The United Nations and Conflict Prevention
The Other UN Organizations That Contribute to Peace
The United Nations and Peacekeeping
Post Conflict, International Justice and Other Organizations Activities

The idea of world peace is, in itself, a relatively recent idea. Not so long ago, all over the world, and in Europe in particular, every generation had had "its" war. A certain fatalism towards war was rooted in our mentalities. War was almost considered as inevitable and peace was only a vague utopian dream. The first 20th century peace movements were born between the two wars, that is in the twenties and thirties, and gave rise to the League of Nations. Unfortunately, the League failed in its quest because the member States had not succeeded in endowing the League with the instruments needed to establish peace, such as our modern-day peacekeepers. The rise in the nationalist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries that provoked the two world wars played, according to some, a major role in the idea of creating the conditions for world peace. World War I took the lives of more than 9 million people, killing between 20% to 25% of the male population of France and Germany. As for World War II, 55 million people died, including 6 million Jews in the Nazi concentration camps.

Faced with the largest catastrophes in human history, men and women around the planet began to dream of a better, peaceful world.

Thus, shortly after World War II, on October 24, 1945, 51 States ratified the United Nations Charter with the hope of freeing our world from the possibility of war. The UN was thus created and equipped with instruments that its predecessor lacked. The UN established several programs intended to reduce, as much as possible, all the factors leading to outbreaks in conflicts. These programs did not only focus on peace keepers, who intervene after a conflict has erupted, but also on economic and social development, human rights, and the struggle to end world poverty and hunger. Indeed, all of these United Nations programs contribute directly or indirectly to the prevention of conflicts and thus to peace on earth. It is certainly true that, in the last 50 years, not everyone in the world has known peace, but it is gradually gaining ground. The dream of peace in the world is becoming less and less utopian and more and more attainable.

The three preceding fact sheets presented the culture of peace in the context of our daily lives; this one discusses peace at the international level. It describes the role of United Nations agencies, programs and departments in the prevention and peaceful resolution of international conflicts. In addition to these institutions, other international organizations are contributing to peace on earth, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and regional organizations.

The Preamble to the United Nations Charter clearly stipulates the mission of this organization.[1] The Preamble states that the United Nations was founded to prevent and resolve international conflicts and help build a culture of peace in the world. These intentions are reflected in the different agencies, departments and programs of the United Nations.

[1] Available at: www.un.org/aboutun/charter/

The United Nations and Conflict Prevention

As part of the preparations for the Millennium Summit that will be held September 2000, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has published a report entitled, " 'We the Peoples', The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century".[1] In this report, Mr. Annan emphasized the importance of preventing conflicts so that we can live in a world free of fear.

There are many types of conflicts, with diverse origins and numerous consequences. Conflicts can occur among States or, conversely, within the same State. The former often result from claims for such things as land or natural resources, including water, oil or diamonds (e.g. Sierra Leone). On the other hand, conflicts within a country generally stem from other types of dissension. The sources can be ethnic, religious or environmental in nature or be due to illiteracy or the unequal sharing of resources. Indeed, poverty, the depletion of the natural and economic resources of States, the weakness of political institutions, and human rights violations are some of the causes of internal conflicts.

Under the supervision of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), specialized programs and agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and many others are trying to prevent deadly conflicts from proliferating by attacking the roots of these conflicts and not only the acts of violence that are the symptoms.

The UN is taking aim at everything that could be at the source of conflicts. The prevention of conflicts and the promotion of peace therefore take quite varied forms. This UN work has become all the more necessary given that, since World War II, weapons have become ever more deadly. And though there is greater wealth in the world, its distribution is unequal. This gap between rich and poor is visible everywhere and in all countries, and is increasing, in particular, between "Northern" and "Southern" countries.

The UNDP was created to help solve this problem. Indeed, conflicts grow well in the fertile ground of poverty. The UNDP is mandated to contribute to the elimination of poverty, the social mobilization of women, respect for the environment and the reinforcement of democratic institutions. The supervision of elections illustrates this quite well. The UNDP is not alone in attempting to accomplish its mission, as thousands of non-government organizations (NGOs) are likewise contributing in one way or another.

Illiteracy also contributes to the birth of new conflicts. Societies whose members have a minimal level of education are less able to understand for whom it is voting or the decisions made by its leaders. Indeed, illiteracy often creates a rift between those in a society who are educated and those over whom, consequently, the educated have power. It can likewise create a gulf between the State and its citizens if the latter can be more easily controlled because they ignore the goings-on of the society. UNESCO is there to promote and give access to education, science, culture and communication. UNESCO is also there to ensure that justice, the law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, irrespective of race, sex, language or religion.

