United Nations Security Council Resolution 1366 – Role of the Security Council in the prevention of armed conflicts

Resolution 1366 (2001)

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1196 (1998) of 16 September 1998, 1197 (1998) of 18September 1998, 1208 (1998) of 19 November 1998, 1209 (1998) of 19 November1998; 1265 (1999) of 17 September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000, 1318(2000) of 7 September 2000, 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and 1327 (2000) of 13November 2000,

Recalling also the statements of its President of 16 September 1998(S/PRST/1998/28), 24 September 1998 (S/PRST/1998/29), 30 November 1998(S/PRST/1998/35), 24 September 1999 (S/PRST/1999/28), 30 November 1999(S/PRST/1999/34), 23 March 2000 (S/PRST/2000/10), 20 July 2000(S/PRST/2000/25), 20 February 2001 (S/PRST/2001/5) and 22 March 2001(S/PRST/2001/10),

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict (S/2001/574) and in particular the recommendations contained therein relating to the role of the Security Council,

Reiterating the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and reaffirming its commitment to the principles of the political dependence, sovereign equality and territorial integrity of all States,

Mindful of the consequences of armed conflict on relations between and among States, the economic burden on the nations involved as well as on the international community, and above all, the humanitarian consequences of conflicts,

Bearing in mind its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security and reaffirming its role in the prevention of armed conflicts,

Stressing the need for the maintenance of regional and international peace and stability and friendly relations among all States, and underlining the overriding political, humanitarian and moral imperatives as well as the economic advantages of preventing the outbreak and escalation of conflicts,

Emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive strategy comprising operational and structural measures for prevention of armed conflict; and recognizing the ten principles outlined by the Secretary-General in his report onprevention of armed conflicts,

Noting with satisfaction the increased recourse, with consent of receiving Member States, to Security Council missions to areas of conflict or potential conflict, which among others, can play an important role in the prevention of armed conflicts,

Reiterating that conflict prevention is one of the primary responsibilities of member States,

Recognizing the essential role of the Secretary-General in the prevention of armed conflict and the importance of efforts to enhance his role in accordance with Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations,

Recognizing the role of other relevant organs, offices, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and other international organizations including the World Trade Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions; as well as the role of non-governmental organizations, civil society actors and the private sector in the prevention of armed conflict,

Stressing the necessity of addressing the root-causes and regional dimensions of conflicts, recalling the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General on Causes of Conflicts and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa of 13 April 1998 (S/1998/318) and underlining the mutually supportive relationship between conflict prevention and sustainable development,

Expressing serious concern over the threat to peace and security caused by theillicit trade in and the excessive and destabilizing accumulation of small arms andlight weapons in areas of conflict and their potential to exacerbate and prolongarmed conflicts,

Emphasizing the importance of adequate, predictable and properly targeted resources for conflict prevention and of consistent funding for long-term preventive activities,

Reiterating that early warning, preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment,practical disarmament measures and post-conflict peace-building are interdependent and complementary components of a comprehensive conflict prevention strategy,

Underlining the importance of raising awareness of and ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, stressing the fundamental responsibility of Member States to prevent and end impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and warcrimes, recognizing the role of the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in deterring the future occurrence of such crimes thereby helping to preventarmed conflict; and stressing the importance of international efforts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations in this regard,

Reiterating the shared commitment to save people from the ravages of armed conflicts, acknowledging the lessons to be learned for all concerned from the failure of preventive efforts that preceded such tragedies as the genocide in Rwanda(S/1999/1257) and the massacre in Srebrenica (A/54/549), and resolving to take appropriate action within its competence, combined with the efforts of Member States, to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies,

1. Expresses its determination to pursue the objective of prevention ofarmed conflict as an integral part of its primary responsibility for the maintenance ofinternational peace and security;

2. Stresses that the essential responsibility for conflict prevention rests with national Governments, and that the United Nations and the international community can play an important role in support of national efforts for conflict prevention andcan assist in building national capacity in this field and recognizes the importantsupporting role of civil society;

3. Calls upon Member States as well as regional and subregional organizations and arrangements to support the development of a comprehensive conflict prevention strategy as proposed by the Secretary-General;

4. Emphasizes that for the success of a preventive strategy, the United Nations needs the consent and support of the Government concerned and, if possible the cooperation of other key national actors and underlines in this regard that thesustained political will of neighbouring States, regional allies or other MemberStates who would be well placed to support United Nations efforts, is necessary;

