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PEACEKEEPING

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"While traditional peacekeeping had focused mainly on monitoring ceasefires, today's
complex peace operations are very different. Their objective, in essence, is to assist the
parties engaged in conflict to pursue their interests through political channels instead.

From the Millennium Report

Vital statistics
• Since 1948 there have been 53 UN peacekeeping operations, 40 of which were created by the
Security Council between 1988 and 2000.
• As of 15 June 2000, there were 39 completed missions, and 14 current missions. Of these 3+15
(current/completed) have been in Africa; 8 (completed) in the Americas; 3+6 in Asia, 5+ 5 in
Europe, and 4+5 in the Middle East
• As of 31 December, 1999, 87 Member States have joined a system of standby arrangements for
peacekeeping operations; 65 have provided information on the specific capabilities they are
prepared to offer military units, individual, civilian and military specialists; specialized services;
equipment and other capabilities like transport, etc. (Progress Report of SG/May 1, 2000)
• 14 UN missions are currently underway, with 35,469 peacekeepers serving in them as of 15 June
2000
• 1,648 peacekeepers have died while serving in these missions up to 14 July 2000; 7/8 of them
have been military personnel; 1/3 have died by hostile acts
• Well over 750,000 military and civilian police personnel and thousands of other civilians from
111 countries have served in UN peacekeeping operations
• In 1988 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations Peacekeepers

Two peace missions

• UN mission in East Timor

Some of the people had not slept overnight just to be among the first to cast their ballots. A new
day was breaking out in East Timor, and the people were determined to be part of it. After years
of political turmoil and civil unrest, elections were being held to decide the future course of the
territory. The United Nations was in charge of organizing the elections. This gave people
confidence and hope.

Vannary Ing, a United Nations volunteer from Cambodia serving with the UN Mission in East
Timor (UNAMET), was one of those overseeing the elections. "I am happy to give back some of
what I received through the UN's involvement," said Vannary. Less than seven years ago, in May
1993, his own country had gone through the same process, with the UN in the lead.

"Seeing the suffering of innocent people is never easy no matter which part of the world you are
in. The closer you are to such tragedies, the more determined you become to end them." said
another UNAMET volunteer.

• UN mission in Rwanda

The memories still haunt Major Comfort Ankomah-Danso, a member of the Ghana battalion
serving the UN mission in Rwanda. The country was still reeling from a brutal ethnic war, a war
that would eventually take away as many as one million human lives. "Sporadic killings" were
still going on when she arrived. Her battalion, being the main external military force remaining
in the country, was tasked with undertaking mass burials, exhuming bodies and reburying the
victims of the massacres.

"It was not pleasant at all," the Major remarked.

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Peacekeeping, a UN innovation

The Charter of the United Nations calls upon the peoples of the world "to unite our strength to maintain
international peace and security", and charges the Security Council with the task of "determining the
existence of any threat to the peace and deciding what measures shall be taken".

Peacekeeping was never mentioned in the Charter as one of the tools to be employed by the United
Nations. Yet it took only three years for this whole new technique to be conceived: that of using troops
under UN command to keep disputing countries or communities from fighting while peacemaking efforts
are pursued. This technique of keeping peace was to be implemented thirteen times in the UN’s first forty
years. Since then forty new missions have been created, expanding the concept of peacekeeping
dramatically and moving into the arena of peacemaking and peace-building.

Peacekeeping originated and evolved in a largely ad hoc basis. Each operation has been tailor-made to
meet the demands of a specific conflict. As a concept, peacekeeping lies somewhere in-between Chapters
VI and VII of the UN Charter:

• Chapter VI outlines specific means which countries may use to settle disputes: negotiations,
inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional institutions or
arrangements or other peaceful means.
• Chapter VII provides for enforcement action by UN Member States, including the use of armed
force or other collective measures for dealing with “threats to peace”.

What is peacekeeping?

Simply put, peacekeepers are people helping the parties to a conflict to resolve their differences peacefully.
The presence of these people, soldiers, military observers or civilian police, encourage hostile groups not to
use arms and instead to keep negotiating for peaceful settlement of disputes.

