Surprise. I have written of the decline and fall of UN peacekeeping,
from 78,000 in 1994 to 14,000 in 17 operations in 1999. But look what
is happening-- 4,700 police in Kosovo, 11,000 peacekeepers in Sierra
Leone, nearly 11,000 (troops and police) in East Timor, and who knows
what (another 5,500?) in DR Congo. In addition there are several hundred
UN civilian staff engaged in peace building but not counted as peacekeepers
because they are on loan from the Secretariat. By any reckoning, the
year 2000 count of UN peacekeepers will top 30,000. UN Peacekeeping
operations on 1 February 2000 are shown in Annex 4. The relative shift
to police and other civilian functions is an encouraging sign of the
functional advance from cease-fire to nation building. East Timor is
the latest demonstration of the need for a UN Rapid Reaction Capacity,
something Canada has been advocating for five years.
In a January 2000 report to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General
points out that the HQ coordination, which I have just outlined, is
extended to countries: his personal Representative in such situations
has overall authority for the entire peace building operation. Concluding
the report, he says, UN peacekeeping will continue to be critical in
maintaining peace. He goes on to say: "The present moment represents
a historic opportunity to make full use of and further enhance [the
UN's] demonstrated capacity."
