforts to develop friendship and co-operation, implement human, political and civil rights and promote democracy and peace,

Recognizing that the primary goals of the United Nations are to provide a framework for the maintenance of international peace and security, peaceful co-existence and good-neighbourliness, promote equality between individuals and between States, encourage justice and respect for international law and promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and stressing the importance of the attachment of all States to these goals,

Noting that "An Agenda for Peace" produced by the UN Secretary-General sets out the strategy reorientation and further development of the United Nations,

Acknowledging the central role of the United Nations in preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping,

Recognizing that in the future, conflict prevention, crisis management and the preservation of peace within the framework of the United Nations and regional organizations will become increasingly important, and that all international instruments on human rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, should be universally ratified and respected,

Stressing the importance of preventive diplomacy in order to avoid any potential conflict or prevent, if need be, any escalation and spread,

Recognizing that the advancement of human rights and the rights of minorities has become an integral part of UN peacekeeping activities, and deeming that, in the event of flagrant violations of human rights, the Security Council may decide that humanitarian action by the United Nations takes precedence over the right of non-intervention, which remains the general rule,

Stressing the fact that the ability of the United Nations and regional organizations to fulfil their mission depends on their credibility, which can only be guaranteed by the application of the same criteria to all conflicts and disputes, without double standards or discrimination, in such a way as to ensure the interests of all peoples,

Considering that, since peacekeeping missions can no longer be limited to the military dimension and to the monitoring of ceasefires, UN peace operations must cover a wide spectrum of activities including fact-finding, mediation and conciliation, truce observation and the search for equitable, long-term political solutions, as well as peacebuilding measures,

Stressing the growing role of the Security Council in the settlement of international conflicts and disputes, crisis management, development of humanitarian assistance, respect for human rights and the maintenance of international peace and security, in conformity with Chapters VI and VII of the UN Charter,

Recognizing that regional organizations play a vital role in the prevention of conflicts, peacebuilding and peacekeeping,

Considering that peacekeeping operations constitute a heavy financial burden and that several UN Member States either fail to pay their contribution thereto or pay only a part, and often very late,

Referring to the resolution on the contribution of parliaments to increasing the role of the United Nations, adopted in September 1992 by the 88th Inter-Parliamentary Conference,

1. Stresses the importance of restructuring the United Nations Organization so as to enable it to meet the new challenges of the post-Cold War era and the demands of an expanded role;

2. Calls on the international community to intensify its efforts to strengthen the United Nations with a view to making it an effective instrument of a comprehensive policy to achieve world peace by establishing and safeguarding a new international order based on the rule of law, democracy and sustainable development;

3. Also calls on all States to support measures to enhance the role and means of the United Nations and regional organizations in the prevention of conflicts, the maintenance and consolidation of peace, and to participate, through regional organizations and arrangements, in peacekeeping operations conducted in areas which come under the competence and mandates of these organizations;

4. Appeals to the States parties to armed conflicts to settle them by peaceful means;

5. Advocates the further development of a set of instruments consisting of measures for the prevention of conflicts and the safeguarding of peace, underscores the vital importance of confidence-building measures, fact-finding and early-warning activities in the context of preventive diplomacy and considers that it should be possible to deploy UN forces to prevent conflicts by tackling the root causes, and that preventive diplomacy should be backed by preventive deployment, with no obligation for the Security Council to obtain prior agreement from the parties involved;

6. Recalls the effective role of parliamentary diplomacy in the achievement and consolidation of peaceful co-operation between States, as well as in the strengthening of ties of friendship and mutual trust between peoples, within the framework of regional and international parliamentary institutions, including in particular the Inter-Parliamentary Union;

7. Reaffirms that the promotion of human rights, the rights of minorities and the protection of the rights of the child should constitute an integral part of peacebuilding measures, conflict-management and post-conflict peacebuilding;

8. Considers that UN peacekeeping forces must be able to contribute to humanitarian action, including the escorting of humanitarian aid convoys and repatriation of refugees and expatriates, and asserts that these forces should strive to make valuable contributions to the material reconstruction of the region where they are stationed, while respecting the principle of neutrality, which remains an essential element of each mission;

9. Underlines the need for special training for the UN peacekeeping forces by every participating country, focussing on the specific character of the operation, discipline, knowledge of the region concerned, and the culture and customs of the population;

10. Recognizes that regional arrangements and agencies can, in their fields of competence and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, make important contributions to the maintenance of international peace and security, preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict peacebuilding;

11. Recalls with satisfaction the contribution of the United Nations and regional organizations to mobilizing public opinion and channeling efforts to combat and resolve conflicts;

12. Calls on all members of the United Nations to pay their accounts in full and on time and on those with delinquent accounts to meet their financial obligations in order to alleviate the tenuous financial situation of the United Nations;

13. Urges governments, in this connection, to pay, in particular, their contributions to UN peacekeeping activities and to provide the necessary personnel for ongoing operations;

14. Calls on all governments and parliaments to implement the resolution of the 88th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, inviting them to give not only the Security Council but above all the Secretary-General of the United Nations the necessary means for preventive action, thus making it possible to reduce and overcome tension and conflicts through preventive diplomacy;

15. Urges parliaments to support the preparatory phase of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, in particular by ensuring that a national committee is created in their country, if this has not yet been done, and that parliamentarians are involved in the work of this committee;

16. Welcomes the fact that the Inter-Parliamentary Union will organize a meeting at UN Headquarters (New York, 31 August - 2 September 1995) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary, and proposes that no effort be spared to make this meeting a major event affording the world inter-parliamentary community an opportunity to map out the broad lines of strengthened international co-operation.