Most UN peacekeepers -- often referred to as "blue helmets" because of the blue colour helmets they wear
while on duty -- have been soldiers, volunteered by their Governments to apply military discipline and
training to the task of restoring and maintaining peace: monitoring cease-fires, separating hostile forces and
maintaining buffer zones. Civilian police officers, electoral observers, human rights monitors and other
civilians have joined UN peacekeepers in recent years. Their tasks range from protecting and delivering
humanitarian assistance, to helping former opponents carry out complicated peace agreements.

Traditionally, peacekeeping operations fall into two main categories: observer missions and peacekeeping
forces.
• Observer missions usually consist of unarmed military and civilian personnel who monitor the
implementation of cease-fire agreements.
• Peacekeeping forces are composed of lightly armed forces, and include fully equipped infantry
contingents.

This is how it started

The first UN peacekeeping operation – the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), an
observer mission, was established in 1948, in the Middle East.

Earlier in 1947, the United Nations adopted a plan to divide Palestine and create a Jewish and an Arab
State. On 15 May 1948, the British administrative power formally ended its control over Palestine, and
within 24 hours the State of Israel was proclaimed. Fierce hostilities broke out immediately between the
Arab and Jewish communities. Count Bernadotte of Sweden, who was appointed by the United Nations to
mediate the conflict, was able to negotiate a cease-fire.
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But as the hostilities continued and the number of Palestinian refugees fleeing Israel grew, the Security
Council decided to create a Truce Commission to supervise the cease-fire. Count Bernadotte was to be
assisted in this by a group of military observers. Unfortunately the Count was assassinated in the Israeli-
held sector of Jerusalem on 17 September 1948. He was succeeded by Ralph Bunche of the United States,
who took over as Acting Mediator. He directed the military observers and laid down the operation
procedure.

Today, more than 50 years later, UNTSO remains in force, helping to keep peace between Israel and its
Arab neighbours.

What are the common features of peacekeeping operations?

While each UN peacekeeping operation is unique,

• all require the consent of parties involved in a dispute;
• none can be imposed unilaterally or from outside;
• none involve military enforcement measures or coercive actions, except in the very limited context
of self-defence or defence of civilian populations;
• all involve the deployment in the field of existing UN staff and of personnel (military and/or
civilian) made available to the Secretary-General by governments;
• all are under the operational command of the Secretary General of the UN;
• all are deployed to help control and resolve international conflicts or, increasingly, internal
conflicts having an international dimension.

How does a Peacekeeping Mission start?

Peacekeeping operations are normally set up by the Security Council, the UN organ with primary
responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council decides the operation's size, its
overall objectives and its time frame. As the UN has no military or civilian police force of its own, Member
States decide whether to participate in a mission and, if so, what personnel and equipment they are willing
to offer. Under the present structure, this can take considerable time for the actual forces to be authorized
and reach their destination.

In some cases, peacekeepers have been sent to places where there was no peace to keep. In Sierra Leone
while monitoring a peace agreement, contempt rather than cooperation was experienced by UN soldiers
who were abducted; some were later killed. In Somalia, the parties repeatedly violated ceasefire
agreements, and UN personnel became targets for murder, kidnapping and intimidation. Those who
committed these crimes knew well that casualties can undermine support for a peacekeeping operation
among the nations providing troops for it. Even in cases where there was a peace agreement, as in Angola
and in Cambodia, peace-keepers have had to contend with recalcitrant rebel groups for whom war was a
profitable enterprise, since these groups controlled valuable export commodities, such as diamonds, drugs
and timber.

How much does it cost?

The UN estimated peacekeeping budget for 2000 is approximately $2.2 billion. This declined from about
$3 billion in 1995, which reflected the expense of UN peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. All Member
States contribute to peacekeeping costs under a formula that they have designed and agreed upon. As of
June 2000, Member States owe the UN about $2.5 billion in current and back peacekeeping dues. However,
for the loss of life by peacekeepers there is no payment that could replace such a sacrifice.

