interview Jean Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations «Peace is, above all, A COLLECTIVE ALLIANCE» Current challenges are considered to require a «holistic and complete» approach for security matters JEAN Pierre Lacroix (Paris, 59 years old) is sure that UN operations are the most useful means that the international community has in order to protect people´s lives and to assure their right to live in peace, but «these operations require some adjustments in our work methodology and improvements in our efficacy». This diplomat, with more than 25 years of experience, most of them in the field of multilateral organizations, estimates that the way to comply with these objectives is to work jointly in order to find long-lasting solutions to solve conflicts, more mobility and to provide contingents with better equipment, as well as a greater involvement of women in missions. In his recent visit to Madrid, in which he was invited as guest of honour for the Spanish national celebrations, Lacroix claimed that «Spain represents a key partner in peacekeeping». —Peacekeeping operations begun in 1948, in a strategic overview very different from the current one. Have they been adequately adapted to the needs of a world experiencing important changes? —In the last 70 years, UN peacekeeping has been one of the main means of the international community to guide countries into peace in the midst of the hard way of conflict. It is evident that peacekeeping missions have an important impact on people of those countries in which we operate, and that our contribution is large, but if we want to remain efficient and comply with our goals, all the concerned parties, including Member States, regional organizations, host nations and associations must provide support. From the beginning of the new millennium, peacekeeping operations have not only experienced a growth in number, but have become even more complicated. Beyond the observation of the cessation of hostilities, current multidimensional operations have as a goal to facilitate political processes by fostering national dialogue and reconciliation; to collaborate in the disarmament; demobilisation and reintegration of combatants; to support elections; to protect and enhance human rights and to help countries to restore the rule of law. For these purposes, the UN Peacekeeping Department continues to adapt itself through better-equipped and qualified personnel, in order for its operations to be more adequate and able to respond to current challenges. —Which is the most complicated mission that is being currently performed? —In Mali, the security situation is still one of our major challenges, with the actual risk of the terrorism being spread across the whole region, in the middle of the increasing communal violence at the heart of the country. Peacekeeping implementation is progressing, but it is too slow. Our peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, plays a key role and, through our good offices and mediation efforts, we are bringing together «Peacekeeping operations need the support of all of us to remain efficient» 36 Revista Española de Defensa December 2019
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