5. Expresses its willingness to give prompt consideration to early warning or prevention cases brought to its attention by the Secretary-General and in this regard, encourages the Secretary-General to convey to the Security Council his assessment of potential threats to international peace and security with due regard to relevant regional and subregional dimensions, as appropriate, in accordance with Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations;

6. Undertakes to keep situations of potential conflict under close review aspart of a conflict prevention strategy and expresses its intention to consider cases of potential conflict brought to its attention by any Member State, or by a State not a Member of the United Nations or by the General Assembly or on the basis of information furnished by the Economic and Social Council;

7. Expresses its commitment to take early and effective action to prevent armed conflict and to that end to employ all appropriate means at its disposal including, with the consent of the receiving States, its missions to areas of potential conflict;

8. Reiterates its call to Member States to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security and in this regard urges them to provide the necessary human, material and financial resources for timely and preventive measures including early warning, preventive diplomacy,preventive deployment, practical disarmament measures and peace-building asappropriate in each case;

9. Reaffirms its role in the peaceful settlement of disputes and reiterates its call upon the Member States to settle their disputes by peaceful means as set forth in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations including by use of regional preventive mechanisms and more frequent resort to the International Court of Justice;

10. Invites the Secretary-General to refer to the Council information andanalyses from within the United Nations system on cases of serious violations ofinternational law, including international humanitarian law and human rights lawand on potential conflict situations arising, inter alia, from ethnic, religious and territorial disputes, poverty and lack of development and expresses its determinationto give serious consideration to such information and analyses regarding situationswhich it deems to represent a threat to international peace and security;

11. Expresses its intention to continue to invite the Office of the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and other relevant United Nations agenciesto brief its members on emergency situations which it deems to represent a threat tointernational peace and security and supports the implementation of protection andassistance activities by relevant United Nations agencies in accordance with theirrespective mandates;

12. Expresses its willingness to consider preventive deployment upon the recommendation of the Secretary-General and with the consent of the Member States concerned;

13. Calls upon all Member States to ensure timely and faithful implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects(A/CONF.192/15) adopted on 20 July 2001 and to take all necessary measures atnational, regional and global levels to prevent and combat the illicit flow of smallarms and light weapons in areas of conflict;

14. Expresses its willingness to make full use of information from the Secretary-General provided to him inter alia, under paragraph 33 section II of theProgramme of Action in its efforts to prevent armed conflict;

15. Stresses the importance of the inclusion, as part of a conflict prevention strategy, of peace-building components including civilian police within peacekeeping operations on a case-by-case basis to facilitate a smooth transition tothe post conflict peace-building phase and the ultimate conclusion of the mission;

16. Decides to consider inclusion as appropriate, of a disarmament,demobilization and reintegration component in the mandates of United Nations peacekeeping and peace-building operations with particular attention to the rehabilitation of child soldiers;

17. Reiterates its recognition of the role of women in conflict prevention and requests the Secretary-General to give greater attention to gender perspectives in the implementation of peacekeeping and peace-building mandates as well as in conflictprevention efforts;

18. Supports the enhancement of the role of the Secretary-General in conflict prevention including by increased use of United Nations interdisciplinary fact-finding and confidence-building missions to regions of tension, developing regional prevention strategies with regional partners and appropriate United Nations organs and agencies, and improving the capacity and resource base for preventive action inthe Secretariat;

19. Endorses the call of the Secretary-General for support to the follow-up processes launched by the Third and Fourth High-level United Nations-Regional Organizations Meetings in the field of conflict prevention and peace-building, and to provide increased resources for the development of regional capacities in these fields;

20. Calls for the enhancement of the capacity for conflict prevention ofregional organizations, in particular in Africa, by extending international assistanceto, inter alia, the Organization of African Unity and its successor organization,through its Mechanism of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, as wellas to the Economic Community of West African States and its Mechanism forPrevention, Management and Resolution of Conflicts, Peacekeeping and Security;

21. Stresses the need to create conditions for durable peace and sustainabledevelopment by addressing the root-causes of armed conflict and to this end, callsupon Member States and relevant bodies of the United Nations system to contributeto the effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration and Programme ofAction for a Culture of Peace (A/53/243);

22. Looks forward to further consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on Prevention of Armed Conflict by the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, as well as other actors including the Bretton Woods institutions and supports the development of a system-wide coordinated andmutually supportive approach to prevention of armed conflict;

23. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Adopted by the Security Council at its 4360th meeting, on 30 August 2001.