Title: White Paper on South African Participation in International Peace Missions - Part 5
5. SOUTH AFRICA'S POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
5.1. Standby Arrangements
The scope of South African involvement in peace missions can range from involvement in broader diplomatic and political initiatives - preventive diplomacy, peace-making, and peace-building - to those missions with a more reactive focus - observer missions, peace-keeping, peace enforcement and humanitarian assistance.
South Africa would obviously prefer to contribute to those initiatives that aim to address the underlying causes of conflict and not simply its short-term containment. However, it is not always possible to be selective in this regard. In the event that military forces are required to respond to a humanitarian emergency, or to support an important peace process, South Africa may have to provide an appropriate contingent to supplement the international or regional effort.
If South Africa is to fulfil its obligations under the Charters of the UN and the OAU and the SADC Treaty in a responsible manner, it must be prepared for the contingencies and requirements of a broad range of peace mission scenarios, and signal this preparedness to the region and the international community. This would best be done by creating a pool of high quality personnel who could be made available for active participation in peace missions through the existing UN Standby Arrangements System, and through information sharing at the regional and sub-regional levels.
In order to meet the demands of rapid deployment and to avert tragedies such as the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the UN created a "Standby Arrangements System" in November 1995. The purpose of this system is to have a precise understanding of the forces and other capabilities a Member State will have available at a given condition of readiness for movement from the home country if it agrees to contribute to a peacekeeping operation. Such an understanding facilitates the organisation's efforts in mission force planning and force building and also contributes to its rapid deployment. Similarly, it places the participating government in a better position to plan and budget for a possible contribution to a peacekeeping operation, to train and prepare its personnel and, if necessary, to arrange for the acquisition of the necessary equipment required for peace missions.
The Standby Arrangements System is based on the established principle that a member state retains the right to say "no" to the Secretary General's request for participation in a specific UN peacekeeping operation. Hence, it cannot be assumed that all resources included in the system will be made available when so requested.
The effectiveness and optimisation of the Standby Arrangements System is linked to detailed information on resources specified in each of the standby arrangements. By maintaining a comprehensive database, the UN Secretariat is in a better position to determine the resources available to meet peace mission requirements. It also enables departmental planners to tailor realistic tasks for resources provided by the governments according to their capabilities as well as identifying what services and materials should be procured or contracted if deficiencies exist. Standby Arrangements are not only confined to resources directly required in the mission area but also cover air and sea strategic lift resources offered by governments and needed in rapid deployment of all resources into the peacekeeping operation area.
To assist member states and Secretariat planners, standard standby components have been devised and are listed in Tables of Organisation and Equipment that have been made available to member states. The tables provide guidelines on tasks, organisational structure, size and equipment, including the number of vehicles, of the types of units typically deployed in contemporary peace support operations. The guidelines and modalities for potential civilian contributions are far less specific at the level of the UN, but a few member states are pursuing innovative strategies in this regard.
Given the strong preference of the South African government for contributing to peace making and peace building, some form of standby arrangement is necessary for delineating and preparing civilian- and civilian police volunteers, as well as the military for participation in multinational peace missions.
5.2. Civilian Resources
No nation simply "assigns" civilians to a UN peace mission. All political and key civilian office-bearers are appointed by the United Nations itself. While any country can volunteer the services of certain diplomats and civilian experts, these are not likely to be appointed unless they are in good standing within the UN "system" and have extensive experience which is relevant to the peace mission in question - and each peace mission is unique in terms of composition and mandate. The UN and other international bodies engaging in peace missions should therefore have the widest and most accurate information basis in order to assist with the appointment of suitably qualified and motivated civilians to key posts in each mission.
South Africa has considerable civilian expertise and experience in areas that may be fundamental to the success of a peace mission. In certain geographic and socio-economic contexts, South African civilian expertise may be even more appropriate than that offered by other out-of-area contributors. Examples in this regard include support for mediation and diplomatic settlement of micro-disputes in the region; the treatment of tropical diseases; the provision of medical and nursing support; the provision of field support (transport, water purification, demining, food, telecommunications and field management of particular humanitarian or political processes); and the provision of trained statisticians and human rights observers for electoral and human rights monitoring functions.
