UN Peacekeeping: Challenges, Achievements & Global Impact | Security Council | United Nations

Briefing the Security Council on Thursday (07 Sep), Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said, “Peacekeeping is not a magic wand to help a country return to stability, but with the support of a unified international community, political processes, and peace agreements have been implemented.” As a result, he added, countries such as Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Timor Leste could transition from conflict to peace with the support of UN peacekeeping. Lacroix also noted that the growing divisions among Member States and the increased complexity of today’s conflicts pose a “formidable challenge to peacekeeping and the broader task of maintaining peace and security.” He continued, “Even where political solutions to conflicts seem distant, and that is much more often the case nowadays, peacekeepers continue to protect the lives of hundreds and thousands of civilians in the countries and regions in which we are deployed.” According to Lacroix, it is the case, for example, with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), “which protects hundreds of thousands of civilians under direct threat of violence despite daunting challenges and limitations.” He added that UN Peacekeeping is also working to keep civilians out of harm’s way by preserving ceasefires and preventing the resumption of hostilities in places such as southern Lebanon and Cyprus. The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations also said, “We must remember and honor the sacrifices made by our peacekeepers worldwide, including the 18 peacekeepers killed by malicious acts since my briefing last September.” In the context of The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)’s drawdown, he noted, the mission’s operating environment remains particularly dangerous. He said, “The risk of attacks by non-state armed groups persists. Five out of seven peacekeepers killed by malicious acts so far in 2023 were serving in Mali. I appeal to all of you to help ensure that we can proceed with the drawdown of MINUSMA in a safe and orderly manner.” Also addressing the Security Council, James Kariuki, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, said, “With MINUSMA withdrawing from Mali and MONUSCO’s transition approaching, we should implement lessons learned from past peacekeeping transitions. Particularly, we should be wary of time-based, rather than conditions-based, withdrawals of peacekeeping operations, which put lives and peace processes at risk.” Dmitriy Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, said, “In several regions, UN peacekeeping has been present for many years, becoming part of the domestic political context and part of the conflict management process rather than a tool for settling, and resolving conflict.” He continued, “As a result, we are seeing this more and more lately, populations are increasingly unhappy with how peacekeepers are doing their job. In many country situations, we see a patronizing approach and a reinterpretation of concepts such as the need to respect the sovereignty of the states unquestioningly, strict adherence to the purposes and the principles of the UN Charter and the basic principles of peacekeeping, namely consent with the parties, impartiality, and the non-use of force except in self-defense.”


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