Congolese in Goma protest against the UN peacekeeping mission on 26 July 2022.
Michel Lunanga/AFP via Getty Images
The UN mission is being held responsible for something the Congolese state should be doing.
UN peacekeepers on patrol.
Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
Peacekeeping missions grab the headlines when they’re associated with tragedy and death – but that isn’t their full story.
Troops under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan on patrol in Juba.
Albert Gonzalez Farran/AFP via Getty Images
The UN voted to extend its presence in South Sudan for another year. However, its success in the country faces many challenges.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (right) and his deputy Riek Machar shake hands in Addis Ababa to signify a peace deal in September, 2018.
AFP via Getty Images
Kiir and Machar have been pivotal figures in most of South Sudan’s short history as an independent nation.
Evacuees from Ukraine stand under a destroyed bridge as they flee the city of Irpin on March 7, 2022.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are using humanitarian corridors to leave the country. But these routes are often announced for political reasons and do not always offer safety
A Moroccan UN peacekeeper in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo helps raise awareness about COVID-19.
MONUSCO Photos/Flickr
Peacekeeping had been in decline before COVID-19, but they are vital tools in the UN’s armoury.
The number of Canadian peacekeeping forces deployed around the world is at an all-time low.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
Canada sees itself as a peacekeeper and an independent voice in global affairs. The recent vote for a seat on the UN Security Council shows the world doesn’t agree with that image.
Peacekeepers patrol the premises of a UN civilian protection site in Juba
Albert Gonzalez Farran/AFP via Getty Images
United Nations peacekeeping operations need to be refashioned to meet the needs of an ever evolving world.
UN Blue Helmet peacekeepers in Bouake, Ivory Coast in 2017.
Sia Kambou/GettyImages
The UN missions deployed around the world to manage conflict and protect civilians need to be assessed in a manner that accurately reflects their successes and failures.
Chinese soldiers and police serve in eight UN peace missions in Africa.
Flickr
The Chinese model of peace differs fundamentally from that pursued by western nations.
Rwandan soldiers line up to receive their UN peacekeeping medals for their work in Juba, South Sudan in 2019.
Flickr
The number of personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping has slowly been decreasing.
Arindambanerjee/Shutterstock.com
The voices of young victims in Haiti can now be heard for the first time thanks to a groundbreaking new research project.
U.N. technicians prepare an unarmed drone for flight over the Democratic Republic of Congo.
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti/Flickr
Drones could help United Nations peacekeepers save civilians’ lives – but there are obstacles.
Peacekeeper with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti
The independent strategic review, now before the Security Council, recognises many of the challenges ahead. But it appears overly sanguine about what can be achieved within a three-year period.
The United Nations spends more on its peacekeeping missions than on anything else.
Youssef Badawi/EPA-EFE
The world body spends more than US$6 billion a year on peacekeeping operations, most of which are in Africa
Family photos of the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, displayed at a 25th anniversary memorial in April 2019.
AP Photo/Ben Curtis
Learning from what actually worked during the United Nations’ infamously ineffective 1994 peacekeeping mission in Rwanda may save lives in the future.
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UN agencies could play a role in improving training programmes for peacekeepers who help women.
Rwandan peacekeepers in Mali in 2014.
United Nations Photo
Interviews with Rwandan women from the military who had served on peacekeeping missions found many felt ill-equipped for what they had to deal with.
South African peacekeepers on patrol in North Kivu, DR Congo
EPA/EFE/Hugh Kinsella Cunningham
UN peacekeeping missions need to adapt to the complexities of active conflict situations.
UN peacekeepers from South Africa in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012.
EPA/Dai Kurokawa
The UN’s mandate must evolve to navigate new realities that include intra-state wars, non-state actors, and transnational crime.