UN Peacekeeping Chief Warns Budget Cuts Threaten Missions and Personnel Safety | United Nations

Peacekeeping Chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix**UN Peacekeeping Chief Warns Budget Cuts Threaten Missions and Personnel Safety** told the Security Council that Peacekeeping “must remain adaptable and accountable,” and stressed that budgetary cuts are creating “major constraints on the ability of the missions to implement their political and protection of civilian mandates, as well as to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel.” Lacroix, addressing the annual briefing from the heads of military components of UN peacekeeping operations, said UN peacekeeping “is and remains a useful political tool, used by the international community to help parties to put an end to armed conflict and move towards lasting peace.” He said, “prioritized and focused mandates from this Council that are adequately resourced and can be recalibrated to evolving needs and situations should be the starting point,” and pointed out that troop and police contributing countries “are the backbone of our missions.” Lacroix said, “their perspectives must be regularly included in mandate design and implementation.” He noted that peacekeeping operations “have faced significant financial challenges of the past year, necessitating the implementation of stringent contingency measures,” and said, “this impact will be felt over an extended period of time.” For instance, Lacroix said the closure of bases has reduced the United Nations in South Sudan’s (UNMISS’) “situational awareness, early warning capabilities, and community reassurance, creating blind spots, limiting proactive intervention and timely deployment to hotspots.” “Now, more than ever,” he said, “it is essential that the Council provides strong, coherent and consistent support not only to peacekeeping operations themselves, but also to the political efforts that there are designed to enable and sustain.” The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) Force Commander, Lieutenant General Humphrey Nyone, said the mission has “played a critical role in supporting the Central African Republic’s general elections on 28th December 2025 by working alongside the National Defence and Security Forces to maintain security, protect civilians and electoral staff and ensure safe polling conditions through joint patrols. “ Despite “limited troop numbers and the challenging environment,” Nyone said, “most polling stations operated smoothly” during the general elections, and the force “is now preparing to provide similar support for the second round of local elections on 26th April 2026.” For his part, the Force Commander and Acting Head of Misson at the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), Major General Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, said, “Abyei today is not at war, but neither is it at peace. With the rapidly increasing presence of unauthorized armed actors exerting pressure on mandate implementation within the Abyei box and in JBVMM areas. Continued political engagement by the parties backed by the Council's support for UNISFA remains critical to preserving stability and advancing a durable solution.” The 2026 Heads of Military Components Conference (HoMCC) is taking place from 13 to 17 April at UN Headquarters in New York, focusing on the theme: “Future-Ready Peacekeeping: Reshaping to Achieve Mission Impact.”


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