Swiss minister defends peace missions at UN Security Council

Switzerland is serving a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. For the month of May, it chairs the council. © Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd has called for more sustainable funding to bolster peacekeeping missions in a speech to the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday.

“Peace missions are an essential instrument of this Council for peace and security in the world,” the head of the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) said in her speech to the UN Security Council. She stressed their importance in Africa in particular, and underlined Switzerland’s interest to use its mandate in the UN’s most powerful body to increase cooperation with the region.

There is a need for “predictable, sustainable and flexible funding” for peace missions, the Swiss defence minister said as she chaired a special briefing on Africa. She welcomed a proposal to use compulsory contributions from UN member states to advance peace missions.

+What to expect when Switzerland heads UN Security Council

Earlier in the day she honoured peacekeepers killed in various countries during a wreath-laying ceremony led by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. She also called for a moment of silence in the Council on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of peacekeeping missions.

The oldest UN peacekeeping mission was first deployed in 1948 to maintain the cease-fire in the Middle East. In 2021, Major General Patrick Gauchat was asked to lead this mission, making him the first Swiss officer to head a UN peacekeeping mission.

Since 1948, more than two million people from over 120 countries have taken part in UN peace operations. Of these, almost 4,300, including three Swiss officers, have died in the line of duty.

Amherd is the third member of the Federal Council to preside over the Security Council, after Swiss president Alain Berset and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. Switzerland started a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in January.External link

Art activism

On Friday, Amherd is scheduled to take part in a photo exhibition by French artist JR in Times Square alongside UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. This is part of the Inside Out art project to “celebrate all those who work together in the cause of global peace,” writes the UN in a press release.

The Inside Out Project, founded by artist, has engaged more than 500,000 people in 149 countries and territories, with more than 2,000 exhibitions. Featuring large-scale photographs of New Yorkers, the Project first turned Times Square into a giant art gallery in 2013.

On this occasion, Inside Out will display black and white portraits of UN peacekeepers, community members and other partners working for peace and progress.