Discovery College Model United Nations

Discovery College Model 

United Nations

General Assembly

CHAIR REPORT

Addressing the downfall of UN Peacekeeping

CHAIRS
Head Chair: Harsha Madhu
Deputy Chair: Dhruv Leekha

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Introduction

First seen in 1948, the UN peacekeeping forces have been conducted 72 missions
throughout history, and have undoubtedly made significant and notable contributions. The UN
peacekeeping forces consist of over 78,000 soldiers and 25,000 civilians, amassed from 14
countries overall — second only to the US in military force. As a result, all these efforts have
served to be an icon of belief to the general public. Despite this, due to its continued lack of
transparency, corruption in conduct and structure, and handicaps in technology advancements,
the United Nations peacekeeping forces have also succumbed to allow an opening for criminal
acts. As sustaining international peace is at the crux of the vision of the United Nations, it is
essential that this issue is resolved immediately.

Definition of Key Terms

Criminal Liability

Peacekeeping Forces

Background Information

UN peacekeeping was first established in 1948, during which time concerns regarding the
Cold War frequently plagued the Security Council. Therefore, peacekeeping was a solution, as
the name states, to stabilise and maintain peace, and provide support in areas of conflict.

Key Issues

Peacekeeper Recruitment and Power Structure

Nations are often unwilling to offer their own troops towards UN Peacekeeping, seeing as
there is no incentive for nations to donate troops towards conflicts in which they have no

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involvement in. Due to this, UN Peacekeeping simply does not have the numbers that one would
expect from such a large organisation, leading to there being one Peacekeeper per 400 square
miles in Western Sahara, for example. Moreover, due to the UN’s tight budget for peacekeeping,
most Peacekeepers are poorly trained and poorly equipped; something that can lead to several
issues since Peacekeepers operate in some of the most volatile regions on Earth. Additionally,
the troop leaders or ‘commandos’ (as they are informally known) report to both the UN and their
own nation’s military chain of command, thus causing conflicts of interest in decision making.

Sexual Misconduct, Pillaging, and Accountability

Allegations of sexual misconduct have plagued UN Peacekeeping wherever they seem to

go. Almost all experts would agree that the majority of Peacekeepers are not involved in such
activity, however, these accusations have tarnished the reputation of UN Peacekeeping. In Haiti,
100+ UN Peacekeepers were involved in a child sex ring for three years, and despite being
caught, none of these Peacekeepers were ever imprisoned. This is due to the regulatory limbo
that Peacekeepers exist in. Seeing as the United Nations in itself has no authority to prosecute
Peacekeepers, nor do the nations in which Peacekeepers are deployed. Therefore if Peacekeepers
were to be prosecuted, it would be through the judicial system in their own nations, which leads
to them almost never being prosecuted. Worse yet, the system in place to report the crimes of
UN Peacekeepers is considered to be largely ineffective, leading to a culture of Peacekeepers
effectively-being above the law in many cases. Other cases of sexual misconduct in UN
Peacekeeping were in the Central African Republic, Kosovo, and tens of other nations. This
phenomenon has become so infamous that there is now even a term for babies that arise from
UN Peacekeepers’ sexual misconduct, ‘Peacekeeper babies’. There are also several other issues
that Peacekeepers have been involved in, including accusations of trading goods for money or
sex, pillaging from the nations that they’re in, and largely being ineffective at addressing the root
causes of conflicts.

The Goals of UN Peacekeeping

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This is the most macro scale issue regarding UN Peacekeeping, and most likely will be the most
difficult to solve. Peacekeeping has largely focused on, obviously, maintaining the peace in
countries. However, this is in itself a short-term fix, as they are not addressing the root causes of
conflicts in these regions. Due to this, once the Peacekeeping mission terminates, the conflicts in
many of these regions remain. Even in supposed Peacekeeping success stories such as in Cyprus,
the issues that are the root case remain, thus Cyprus still remains divided and disputed between
Turkey and Greece.

Position of Key Member Nations and Other Bodies

India

India is one of the largest personnel contributors to the UN, and has had their soldiers
suffer the most casualties in missions. Many speculate that this is for India to validate their
efforts to gain a permanent seat in the UNSC, nevertheless, Indian forces and commandos have
always been an integral part of UN Peacekeeping. India’s primary issue with current
Peacekeeping efforts is that India is contributing far too many forces of their own, that too, for
conflicts which they don’t even have a voice in deciding. Even as India is currently starved for
troops back home, they have triple the number of officers abroad than in similar domestic units,
showing how large India’s commitment is to Peacekeeping. India’s desire for a permanent seat
on the UNSC relates to Peacekeeping since they could have a substantive role in deciding the
mandate of peacekeeping operations. Moreover, India and other nations are still not being paid
by the UN for their contributions.