The South African Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will therefore encourage, facilitate, and support the selection of civilian volunteers for specific peace missions, through the creation of a suitable readiness system or resource bank of competent personnel residing in South Africa who are available for international assignments which promote democracy, human rights and peace building. In this sense, South African civilian experts on peace missions, like military and police personnel will represent South Africa's commitment to peace missions. Because of the many political sensitivities when working in areas such as human rights and democracy, the resource bank will be located within a stand-alone, non-profit organisation.
The crux of the readiness arrangement would be the identification of South Africans who meet the profiles of the individuals sought by the UN and other international agencies, such as civil servants and private persons with expertise in foreign relations and diplomacy, democracy and good governance, safety and security, justice, transportation, communications and health. At a minimum, this should result in the provision of a list of appropriate names and résumés to the UN Secretariat, which would then directly hire the individuals they select from the list. In the case of civil servants, leave of absence will have to be negotiated for the duration of deployment with the Department concerned.
The system would further involve the maintenance of a comprehensive database of South African experts; active tracking of possible openings in existing or planned UN missions; screening of South African volunteers; and the training of some volunteers. The South African government may, at times, also choose to fund the secondment of individuals to international peace missions. In such cases, the standby system may be used to assist in the selection of these individuals.
Even where South Africans join existing UN teams, some administrative and logistical support may be needed. Such administrative and logistics functions could be contracted out, through the standby system, to various international organisations or NGOs with an established presence in the field.
In the understanding that civilians are a crucial component of any contemporary peace mission, the South African government will promote national and regional public awareness on the importance of having a resource bank of civilian volunteers and will support the establishment of relevant civilian training courses for those earmarked for international service. Acknowledging the need for enhanced regional and international co-operation for peace missions, the latter should be open to participants from South Africa, the region and abroad. In the interests of enhanced civil-military co-operation within peace missions, civilian attendance of pertinent military training activities and vice versa will be encouraged - especially in relation to personnel who are included in standby arrangements.
5.3. Police Resources
The South African Police Services (SAPS) is one of the largest and best-trained civilian police services in Africa. Indeed, while the SAPS is becoming increasingly civilianised, many countries on the continent are still policed by paramilitary style forces. The earnestness with which the government has undertaken a process of transforming South Africa's police from a force to a community-friendly service provides and excellent example of what can be done to restructure the provision of safety and security in an embryonic, post-conflict democracy. South African policemen and women who have experienced the process of transformation first-hand, are well-suited for international service in support of the broad UN police officers' mission, to "undertake the supervision or control of local civil police in order to ensure that law and order are maintained effectively and impartially, and that the human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully protected".
The UN has urgent need of high quality officers for increasingly police-intensive peace missions. As the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity, international obligations and domestic needs can be balanced by preparing a limited number of experienced SAPS personnel for deployment in support of peace missions. This number could be as few as twenty or as many as one hundred, with the understanding that only half the number would be deployed externally to allow for rotation. In essence, the upper limit would mean that less than 0,01% of the 136 000 SAPS personnel would be eligible for service in peace missions.
This size of contribution should be acceptable to even the most critical elements of the South African public - especially if it is emphasised that the experience gained on peace missions will undoubtedly contribute to the overall professionalism, human rights awareness, and service orientation of the SAPS. In any event, the Department of Safety and Security would approve each individual application for leave of absence for international service. Such approval would not be granted if it was to the obvious detriment of the safety and security of the South African public.
Participation in international missions will provide select South African police officers the opportunity to operate in a foreign culture and to be exposed to unique policing problems, as they confront cultural and ethical issues on a daily basis. Although the SAPS will lose the officer for a short period of time, the skills acquired and refined abroad will, in the long run, complement what the officer has already learnt in South Africa.
International service will be based on applications to join specific police missions. No police officer can be commanded to serve internationally. However, the Department of Safety and Security will facilitate such applications through creating a suitable readiness system, which includes a standby roster, selection procedures, and appropriate training opportunities. Candidates must go through a selection process that is tailored to the requirements of the UN DPKO training unit. This typically includes attributes such as at least eight years of police experience, sound mental and physical health, good driving skills, good English language and report writing skills and basic computer literacy. Candidates must also hold values and attitudes towards other cultures that are consistent with UN (and South African constitutional) principles.
