United Nations Security Council Resolution 2553 – Maintenance of international peace and securityLetter from the President of the Council on the voting outcome (S/2020/1166) and voting details (S/2020/1167)

Resolution 2553 (2020)

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security,

Recalling its resolutions 2151 (2014) on security sector reform and 2282 (2016)on the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, and the statements by its President of 21 February 2007 (S/PRST/2007/3), 12 May 2008 (S/PRST/2008/14) and 12 October 2011 (S/PRST/2011/19),

Recalling its resolution 2282 (2016) which recalled General Assembly resolution A/RES/70/1, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets,

Recognizing that development, peace and security and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing,

Stressing that reforming the security sector in post-conflict environments is critical to the consolidation of peace and stability, promoting poverty reduction, rule of law and good governance, extending legitimate State authority, and preventing countries from relapsing into conflict, and further stressing that, in this regard, a professional, effective, and accountable security sector and accessible and impartial law-enforcement and justice sectors are equally necessary to laying the foundations for peace and sustainable development,

Reiterating the need for a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and sustaining peace as well as gender mainstreaming measures including through security sector reform in the broader framework of the rule of law,

Recalling the sovereign right and the primary responsibility of the country concerned to determine the national approach and priorities of security sector reform and recognizing that it should be a nationally owned process that is rooted in the particular needs and conditions of, and at the request and in close consultation with the country in question and encouraging the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in security sector reform and the development of expertise in the field of security sector reform at the national and local level,Recognizing that the political leadership and political will of national authorities are critical for the progress of security sector reform, and reaffirming the lead role of national authorities in developing an inclusive national vision for security sector reform, which takes into account the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and stressing that coordinating the implementation of the vision, dedicating national resources towards national security institutions, and monitoring the impact of the security sector reform process are an integral part of national ownership and leadership of security sector reform,

Reaffirming its commitment to address the impact of armed conflict on women, youth and children, and recalling its resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019) on women, peace and security, resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1674 (2006), 1738 (2006) and 1894 (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, as well as resolutions as well as resolutions 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020)on youth, peace and security, and resolutions 1261 (1999), 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011), 2068 (2012) and 2143 (2014) on children and armed conflict,

Recognizes the role of United Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions in supporting national authorities, where and as mandated, to develop inclusive, national strategies, programs and priorities for security sector reform and support the coordination of international assistance to security sector reform as appropriate that is aligned with national priorities and takes into account international support in order to effectively assist countries to build and sustain peace, stressing the importance of peacekeeping missions and special political missions to be provided with adequate, predictable and sustainable funding and/or resources to implement mandates and United Nations support related to security sector reform,

Recalling reports of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations of the General Assembly, which have provided guidance to the United Nations Secretariat on the subject of security sector reform and the development of a United Nations approach to security sector reform,

Expressing concern at the range of challenges that weak and dysfunctional security institutions face including impairing the ability of the State to build and sustain peace, extend public security, rule of law and access to justice within its boundaries, and noting that good governance and oversight of the security sector is important in ensuring that security institutions provide security and protect the population, and further noting that failure to address governance, operational and accountability deficits can undermine the positive gains of peacekeeping and necessitates the return of peacekeeping and special political missions in previous areas of operation and recognizing that, effective and inclusive security sector reform processes have been an important element of the political processes, national reconciliation, transitional justice, stabilization and reconstruction of some post-conflict countries,

Reaffirming that a representative, responsive, efficient, effective, professional, and accountable security sector without discrimination and with full respect for human rights and the rule of law is the cornerstone of peace and sustainable development and is important for conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace,

Recognizing that security sector reform is an important element of United Nations peacebuilding efforts and noting the important work of the Peacebuilding Commission as a dedicated intergovernmental advisory body that brings a strategic approach and coherence to international peacebuilding efforts including United Nations support to security sector reform,

