The Daily Yomiuri
Yoshikazu Shirakawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
NEW YORK--As the scope of U.N. peacekeeping activities expands, so too do the number of serious problems it faces, including a shortage of personnel and equipment and an increase in dangerous missions.
U.N. Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy expressed concern about the future of the body's peacekeeping missions at a late February meeting of the U.N. Special Committee for Peacekeeping Operations. He said 2009 would be a make-or-break year for U.N. peacekeeping operations because many operations were in danger of failure.
The United Nations is engaged in peacekeeping operations in 16 regions. These operations have seen it dispatch 112,000 personnel to the areas, including 91,000 military and police personnel. The numbers sent on missions has increased over the past five years as the number of conflicts around the world, including in some African nations, has escalated.
As new conflicts flare, the U.N. Security Council has passed resolutions authorizing peacekeeping missions and increased staff numbers for the operations. As a result, the United Nations has faced a constant struggle to find personnel and equipment for its peacekeeping operations.
The problem has arisen partly because the Security Council has passed resolutions authorizing missions without first closely studying the situations on the ground. Also, in an effort to show its resolve in tackling regional conflicts and proving its effectiveness, the Security Council has tended to be too optimistic about securing human and other resources for its missions.
Personnel involved in the missions have struggled with the consequent lack of resources.
Typical of the peacekeeping operations facing problems is that in the Darfur region of Sudan, where about 35,000 residents and others are believed to have been killed in the region by Sudanese government troops.
In July 2007, the Security Council passed a resolution to launch a peacekeeping operation to be jointly run by the United Nations and the African Union, with a maximum of 26,000 personnel.
However, only 15,100 personnel, mainly from AU member countries, including Nigeria and Rwanda, were sent to the region because the organizations were unable to secure the necessary human resources.
Equipment also is in short supply: U.N. and AU units in Darfur require military helicopters when they travel to desert areas, but they currently do not have enough.
Talks on halting the violence have not progressed, meaning the peacekeepers in Darfur effectively have no peace to maintain.
Recently, the neutrality of U.N. peacekeepers has not been observed by some actors in strife-torn areas. On March 9, four peacekeeping personnel were attacked and injured by militants.
In the early 1990s, as the Cold War drew to an end and confrontation between Russia and the United States waned, the U.N. Security Council saw increased activity and U.N. peacekeeping operations rapidly expanded.
The U.N. peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992 and '93, in which Self-Defense Forces personnel participated, is seen as one of the body's most successful missions.
However, in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia, heavily armed U.N. peacekeepers were deployed as part of the United Nations' ambitious efforts to enforce peace. The peacekeepers were viewed by some as a warring party, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries to the personnel.
After U.S. soldiers involved in a U.N. peacekeeping mission were brutally killed in Somalia in 1993, Washington grew reluctant to provide personnel for missions, which impacted on all U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Other problems affecting the missions also surfaced in the early 1990s, such as how much force peacekeepers should be permitted to use to achieve their missions and protect local citizens, and whether peacekeepers should be sent to nations where the United Nations has not won the cooperation of the country's government for a ceasefire.
Against the backdrop of such problems, the Security Council and the U.N. Secretariat began a review of peacekeeping operations.
Japan chairs the Security Council working group on peacekeeping operations.
The likely result will be a strengthening of ties between the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Secretariat and countries providing military personnel for the missions, as well as a commitment to make diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts even after peacekeepers are dispatched.
Japan is the biggest financial donor for U.N. peacekeeping operations, but only ranks 79th as a provider of personnel for such missions with just 40 officials deployed. Developing nations top the list, with Pakistan providing 10,700 personnel and Bangladesh providing 9,400.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has said the United States is eager to be involved with U.N. peacekeeping operations, noting that for every dollar it costs the United States to independently carry out a peacekeeping activity, it costs just 12 cents to carry out the same task as part of a U.N. mission.
The United States may demand Japan contribute more to the U.N. peacekeeping operations. So we must discuss how to make a more active contribution to the missions, such as providing personnel training and much-needed equipment.
