The American University of Beirut (AUB) distributed yesterday a summary of the conference held by the former Algerian diplomat Al Akhdar Al Ibrahimi, upon an invitation addressed by Issam Fares Institute for Public policy& International Affairs at the AUB, within the Bill and Sally Hambrecht Distinguished PeaceMakers Lectures, about peace-making and peace-keeping.
At the outset, the Director of the Institute Mr. Ramy Khoury introduced the lecturer. Al Ibrahimi is former ambassador and former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He retired from governmental service in 1993 and exercised a new profession as an international diplomat and a UN mediator until 2005. He is also member of the Elders Group, created in 2007, upon an initiative of Nelson Mandela, including distinguished heads of state and well-known figures.
He also said that Al Akhdar Al Ibrahimi upheld the efforts of the League of Arab States to put an end to the Lebanese war, through Al Taef Agreement. Al Ibrahimi worked as a UN Secretary General Envoy and negotiator in Afghanistan, South Africa and Iraq, where he supervised the major changes occurring in these countries. He also headed an independent commission formed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to review international peace-keeping operations and draft an exhaustive report. The Millenium Summit adopted the said report in September 2000 and named it Al Ibrahimi report.
At the beginning, the lecturer talked about the history of United Nations peace-keeping operations, highlighting that it is more useful to learn from the mistakes than to brag about the victories. He mentioned that 50% of the situations of reached peace fall down after a while. Then, he evoked the disaster which stroke Haiti, where 150 UN staff perished.
He talked about Afghanistan where the situation on the field is continuously changing, underestimating the strength of human beings and that of the enemy. He mentioned, in this regard, that the United Nations should use its resources more efficiently and that the 130 billion USD spent by rich countries in peace-keeping operations is a decent contribution, but that developing countries do not contribute proportionately beside them. He underscored Oxfam report, stating that 40% of the aid funds to Afghanistan went back to donor countries under the form of consultancies wages and salaries, whereas the remaining part did not benefit but by a slight share the Afghan people for which the assistance was allocated. He also stated that the bad timing and the exaggerated meddling were harmful more than useful.
Despite his criticism against the United Nations, Al Akhdar Al Ibrahimi said that the organization is irreplaceable, achieving the best outcomes in peace-keeping operations, among all organizations. However, in view of the United Nations losing its credibility in the Middle East, except for the UNRWA, it is urgent that regional governments become more involved.
It is noteworthy that Al Ibrahimi visited the American University of Beirut in June 2003, when he was within the first wave of distinguished people to obtain an honorary doctorate. At that time, the University has restored this system, after a three-decade suspension.