{"id":13571,"date":"2015-07-28T07:30:41","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T22:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shasegawa.com\/?p=13571"},"modified":"2015-07-29T01:03:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T16:03:06","slug":"leadership-traits-required-for-achieving-stability-and-peace-in-post-conflict-countries-28th-july-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shasegawa.com\/ja\/archives\/13571","title":{"rendered":"Leadership traits required for achieving stability and peace in post-conflict countries (28th July 2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From left to right: Moderator Professor Daisaku Higashi (University of Tokyo), Commentators Professors Mitsugi Endo<\/br>(University of Tokyo) and Saburo Takizawa (Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin University), Professor S. Hasegawa (Hosei and UN University)<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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Keypoints made at the University of Tokyo on 23 June 2015 and<\/br>additional information about key Timorese political actors in 2002-2006 <\/div>\n

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Leadership Traits Proved Critical for<\/br>Achieving Stability and Peace in a Post-Conflict Country<\/b><\/div>\n
Sukehiro Hasegawa<\/br>Visiting Professor, Hosei and United Nations Universities and<\/br>Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Timor-Leste\n<\/div>\n


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\u3000The United Nations has called on its member states for more financial and human resources contributions to and active participation in UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions. In its annual session to be held next week in New York, the Peacebuilding Commission is taking up the challenge of securing “sustainable support for peacebuilding.” The background paper prepared by the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) asserts \u201cEffective and sustainable systems for resource mobilization are a key element of the consolidation of peace in countries emerging from conflict. The financial, institutional and human capital aspects of resource mobilization needs to be addressed in its national and international components, with due consideration for the principle of national ownership and the fundamental objective of providing sustainable support to improve the lives of affected populations\u201d (Annual Meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission, 23 June 2014). As much as I agree with the UN Peacebuilding Commission about the need for financial and human resources contributions from the international community, I find it imperative that we direct more attention to the formation of national leadership that can respond to competing and conflicting demands for achieving stability and peace in a post-conflict country. <\/p>\n

\u3000Today, I wish to share with you an insight into the paradoxical \u2013 competing and conflicting \u2013 challenges that often compete in countries emerging out of conflicts. I do so based on my experiences of engaging in peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations in Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda and particularly in Timor-Leste where I spent more than four years as Special Representative of the Secretary-General as well as the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the UN system.<\/p>\n

\u30001.\u3000As the role of leadership is the theme of my talk today, I should inform you about the leaders I personally dealt with in several conflict-prone and post-conflict countries. In Somalia, I found war lords who put their personal interest and agenda above the national interest. In Rwanda, I met Paul Kagame who placed national security above all.<\/p>\n

\u30002.\u3000In Timor-Leste, I found a group of leaders who are committed to national interest and unity. Xanana Gusm\u00e3o was the national leader whom the majority of Timorese trusted and even believed in. \u201cHe was a fighter who exuded personal warmth, dealing with people with trust and affection, loving them and enjoying being loved. This relationship was most important to him, for his frame of reference was Timorese society and people.\u201d (Hasegawa, Primordial Leadership<\/em>, 2013, P.75).<\/p>\n