Brief history Peacekeeping

1 brief history

1.1 creation , years
1.2 cold war peacekeeping
1.3 since 1991

brief history

creation , years

united nations peacekeeping started in 1948 when united nations security council authorised deployment of un unarmed military observers middle east in order monitor armistice agreement signed between israel , arab neighbours in wake of arab-israeli war. operation called united nations truce supervision organization (untso) , still in operation today. passage of resolution 73 (1949) security council in august 1949, untso given task of fulfilling 4 armistice agreements between state of israel , arab states had participated in war. thus, untso’s operations spread through 5 states in region—israel, egypt, jordan, lebanon , syrian arab republic.

cold war peacekeeping

in wake of independence in india , pakistan in august 1947 , subsequent bloodshed followed security council adopted resolution 39 (1948) in january 1948 in order create united nations commission india , pakistan (uncip), purpose of mediating dispute between india , pakistan on kashmir , fighting related it. operation non-interventionist in nature , additionally tasked supervision of ceasefire signed pakistan , india in state of jammu , kashmir. passage of karachi agreement in july 1949, uncip supervise ceasefire line mutually overseen un unarmed military observers , local commanders each side in dispute. uncip’s mission in region continues day, under operational title of united nations military observer group in india , pakistan (unmogip).

since then, sixty-nine peacekeeping operations have been authorised , have deployed various countries on world. great majority of these operations have begun in post-cold war world. between 1988 , 1998 thirty-five un operations had been established , deployed. signified substantial increase when compared periods between 1948 , 1978; saw creation , deployment of thirteen un peacekeeping operations , 0 between 1978 , 1988.

armed intervention first came in form of un involvement in wake of suez crisis in 1956. united nations emergency force (unef-1), existed november 1956 june 1967 first ever united nations peacekeeping force. given mandate of ensuring cessation of hostilities between egypt, united kingdom, france, , israel in addition overseeing withdrawal of french, israeli , british troops egyptian territory. upon completion of said withdrawal, unef serve buffer force between egyptian , israeli forces in order supervise conditions of ceasefire , contribute lasting peace.

shortly thereafter, united nations operation in congo (onuc), deployed in 1960. operation involved upwards of 20,000 military personnel @ peak, , resulted in death of 250 un personnel, including secretary-general dag hammarskjold. onuc meant ensure withdrawal of belgian forces in congo, had reinserted after congolese independence in wake of revolt carried out force publique (fp), in order protect belgian citizens , economic interests. onuc tasked establishing , maintaining law , order (helping end fp revolt , ethnic violence) provide technical assistance , training congolese security forces. additional function added onuc’s mission, in force tasked maintaining territorial integrity , political independence of congo—resulting secession of mineral-rich provinces of katanga , south kasai. un forces there, controversially, more or less became arm of congolese government @ time , helped forcefully end secession of both provinces.

throughout 1960s , 1970s un created multiple short-term missions on world including mission of representative of secretary-general in dominican republic (domrep), un security force in west new guinea (unsf), un yemen observation mission (unyom), in conjunction more long-term operations such un peacekeeping force in cyprus (unficyp), un emergency force ii (unef ii), un disengagement observer force (undof) , un interim force in lebanon (unifil).

united nations peacekeeping missions of 2012


since 1991

norwegian peacekeeper during siege of sarajevo, 1992 - 1993, photo mikhail evstafiev.

experiences of peacekeeping during yugoslav wars, failures such srebrenica massacre, led, in part, united nations peacebuilding commission, works implement stable peace through of same civic functions peacekeepers work on, such elections. commission works 6 countries, in africa. in 2013 u.n. security council unanimously passed resolution 2122, among other things calls stronger measures regarding women’s participation in conflict , post-conflict processes such peace talks, gender expertise in peacekeeping missions, improved information impact of armed conflict on women, , more direct briefing council on progress in these areas. in 2013, committee on elimination of discrimination against women (cedaw), un women’s rights committee, said in general recommendation states have ratified un women’s rights convention obliged uphold women’s rights before, during, , after conflict when directly involved in fighting, and/or providing peacekeeping troops or donor assistance conflict prevention, humanitarian aid or post-conflict reconstruction.

the committee stated ratifying states should exercise due diligence in ensuring non-state actors, such armed groups , private security contractors, held accountable crimes against women.

one of findings of fortna peacekeepers go “peacekeeping matter of supply , demand” supply side, observes there unlikely peacekeeping mission in civil wars on countries close 1 of members of security council. demand side, there diverse evidence peacekeeping missions deployed in countries need most, risk of recurring war high.