5.4. Military Resources
For obvious historic reasons, South Africa has not yet provided troop contributions for peace support operations under the auspices of the UN or other international organisations. However, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has provided select logistic, airlift and specialist support for such missions since 1990. The SANDF provided electoral assistance in the form of air transport for UNAVEM II in Angola and ONUMOZ in Mozambique. The SANDF also provided logistic support for the UNAVEM III operation in Angola, in the form of tentage and equipment for four of the assembly areas set up by the UN in that country. Moreover, the SANDF has provided humanitarian assistance to Burundi in the form of medical assistance and the provision of essential humanitarian supplies, and has assisted the government of Angola with the training of de-mining teams.
In terms of the mandate of the SANDF (as specified in the Defence Review), participation in international peace missions is a secondary function of the armed forces. The SANDF will, therefore, not normally create special structures for such operations, but will rather provide for them with the primary structure. For example, peacekeeping and peace enforcement have been specified as secondary functions of the SA Army's Rapid Deployment Ground Force which includes mechanised, motorised and parachute forces. Similarly, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy and the South African Medical Services will not create dedicated force components for peace missions, but will ensure that the components that might be deployed in these operations are equipped and trained appropriately.
The SANDF believes that when it does contribute troops to international peace support operations, its contingents must be well equipped and trained to the highest standards. Personnel development is an important part of this equation, including the attendance by select personnel of peacekeeping-related courses in foreign countries. Since the middle of 1995, SANDF officers have attended a wide variety of peacekeeping courses in the region and abroad. The aim has been to establish a pool of knowledge and expertise among career officers and soldiers, which can be utilised to enrich the quality of existing and planned training programmes for peace operations.
As with many other countries, the development of peace operations training and capacity is centred on the South African Army. The Army has already produced a Joint Warfare Manual: Peace Support Operations, which will be revised according to new trends in peacekeeping, and according to experience gained by the Army over time. However, the contribution of a troop contingent to multinational peace operations has hitherto been hindered by the ongoing process of transforming the SANDF from an agglomeration of former statutory and non-statutory forces into a single, national defence force which is appropriately structured and oriented for serving the democratic South African state. This transformation has involved both the integration of diverse armed forces and the rationalisation of the resultant national force to achieve an appropriate level and composition of personnel.
An additional restrictive factor has been the ongoing internal deployment of large numbers of SA Army personnel in support of the SAPS, in order to maintain internal stability, law and order. Moreover, the SANDF has had to cope with the financial burden of a defence budget that is constantly declining, as government seeks to redress the socio-economic imbalances created by past policy.
Notwithstanding such limitations, the final size and orientation of the SANDF has been approved through a consultative defence review process involving the armed forces, parliament and civil society. The "Growth-Core Force Design" recommended in the Defence Review "provides for participation in peace support operations at the level of up to one infantry battalion group". The Defence Review states that participation in peace support operations is a secondary function of the SA Army's Rapid Deployment Ground Force, and that two battalion groups will be prepared for participation in peacekeeping operations (with the understanding that only one battalion group will be deployed at a time, with the other held in readiness for rotation). Where participation in operations with a Chapter VII mandate is required, the capabilities of the mechanised and parachute forces may also be used.
The Defence Review also notes that: "The SANDF has particular skills and expertise in communications, field engineering (including mine-clearing), medical, and command and control functions which are relevant to peace support operations", and which are in great demand by the UN DPKO. However difficult it may be at this stage of force transformation, the SANDF must now formalise its minimum potential contribution to international peace missions through an appropriate readiness system, which will include notifying the UN Secretariat of available contributions and determining appropriate tables of personnel and equipment in collaboration with DPKO. This contribution should be no less than that outlined in the Defence Review, but may include additional assets such as air force elements.
International service (and the prospect thereof) will contribute to higher force morale and military professionalism. Particular attention will be paid to providing the UN with a select but limited pool of trained officers who are available for deployment as UN Military Observers. The earliest deployment of select SANDF officers as UN Military Observers will provide a core repository of experience and expertise in the conduct of multinational peace support operations. This is essential for furthering peace mission training in South Africa.