The volatility and danger of the environments in which the United Nations operates are underlined by the
increased number of casualties suffered by UN peacekeepers. From 1 January 1998 to 19 August 1999, 34
UN personnel gave their lives in peacekeeping operations. These are costs that can never be repaid.
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How have peacekeeping operations changed in recent years?

The traditional concept of UN peacekeeping, as it was first developed, was to deploy in a 'buffer zone'-
separating fighting forces, e.g. in the Golan Heights between Israeli and Syrian forces.

Today, its meaning has changed, its role widened and its responsibility broadened. Most peacekeeping
operations now are multidimensional, requiring each to carry out a variety of functions involving
peacemaking and peace-building. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his 1999 report on the Work of the
Organization, thus summarized these functions:

“While some traditional peacekeeping operations remain, peacekeepers throughout the decade of
the 1990s have been involved in the broader post-conflict peace-building processes associated
with the implementation of peace agreements. This involves the return and reintegration of
refugees and internally displaced persons, reconciliation, rebuilding judicial systems,
strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights, electoral assistance and assistance in
rebuilding war-torn political, economic and social infrastructures, as well as more traditional
peacekeeping tasks.”

Peacekeeping and peacemaking are two sides of the same coin. While soldiers and civilian observers help
maintain peace between warring groups, efforts are made by diplomats to negotiate the dispute and lasting
peace. Peacekeeping takes place only after a crisis emerges, but peacemaking may begin long before that.
In a variety of ways, the United Nations can try to prevent new disputes from flaring up, or existing
disputes from escalating into conflicts. This may involve making personal contacts, using the “good
offices” of the Secretary-General, sending fact-finding missions or installing an early warning system.

Peace-building means efforts to identify and support areas which tend to consolidate peace. Once a cease-
fire is achieved and a peace agreement is negotiated, peace-building can start. Opposing parties may be
disarmed and weapons destroyed, refugees may be repatriated, elections can be held and steps taken to
monitor respect for human rights. In cases where the conflict is between two or more countries, sustained
cooperative work may be undertaken to deal with their economic, social, cultural and ethnic problems.
Only such peace-building measures can place an achieved peace on a durable foundation.

The nature of conflict has changed in recent years. It is a complex mix of inter-State and internal conflicts:
their roots may be essentially internal, but they are complicated by cross-border involvement, either by
State or non-State actors. And their consequences can quickly become international, because of
destabilizing refugee flows as well as the dangers posed by factions pursuing each other across border.
This is what happened in recent years in Sierra Leone, Angola, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Sudan.

In each of the above cases, the UN had to tackle a number of challenges concurrently: helping to maintain
cease fires and to disarm and demobilize combatants; assisting the parties to build or strengthen vital
institutions and processes and respect for human rights, so that all concerned can pursue their interests
through legitimate channels rather than on the battlefield; providing internal monitoring of elections
following electoral reform to ensure that the reforms will take effect; providing humanitarian assistance to
relieve immediate suffering; and laying the groundwork for longer term economic growth and development
through interim administration on the understanding that no post-conflict system can long endure if it fails
to improve the lot of impoverished people.

Some recent examples

According to the Secretary General, the United Nations can claim significant successes among its peace
operations in the last decade or so, beginning with Namibia in the late 1980s, and including Mozambique,
El Salvador, the Central African Republic, Guatemala, Eastern Slavonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia and, at least partially, Cambodia. These operations helped lead to, for example, Namibian
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independence; democratic elections in Mozambique; far-reaching political reform in El Salvador; and new
human rights protections in Guatemala.

