UN Peacekeeping

Stopping Sex Abuse in UN Peacekeeping: An Interview With Marie Deschamps of Canada

• January 15, 2018

Marie Deschamps is a former justice on the Supreme Court of Canada who led the groundbreaking 2015 United Nations report of an independent review on sexual exploitation and abuse by international peacekeeping forces in the Central African Republic. Deschamps agreed to talk in late December about how the report has been followed up — …

Africa, Gender Violence, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

Unprepared and Unprotected: UN Peacekeepers’ Lives Must Be Saved

James Cunliffe

• January 9, 2018

The 15 deaths and 43 injuries to United Nations troop personnel in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December would not, sadly, have surprised those of us who have served in peace enforcement missions with the UN. These are difficult and dangerous places, where rebels have many advantages …

Africa, Asia, Peace and Security, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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GEOPOLITICS

Words Ring Hollow From the UN After Attacks on Peacekeepers

Susan Manuel

• December 27, 2017

The horrific attack on United Nations peacekeepers from Tanzania in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early December and the ensuing hours-long battle was a severe blow to one of the UN’s more prized forces, leaving 15 soldiers dead. But the UN was already so concerned with a rise in peacekeeper fatalities — …

Africa, Asia, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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GEOPOLITICS

The Art of Infinite Patience: Searching for Peace in South Sudan

Kacie Candela

• December 26, 2017

The South Sudan Council of Churches is an umbrella organization for seven Christian denominations — African Inland Church, Catholic, Episcopal, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Evangelical Presbyterian and Sudan Interior Church — working on peace and reconciliation in South Sudan and based in Juba, the capital. The country has been fighting a civil war for exactly four …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

The Problem of Peacekeeping Sex Abuse Is Not Going Away

Adriana Erthal Abdenur

• December 4, 2017

There is no denying that sexual exploitation and abuse has acquired greater urgency within the context of United Nations peace operations. Although the UN launched its zero tolerance policy in 2003, a recent report tallied some two thousand accusations between 2005 and 2017 in peacekeeping settings, which underscores how harmful ineffective policies and specific …

Africa, Gender Violence, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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The Vancouver Principles, New Steps to Help UN Peacekeepers Stop Child-Soldier Use

Julie Vanderperre

• November 13, 2017

The one sure announcement to emerge from the annual United Nations peacekeeping defense ministerial conference this week will be the adoption of the Vancouver Principles, a set of rules aimed primarily at preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The conference, being held Nov. 14-15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, will feature more than …

Child Soldiers, UN Peacekeeping

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GEOPOLITICS

Judging the UN in Haiti: ‘We Let the Haitians Down’

Susan Manuel

• November 9, 2017

The population it serves can misunderstand a United Nations peacekeeping mandate. In the host country, with people’s lives, infrastructure and administrative systems often rendered dysfunctional by conflict, the population expects peacekeepers to restore order, build roads and other essentials, provide work, render justice and make life like it was before if not better. They …

Caribbean, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN Base in Timbuktu: A Demanding Deployment in the Sahara

Benoit Bryche

• October 30, 2017

TIMBUKTU — Who wants peace in Mali? If everyone says they want it, why is carrying out the 2015 peace agreement and its cease-fire so difficult? Part of the challenge for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali is not only helping to implement the agreement in the major cities, such as Timbuktu, but …

Africa, Terrorism, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Keeping a Close Eye on the UN’s Use of Unarmed Drones

Giovanna Kuele

• October 10, 2017

In 2007, for the first time in history, United Nations forces operated an unmanned aerial vehicle — a small prototype for a short period by the UN mission in Haiti. In 2013, the UN officially launched drones (formally known as unmanned aerial systems, or UAS) for surveillance in a peacekeeping mission. Despite the controversies …

Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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Political Will: The Missing Link to Ending Sex Abuse in UN Peacekeeping

Barbara Crossette

• September 24, 2017

It is not surprising that António Guterres, the first United Nations secretary-general to be rooted in a life of politics and the first to have been a head of government, would look for a political strategy to address one of the UN’s most self-inflicted wounds: persistent sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions. When …

Africa, Gender Violence, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

New Wine in Old Bottles: Germany and Conflict Prevention at the UN

Aurelie Domisse

• September 15, 2017

BERLIN — Just as Germany’s run for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2019-20 term is gathering steam, its government has published a new white paper, titled “Preventing Crises, Managing Conflicts, Building Peace.” In this release, Germany promises to become more active in the mostly civilian aspects of conflict …

Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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UNGA72

Stopping Sex Abuse in UN Peacekeeping: Guterres’s Direct Call for Political Support

Barbara Crossette

• September 12, 2017

The United Nations’ top coordinator of a drive to end sexual exploitation and abuse in and around peacekeeping missions says the organization cannot succeed without more political support from member nations and cooperation from independent, civilian humanitarian and development agencies working with the UN. Jane Holl Lute, the special coordinator with the rank of …

Gender Violence, Refugees, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping, UNGA72

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Chief Asks All Nations to Sign New Pact Protecting Women

Barbara Crossette

• August 21, 2017

Haunted by accumulating reports of sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls by United Nations peacekeepers and others attached to UN missions around the world, Secretary-General António Guterres is taking the bold, unprecedented step of asking all governments to sign a compact pledging to prevent and stop these violations. The compact is voluntary …

Africa, Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

UN Peacekeeping: Big Budget Cuts but at What Cost?

Fred Carver

• August 17, 2017

LONDON — With little fanfare at the end of June, the United Nations General Assembly agreed to a peacekeeping budget for the financial year from July 2017 to July 2018. The budget contained significant cuts as well as a shift in focus toward the UN’s more complicated missions in Francophone Africa and away from …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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GEOPOLITICS

The UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali Escapes Trump’s Hatchet

Susan Manuel

• June 30, 2017

After a month of contentious debate between the United Nations Security Council and UN budget committees, agreement has been reached for the UN to stay focused on Mali and the Sahel region, where terrorism is threatening to destabilize the area. The region extends across Africa from east to west in an arc right below …