Policy Update
Aditi Singh Kaushik
Background
Jean – Marie Guehénno, the former Under – Secretary- General of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, described peacekeeping as “a never-ending exercise in risk management and decision-making in an environment of uncertainty.”
The first UN Peacekeeping Mission was established in May 1948, when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) appointed Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish nobleman and diplomat, as the UN Mediator in Palestine. Upon his request, United Nations Secretary General Trygve Lie sent around 50 UN military observers to the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. This mission, known as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was established by Security Council Resolution 50. It marked the genesis of UN Peacekeeping.
To honour the unwavering sacrifice and commitment made by men and women serving in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 57/129, designated 29th May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. On this day, UN offices, alongside member states and non-governmental organizations honour fallen peacekeepers. Every year, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is awarded posthumously to the peacekeepers who have fallen in the pursuit of peace.
Functioning
While most peacekeepers are military or police personnel, 14% are civilians who perform a wide range of functions in areas such as political and civil affairs, human rights, administration and more. The following entities facilitate the functioning of peacekeeping operations-
- Department of Peace Operations (DPO) – The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) traces its roots to 1948 with the inception of the first few UN peacekeeping operations, such as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), and UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). The department maintains contact with the UN Security Council, troop and financial contributors, and parties to the conflict for the implementation of UNSC mandates.
- Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC) – The Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC) is a centralized hub for gathering and analysing information to guide peacekeeping operations. JMACs facilitate a peacekeeping mission leadership’s contextual and analytical understanding of current operations by providing insights, mapping, profiles, and other tools to make informed decisions in fast-changing environments.
- Joint Operations Centre (JOC) – The Joint Operations Centre (JOC) functions as a jointly-staffed information hub, involving qualified civilian and/or uniformed personnel. JOCs monitor mission operational activities and ensure situational awareness through integrated reporting on current operations and day-to-day situation reporting.
- Civil Affairs Officers – Usually deployed at the local level in field offices around the host country, Civil Affairs Officers serve as the primary interface between the mission and local communities. Conflict management, confidence-building and partnership with local and international partners tend to be the primary responsibilities of Civil Affairs Officers.
- Community Liaison Assistants (CLAs) – Community Liaison Assistants (CLAs) are civil affairs national staff working alongside the UN military forces. They have been recognised as critical personnel for their contribution to protection and stabilization via community engagement, situational awareness, early warning, and promotion of local peace initiatives. CLAs also manage Community Alert Networks (CANs) by widely distributing key contacts and emergency telephone numbers.
Impact and Performance
- Since its inception, the United Nations has deployed more than two million peacekeepers to more than 71 missions in around 40 states. More than 100,000 military, police, and other personnel from 125 countries currently serve in 14 peacekeeping operations.
- Since 1948, more than 3,500 personnel have lost their lives serving in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. 943 of such personnel have been killed by violence. Casualties have spiked since 2013, with 195 personnel succumbing to violent attacks.
- Low- or middle-income countries contribute the most to UN Peacekeeping. By 2015, the proportion of peacekeepers from low or lower- middle-income countries had reached 80 percent.
- The top providers of assessed contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations for 2024-2025 include: USA (26.95%), China (18.69%), Japan (8.03%), Germany (6.11%), and United Kingdom (5.36%).
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Emerging Issues
- Consent and Impartiality- According to the UN peacekeeping doctrine, the main parties to a conflict should consent to peacekeeping. However, consent in this regard is often viewed in binary terms, meaning either it exists or it does not. In reality, it is dynamic and evolving.
Post-1990s, the United Nations’ dependence on a host state’s consent has created a number of issues, such as reluctance to call out government abuses in fear of straining relations and further limiting access. These shifting dynamics have impacted the UN’s legitimacy and ability to act as an impartial organization.
- Violence against Peacekeepers – A UN factsheet on Action for Peacekeeping highlights violence against peacekeepers as one of the many challenges that undermine a mission’s ability to protect civilians effectively. These attacks permeate, sometimes due to disinformation against the UN, as a result of which peacekeepers are threatened and prevented from accessing certain areas by the local population. In some instances, the presence of peacekeepers can pose secondary risks to the population in the form of retaliatory attacks to punish cooperation between civilians and the UN personnel.
- Changing Geopolitical Landscapes – In the last few decades, the world has witnessed a shift in the nature of warfare, as a result of which regional partners and private military companies, like the Wagner Group have displaced the UN as the primary security provider in certain missions. These shifts have caused a reduction of the UN’s political leverage and have increased opportunities for institutional exploitation at the hands of private mercenaries that function in parallel to UN peace operations.
- Power of the P-5 – The five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, acknowledge the important role of the UN in peacekeeping. However, some of the P5 nations have often shown opposition to certain goals in peacekeeping mandates. These divisions in the Security Council have led to an increase in non-unanimous resolutions, including on vital mandate renewals for peace operations, from 5% in 2011 to 33.3% in 2022.
Way Forward –
A growing number of observers assert that the future of peacekeeping may lie in lighter, non-coercive operations, such as the Special Political Missions (SPMs), that are engaged in conflict prevention, peacemaking, and post-conflict peacebuilding around the world, such as the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which was established by the UNSC to promote peace and reconciliation in the country.
Furthermore, in order to fill gaps posed by limited resources in conflict zones, key enabling resources such as air assets, uncrewed aerial systems, and reconnaissance units should be deployed by the UN Security Council to ensure the safety of both civilians and peacekeepers. Research has shown that early warning capacities, including both human intelligence efforts and data-driven approaches, could also enhance the efficiency of myriad peacekeeping missions.
References
- United Nations. International Day of UN Peacekeepers | United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day
- United Nations. International Day of UN Peacekeepers – Background | United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day/background
- UN PEACEKEEPING – CHALLENGES. https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/a4p-factsheet-challenges.pdf
- Duursma, A., Bara, C., Wilén, N., Hellmüller, S., Karlsrud, J., Oksamytna, K., Bruker, J., Campbell, S., Cusimano, S., Donati, M., Dorussen, H., Druet, D., Geier, V., Epiney, M., Gelot, L., Gyllensporre, D., Hiensch, A., Hultman, L., Hunt, C. T., . . . Wenger, A. (2023). UN peacekeeping at 75: achievements, challenges, and prospects. In International Peacekeeping, International Peacekeeping (Vol. 30, Issue 4, pp. 415–476). https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2023.2263178
- UN peacekeeping: 70 years of service & sacrifice. United Nations Peacekeeping. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/un-peacekeeping-70-years-of-service-sacrifice#:~:text=The%20first%20UN%20peacekeeping%20mission,Israel%20and%20its%20Arab%20neighbours.
- Civil affairs. (2015, February 15). MINUSMA. https://minusma.unmissions.org/en/civil-affairs
- UN and Member States’ efforts to strengthen peacekeeping are having. United Nations Peacekeeping. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/un-and-member-states-efforts-to-strengthen-peacekeeping-are-having-impact-despite-global-divisions
- DPPA around the world. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. https://dppa.un.org/en/dppa-around-world
- Department of Peace Operations. (2024). Policy on community Liaison Assistants.
About the Contributor: Aditi Singh Kaushik is a Research Intern at IMPRI. She is also a Master’s graduate in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University. Her research interest lies in understanding the evolving roles of traditional and organic intellectuals in post-colonial countries, within a Gramscian framework.
Acknowledgement: The author sincerely thanks Ms. Aasthaba Jadeja and the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not
necessarily to the organisation.
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