We sometimes hear people talking about ‘peace missions’. But the sad fact is that little is generally known about this vital topic. Andre Walters investigates…
The definition of the term “peacekeeping mission” includes the activity of keeping the peace by using military forces (especially when international military forces step in to ensure a truce between hostile groups or nations).
The terms that are used to describe peacekeeping are said to include:
- Conflict-prevention and mediation
- Peace-making
- Peace enforcement
- Peace-building
- Where did it all start and who founded Peacekeeping?
One of Peacekeeping’s main creators was an American diplomat, Dr Ralph Bunche, a senior official at the UN, and who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. He is quoted as saying: “This idea was an innovation in human history, that troops would deploy impartially, so they would not take sides. They would deploy with the consent of the belligerents, so the belligerents would actually ask peacekeepers to help them implement peace agreements.”
The first United Nations peacekeeping mission was established in May 1948, when the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of a small number of UN military observers to the Middle East to form the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
It is said that millions of lives have been spared since the creation of peacekeeping.
Who decides on peacekeeping missions?
The UN Security Council is qualified to decide, through the adoption of a resolution, on the establishment of a peacekeeping operation. The Council decides on its mandate, its renewal, and the number of personnel deployed. Peacekeepers are civilian, military, and police personnel that all work together. The roles and responsibilities of peacekeepers are evolving as peacekeeping mandates become more complex and multidimensional. UN peacekeeping was initially developed during the Cold War as a means of resolving conflicts between states by deploying unarmed, or lightly armed, military personnel from a number of countries. These forces, commanded by the UN, are activated in areas with warring parties in need of a neutral entity to observe the peace process.
Today’s peacekeepers are therefore called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also to facilitate the political processes, protect civilians, and assist in the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration of former combatants.
How many peacekeeping missions are there now in Africa?
Currently, there are 12 UN peacekeeping missions here, like the ones in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. South Africa first provided peacekeepers to the United Nations in 1999 when it joined the UN Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). Today, South Africa provides 1 189 uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping, making it the 15th largest contributor among all UN Member States.
Who pays for peacekeeping?
While decisions about establishing, maintaining or expanding a peacekeeping operation are taken by the Security Council, the financing of UN Peacekeeping operations is the collective responsibility of all UN Member States, who are all legally obligated to pay their respective shares towards peacekeeping.
Where do peacekeeping soldiers come from?
They come from nations—large and small, rich and poor. They bring different cultures and experiences to the job, but they are united in their determination to foster peace. Currently, the majority of troops come from African and Asian countries, while the contribution of western countries is increasing.
What are some problems with peacekeeping?
Peacekeepers often have to put their lives at risk. Not a single month passes without an attack on peacekeepers. There are also many long-running conflicts that are still difficult to end.
Peacekeeping forces are normally deployed with the consent of the parties to a conflict, and in support of a ceasefire or other agreed-upon peace measures. Peacekeeping forces are therefore usually unarmed or only lightly armed and use the minimum of force necessary; and then only exceptionally.
As peacekeeping became more complicated and more dangerous over the years, the enthusiasm of rich countries to provide troops diminished. However, wealthy nations with the most capable armies were willing to provide soldiers for first stage operations because they saw it as a way to help prevent a superpower confrontation during the Cold War.
The UN Peacekeeping annual budget is around $7 billion, which helps more than 125 million people around the world. This is less than the city of Chicago’s budget. Women make up 30% of civilian, 10% of police, and 3% of military peacekeepers.
What are the benefits of peacekeeping?
Peacekeeping is effective at resolving civil wars, reducing violence during wars, preventing wars from recurring, and rebuilding state institutions. It succeeds at protecting civilian lives and reducing sexual and gender-based violence. Every day, more than 100 000 United Nations peacekeepers work to stabilise some of the world’s most volatile conflict zones—protecting civilians from violence; monitoring the implementation of peace agreements; disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former combatants into society; facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance; training national police forces; supporting free and fair elections; and the creation of stable governing institutions.
Peacekeeping requires service and sacrifice
Since 1948, when UN Peacekeeping operations began, more than 3 654 UN Peacekeepers have lost their lives in the service of peace. In 2018, 98 UN Peacekeepers were killed while promoting global peace and security. In December 2017, UN Peacekeepers faced the largest attack on their forces, which killed 15 and wounding over 40 peacekeepers. UN Peacekeepers are deployed in dangerous places, working to protect and support some of the most vulnerable populations in the world.
However, it is said that UN Peacekeeping is evolving. It is said that a key priority of Secretary-General Antonio Guterress is to reform UN Peacekeeping to make the enterprise more effective and efficient for the future. He has launched Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) which holds the Security Council, Troop Contributing Countries, Financial Contributors, Host Countries, and Regional Partners accountable to make UN Peacekeeping successful, and with the proper mandates, partnerships, and resources on the ground. One hundred and fifty countries have endorsed a shared road map to strengthen UN Peacekeeping. This commitment includes a review of existing missions and closing ones that have met their mandates, most notably Liberia in 2018 and Côte d’ Ivoire in 2017. Each mission had a significant positive impact on security in their respective countries.
The evidence, collected in 16 peer-reviewed studies, shows that peacekeepers—or ‘blue helmets’ as they are called—significantly reduce civilian casualties, shorten conflicts, and help make peace agreements stick. In fact, the majority of UN Peacekeeping missions succeed in ultimately stabilising societies and ending war.
Namibia is, for example, a good case study: a UN Peacekeeping mission helped end a civil war there and supported the first free and fair elections in that country’s history—far from an easy task.
It is said that Namibia is a country that has experienced tremendous hardship. It has had multiple colonial rulers. It experienced genocide. It’s been victim of regional and civil war. Today, Namibia is a stable, upper-middle-income country, with a functioning democratic system.
Commentators say that UN Peacekeeping is most successful when they use persuasion and inducement, rather than direct military force. But whatever the theory behind the success, the data from extensive, systematic studies, shows that the UN’s peacekeeping missions are effective most of the time.
Some of the UN Peacekeeping’s most successful operations so far:
- Namibia 1989-1990
- Cambodia 1992-1993
- Mozambique 1992-1994
- El Salvador 1991-1995
- Guatemala 1997-1997
- E.Slavonia/Croatia 1996-1998
- Timor Leste 1999-2002
- Sierra Leone 1999-2005
- Burundi 2004-2006
- Timor Leste 2006-2012
- Côte d’Ivoire 2004-2017
- Liberia 2003-2018
Andre Walters is a veteran broadcaster.
