Address by Minister Dion to the ministerial conference on peacekeeping in francophone environments

October 27, 2016 - Paris, France

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the Government of Canada’s official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with its communications policy.

I am pleased to see so many partners determined to work together to strengthen francophone peacekeeping capacities.

It’s good to see that support for peace in francophone countries goes beyond francophone countries. I am particularly pleased to see one of our co-chairs, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, whom I had the pleasure to host earlier this week.

I would also like to bring attention to the presence of two essential partners in our efforts: Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, and Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations.

I will speak about three subjects: what peace operations look like in the world today, what peace operations look like in a francophone environment and Canada’s re-engagement in these operations.

First of all, peace operations have certainly changed since Canadian Lester B. Pearson established the blue berets [peacekeeping force] during the Suez Crisis in 1956. The era of two states exhausted by war, asking the UN to stand between them so they can build mutual trust, is almost over.

As we speak, it is worth noting and congratulating ourselves that there are no current wars between states. Of course, nothing is irreversible, and we have to remain vigilant, but the present absence of war between states is in itself an extraordinary improvement that we owe to all of our military and diplomatic efforts toward peace.

The conflicts that still exist in the world are asymmetrical: they do not involve states in direct armed conflicts with each other, but rather states opposed to an insurgency, a resistance group or a terrorist or criminal network.

As the nature of conflicts has changed, peace missions have evolved too. Today’s conflicts are complex and demand a multi-dimensional and global approach made up of military, diplomatic and humanitarian interventions in close cooperation with local authorities and with a range of international and regional partners, such as NATO, the European Union, the African Union and many others, but at the heart of which is the UN.

This brings me to my second subject: the francophone world. The UN dedicates 60 percent of its police and military personnel and 55 percent of its peacekeeping operations budget to its operations in francophone environments.

As you know, the UN today deploys seven of its 16 peacekeeping operations in a cultural and operational environment where the French language is one of the official languages or commonly used.

However, the lack of personnel able to speak French is a problem in our peace missions. While some 60 percent of the blue berets are deployed by the UN to seven francophone countries, francophone countries only contribute 20 percent of the personnel deployed in the field.

The ability to communicate in French is therefore an essential success factor for these missions, because you have to interact effectively with the local populations and coordinate properly with the activities of a country’s authorities and security institutions.

Finally, my third subject is the announcement made by our prime minister, Justin Trudeau: Canada is back in peace operations. This summer Canada committed to deploy up to 600 Canadian Armed Forces members on UN peace missions, as well as increase our police and other civilian contributions. We are in the process of choosing where we will be deploying. Canada will be a determined peacebuilder.

To conclude, I insist that this conference have a follow-up. And that all countries that are francophone or who share the French language must work together. Then, when we meet again in Canada in autumn 2017, we will have made important progress.

Let’s dream of a francophone environment free of armed conflict.

French—one of the beautiful languages of diplomacy, the language of Aristide Briand, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Jean Jaurès, the great pacifist, a language in which it is so good to argue, to joust with the words—must everywhere be combined with the word “peace.” Isn’t it in French that we sing, “Quand les hommes vivront d’amour” [when men live for love]?

Thank you, and see you in Canada in 2017.

Contacts

Chantal Gagnon
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
343-203-1851
chantal.gagnon@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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