Below are updates on the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS): a standing, individually recruited, rapid response capacity under the control of the United Nations able to respond quickly to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity from occurring or escalating. Please forward widely.

This update is brought to you by Global Action to Prevent War; a member of the UNEPS secretariat. These updates, along with more information about the UNEPS initiative are posted on our website at www.globalactionpw.org/UNEPS/index.htm. If you would like to receive regular updates on the creation of a rapid-response service to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity, please e-mail coordinator@globalactionpw.org.

UNEPS UPDATES:

EVENTS:
1: UNEPS Spring Symposium at Rutgers University School of Law
2: From Reaction to Prevention: Next Steps towards an Integrated UN Security Policy event at the United Nations

UNEPS IN THE NEWS:
3: UNEPS Bill 213 Introduced in the US House of Representatives
4: UNEPS article featured in the World Federation of United Nations Associations newsletter
5: UNEPS Op-Ed: Effective Peacekeeping and Genocide Prevention in Chad: Working Towards the Creation of a UNEPS"
6: World Publics Favor New Powers for the UN: Most Support Standing UN Peacekeeping Force

CAMPAIGN RESOURCES:
7: New Translations--Spanish, French and Portuguese
8: Global Action's Rapid Response Library
9: Time Sensitive! Organizational Sign-on letter in support of House Resolution 213 on UNEPS

PUBLICATIONS:
10: “A United Nations For the 21st Century: From Reaction to Prevention ” New Book by Detlev Wolter

EVENTS:

UNEPS Spring Symposium held at Rutgers University School of Law :

Global Action to Prevent War, the Rutgers Global Legal Studies Program and the International Law Society successfully held a symposium on March 29, 2007 “To Prevent Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Diverse Perspectives on a Standing, Rapid-Reaction UN Emergency Peace Service” at the Rutgers School of Law in Newark. Featuring Sir Brian Urquhart as the keynote speaker, the symposium was comprised of four panels of experts from all over the world who examined the UNEPS proposal as a tool to prevent genocide, the international community's role in fulfilling its “responsibility to protect,” the perception of a UN rapid response service in diverse global regions and tools to move forward. A report of the symposium will be available shortly. To view the symposium program and supporting materials, click here.

Coverage of the symposium also reached The Citizen, a South African newspaper. To read the coverage, click here.

From Reaction to Prevention: Next Steps towards an Integrated UN Security Policy event at the UN

On March 28, Global Action to Prevent War, the Friederich Ebert Stiftung and the World Federalist Movement-IGP held a luncheon at the UN Delegates Dining Room entitled "From Reaction to Prevention: Next Steps towards an Integrated UN Security Policy," which featured Dr. Detlev Wolter speaking about his new publication "A UN for the 21st Century." Present to discuss the UNEPS proposal, also highlighted in Wolter's book, was Dr. Hussein Solomon, Director of the Centre for International Political Studies.

UNEPS IN THE NEWS:

UNEPS Bill 213 Introduced in the US House of Representatives 

On March 5th, the first session of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution addressing the need for a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) to avert genocide and crimes against humanity. Introduced by Representatives Al Wynn (D-MD) and James Walsh (R-NY), the resolution regarded UNEPS as a national security interest, and called for its support to buttress UN peacekeeping. Addressing the millions of dollars spent on humanitarian catastrophes dealing with the aftermath of the scourges of genocide, the resolution called on the implementation of UNEPS as a necessary tool to strengthen the UN's preventive capabilities. “The United States ,” it declared, “should use its voice, vote, and influence at the United Nations to facilitate and support the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS).” To view the full resolution, click here.

UNEPS article featured in the World Federation of United Nations Associations newsletter

The UNEPS proposal was featured in the April edition of UN Connections, the WFUNA monthly newsletter. This article has been reprinted on a number of sites relating to the UN, peacekeeping and the prevention of genocide, and the coordinator has received multiple e-mails of endorsement from members of United Nations Associations in various countries. One such email came from the Secretary General of the UNA in the DRC, who said the following:

"We are the ones who understand well and support with convincing evidence and testimony why the world needs UNEPS--a United Nations Permanent and Rapid Response to deal with issues of peace and humanitarian relief." -Cissa wa Numbe, Secretary General, United Nations Association of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

UNEPS OP-ED: Effective Peacekeeping and Genocide Prevention in Chad: Working Towards the Creation of a UNEPS

Alice Nascimento, NYU student and Global Action intern, recently published an op-ed in NYU's Journal of Global Affairs featuring UNEPS. Describing the escalating conflict in Chad that has been triggered as a result of the spillover from Sudan, Ms. Nascimento discusses how UNEPS would have contained the genocide. As opposed to resulting in genocidal escalation that has threatened to destabilize the entire Horn of Africa region, UNEPS could, she states, “strengthen international law and reify the meaning of 'never again'.” To view the article, click here.

