Global Policy Forum

By Jean-Louis Turlin

Member states have agreed to the division of the United Nations' largest department, the one responsible for peacekeeping operations. Paris is closely monitoring the restructuring of this department, which it has controlled for the past 10 years. "Ultimately we have come out of this well." Jean-Marie Guehenno, who has been in charge of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) for the past seven years, said that he has secured "almost everything" of what he wanted from the reform that the UN General assembly adopted 29 June. The essence has been preserved: the new mission support department, which will cover all logistical matters, will be placed under his authority.

By approving the division of a department that had become too large as a result of increasing numbers of missions, involving over 100,000 people, the 192 member states gave the new formula two years in which to prove its effectiveness. On paper, the "subordination link" under which the new entity will be placed vis-a-vis the DPKO, will, Jean-Marie Guehenno believes, guarantee unity of command and proper integration of services.

France is primarily affected by the change in a post which its own representatives have held for the past 10 years (Bernard Miyet took over from Kofi Annan in 1997 when the latter was elected secretary general.) Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who has just been a point to Rome after four years at the United Nations, will leave it to his successor, Jean-Maurice Ripert, to remain vigilant: "We have expressed our support for the reform," he told Le Figaro. "It should enhance the DPKO's efficiency and operational capability. But it all depends on how it is implemented. We must remain particularly vigilant in this regard. The DPKO's primacy over the mission support department must be effective and verified in everyday work."

Such "primacy" has never existed before between two departments headed by two chiefs of the same hierarchical ranking. For the first time in the history of the United Nations, a deputy secretary general will "report" to another deputy secretary general and will "follow his guidelines." The text of the resolution emphasizes the exceptional character of this arrangement, stressing that it "will not set a precedent." Jean-Marie Guehenno does not yet know the name of his future colleague, but hopes to have a say in choosing him.

The General Assembly, thus following the recommendations of the Fifth Committee (budgetary affairs,) has not however relinquished the lion's share - the purchase of equipment and supplies portfolio, which remains attached to the management department. "This is a defeat," the DPKO chief admitted, "but the door is not closed. The member states did not want to do everything at once, and we are asking that the examination of the issue be continued." He said he was satisfied with the rest of the reform, desired by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and ultimately approved in its broad outlines: "Some countries had reservations about the division of operations. But it ultimately provides resources that we would probably not have obtained if we had remained a single department."

US desire to adjust balance

Jean-Marie Guehenno cited in particular the establishment of 150 new posts (a total of 285, including transfers:) "this is the largest increase since the Department was founded, both quantitatively and qualitatively, because the increase in basic resources is accompanied by a considerable improvement in training." This "major breakthrough" is reflected mainly in the establishment of a new is central bureau, that of the "rule of law," and integrated operational teams that will make it possible to manage all aspects of a peacekeeping operation - military, policing, criminal, disarmament... "We now have a consistent whole under the authority of a deputy secretary general." The DPKO chief therefore believes that his department has been strengthened. He cites as further evidence the appointment of a chief of staff to coordinate work with the new unit.

But this new architecture raises the question on the extent of his political prerogatives. Jean-Marie Guehenno admitted that his department "has a sharp focus on a particular country. What we sometimes lack is a vision of the regional environment," which is provided by the Department of Political Affairs. The United States, which heads it, in the person of Lynn Pascoe, sees this as a good reason for wanting to adjust the balance in its own favour.