UNA-UK has released three reports containing recommendations on how the UK Government can improve its approach to key foreign policy issues: UN peacekeeping, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and nuclear disarmament.
The recommendations form the basis of UNA-UK's input into the upcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and the renewal of its National Security Strategy (NSS) - a major Government exercise which will establish Britain’s future approach to a range of peace and security issues.
On peacekeeping, UNA-UK's report calls on the UK to take a clearer stance on its contributions to UN peace operations by setting out a coherent strategy in the forthcoming SDSR that recognises UN peacekeeping as a collective framework for managing threats to the UK arising from situations that it is unlikely to address unilaterally.
Such an approach should be accompanied by an increase in practical support to UN peace operations, through military and civilian personnel. At present, the UK's personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping are at a 20-year low.
The report recommends that Government departments cultivate a culture change in the way in which the UN is viewed internally so that it becomes a key part of UK policy-making and implementation. This would help to address the security and reputational risks posed by the Government's current approach to peace operations.
The report on R2P investigates the status of the principle at the UN and examines the US Government's Atrocities Prevention Board as a potential model for strengthening the UK's approach to preventing atrocity crimes.
It recommends that the UK includes an explicit commitment to preventing atrocity crimes in the upcoming NSS and sets out how this should be mainstreamed into existing policies on national security, early warning and conflict prevention.
Finally, the report on nuclear disarmament - based on an innovative event bringing together youth representatives with experts - encourages the UK to set out the rationale for its nuclear programme in the upcoming NSS and identify opportunities to make progress on its international obligation to disarm under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This could include expanding the scope of diplomatic dialogue within the 'P5 process', as well as fostering improved dialogue between nuclear- and non-nuclear-weapons states.
Overall, the three reports provide examples of the ways in which the UK can strengthen its relationship with the UN and its overarching strategy towards the Organisation, which marks its 70th anniversary this year.
UNA-UK has written to the Prime Minister, as well as the Secretaries of State for Defence, International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to urge them to ensure that the upcoming NSS and SDSR include a commitment to the United Nations.
As part of a public consultation on the SDSR, UNA-UK is asking its members and supporters to endorse the recommendations outlined in these reports and say why they believe investment in the UN is important to British interests.
Click here to take part in the consultation
Click here to view the report on UN peace operations