• Election monitoring: From Namibia to Nicaragua, from Cambodia to Croatia, from

Mozambique to Liberia, UN-supervised or monitored elections have helped open the way to
democracy. This may mean providing technical advice on electoral laws and procedures, support
with the transportation of voting materials and setting up of polling stations and communications
networks, or sending international observers to help make the voting free and fair.
• Police training: UN police training and monitoring programme in Haiti, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Eastern Slavonia region of Croatia and elsewhere have helped make local police
forces operate more professionally with respect for the human rights of residents in the area under
patrol.
• Mine clearance: Mine clearance is now an integral part of many peacekeeping operations. UN
peacekeepers not only perform mine clearance, but also train local deminers, carry out mine-
awareness programmes, and conduct mine surveys. Such programmes have been carried out in
several countries, including, Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, the Lao
People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Rwanda and Yemen.
• Demobilizing soldiers: UN peacekeepers have supervised dismantling of arms collected from
demobilized soldiers in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mozambique and Guatemala. In some of these
countries, the UN has also helped armed opposition movement transform themselves into political
parties.

How do governments contribute to peacekeeping?

Contributions come in various forms both human and material. The soldiers and officers serving a UN
peacekeeping operation are trained, selected and sent by their own countries. Besides the military troops,
there are often civilian police officers, engineers to build roads, medical personnel, pilots, communications
experts and many others. Military personnel, international civilian observers and local civilians from the
area all work together in an operation.

Governments also contribute a wide range of components for the many functions of peacekeeping
operations such as tents, portable structures for housing, hospitals or offices, furnishings and equipment,
road transport and transport utility aircraft and many others as well as services such as strategic
sealift/airlift operations.

Box: Could the genocide in Rwanda have been prevented?

In 1994 in Rwanda, over 800,000 people, mostly from the country’s Tutsi minority but also many from its
Hutu majority, were killed in a bloody intra-ethnic strife A small UN peacekeeping operation in place
could not stop the genocide. Several national contingents were also withdrawn in the midst of the
slaughter.

To find out what happened and who was responsible, the United Nations in 1999 set up an Independent
Inquiry. In its report published in December 1999, the Inquiry found that the failure by the United Nations
to prevent, and subsequently, to stop the genocide in Rwanda was a failure by the United Nations system as
a whole. The fundamental failure was the lack of resources and political commitment devoted to
developments in Rwanda and to the United Nations presence there.

There was a persistent lack of political will by Member States to act, or to act with enough assertiveness.
This lack of political will affected the response by the Secretariat and decision-making by the Security
Council, but was also evident in the recurrent difficulties to get the necessary troops for the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

Finally, the Inquiry found, although UNAMIR suffered from a chronic lack of resources and political
priority, it must also be said that serious mistakes were made with those resources which were at the
disposal of the United Nations.
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(Read the full report at http://www.un.org/News/ossg/rwanda_report.htm)

New times, new challenges

In recent years, in a growing number of countries, Governments no longer seem to be capable of protecting
the civilians from attacks by local warlords and militia -- leaders whose only aim is power and personal
enrichment. The threat of international isolation or condemnation has little or no effect on them. In such a
situation, what can the United Nations do?

• In Sierra Leone, Foday Sankoh led a militia which is believed to be responsible for either
killing or seriously hurting innocent civilians. His soldiers allegedly chopped off limbs of
people suspected of opposing him. When UN peacekeepers were sent, they were attacked;
some were killed and hundreds of others kidnapped.

Recently addressing the students of John Hopkins University in Washington D.C., Secretary-General Kofi
Annan mentioned Foday Sankoh by name and thus answered the question:

“Given the enormity of these challenges –- and the fact that in many cases, if the United Nations
doesn’t take them on, no one will -– we are taking a hard look at how and under which conditions we carry
out peacekeeping missions. We have had to reconsider some of the most basic assumptions about
neutrality, the good faith of the parties, and the non-use of force that were the basis of the successful
operations of the cold war era.”

While the peacekeeping environment may have changed, Mr. Annan said, the basic requirements
for success have not. There is no substitute for sufficient means, robust mandates and the willingness of
those States capable of doing so to provide first-rate military and logistical support. “The best peacekeeper
is a well-trained, disciplined and well-equipped soldier.”

• In Eastern Slavonia, where growing ethnic tension posed grave risks to international peace,
the United Nations deployed a force of heavily mechanized infantry and helicopter gunships,
and by showing force in order not to use it, it successfully fulfilled the mandate.

What are areas needing more attention?