The United States of America

America is the largest financial contributor to the UN. Despite this, the Trump
administration has moved to decrease the peacekeeping budget, successfully lowering the budget
by half a billion dollars last year. Moreover, despite only supplying 35 uniformed personnel to
UNPKO, they are still trying to altogether involvement in African missions, with former
National Security Advisor John Bolton publicly announcing his frustrations that despite these

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missions being incredibly ineffective, the countries that send troops are still being paid (on
America’s dime). However, America is still not paying its UN decided “fair share” to
Peacekeeping missions. Congress refuses to approve the full financing that America is obligated
to pay, and there are further problems as well. America’s goal will most likely be to reform
Peacekeeping operations on a very macro level, to make them more effective, and possibly
harder to approve.

China

China is currently trying to fill the space that the US is vacating in UNPKO. China is
pushing hard to supply permanent troops to Peacekeeping operations, financing large portions of
missions, and playing up their involvement in international peacemaking efforts. This ties into
China’s efforts to become the global hegemon of the 21​st ​ century. Besides this, China actually
has expressed little to no issues with the current ways in which UNPKO. More than this, China,
in committee, may be looking to minimise the amount of power states that contribute troops get
in deciding the mandates of missions, seeing as they want to ensure that they are able to
maximise their power in UN Peacekeeping, by preventing non-UNSC states from having a say.

Russia

Russia is very satisfied with the current status-quo of UN Peacekeeping. As they have the
power to veto any mission, and since the Uniting For Peace Resolution is not often used, the
threat of their veto have ended the idea of several peacekeeping missions such as one to Ukraine,
further intervention in Kosovo, or even in the Sinai Peninsula. The current system is very
favourable to Russia, therefore it is likely that during committee they will be vehement advocates
of at least maintaining the veto system for UNPKO missions, and most likely would not want to
expand on the Uniting For Peace Resolution.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia does not supply any personnel whatsoever to UN Peacekeeping. However, they
still owe nearly 200 thousand USD to the UN from past debts and the current budget. Moreover,

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seeing as Saudi Arabia is unwilling to supply any troops as of now, it is likely that in committee
they would be in opposition to efforts that may force countries to supply personnel or penalise
them for not doing so. However, at the same time, it is possible that they will favour allowing
more power for the General Assembly to form the mandate of peacekeeping missions, so that
perhaps Saudi Arabia could manipulate these missions to adapt to their stances on key Middle
Eastern conflicts, such as missions in Yemen.

Timeline of Key Events

Date Description of event

UNTSO Established
May 1948 First form of UN peacekeeping sent to Israel/Palestine, this was a strictly
observational mission.

First UN Emergency Force Deployed

Nov. 1956 This was another version of UN Peacekeeping, more similar to what we know
today to help end the Suez Crisis, however, this was also largely observational.

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Established

Up until this point, Peacekeeping operations were being run under the
Feb. 1992
Department of Special Political Affairs. This department being established
demonstrates the newfound significance of UN Peacekeeping.

UNPROFOR Established

One of the most well-known Peacekeeping missions, the mission to Croatia,

Feb. 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia was established. To this day, the
effectiveness of this mission is still heavily under question.

UNOSOM I Established
April 1992 The first Somalian UN Peacekeeping mission was established. Many consider
the Somalian mission, alongside its successor UNOSOM II, to be significant

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failures in the history of UN Peacekeeping considering the current condition of

Somalia as a failed state.

UNMIH Established

The Peacekeeping mission to Haiti was established. Regardless of the political

Sep. 1993 success that the mission may have made, it was still plagued by several
accusations of misconduct. One specific case involved Sri Lankan peacekeepers
and sexual misconduct, with horrifying descriptions of a child sex ring.

UNAMIR Established

This mission to Rwanda is quite possibly the most embarrassing in UN history.

Arguably, this is one of the events that has most stained the name of the UN
Oct. 1993
internationally. Despite the fact that Peacekeepers were already deployed in
Rwanda, they still took minimal action during the Rwandan genocide, creating
the notion that the UN idly stood by as the Rwandan genocide occurred.

