Global Policy Forum

By Nick Wadhams

The U.N.'s top peacekeeping official backs many reform proposals spelled out in a bill before Congress, but says withholding support if the goals aren't met would only punish countries in dire need of help.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, acknowledged in an interview that his department has problems -- especially the scandal surrounding claims that peacekeepers were guilty of sexual abuse. He said the United Nations needs to better explain what peacekeepers do. "There are things which never should have happened," Guehenno told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Some of the criticism actually helps us because the pressure for reform is important."

But over the course of a wide-ranging discussion, Guehenno described his optimism for eastern Congo, where blue helmets have disarmed 14,000 militiamen, and for Sudan, where the latest U.N. mission will deploy 10,000 new peacekeepers soon. He spoke of his philosophy that the United Nations must promise less and do more -- so long as it gets the resources it needs.

"The U.N. has paid a very heavy price when it has not been able to deliver on promises of mandate that looked good when there were not the resources to back them up," Guehenno said. "I think we have to do exactly the opposite. We have to be cautious in what we promise and then have a strong force to deliver a little more than what we have promised."

Guehenno, of France, is one of the United Nations' most powerful figures. He oversees an 18-mission operation whose 2005 budget hit $5 billion -- more than double the U.N. general budget. His term has seen the U.N. military arm come under scrutiny because of the revelations of sex scandals, along with a new drive in Congress to reform the world body.

Many of the United Nations' fiercest critics zeroed in on the peacekeeping scandals as proof of how far the United Nations has fallen. A key provision of a sweeping U.N. reform bill before the House of Representatives would force the United States to withhold support for new or expanded peacekeeping missions unless the U.N. enacted a range of changes. They include closing missions that can't fulfill their mandate, implementing a universal code of conduct and setting up an investigative arm that could go after peacekeepers accused of wrongdoing.

"U.N. peacekeepers and civilian personnel stand accused of widespread sexual exploitation of refugees of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said in a speech Wednesday. "It is time for U.N. reform with teeth."

Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who introduced the bill, believes the issue is particularly pressing given recent revelations that U.N. peacekeepers in Congo paid for sex with children and teens, sometimes with fruit or pocket change. His bill would have an enormous impact because the United States wields veto power on the U.N. Security Council, which must approve new missions. It also contributes about 27 percent of the annual U.N. peacekeeping budget.

Guehenno warned that by withholding support, the United States would hurt both countries that contribute troops and those where missions are deployed. "It's punishing member states rather than the Secretariat," Guehenno said. "More important, it's punishing countries that desperately need help. So I think there are better ways to achieve reform."

Like other peacekeeping officials, Guehenno has been frank about the problems. He acknowledged that the vetting for new troops wasn't strong enough and that people need to be selected with "the stamina, the ethical standards and the professional background that allow them to operate in difficult situations."

But he pointed to internal U.N. efforts to overhaul peacekeeping. A recent review by Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein resulted in some 50 recommendations -- including some of the ideas spelled out in the Hyde bill -- that appear to have some momentum.

In the end, its not clear how far the Hyde bill will get. There is no companion legislation in the Senate, and Bush administration is opposed. "When I look at some of the reforms that are proposed, I would endorse a lot of them," Guehenno said. "I think a lot of the points are well taken."

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