(United Nations) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for reflection on the future of peacekeeping operations, stressing their “limits” in a world increasingly fragmented and marked by an evolution of conflicts.
UN peacekeeping “has helped save millions of lives”, including “helping to preserve ceasefires and protecting civilians from violence”, he said, presenting his “new agenda for peace”.
“But long-standing, unresolved conflicts, fueled by complex national, geopolitical and transnational factors, as well as a persistent mismatch between mandates and resources, have highlighted its limits,” he acknowledged.
PHOTO BRENDAN MCDERMID, REUTERS ARCHIVES
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
“Peacekeeping operations cannot be successful when there is no peace to keep,” he insisted. Nor without “clear” and “realistic” mandates from the Security Council.
If he does not cite any country, his orientation note comes a few weeks after the Security Council put an end to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (Minusma), at the surprise request of Bamako who accused him of not meeting his needs in the fight against terrorism.
But peacekeepers are neither a counterterrorism force nor a peace enforcement tool.
But “the fragmentation of conflicts, which often involve non-state armed groups, criminal gangs, terrorists and opportunists, has increased the need for multinational peace enforcement, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgent operations”, underlined the Secretary General.
In this context, he calls for a “global reflection on the future of UN peacekeeping operations”, referring to more “flexible” models, with “appropriate exit strategies”.
To overcome the limitations of the UN, it encourages regional or sub-regional organizations to deploy peace enforcement missions on their side, particularly in Africa.
The situation “justifies the establishment of new generation operations, namely peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorism operations that would be led by African countries”, with a mandate from the Security Council, he explains.
More generally, he notes that “conflicts have become more complex, deadly, and more difficult to resolve”.
“Last year saw the highest number of conflict-related deaths in three decades,” he lamented, calling in particular for more preventive measures or the elimination of nuclear weapons.
These proposals are part of a series of 11 documents on various themes prepared by the Secretary General in view of the “summit of the future” in 2024.