The breakout of modern-day conflicts can also be related to the control of natural resources. Better management of these resources could help avoid the breakout of future conflicts. For example, the consequences of pollution can rapidly degenerate and require greater international cooperation. Pollution rarely takes into account the borders mapped out by men. The acid rain in the United States and Canada, the pollution of a chemical factory that flowed down the Danube River through several European countries, and the oil spills that so often occur in the ocean after a ship wreck, these are but a few of many sad examples. The last oil spill in Canada occurred in 1988 off the shores of Newfoundland and involved a tanker named Odyssey. These ecological catastrophes are often due to the inability of countries to adopt common rules for safety and the environment. This inability encourages certain countries to adopt lenient regulations in order to encourage companies to run part or all of their business from these countries. Nonetheless, the most regular and largest oil spills occur in straits between several countries. The English Channel, for instance, has seen many substantial spills, as has the Bosporus Strait in Turkey, which is part of a passage linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It goes without saying that these spills create numerous problems between States.

This is the context in which the UNEP is working around the world to change mentalities about ecology. It initiates and organizes multilateral conventions on the environment and thus tries to further the international legal framework for environmental protection. Greater international cooperation will hopefully mean fewer catastrophes and, consequently, fewer potential, environmentally related conflicts.

Respect for human rights is a condition sine qua non for the establishment of peace on earth. On December 10, 1948, the members of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration establishes basic rights for all human beings. Though human rights are rarely observed in times of war, respect for human rights can keep difficult situations from degenerating into armed conflict. The role of the UNHCHR is thus to promote respect for human rights. This organization must demonstrate, through concrete actions, the international community's will and determination to ensure that human rights are respected. Moreover, it tries to have international conventions for human rights signed and ratified. For example, the "Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998. UNHCHR does not only inform us about the necessity to respect human rights. It also works in the field to provide technical cooperation or help in the training of police or the military. The UN is not the only organization to work for the promotion of human rights. Just to name two of many NGOs, there are IFHR, the International Federation of Human Rights, and AI, better known as Amnesty International.

It goes without saying that the counterpart of all conflicts is the availability of arms, especially firearms. Since the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 8, 1945, nuclear bombs have sadly made gigantic progress, as has the technology of arms in general. In his millennium report, Kofi Annan called on States to work towards the elimination of all nuclear risk. The majority of States spend too much on arms, and for some States, arms represent the main part of their budget, to the detriment of other sectors such as education and agriculture. The UN has a role to play in promoting disarmament, which is essential for peace. The UN's Department for Disarmament Affairs (DDA) reports on the state of the armament race in the world and establishes disarmament standards and goals in cooperation with other UN organisms. UNIDIR is conducting research into the potential for a safer future and the possibility of organizing seminars and conferences whose goal is to reach disarmament agreements.

[1] Available at: www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/

The Other UN Organizations That Contribute to Peace

There are other UN organizations that help promote a culture of peace. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, helps to protect the rights of children. It carries out both preventive initiatives to help promote the education of children in developing countries and protective actions to help children in times of war, when they are often the most vulnerable victims. Indeed, if the future is to be ensured, it is important that children be educated and not be mistreated. Children ensure a country's future. Ensuring that children are not mistreated helps both to develop a country's capacities and to prevent, as much as is possible, the outbreak of future conflicts.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, also helps to promote a culture of peace by developing information programs for women, especially with regard to sex education. It provides women in particular with all the necessary information and resources. This allows them in turn to make fully informed decisions and thereby contribute to a better management of the planet's population. WHO, the World Health Organization, promotes scientific cooperation in health matters, helps reinforce health systems and assists governments which ask for emergency aid. The provision of care to populations in distress alleviates many ills, whether they be physical or psychological. The WFP, the World Food Programme, promotes better nutrition by using food aid to support economic and social development. It is helped in this by the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which sets up programs to help foster greater agricultural productivity, thereby fighting hunger and poverty around the world. Hunger and poverty are two important factors in the outbreak of conflicts.

All of these UN programs are attempting, with the means that are available to them, to prevent conflicts and have a world that is free of violence. However, it will be some time before we reach this enviable state on our planet. This being true, the UN will have to continue to separate belligerents by intervening through peacekeeping missions.

The United Nations and Peacekeeping

The UN Security Council is the main organization of the United Nations dedicated to the resolution of conflicts and peacekeeping. It is composed of fifteen members, five of whom are permanent, namely China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, and ten of which are elected by the General Assembly every two years.

When the Security Council is confronted with a problem that can represent a threat for international peace and safety, it must first try to resolve the problem peacefully. In the past, the Security Council has acted as mediator or, in cases of armed conflict, proposed a cease-fire. The Council can also reinforce its decisions by enacting sanctions. According to the report " 'We the Peoples'...", sanctions are a way for the Council to apply its decisions, constituting a step between a simple condemnation and armed intervention. Sanctions can include an arms embargo, trade and finance restrictions, the ceasing of air and sea contact, or diplomatic isolation. Furthermore, the council can also opt for measures that call for more people and material.

Peacekeeping missions allow the Security Council to watch over the cease-fire and participate in the creation of conditions for peace. On a few rare occasions, the Security Council has authorized member States to use all the necessary means to keep the peace, including collective military action.