(Apr. 8, 2009)
Yoshikazu Shirakawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
NEW YORK--As the scope of U.N. peacekeeping activities expands, so too do the number of serious problems it faces, including a shortage of personnel and equipment and an increase in dangerous missions.
U.N. Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy expressed concern about the future of the body's peacekeeping missions at a late February meeting of the U.N. Special Committee for Peacekeeping Operations. He said 2009 would be a make-or-break year for U.N. peacekeeping operations because many operations were in danger of failure.
The United Nations is engaged in peacekeeping operations in 16 regions. These operations have seen it dispatch 112,000 personnel to the areas, including 91,000 military and police personnel. The numbers sent on missions has increased over the past five years as the number of conflicts around the world, including in some African nations, has escalated.
As new conflicts flare, the U.N. Security Council has passed resolutions authorizing peacekeeping missions and increased staff numbers for the operations. As a result, the United Nations has faced a constant struggle to find personnel and equipment for its peacekeeping operations.
The problem has arisen partly because the Security Council has passed resolutions authorizing missions without first closely studying the situations on the ground. Also, in an effort to show its resolve in tackling regional conflicts and proving its effectiveness, the Security Council has tended to be too optimistic about securing human and other resources for its missions.
Personnel involved in the missions have struggled with the consequent lack of resources.
Typical of the peacekeeping operations facing problems is that in the Darfur region of Sudan, where about 35,000 residents and others are believed to have been killed in the region by Sudanese government troops.
In July 2007, the Security Council passed a resolution to launch a peacekeeping operation to be jointly run by the United Nations and the African Union, with a maximum of 26,000 personnel.
However, only 15,100 personnel, mainly from AU member countries, including Nigeria and Rwanda, were sent to the region because the organizations were unable to secure the necessary human resources.
Equipment also is in short supply: U.N. and AU units in Darfur require military helicopters when they travel to desert areas, but they currently do not have enough.
Talks on halting the violence have not progressed, meaning the peacekeepers in Darfur effectively have no peace to maintain.
Recently, the neutrality of U.N. peacekeepers has not been observed by some actors in strife-torn areas. On March 9, four peacekeeping personnel were attacked and injured by militants.
In the early 1990s, as the Cold War drew to an end and confrontation between Russia and the United States waned, the U.N. Security Council saw increased activity and U.N. peacekeeping operations rapidly expanded.
The U.N. peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992 and '93, in which Self-Defense Forces personnel participated, is seen as one of the body's most successful missions.
However, in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia, heavily armed U.N. peacekeepers were deployed as part of the United Nations' ambitious efforts to enforce peace. The peacekeepers were viewed by some as a warring party, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries to the personnel.
After U.S. soldiers involved in a U.N. peacekeeping mission were brutally killed in Somalia in 1993, Washington grew reluctant to provide personnel for missions, which impacted on all U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Other problems affecting the missions also surfaced in the early 1990s, such as how much force peacekeepers should be permitted to use to achieve their missions and protect local citizens, and whether peacekeepers should be sent to nations where the United Nations has not won the cooperation of the country's government for a ceasefire.
Against the backdrop of such problems, the Security Council and the U.N. Secretariat began a review of peacekeeping operations.
Japan chairs the Security Council working group on peacekeeping operations.
The likely result will be a strengthening of ties between the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Secretariat and countries providing military personnel for the missions, as well as a commitment to make diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts even after peacekeepers are dispatched.
Japan is the biggest financial donor for U.N. peacekeeping operations, but only ranks 79th as a provider of personnel for such missions with just 40 officials deployed. Developing nations top the list, with Pakistan providing 10,700 personnel and Bangladesh providing 9,400.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has said the United States is eager to be involved with U.N. peacekeeping operations, noting that for every dollar it costs the United States to independently carry out a peacekeeping activity, it costs just 12 cents to carry out the same task as part of a U.N. mission.
The United States may demand Japan contribute more to the U.N. peacekeeping operations. So we must discuss how to make a more active contribution to the missions, such as providing personnel training and much-needed equipment.
(Apr. 8, 2009)
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