We distinguish between two kinds of peacekeeping operations — unarmed observer groups and lightly-armed military forces. The latter are only allowed to employ their weapons for self-defence. Altogether, 14 UN operations have been carried out. They are evenly divided between observer groups and military forces. The observer groups are concerned with gathering information for the UN about actual conditions prevailing in an area, e.
The military forces are entrusted with more extended tasks, such as keeping the parties to a conflict apart and maintaining order in an area. UN interventions have been in particular demand in the Middle East, both as regards observer groups and military forces.
The UN first took on the task of sending observers to monitor the armistice between Israel and the Arab states in Observer group activity was resumed after the wars of , , and After the war, the first armed UN force was established to create a buffer between Israeli and Egyptian forces in the Sinai.
Ten nations contributed soldiers. Another force was established after the war between Egypt and Israel in to monitor the armistice agreement between the parties. This took place during a period of extremely high tension both locally and between the great powers. In , a smaller UN force was set up on the Golan Heights to maintain the boundary line between Syrian and Israeli forces. Its tasks included watching over the Israeli withdrawal, maintaining conditions of peace and security, and helping the Lebanese government re-establish its authority.
Such tasks have taxed the capabilities of UNIFIL to the utmost, but the UN forces have made an important contribution by reducing the level of conflict in the area. However, this achievement has not come without significant cost.
UN casualities now amount to more than The UN played an important role during the struggles that erupted when the Belgian colony of the Congo achieved independence in As anarchy and chaos reigned in the area, a UN force numbering almost 20, was set up to help the Congolese government maintain peace and order.
It ended up being, above all, engaged in bringing a raging civil war to an end and preventing the province of Katanga from seceding. Among other important tasks may be mentioned monitoring the border between India and Pakistan, and maintaining the peacekeeping force that was established on Cyprus on account of the civil war that broke out between the Greek and Turkish populations of the island.
The UN force has succeeded in creating a buffer zone between the two ethnic groups. Today's multidimensional peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security but also to facilitate the political processes, protect civilians, disarm combatants, support elections, protect and promote human rights and restore the rule of law.
While most peacekeepers are serving military or police, 14 per cent are civilians who perform a wide range of functions, from serving as the civilian leadership of the mission to working in the areas of political and civil affairs, human rights, elections, strategic communications, IT, logistics, transport and administration and more. Women peacekeepers today play an increasingly prominent role and are crucial towards improving the performance of our missions.
They serve as police officers, troops, pilots, military observers, and other uniformed and civilian posts, including in command positions. The UN military observers were unarmed. ONUC demonstrated the risks involved in trying to bring stability to war-torn regions - UN personnel died while serving on that mission, including the Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold.
These multidimensional missions were designed to ensure the implementation of comprehensive peace agreements and assist in laying the foundations for sustainable peace. The nature of conflicts also changed over the years. UN Peacekeeping, originally developed as a means of dealing with inter-State conflict, was increasingly being applied to intra-State conflicts and civil wars.
UN Peacekeepers were now increasingly asked to undertake a wide variety of complex tasks, from helping to build sustainable institutions of governance, to human rights monitoring, to security sector reform, to the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants. Although the military remained the backbone of most peacekeeping operations, there were now many faces to peacekeeping including:.
After the Cold War ended, there was a rapid increase in the number of peacekeeping operations. With a new consensus and a common sense of purpose, the Security Council authorized a total of 20 new operations between and , raising the number of peacekeepers from 11, to 75, The general success of earlier missions raised expectations for UN Peacekeeping beyond its capacity to deliver.
These three high-profile peacekeeping operations came under criticism as peacekeepers faced situations where warring parties failed to adhere to peace agreements, or where the peacekeepers themselves were not provided adequate resources or political support. As civilian casualties rose and hostilities continued, the reputation of UN Peacekeeping suffered. The setbacks of the early and mids led the Security Council to limit the number of new peacekeeping missions and begin a process of self-reflection to prevent such failures from happening again.
With continuing crises in a number of countries and regions, the essential role of UN Peacekeeping was soon emphatically reaffirmed.
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