UN Peacekeeping: What The Facts Are

By M. R Josse

THE other day, His Majesty the King visited the Royal Nepalese Army Training Camp at Panchakhal and witnessed military exercises prior to the departure of 39th contingent of the Royal Nepal Army for peacekeeping operations in Lebanon under UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).

NEPAL’S ROLE: In a message on the occasion, His Majesty stated that it was a matter of pride for the nation that the Royal Nepal Army should continue to participate in peace-keeping missions abroad at the behest of the UN.

Before embarking on a brief review of UN peacekeeping, it will perfectly be in order, I believe, to recap in capsule form Nepal’s own history in that regard. To date, 38 contingents have served in UNIFIL alone since it was first set up in 1978.

Not long ago, it was decided that the UN peacekeeping presence in Lebanon would be increased from 4,000 to 8,000—following the pull out of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

Nepal’s maiden participation in UN peacekeeping operations was in 1958. Since then, some 35,437 officers and men of the Royal Nepal Army have participated incurring a loss of 36 lives and injury to 43. Currently, 897 Army personnel are engaged in UN peacekeeping operations in eight countries.

Reverting to UN peacekeeping more generally, what needs to be noted, at the very beginning, is that the UN does not have an army. For each mission, members voluntarily provide troops and equipment, for which they are compensated from a special peacekeeping fund.

They are dispatched by the UN Secretary Council to help implement peace agreements, monitor cease-fires, patrol demilitarised zones, create buffer zones between opposing forces, and put fighting on hold while negotiators seek peaceful solutions to disputes.

Lightly armed for self-defense, and often unarmed, peacekeepers’ strongest "weapon" is their impartiality. They rely on persuasion and minimal use of force to defuse tensions and prevent fighting. As a UN document issued two years ago disclosed: over 1,580 UN military and civilian peacekeepers died in the performance of their duties between 1948 and 1998.

During that fifty-year-span there were 49 UN peacekeeping operations. Revealingly, in the decade between 1988 and 1998 alone the UN Security Council created as many as 36 peacekeeping operations—underlining that the end of the Cold War has sparked a proliferation of conflicts.

SETTING RECORD STARIGHT: It is the UN Security Council that creates and defines peacekeeping operations. As per the UN Charter the five permanent Council members —China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US—can veto any decision relating to peacekeeping.

It may also be interesting to learn that rank-and-file soldiers on peacekeeping missions do not swear allegiance to the UN. Governments that volunteer personnel work out the terms of their participation, including command and control arrangements. Peacekeeping soldiers wear their own national uniforms. To identify themselves as UN peacekeepers they also wear blue berets or helmets with the UN insignia.

The cost of peacekeeping naturally varies from year to year. In 1993 it peaked to almost $ 4 billion due to operations in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia. As per the UN document referred to above, it fell in from 1996 and 1997 from $ 1.4 to 1.3 million respectively.

Under a formula that the UN worked out, all members are required to pay their share of peacekeeping costs. As of October 1998, they owed the world body some $1.8 billion, with the UN being by far the largest debtor owing $1.04 billion.

Peacekeeping soldiers are paid by their own governments. However, countries volunteering personnel are reimbursed by the UN at a flat rate of about $ 1,000 per soldiers per month. The UN also reimburses countries for equipment.

Since 1948 (till 1998) 118 nations have contributed troops. Fiji and Canada have contributed to virtually every operations. Interestingly, even non-member states such as Switzerland have contributed—by providing funds, medical units, aircrafts and other handy equipment.

In recent years, suggestions have been made for new roles in UN peacekeeping. Some of them are: during incipiency, border security, confidence building measures, verification, civil wars/law and order assistance combating terrorism, humanitarian aid and security, draw interdiction and naval peacekeeping.

In recent years, there has also been a shift from peacekeeping to enforcement action. The two must not be confused. UN operations has traditionally relied on the consent of opposing parties and involves the deployment of peacekeepers to implement an agreement approved by these parties.

In the case of enforcement action, however, the Security Council gives member states the authorities to take all necessary measures to achieve a stated objective. In other words, consent of the parties is not necessarily required. It has been used only in a few cases—notably the Gulf War, in Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania.

Notably, none of those operations was under UN control. Instead they were directed by a single country for a group of countries.

PROBLEMS: Among the principal problems besetting some recent UN peacekeeping operations is the unwillingness of warring parties to seek peaceful solution. Another, of course, has been member states’ failure to provide sufficient resources.

Also, peacekeepers have sometimes—as in Bosnia/Herzegovina and Rwanda in 1994—been given daunting tasks by the Security Council but have not been provided the means to carry them out.

That, in nutshell, sets the record straight on UN peacekeeping operations in which Nepal has a pretty solid record.

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