Why, more than ever, UN Peacekeeping needs global support
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By Hervé Ladsous
Eighteen months ago, Bentiu, like most towns in South Sudan, was
bustling with the restlessness of markets, people trading and children
going to school. UNMISS, the UN Mission in South Sudan, was busy
supporting development and growth in the world’s youngest nation.
Today, a visitor to the UN Mission’s base outside Bentiu in Unity
State, would see a sea of blue and white tarpaulin tents and
hastily-erected stalls. The base has become temporary home to some
63,000 civilians seeking protection from the cataclysm of violence
that has gripped the new state of South Sudan since the outbreak of
the political crisis in December 2013. The town of Bentiu itself
remains deserted, its main dirt road lined with the grim evidence of
an ongoing war in the absence of a final peace agreement between
Government and Opposition forces.
The story is repeated across the country. Today, more than 130,000 are
being protected by UN peacekeepers in seven bases, with civilians
continuing to arrive at UN protection sites as they flee unimaginable
suffering and grave human rights violations.
The reality is that our peacekeepers are often the only hope for a
better life for the civilians they are mandated to serve. In other
places where peacekeeping missions are deployed today, there is little
peace to keep. In some of the harshest conditions on Earth, UN
personnel must negotiate complex threats each day amidst political
instability, with large, often terrified populations to protect. They
work to provide security in these places, while pursuing a political
solution to ongoing conflict.
This is the case in Mali, where peacekeepers strive to bring stability
while bearing the brunt of violent attacks from armed groups. Since
the establishment of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in Mali in July 2013, 36 peacekeepers have been
killed and more than 170 others have been wounded in hostile incidents
alone. It is also the case in the Central African Republic, where we
are seeing encouraging signs following the 2013 breakdown in law and
order and widespread ethnically motivated violence. Here, 10,000 UN
troops, police and civilians are on the ground, supporting efforts to
bring the country back on to the path of peace, good governance and
stability. Earlier in May, the country adopted a peace pact that
reflects the people of the Central African Republic’s aspirations to
put the conflict behind them once and for all. Our peacekeepers battle
inhospitable terrain and an almost complete lack of infrastructure
every day to react quickly to flare-ups of violence which, if left
unchecked, could threaten this fragile peace.
This year’s International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 29 May,
falls during the significant seventieth anniversary of the United
Nations. Over the course of nearly seven decades, UN peacekeeping has
proven itself to be a legitimate, reliable and effective means of
protecting civilians and facilitating the transition from conflict to
peace. In countries like Liberia, Timor-Leste and Bosnia Herzegovina,
peacekeeping has played a critical role in helping stabilise countries
as they seek to rebuild. Today, more than 125,000 military, police and
civilian staff carry on this work in 16 peacekeeping operations
world-wide, our largest deployment in history, serving as a testament
to the international community’s faith in peacekeeping as a tool for
bringing peace and security.
But, for UN peacekeeping to continue responding effectively and
robustly to the conflicts of today and tomorrow, it needs a
strengthened international partnership and the willingness of all to
share the burden and risk. In environments where peacekeepers are
directly targeted, where widespread violence is ongoing, or where
thousands of civilians need protection from unthinkable acts of
violence, peacekeeping operations must remain fit for purpose. Our
missions require well-trained and skilled troops from a broad array of
countries. When crises erupt, they must be ready to deploy more
quickly to where they are most needed. And to confront the unique
challenges of this century, peacekeepers require the tools and
capabilities of this century. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles are being used to improve situational
awareness, serve as a deterrent to armed groups and improve mandate
delivery and the safety and security of our personnel. In Mali, an
innovative Information Fusion Cell is improving the
information-gathering efforts of the peacekeeping mission as it
confronts determined non-state actors and armed groups. As we honour
the 126 peacekeepers that died in 2014, these tools help our Blue
Helmets to better protect themselves and vulnerable populations.
A renewed engagement of all Member States of the United Nations is
critical. This process has already begun and will receive a major
boost in the margins of this year’s General Assembly when the
Secretary-General and several world leaders will co-host a Summit on
UN peacekeeping. For its part, UN peacekeeping is determined to be
more innovative, more flexible and more cost-effective. With an annual
budget of just under $8.5 billion — less than one half of one percent
of global military spending — we are working to increase our value for
money and using new approaches to implement our mandates more
effectively and efficiently.
Peacekeeping missions deliver because they represent a convergence of
interests that is the fundamental concept behind the United Nations.
At a moment in history where new crises and conflicts emerge
constantly, the stakes for peacekeeping are higher, and the
consequences of failure are dire. The people of Bentiu, like the
populations protected by missions around the world, today deserve a UN
peacekeeping institution that is an effective tool of international
peace and security. More than ever, today, UN peacekeeping needs
global support.
The author is Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations
Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
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