22 June 2004, United Nations, New York – For the first time in the history of the United Nations, civil society groups participated in the formal deliberations of the UN Security Council, thanks to the initiative of the Philippines.  As the current President of the UN Security Council, the Philippines convened today a meeting on the theme “The role of civil society in post-conflict peace building.”  The Philippines, with the concurrence of all the members of the Security Council, invited members of civil society to participate in today’s meeting.

All the speakers in today’s meeting welcomed the Philippine move to invite civil society participants.  This sentiment was captured by the delegate from France, who said “At the outset, I wish to thank you, Madam, for having organized today’s debate on a novel and stimulating subject.  This is a first insofar as the topic is concerned and because you have taken the initiative, for the first time in the history of the Council, . . . two eminent non-governmental organizations (will) participate in our deliberations.”

Ian Martin, Vice-President of the International Center for Transitional Justice, one of two civil society groups invited to participate thanked the Philippines for its invitation and said that one of the most fundamental challenges of post-conflict peace-building was to confront the past, while building a just foundation for the future.  He said that strategies to address past abuses generally included criminal prosecutions of perpetrators of serious crimes;  truth commissions; reparations packages, including, but not limited to, financial compensation; and efforts to honor the memory of the victims.
 
Denis Caillaux, the Secretary-General of CARE International, the other civil society group that participated in the discussions, said “I should like to thank the Government of the Philippines for having invited CARE . . . and for having organized this debate.  Such an initiative attests to the strength of our Government’s commitment – and that of the communitarian organizations based in the Philippines, whose activities are well known – to this topic.”  In his statement, Mr. Caillaux also pointed out that, with the rise of internal armed conflicts and complex emergencies, there was an increasing need to work with societies buffeted between armed conflict and natural calamities, which ended up in geographical patchworks of technical peace, but actual insecurity. END.