Recalling that the bulk of Security Council-mandated United Nations assistance in the area of security sector reform takes place in, and is directed to, countries in Africa and that a number of African countries are becoming important providers of such assistance, and in this regard recognizing the important contributions of, and capacities put in place by the African Union and the sub-regional organisations to support and guide national security sector reform efforts,

Noting the support provided by bilateral actors, regional organisations, multilateral financial institutions as well as, expert organizations including academia and research organizations to security sector reform efforts and other initiatives in the area of security sector reform, and recognizing the importance of establishing strategic partnerships and coordinated funding to enhance the impact of international support that is aligned with, and takes into account national security sector reform priorities,

Stressing the importance of national ownership and the role that coordination plays, as appropriate, between the different actors involved in supporting security sector reforms through bilateral and multilateral contributions and emphasizing the role United Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions can play in enhancing this coordination with a national vision and priorities, and taking into account the need to ensure transparency, inclusivity, and accountability of support provided for security sector reform in line with national priorities,

Recognizing the centrality of security sector reform as a key element of peacekeeping and special political mission mandates, stressing the role of peacekeeping operations and special political missions in support of political solutions, and emphasizing the importance of the United Nations, including through its peacekeeping operations and special political missions, supporting national Governments, upon their request where appropriate, to strengthen security sector governance and develop security institutions that are inclusive, representative, accessible and responsive to the needs of their population, and the important role of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund in supporting security sector reform,

Recalling the important role that the United Nations has played in supporting national efforts to enhance security sector governance and build sustainable security institutions, and commending the efforts of the United Nations, in particular the Department of Peace Operations, including the Security Sector Reform Unit and the United Nations Inter-Agency Security Sector Reform Task Force, in further strengthening a comprehensive United Nations approach to security sector reform, through the development of system-wide and specialized guidance and civilian capacities, coordination mechanisms, and development of strategic partnerships with regional and subregional organizations, in particular the African Union,

Underlining the importance of the close coordination of the range of United Nations Security Sector Reform activities, both at headquarters and in the field, in particular between Security Council-mandated missions and the United Nations Country Team, and noting the role of the Global Focal Point for Rule of Law in the context of security sector reform in enhancing the United Nations integrated responses and joint approaches at the country level, and encouraging relevant United Nations entities mandated for security sector reform activities to work through the existing coordination mechanisms, as appropriate,

Acknowledging that security sector reform in some contexts will include defence, police, justice and corrections, disaster management and border, customs and immigration services, as well as, customary and traditional security providers as determined by each Member State, and stressing the importance to adequately consider initiatives that address strategic security sector governance, management and oversight aspects in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the security sector based on the particular needs and conditions of the country in question,

Reiterating the importance of the rule of law as one of the key elements of conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peacebuilding and reiterating the statement by its President of 21 February 2014 (S/PRST/2014/5), and recalling that security sector reform must take place within a broad framework of the rule of law, and noting in this regard the contribution that effective, professional and accountable police services, that provide security to the population, can make in building trust between State authorities and the public and restoring the rule of law in post-conflict countries,

Recognizing that security sector reform constitutes a key element of the political processes of States recovering from conflict and of the strengthening of the rule of law institutions, and that the establishment of representative, effective and accountable security sector governance ensuring the security and justice needs of the entire population and development of sustainable capacities of national security institutions able to fulfil their responsibilities to protect all civilians is central to the transition, where and as mandated of security responsibilities to the host state, and to the gradual withdrawal and exit of peacekeeping operations and special political missions,

Recognizing the interlinkages between security sector reform and other important factors of stabilization and reconstruction, such as, but not limited to, national reconciliation, transitional justice, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration as well as long-term rehabilitation of former combatants and all those affected including in particular women, youth and children, national small arms and light weapons management, arms embargo implementation, reduction of armed violence, organized crime and anti-corruption measures, protection of civilians, including in particular women, youth and children, as well as gender equality and human rights issues

Adopted by the Security Council on 3 December 2020.