UN International Peace & Security
Comprehensive Review
of Special Political Missions and the Future of UN Peacekeeping and Peace
Operations
Peacekeeping has been the most important
instrument to maintaining international peace and security since the
establishment of the United Nations (UN) at the end of the World
War II. Over the last 70 years, the
nature, mandates, and operations of peacekeeping missions have evolved to meet
the emerging challenges of both humanitarian and conflict situations, and the
continual review of peacekeeping within the UN system remains a priority within
the international system. Most critically, as peacekeepers are tasked with
increasingly dangerous and often deteriorating conflict environments, more
robust support is needed by the organization and by Member States to ensure
that peacekeeping operations
(PKOs) can deliver effectively on their missions. Since 1948, UNTSO has
continued its mission of monitoring ceasefires and supervising armistice
agreements while also assisting other PKOs in the region in achieving their
mandates. Special political missions (SPMs) and PKOs represent the two key mechanisms by which
the UN maintains international peace and security.
The UN defines SPMs as “civilian missions that
are deployed for a limited duration to support Member States in good offices,
conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding.” SPMs are grouped into
three main categories: sanction
monitoring groups, special envoys, and
field-based missions.
PKOs are defined by the UN as impartial
overseeing operations deployed into conflict-affected areas to provide
security, while assisting with the transition from conflict to peace.
There are currently 16 PKOs and 11 SPMs
active around the world. SPMs and PKOs are part of a spectrum of overall UN
peace operations implemented at different stages of conflict.
Peacekeeping
Today's
multidimensional peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain
peace and security, but also to facilitate political processes, protect civilians, assist in the disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration of former combatants; support constitutional processes
and the organization of elections, protect and promote human rights and assist
in restoring the rule of law and extending legitimate state authority.
Peacekeeping operations get their mandates from the UN Security Council; their
troops and police are contributed by Members States; and they are managed by
the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and supported by the Department of
Field Support at the UN Headquarters in New York. There are 16 UN peacekeeping
operations currently deployed and there have been a total of 69 deployed since
1948.
Countering Terrorism
The United Nations is being increasingly called
upon to coordinate the global fight against terrorism. Eighteen universal instruments against
international terrorism have been elaborated within the framework of the United
Nations system relating to specific terrorist activities. In September
2006, UN Member States adopted the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This was the first time that Member
States agreed to a common strategic and operational framework against
terrorism.
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