General Indar Jit Rktye, the former president of the International Peace Academy who has participated in several peacekeeping missions, defines peace keeping as being "the prevention, limitation, moderation and cessation of hostilities between or within States due to the intervention of a third party, which is organized and directed at the international level and which calls upon military, police and civilian personnel to restore peace."[1]

Up until the end of the Cold War, the UN only intervened in the majority of cases if the conflict involved two or more States. This is known as the principle of non-interference. The principle of State sovereignty was "officially" adhered to more than it is today. The first UN mission began in 1948 in Palestine and is still in place. It was baptised UNTSO, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine. The missions have changed considerably since then. Indeed, UNTSO was only made up of observers mandated to observe whether the truce was obeyed. However, with the insistence of Lester B. Pearson, UNEF I, the fist United Nations Emergency Force, was set up during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956. It was the start of veritable peacekeeping missions supported by military, police and civilian contingents.

Since the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping has undergone a new change. The operations now occur more and more often within one country. There are several reasons behind this. First of all, due to a greater access to information, international public opinion and governments are more aware of what is happening in a country than in the past. Now when images of extraordinary violence reach us, we no longer accept that such barbarous conflicts take place, be they religious or ethnic in origin and whether or not they occur within a single country. This was the case for Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and, more recently, Sierra Leone. Not so long ago, we would not even have been aware of conflicts such as these, which occur within a single country.

The other reason comes from the establishment by former colonial powers of State models in countries that had no tradition of this kind. Arbitrary borders were laid down, bringing together different ethnic groups, some of which were able to impose their will on others due to their number and education. We can no longer allow the powers that be of a State to dictate to other minorities. We must establish or impose peace so as to stop belligerents from committing greater massacres. However, this demands a stronger, more interventionist approach in defiance of State sovereignty and the principle of non-interference. To accomplish this, peacekeeping missions must have greater capabilities. They must be able to rebuild, disarm, supervise elections and ensure that human rights are respected. Intervening is no longer enough. After such missions, democratic institutions that have never existed or that were destroyed must be rebuilt and be capable of ensuring equal rights for all citizens. This is the type of mission that took place in Kosovo and East Timor.

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Still, it may be very difficult to establish a durable peace if justice has not first been obtained. There is often no judicial apparatus left in a country coming out of a conflict. The UN is therefore working to equip itself with the effective institutions needed to fill the institutional void in countries that are rebuilding after a conflict.

[1] IPA Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping in Vienna 20-30 July 1998

Post Conflict, International Justice and Other Organizations

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permament international court capable of investigating and prosecuting individuals accused of egregious violations of international humanitarian law. Until now, individuals accused of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity have been tried through ad hoc tribunals such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established by the UN Security Council in lieu of a more permanent mechanism. It is hoped that a permanent, independent court in The Hague will prove more effective and less prone to political wrangling. The Court enters into force on 1 July 2002, and is expected to begin considering cases in 2003.

In addition to the ICC is the ICJ, the International Court of Justice. This court was created to resolve conflicts between States, whereas the ICC deals exclusively with the responsibility of individuals. However, because there are so few States that are ready to bring their differences before this court and accept its authority, this institution has had little impact. In fact, only 20 cases per year are submitted to it, whereas the Supreme Court of Canada handles at least 10 times more cases per year.

In post-conflict situations, all the above-mentioned UN organizations are naturally present in the field, offering relief to local populations, rebuilding infrastructures, training civil servants and trying to ensure respect for human rights. UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is responsible for the relocation of refugees, and supervises the work conducted in the field. Humanitarian NGOs are there as well and help the local populations to live peacefully. The Canadian Red Cross, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, OXFAM, Care Canada and Ingénieurs sans frontière (engineers without borders, ), these are but a few of the thousands of NGOs of this type.

Because most international organizations participate in the prevention and resolution of international conflicts, they help to build a culture of peace. It is worth noting, moreover, that to be successful, conflict prevention and resolution operations require cooperation among States, national organizations and individuals. Organizations such as OAU, the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and many others play a major role at the regional level in the prevention of conflicts.

Individual people also play an essential role in the culture of peace, even at the international level. Indeed, national organizations and institutions are composed of men and women who produce standards that can be changed to meet new needs. It is up to each citizen to establish a culture of peace, beginning at home and working up to international institutions. Peace in the world is possible and is progressing everywhere. However, we must all continue to strive to ensure that the progression of peace continues.

	Activities 1. United Nations Simulations: Organize or participate in a United Nations simulation. This type of activity makes it easier to understand how the UN operates. 2. Security Council Simulation: Organize or participate in a Security Council simulation. Smaller than the United Nations simulation, this type of activity nonetheless makes it easier to understand how the Security Council operates and the role it plays in international peacekeeping. 3. Parliament Simulation: Organize or participate in a Canadian or provincial parliament simulation. This type of activity makes it easier to understand how our political system operates and how conflicts are resolved. 4. Unfair Supper: Organize a supper where people are served different quantities and qualities of food. The groups are unfairly divided by using numbers or other means. The goal of this activity is to make people understand how the unequal distribution of wealth and food can lead to violence. 5. The Water Game: The goal of this game is to accumulate the amount of drinking water needed for the well being of your population. (The water can be represented by seeds, corn or other objects. )   UNA-Canada has many resources to help you get started. Take me there>>