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New UN Chief Urges Preventive Diplomacy 'Surge'

by Margaret Besheer

   UNITED NATIONS --

   New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has said
   conflict prevention will be his top priority, laid out his vision
   Tuesday for re-tuning the organization's work from largely responding
   to conflicts back to preventing them.
   "We must rebalance our approach to peace and security," Guterres told a
   packed chamber of the U.N. Security Council for his first appearance
   since taking office on January 1. "For decades, this has been dominated
   by responding to conflict; for the future, we need to do far more to
   prevent war and sustain peace."

   FILE - The U.N. Security Council votes unanimously to adopt a
   resolution concerning humanitarian aid in Syria at United Nations
   headquarters, Dec. 19, 2016.

   The 67-year-old former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief
   said that while the causes of crises are interlinked, the U.N.'s
   response remains fragmented.
   He urged a new integrated approach that would include addressing root
   causes, such as improving sustainable development and lowering youth
   unemployment, with greater internal U.N. efforts to enhance mediation
   abilities and decision-making processes. He also noted that "the
   primary work of conflict prevention lies with member states."
   Guterres urged nations to commit to a "surge in diplomacy for peace"
   and said preventing conflicts must be regarded as a value in itself.
   "It is an essential means of reducing human suffering and enabling
   people to reach their full potential," he said.
   The United Nations is facing an abundance of conflicts around the globe
   and the number of displaced persons is the highest it has been since
   World War II. The organization is stretched to the limit financially
   trying to meet humanitarian needs, and it has more than 100,000
   peacekeepers deployed to stabilize some of the most complex situations.

   FILE - Residents chant slogans against Congolese President Joseph
   Kabila as UN peacekeepers patrol during demonstrations in the streets
   of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, Dec. 20, 2016.

   "War is never inevitable," Guterres reminded member states. "It is
   always a matter of choice: the choice to exclude, to discriminate, to
   marginalize, to resort to violence," he said. He urged the rebuilding
   of trust between governments and their citizens and among nations in
   order to prevent and avoid conflict.

   "But peace, too, is never inevitable," the secretary-general
   emphasized. "It is the result of difficult decisions, hard work and
   compromise." He said peace should never be taken for granted and should
   be nurtured at every opportunity.

   "Prevention is not merely a priority, but the priority," Guterres
   concluded. "If we live up to our responsibilities, we will save lives,
   reduce suffering and give hope to millions."