Thank you, President, for your leadership on this issue and for recognizing Brazil, as well as for our briefers.
I join you in honoring all peacekeepers who have passed away while preserving peace.
President, effective strategic communications are crucial for enabling the execution of mandates.
They promote trust and amplify the voices of those who work to create and maintain peace.
They are crucial to the security and safety of peacekeepers as well.
Nearly half of peacekeepers said that disinformation made it harder to carry out their mandates and threatened their safety and security, as we heard from the Secretary-General.
In this regard, I want to stress three important points.
First and foremost, the Comprehensive Planning and Performance Assessment System should be used to assess strategic communications as a whole-of-mission activity that is integrated into planning and mandate execution.
Additionally, they need to take advantage of digital technologies to keep up with the evolving communications landscape.
Action for Peacekeeping Plus and the Strategy for the Digital Transformation of Peacekeeping both include efforts in this direction that we support.
Second, all parties involved should avoid spreading false information against the United Nations (UN) that could jeopardize peacekeeper safety and security, including in the DRC, CAR, and Mali.
The volume of harmful lies being spread about MINUSMA’s mission and operations has significantly increased since the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group arrived in Mali.
In a volatile environment, this increases the risk to the lives of peacekeepers.
It sows mistrust, which makes it difficult for local communities to communicate with MINUSMA.
That makes it harder for the mission to stop assaults on both civilians and peacekeepers.
More lives will be lost if false information continues to propagate. Such behavior is not justifiable.
Thirdly, President, I want to emphasize how crucial strategic communication is to advancing the agenda for women, peace, and security.
I applaud the efforts German and British peacekeepers have been making in MINUSMA to achieve this.
They have interacted with neighborhood women’s groups and assisted neighborhood radio stations in attracting female listeners.
This has promoted understanding between the parties and provided Malian women forums to promote peace.
President, let me conclude by emphasizing that the United Kingdom continues to provide the UN peacekeeping effort with its full support, including by mainstreaming a cutting-edge, contemporary, and integrated strategy for strategic communications.