Press Release (99)16 9 Feb. 1999

Co-operation in Peacekeeping: Workshop on Humanitarian Aspects of Peacekeeping Geneva, 10th - 12th February 1999 A Workshop on "Humanitarian Aspects of Peacekeeping" will take place in Geneva from 10th to 12th February under the auspices of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC)'s Ad Hoc Group on Co-operation in Peacekeeping. The EAPC brings together NATO Allies and members of NATO's Partnership for Peace for discussions and programmes on a wide range of European politico-security matters. The Workshop, which is co-sponsored by the Swiss Government and NATO, will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. It will be opened by the Swiss State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jakob Kellenberger and NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ambassador Klaus-Peter Klaiber. Representatives of NATO and Partner Countries, as well as several International Organisations will take part in the Workshop. Key-note speeches will be delivered by Mr Yves Sandoz, Director for International Law and Communication, International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr Wim van Eekelen, Member of the North Atlantic Assembly and former Secretary General of the Western European Union, and Major General Franklin van Kappen, former Senior Military Adviser to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The aim of the Workshop is to promote mutual understanding on practical questions of co-operation and co-ordination among actors engaged in or concerned with humanitarian assistance in the context of peacekeeping. The Workshop brings together the key players in this field, in order to provide for the widest possible dialogue and exchange of views and experiences. The discussion will be structured at three different Panel discussions (1) which will address the following issues: "How to organise interaction and co-ordination?", "Information Exchange/Sharing" and "Pre-deployment preparation, including training". Following the Workshop, the EAPC Ad Hoc Group on Co-operation in Peacekeeping will finalise a Compendium of Views and Experiences in Humanitarian Aspects of peacekeeping, which is currently under review. The objective of developing this document is to widen the scope of common understanding for practical co-operation between NATO Members and Partner Countries. Once completed and approved, the Compendium will be a public document and will be disseminated as widely as possible. Footnotes Panellists include representatives of United Nations agencies such as the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), European Community's Humanitarian Office (ECHO), Office of the High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR), Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Kosovo Verification Mission, Supreme Allied Commander for Europe (SACEUR), Supreme Allied Commander for the Atlantic (SACLANT), International Committee of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.