While there have been successes, there have also been tragic failures, none more so than Rwanda and the
fall of Srebrenica. With the wide range of responses or lack of response to each situation that arises, the
structural weaknesses are apparent. The most serious areas are:
• Delays in deployment of forces
• Few military standby arrangements are in a high state of readiness
• Difficulty of recruiting qualified civil personnel for missions, like police officers, judges or
people to run correctional institutions to focus only on law enforcement needs.

The system for launching operations has sometimes been compared to a volunteer fire department, but that
description is too generous. Every time there is a fire, the UN must first find fire engines and the funds to
run them before there can be any start to dousing the flames. The present system relies almost entirely on
last minute, ad hoc arrangements that guarantee delay, with respect to the provision of civilian personnel
even more so than military.

The case for a rapid response capacity

For many years now, the UN has been seeking to build a reliable system in which trained and equipped
troops are available immediately after the Security Council's decision to establish an operation. Under the
so called "standby" arrangements, more than 80 countries have identified more than 80,000 troops that
could be available for service.
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However, Member States can still decline to participate, which means that standby arrangements are
somewhat like traveler's checks with only one signature: until the owner countersigns, the currency cannot
be used. In practice, standby arrangements have not proven themselves to be enough to meet the challenge
of rapid deployment.

• Some countries have taken the initiative to form a multinational standby high-readiness
brigade called SHIRBRIG which could be ready to respond in as little as 48 hours following a
Council decision and if the Member States involved decide they want to participate.

Box: An independent panel recommends

In March 2000, Secretary-General Kofi Annan set up a panel of international experts to review and
recommend actions to improve United Nations peace operations. The report of the panel was issued in
August 2000, just ahead of the Millennium Summit (6-8 September 2000). Here are the highlights of the
report:

• The panel recommends providing peacekeeping troops with the authorization, equipment and
backing to respond to violence against civilians and to take action against one side in a conflict if
it violates peace agreements. The Security Council is urged not to finalize resolutions authorizing
large peacekeeping missions until Member States have pledged the necessary troops and resources
to deploy them successfully. The Secretary-General is called upon to maintain a roster of qualified
candidates for key peacekeeping jobs in the field, while Member States are asked to prepare
personnel that can be deployed once an operation is established.

• It calls for more steady funding for the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations so as to
overcome confusion of "the temporary nature of specific operations with the evident permanence
of peacekeeping and other peace operation activities as core functions of the UN."

• While reaffirming that the consent of the local parties, impartiality and the use of force only in
self-defence should remain the bedrock principles of peacekeeping, the Panel nevertheless clarifies
that impartiality should not imply lack of action. In cases "where one party to a peace agreement
clearly and incontrovertibly is violating its terms, continued equal treatment of all parties by the
UN can in the best case result in ineffectiveness and in the worst may amount to complicity with
evil."

• The panel points out that "No failure did more damage to the standing and credibility of UN
peacekeeping in the 1990s than its reluctance to distinguish victim from aggressor." In order to
correct this, the Panel recommends that rules of engagement be sufficiently robust so that UN
contingents will not be forced to cede the initiative to their attackers. Further, UN peacekeepers
who witness violence against civilians should be presumed to be authorized to stop it, within their
means, in support of basic UN principles.

• The Panel emphasizes the importance of conflict prevention, noting that it is "far
preferable for those who would otherwise suffer the consequences of war, and a less costly option
for the international community than military action, emergency humanitarian relief, or
reconstruction after a war has run its course."

• The Panel recommends the creation of a new information-gathering and analysis entity within the
UN to accumulate knowledge about conflict situations, distribute that knowledge efficiently,
generate policy analyses and formulate long-term strategies.

• The report also calls creating an on-call list of about 100 experienced and well-qualified military
officers, along with lists of civilian police, international judicial and penal experts and human
rights specialists. Member States should established pools of police officers and related experts,
according to the report.
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• The Panel warns that the changes it recommends will have no lasting impact unless Member
States summon the political will to support the UN politically, financially and operationally to
enable it to be truly credible as a force for peace.