UNMIK Established

One of the most interesting forms of UN Peacekeeping missions was established.

This was the largest scale Peacekeeping operations in terms of its mandate. It is
June 1999
effectively an interim government for the disputed territory of Kosovo, with
several responsibilities including security, although it has now taken a step down
to the Kosovo led interim government.

Action 4 Peacekeeping Programme Established

The new UN Secretary-General formed a new initiative to revamp the UN

March 2018 Peacekeeping programme. While this program is meant to address several of the
problems discussed in this report, so far it has not been in place long enough to
have been proven effective.

Possible Solutions

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While the current UN peacekeeping systems may be considered flawed, this does not
necessarily mean that it is unable to be corrected. Delegates should collaborate and negotiate to
create ways in which to resolve the complications, as there is an urgent need to reconstruct the
structure of the current peacekeeping systems. Delegates could potentially look at current donors
of peacekeeping troops, and restrict those with a significant criminal history from contributing to
the UN peacekeeping forces. By doing this, the UN peacekeeping forces will be able to uphold
their legitimacy. Furthermore, transparency should also be maintained, possibly through
inspections and reports becoming available to a broader audience.

With regards to gender equality issues, training can be issued on UN peacekeepers to

eliminate gender discrimination. Women engagement can be actively encouraged for issues
concerning peace, instilling gender sensitivity. Agreements for collaboratively-crafted strategies
could be implemented in order to fulfil the goal. Delegates should take into consideration the
United Nation’s zero tolerance policy with regards to sexual exploitation and abuse, and methods
in which this conduct can be withheld within peacekeeping troops.

Another potential solution could be to rationalise meetings between the UN and

organisations and equip operations with advanced technology in order to increase the potential
for collecting intelligence. Delegates should consider means in which they could potentially give
the UN access to such supplies.

Helpful Research Links

● https://www.stimson.org/content/reducing-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-un-peacekeepin
g
● https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
● https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-12-11/crisis-peacekeeping
● https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/what-we-do
● https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/un-united-nations-peacekeepers-rwanda
-bosnia

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● https://theglobalobservatory.org/2018/10/in-us-failure-pay-peacekeeping-bills-larger-fina
ncing-questions-raised/

Bibliography

● Séverine Autesserre (29 Jan. 2019.). The Crisis of Peacekeeping. Foreign Affairs.
Retrieved from ​https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-12-11/crisis-peacekeeping
● Wikipedia Contributors (26 Sept. 2019.). History of United Nations peacekeeping.
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_Nations_peacekeeping
● thestar.com (12 Apr. 2017.). More than 100 UN peacekeepers ran a child sex ring in
Haiti. None were ever jailed | The Star. thestar.com. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/04/12/un-peacekeepers-child-sex-ring-left-vict
ims-but-no-arrests.html
● Freedman, Rosa (9 Nov. 2018.). UNaccountable: A New Approach to Peacekeepers and
Sexual Abuse. OUP Academic. Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/29/3/961/5165638
● Troop And Police Contributors (n.d.). Historical Timeline of UN Peacekeeping. United
Nations Peacekeeping. Retrieved from
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/historical-timeline-of-un-peacekeeping
● https://www.apnews.com/96f9ff66b7b34d9f971edf0e92e2082c
● https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
● https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/un-united-nations-peacekeepers-rwanda
-bosnia
● https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-contribution-to-un-peacekeeping/arti
cle25968721.ece
● https://www.pminewyork.gov.in/pdf/menu/submenu__1179138981.pdf
● https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/india-and-un-peacekeeping-declining-interest-with-
grave-implications

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● http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/bring-the-troops-back/333594/
● https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-rethinking-peacekeeping-role-africa
● https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/data-troop-and-police-contributions
● https://thewire.in/diplomacy/pay-the-countries-sending-peacekeepers-india-tells-un
● https://theglobalobservatory.org/2018/10/in-us-failure-pay-peacekeeping-bills-larger-fina
ncing-questions-raised/
● https://thediplomat.com/2018/04/china-takes-the-lead-in-un-peacekeeping/
● https://www.passblue.com/2019/07/16/the-future-of-un-peacekeeping-will-resemble-wha
t-it-is-now/
● Regeringskansliet (29 Apr. 2016.). How UN peacekeeping operations can become more
effective. Regeringskansliet. Retrieved from
https://www.government.se/opinion-pieces/2015/01/how-un-peacekeeping-operations-ca
n-become-more-effective/

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