It is a pleasure to introduce a round table focused on key issues that, together with human rights and development, are at the core of the United Nations’ mission. I thank the organizers, particularly the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, for their gracious invitation to Italy. I also thank the United Nations, represented here today by the Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Mr. B. Lynn Pascoe, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General, Mr. Jordan Ryan, and the Director of DPKO’s Policy, Evaluation and Training Division, Mrs. Izumi Nakamitsu.  The timing of this round table is particularly apt. Ten years after the benchmark Brahimi Report, which weighed the challenges of UN peacekeeping in the first post cold war decade; five years after the establishment of the Peace Building Commission, which is being reviewed this year; and one year since the New Horizon initiative, launched by the Secretariat in search of new peacekeeping dimensions.  All these steps have a direct or indirect effect on the UN’s role in building peace, security, and democracy. Despite many difficulties and shortcomings, the United Nations has taken the lead in addressing these issues. The Organization’s efforts in support of democracy are sometimes criticized for being supply-driven, guided by the main donors or too often from headquarters in New York rather than on the ground.
Yet, the United Nations is still the repository of a strength that no one else can boast: whether State, coalition of States, or Organization. I refer to its universality and its subsequent legitimacy.
   Keeping this in mind and as a mere suggestion for the panelists, I would like to single out two of the many ideas that might be discussed to foster the UN role in promoting peace, security and democracy 1. The linkage between Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding  as the strategic entry point of the UN’s commitment to a Country emerging from conflict and Italy’s contribution to this approach. 2. The role played by regional Organizations in the development of peace, security, and democracy in member and neighboring Countries and the example of the European Union’s influence towards central and Eastern Europe’s democratization after the collapse of the bipolar system.
On the first point - linkage between peacekeeping and peacebuilding - we are at a crossroads. Everyone agrees that the cessation of hostilities is a “golden opportunity”to embark on international assistance to a Country in a strategic and farsighted manner. Unfortunately it is often a missed opportunity! The Security Council, usually, manages the crisis, the emergency. Only later, in the hope that the security situation has stabilized, talk of a “change in strategy” and switch to peacebuilding begins. It is instead during the immediate  aftermath of conflict that the United Nations has the opportunity to build a mission that, alongside the Blue Helmets, can sow the seeds of rebuilding and consolidating peace and rule of law. If the Peacebuilding Commission is involved from the start of a peacekeeping mission, it can act as a catalyst with the international financial institutions, civil society, rule of law experts, and public administration. With such an integrated and coordinated approach, the UN can be perceived by the local authorities as the sole legitimate external reference point in the peace and democratization process. Italy is particularly receptive to this approach. The deployment model for Italian peacekeepers, especially the Carabinieri, aims to reestablish government control over the territory and thereby improve security conditions. But it is accompanied by an ability to relate to the local population and integrate the civilian components of the mission. The perception of police forces not only as security actors but also as trainers, infrastructure protectors and liaisons with local authorities builds trust in the United Nations The Italian Government’s decision to send a Carabinieri contingent to Haiti - where peace, security, and the road to full democracy has been sorely tested by the earthquake in January - confirms Italy’s commitment, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the role of the United Nations.
The second point is the role of regional organizations in assuring peace and encouraging democratic processes. The European Union provides a good example. In the past twenty years it has performed an action of attraction and stabilization vis-à-vis totalitarian regimes that were left behind by the break-up of the Soviet Union. The enlargement of the EU in the 1990s lead the Governments of central and eastern Europe to adopt a series of political, economic, and social reforms that, in fact, have triggered a virtuous cycle of democratization.  Just as the birth of the European Community in the 1950s brought peace to western Europe after World War Two, the expansion of the European Union to the East brought peace, stability, and security in the aftermath of the Cold War. It was hardly an accident that the only conflicts in Europe in the 1990s were in the Balkans, and their prospect of accession to the Brussels institutions is the best guarantee today of a future of peace and democracy. What better example of a “democratic arena” than the weekly meetings of the 27 EU member states in Brussels? What other international Organization has ever been entrusted with such a significant rate of national sovereignty from its members? Critics may argue that the European decision-making processes are slow and, despite the Lisbon Treaty, ineffective. But if we measure the EU’s success by the yardstick being used at this round table - namely peace, security, and democracy - are we really so sure that there is any ground for these criticisms? Why not, instead, consider applying this approach with consistency and commitment to other embryos of regional integration, such as the African Union? Africa is characterized by decades-old conflicts that have spread from Country to Country, crossing artificial borders drawn by colonial powers without regard for ethnicity, religion, geographic characteristics and natural resources. In this framework, every great power adopts an African policy by building bilateral relations with the Countries closest to it. This impedes every prospect for the future development of the African Countries which, by themselves, can never achieve the force and the scale needed to build structures that can compete with the rest of the world. The African Union was born in an effort to build political and economic unity on the continent. It should be encouraged! Economic aid and humanitarian assistance are indispensable but they are not enough. To build peace, security and democracy in the various Countries on the African continent, greater political integration is needed. In this framework the United Nations plays a crucial role. The Charter provides for cooperation with regional arrangements. We need to show more determination in establishing sure and sustainable financial mechanisms that are not subject solely to the will of donors. The recommendations of the UN-African Union Panel move in this direction. We need the political vision and the courage to translate them into policy. Initiatives such as this round table today can contribute to move the process forward. Greater integration of the UN presence from the immediate aftermath of conflict and more structured partnerships between the UN and regional organizations are only two examples of how the UN can strengthen its role in the maintenance of peace and security and the consolidation of democratic processes. The ultimate responsibility for a more effective UN, however, lies with the membership, and its willingness to invest in the future of the Organization. The United Nations itself, despite its universal vocation, suffers from a deficit of representation and democracy in some of its key bodies, such as the Security Council. In Italy’s view, a reform to make it more transparent, representative, and accountable to the general membership would give greater impulse to the role and the mission of the United Nations in the world. Thank you for your attention, and my best wishes for a fruitful discussion!