Statement by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent Representative, on Natural Resources and Conflict, at the Security Council

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I would like to start by thanking you and your entire delegation for your effort in bringing this important issue before the Council during your Presidency. In terms of our discussion, I would like to make five points.

First, this is an important issue, one that we have been interested in for quite some time. Ten years ago, the Security Council convened a Ministerial-level meeting to discuss the causes of conflict in Africa. In response to the Council’s request, then-Secretary General Annan issued a report on the “Sources of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa” that identified struggle for control over natural resources - diamonds, timber, and other raw materials - as contributing factors to conflicts in Liberia, Angola, and Sierra Leone. Since then, the international community has taken important steps to address the use of natural resources to finance conflict, particularly in Africa, and to help ensure that revenues from natural resources are put to good use. However, we still have a long way to go.

Second, the United States has taken this issue seriously in both multilateral and bilateral venues. The United States has strongly supported efforts by the Security Council to prevent the use of natural resources to sustain conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo through the implementation of regulatory mechanisms and, as necessary, sanctions. We also believe that the transparent, equitable management of natural resources is a key aspect of post-conflict reconstruction that should be addressed by the Peace building Commission. These efforts should give a particular focus to the participation of women, since they are often dependant on natural resources and most affected by violent conflicts.

The United States has also been at the forefront of efforts by the international community—governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, the World Bank, the United Nations, the Global Environmental Facility, the OECD, and the G-8—to both prevent the illicit use of resources from fueling conflicts and to harness these natural resources for sustainable development. In 2000, the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, sixteen oil, mining, and energy companies, together with human rights, labor, and corporate responsibility groups, developed “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.” These “Voluntary Principles” provide practical guidance to companies to strengthen human rights and safeguards in their security arrangements in the extractive sector. In 2003, the United States signed on to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to control and monitor the world’s trade in rough diamonds and to prevent diamonds from being used to finance rebel movements.

At the G-8 meeting in 2003, the United States joined other G-8 leaders in committing to a broad-based anti-corruption and transparency Action Plan that included as one component “to pilot on a voluntary basis an intensified approach to transparency” in the extractive industries sector. This G-8 initiative spurred the negotiation and adaptation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, signed by 140 countries to date.

In our bilateral assistance programs, the U.S. has made the sustainable management of natural resources a component of our development strategies in countries where extractive industries are a major, or potentially major, revenue source. In particular, we have focused on forests, land, minerals, and water and their linkages to violent conflict and post-conflict peace building. The transparent, sustainable management of forests achieves many goals: it can keep timber revenues from being used to finance violent conflict, prevent forests from serving as safe havens for armed groups, ensure equitable access to and benefits from forest resources to reduce the risk of conflicts involving indigenous people, local elites, and outsiders, and it essential for sustainable development and the maintenance of healthy ecosystems.

Third, if we adopt innovative approaches, we can make progress. For example, the Liberia Forest Initiative, which the U.S. launched in 2003 together with the government of Liberia, other donors, and NGOs is increasingly viewed as a model for forest reform efforts in Africa and elsewhere. The United States co-sponsored the Forest Law and Governance Ministerial meetings in East Asia in 2001, Africa in 2003, and Europe and North Asia in 2005, which have gone a long way to raising political awareness and commitment to action to address illegal activities in the forest sector worldwide.

The U.S. is also working across Asia to reduce pervasive forest-related conflicts. In the Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia, and Cambodia, we are assisting efforts to clarify forest use rights and land tenure, particularly for poor and indigenous populations. Our work to support the Sava River Commission has brought formerly hostile parties together in several former Yugoslav republics to collaborate in managing the key transboundary resource represented by the water of the Sava River.

Fourth, the issue of addressing properly managing natural resources isn’t necessarily related to good governance and transparency. These are the essential factors needed to de-link them from violent conflict. Good governance includes working within the country’s financial and judicial institutions, which are responsible for collecting government revenues from the extractive industries and enforcing contracts and regulatory actions. Good governance also includes civil society participation in deciding how resources are managed and clarifying resource rights, which is particularly important in post-conflict settings and peace agreements to prevent further eruptions of violence over control of resources.

Finally, together we have made progress but as I said before, we still have a long way to go to prevent the struggle over natural resources from fueling conflict. It was 10 years ago that the United States had the opportunity to raise this issue during our presidency of the Council. Yet revenues from natural resources still continue to fund violent conflicts around the world. For this reason, we welcome the efforts of Foreign Minister de Gucht, welcome Mr. Foreign Minister, and thank-you for your leadership in presiding over this session and to host this meeting and this opportunity to focus on ways national governments and the international community can harness natural resources for productive purposes. We look forward to contributing to this effort hope and expect this dialogue and this search for addressing this important issue will continue.

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