Suggested activities for students

1. With the wide range of peacekeeping missions, research is advised on individual missions - either
current or completed. Materials are available from the Public Inquiries Unit of the UN, the UN website
for peacekeeping or a wide range of news sources. Why do some operations receive much more
attention by the media than others? Compare and contrast the news coverage of the missions? What
factors affect the extent of coverage? An outline to follow for research of each mission is : duration,
location, headquarters, mandate, authorized strength, current strength, contributors and historical
background. Students may then prepare a news broadcast to present their information.

2. Research other areas of UN work, such as that of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization, UN Development Programme, International
Atomic Energy Agency, World Food Programme, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). For individual peacekeeping missions, how is the work of these agencies
coordinated with the mission? What other non-governmental organizations or private voluntary
organizations (such as the International Red Cross, Care, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the
Children, World Vision, American Friends Service Committee, Catholic Relief Services) are active in
the area of the mission? What kind of work are they doing?

3. Choose an individual mission and research the following steps for details:
(a) Disagreement or war between opposing forces or sides
(b) Issue is brought before the UN Security Council
(c) Opposing forces agree to the specific purpose of the operation, e.g., monitor a cease-fire,
patrol a border area, transport humanitarian aid, monitor an election
(d) The Security Council passes a resolution defining the mandate of the operation and
establishing the peacekeeping mission for a fixed period of time (generally six months)
(e) The mandate is implemented once countries voluntarily contribute forces and equipment to
the operation; UN members are assessed for costs of the operation
(f) The Secretary-General appoints the UN peacekeeping commander for the military operation
who reports to the SG and other UN peacekeeping commanders from other countries to assist
this person
(g) The Secretary-General selects a special representative to coordinate all civilian and military
undertakings of the mission.
(h) The Secretary-General reports on the progress of the operation to the Security Council
(i) At the end of the fixed period, (or sooner if required) the Security Council determines the next
step (continuation, reorientation or termination of the mission)

4. Choose a particular country (your own or any other) and follow its contributions to peacekeeping
efforts. Some recipient countries of peacekeepers have turned into contributing countries. Can you find
them?

5. Design your own visual representation of what you think a successful/ideal peacekeeping mission
would look like. Share the representations with others

6. Access the lesson plans on peacekeeping prepared by Cyberschoolbus website. Dialogue with a
peacekeeper. (see http://www.un.org)

7. Research some of the missions which were successful and those which were not. Compare and contrast
those factors which led to the success or failure of the missions. What lessons were drawn from these
experiences. Check out the lessons learned portion on the UN peacekeeping site to see how your
assessments compare with those of UN staff.
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8. The UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cambodia was one of the largest ever undertaken. Research the
history of Cambodia since the Vietnam War. You might wish to read the book or view the movie
Killing Fields. Research the two UN missions in Cambodia. What were the mandates of the missions?
How did they turn out? Now that the peacekeeping operation is officially completed, what's happening
in that country?

9. Research recent events in southern Lebanon. What changes have occurred there? What implication
might this have for the UNIFIL mission?

10. Conduct a poll within your school or community on UN peacekeeping. What are people's views
concerning a rapid response force? What kinds of questions do people have about UN peacekeeping? Do
respondents feel that their country's forces should serve in UN peacekeeping operations? Tally your
answers and write an article for your school or community paper.

11. Select one of the current missions. Write letters or e-mail those serving in the missions. Find out what
additional support may be given by fellow students. Organize efforts to provide that support.

Selected resources:
On the World wide web:

www.un.org/Depts/dpko
www.un.org/peace
www.sipri.org

Publications:

The Blue Helmets, United Nations, New York, 1996

Facing the humanitarian challenges: Towards a culture of prevention, Kofi Annan, United Nations, 1999
Preventing deadly conflicts, Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflicts, New York, 1997
Human Development Report, UNDP, New York, 1996
Teaching about peacekeeping and peacemaking, United Nations, 1994
Everything you always wanted to know about the UN, United Nations, 1999

Graph/chart

From the pdf file (UN peacekeeping operations)