UN Peacekeeping

From Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding

Since its inception in 1948, the UN has been called upon to prevent disputes from escalating into war, to persuade opposing parties to use dialogue rather than violence, to bring about a peaceful solution to conflicts, and to build sustainable peace. Although never envisioned in the UN Charter, both peacekeeping and peacebuilding have become integral and high profile components of UN operations.

UN Peacekeeping

The UN defines peacekeeping as “the deployment of international military and civilian personnel to a conflict area with the consent of the parties to the conflict in order to: stop or contain hostilities or supervise the carrying out of a peace agreement.” While this definition serves as a useful reference point, no single definition of peacekeeping exists. Peacekeeping was initially developed to deal with conflicts between two countries. Demands on peacekeepers included maintenance of ceasefires and separation of forces; preventive deployment; protection of humanitarian operations; and implementation of a comprehensive peace settlement. Contemporary conflicts, however, are much more complex. As a result, peacekeepers today are asked to do much more than what they did in previous missions, particularly with respect to peacebuilding activities.

From Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding refers to activities that seek “to establish the foundations of peace and provide the tools for building on those foundations” in order to avoid a relapse into conflict. The ultimate goal of all peacebuilding efforts is reconciliation among all warring parties and sustainable peace. To do so, post-conflict peacebuilding must be understood as a process where political, security, and development aspects come together. It entails both short- and long-term objectives, and incorporates all initiatives that can help a country move from war to peace. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, reintegrating former combatants into civilian society, security sector reform, strengthening the rule of law, improving respect for human rights, providing technical assistance for democratic development and promoting conflict resolution and reconciliation techniques.

Peacekeeping operations often form a central part of a peacebuilding effort and usually provide the foundations for a peacebuilding mission. In fact, a peacebuilding mission is more likely to take place where a peacekeeping operation is already in place, as the UN is present in the country, the parties have accepted the presence of peacemakers and peacekeepers, and the security conditions for such a mission are in place. In addition, peacebuilding activities will likely have already begun. While a peacebuilding mission may also be needed in a country where the UN is not already deployed, such an operation is more difficult to carry out as the UN must first establish a presence.

The UN is presently undertaking 11 special political and peacebuilding missions with a total of 2,344 personnel. These missions differ from peacekeeping missions in that they are managed by the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and their focus is on conflict prevention, peacemaking, and post-conflict peacebuilding. Current missions include the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), the United Nations Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), and the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) (see DPA website for a complete list of missions).

Specific post-conflict peacebuilding initiatives are numerous. They usually include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs, capacity building of local political and judicial institutions, activities targeting the reconciliation of the population, reform of the security sector and training of local police forces, and ensuring the respect for human rights and the rule of law. The role of women in building local capacity is also increasingly perceived as critical to peacebuilding initiatives (see Factsheet #8 on Gender and UN Peacekeeping).

Civil society is also a significant stakeholder in peacebuilding. Local NGOs, like the Mano River Union and the Africa Peace Forum, contribute enormously to the rebuilding process of African nations, and their long-term commitments help ensure that peace efforts are self-sustaining. Civil society can also hold governments accountable for their actions by working with the local population and by fostering discussions. The Mano River Union for example, seeks to encourage peaceful participation of civil society in political activities within the Mano River Basin, while the Africa Peace Forum aims to “contribute to the prevention, resolution and effective management of conflict by engaging State and Non-State actors in developing collaborative approaches towards lasting peace and enhanced human security in the Greater Horn of Africa and beyond.” These efforts on the ground are complemented by advocacy efforts, as well as efforts to promote dialogue on peace operations, such as R2PCS and POWG.

  • The Responsibility to Protect-Engaging Civil Society (R2PCS) project. The project seeks to raise awareness with respect to R2P and to promote concrete policies to help governments, regional organizations, and the UN protect vulnerable populations (see http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/).
  • The Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee’s Peace Operations Working Group (POWG) is a means by which civil society, through in-depth research and public and NGO-Government dialogue, can get involved in the development and implementation of peace operations (see http://www.peacebuild.ca/working/powg/).

While peacebuilding initiatives will invariably change depending on the context in which they must be undertaken, one commonality is that peacebuilding missions should incorporate both short-term initiatives (i.e., quick-impact projects) and long-term strategies (geared towards institution building) aimed at achieving sustainable peace.

Creating the Peacebuilding Commission

Many practitioners have realized that peacekeeping forces are not sufficient to help countries make the transition from war to lasting peace. It is estimated that about half of the countries emerging from war return to war within five years, questioning the present capacity of both peacekeepers and peacebuilders to secure sustainable peace. Peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions alike are confronted by key challenges, including the lack of international attention to post-conflict environments and the withdrawal of international support once a peacekeeping mission is completed. As stated in the 2005 Report of the Secretary-General entitled In Larger Freedom: “Deploying peace enforcement and peacekeeping forces may be essential in terminating conflicts but are not sufficient for long-term recovery. Serious attention to the longer-term process of peacebuilding in all its multiple dimensions is critical; failure to invest adequately in peacebuilding increases the odds that a country will relapse into conflict.”

In response to these concerns, an intergovernmental Peacebuilding Commission, as well as Peacebuilding Fund and Peacebuilding Support Office, were established to better anticipate and respond to the challenges of peacebuilding. The Commission was formerly inaugurated on 23 June 2006 with Angola as chair, and El Salvador and Norway as vice-chairpersons. A Canadian, Carolyn McAskie, is the current Assistant Secretary-General in the Peacebuilding Support Office. The Peacebuilding Commission will help to fill the void between war and peace by creating institutional and systematic links between peacekeeping operations and post-conflict peacebuilding efforts. The Commission will serve as an advisory body and its attention will focus on post-conflict reconstruction, institution-building and sustainable development. More specifically, the Commission will:

  • Propose integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery;
  • Help to ensure predictable financing for early recovery activities and sustained financial investment over the medium- to longer-term.
  • Extend the period of attention by the international community to post-conflict recovery;
  • Develop best practices on issues that require extensive collaboration among political, military, humanitarian and development actors.

Ultimately, post-conflict environments continue to present complex challenges to the international community, and in order to avoid a relapse into violence, effective responses will require greater focus on the transition between war and peace, and longer-term commitments. As Carolyn McAskie has stated, “what is needed is a continued international engagement in the post-conflict period.” She adds, “The conclusion is obvious: reconstruction and development efforts in countries coming out of conflict must be given the same international priority that peacekeeping and peace negotiation are being given.”

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