World Publics Favor New Powers for the UN: Most Support Standing UN Peacekeeping Force

May 9, 2007: A comprehensive poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org found that the idea of “having a standing UN peacekeeping force selected, trained and commanded by the United Nations” gets support from majorities in 12 of the 14 countries asked (64% on average). Peru is the most enthusiastic (77%), followed by Armenia (75%), France (74%), Thailand (73%), and the United States (72%). Argentines support such a force by margin of 48 percent to 30 percent. In none of the countries polled do most respondents oppose this idea, though views are divided in the Philippines.
For full report, click here.

The International Herald Tribune reported on May 10 that "Most surprising, perhaps, were the high levels of American support for everything from a standing peacekeeping force to a greater U.N. role in decision-making." While Americans only rated the U.N. 55 out of 100 overall, 60 percent said they thought the U.S. should make decisions within the U.N. framework, even if that meant accepting a policy that was not its first choice. Americans also said they supported a standing peacekeeping force, to the tune of 72 percent. In most of the countries surveyed, more than 60 percent supported such a permanent peacekeeping force. Peru was the most supportive, with 77 percent responding favorably; the Philippines showed the least support, at 46 percent." For the full article, click here. The findings of this poll were also covered by the press in Mexico, among other nations.

CAMPAIGN RESOURCES :

Translations:

UNEPS has several new translations! The Peace Research Center (Centro de Investigación para la Paz ,CIP -FUHEM), has translated the publication "A United Nations Emergency Peace Service: to Prevent Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity" into Spanish. “Un Servicio de Paz de Emergencia de la ONU” is now available here. Many thanks to Manuela Mesa and Nuria del Viso!

To view the French translation of the UNEPS proposal, “Un Service D'urgence D'assistance À La Paix Des Nations Unies,” click here.

To view the Portuguese version of the UNEPS brochure, “Um Servico de Emergencia das Nacoes Unidas Para Paz,” click here. Many thanks to Alice Nascimento.

Global Action's Rapid Response Library

To view Global Action's new Rapid Reaction Library, which includes a database of about 50 articles and publications on rapid-response capacity, click here.

ENDORSE UNEPS! Organizational Sign-on letter in support of HR 213 on UNEPS

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, the United Nations secretariat is periodically called upon to raise peacekeeping forces to protect civilians, bolster fragile peace accords, intervene in humanitarian crises, or defend human rights. In order to do its job effectively, the U.N. needs a timely and robust response from its member states. Yet, nations too often fail to answer the call quickly enough or with sufficient resources.  In Darfur, the Congo , Somalia and Chad we have seen the impact of “too little and too late” contributions to U.N. missions.

Representatives Albert Wynn (D-MD) and James Walsh (R-NY) have introduced H. Res. 213, a resolution calling for the establishment of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) capable of reinforcing peace agreements or intervening in the early stages of deadly emergencies. The proposal works to fill the gap between what is needed to save lives and the willingness of nations to respond quickly.

There is a clear need for this new tool in the international communities' toolbox. Whether your organization is working on conflict prevention, refugees, development, humanitarian relief, or human rights -- strengthening the U.N.'s crisis response mechanism helps all of us achieve our respective missions.

Please join us in urging members of Congress to co-sponsor H. Res. 213. Below is an organizational sign-on letter. More information about UNEPS is available online. The deadline for organizational signatures is Thursday, May 31st. To sign-on please contact Scott Paul, Deputy Director of Government Relations at Citizens for Global Solutions, 202-330-4116 or spaul@globalsolutions.org. Please provide organizational name and contact information. Feel free to contact us if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Ken Bacon
President, Refugees International

Steve Dimoff
Vice President of the Washington Office of the United Nations Association of the USA

Don Kraus
Executive Vice President, Citizens for Global Solutions

To view the letter to Members of Congress, click here.

PUBLICATIONS:

PUBLICATIONS:

"A United Nations for the 21st Century: From Reaction to Prevention"
By Detlev Wolter

GAPW and UNEPS Working Group member Detlev Wolter just published a new book titled “A United Nations for the 21st Century: From Reaction to Prevention.” In it, he analyzes the achievements of the UN World Summit in the field of conflict prevention, human security and the advancement of the security-development nexus. Mr. Wolter further calls for the support of a 2010 “special summit meeting” on conflict prevention and security and human security with the objective of developing a Global Action Plan. As one of the tools to strengthen the conflict prevention framework, Mr. Wolter discusses UNEPS and Global Action in what he regards as a means to “build an effective and efficient international regime for global conflict prevention and peacebuilding.” For more information on the book, or to purchase a copy, click here.

###