New Report: Robust Peacekeeping: The Politics of Force

Source: Center on International Cooperation

This report presents new and past research and essays on robust peacekeeping operations by CIC staff, as well as by guest contributors including Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Lakhdar Brahimi and Salman Ahmed, William Durch, and Ian Johnstone
Click here to read the report

China mulls larger role in UN peacekeeping

Shattering Canada's Collective Myths

By Sandro Contenta , GlobalPost
Photo: Dave Chan/Reuters

There are moments in a country’s history when collective myths become so divorced from reality that almost everyone can hear them burst with a pop.

It happened last week in Canada, when stories in the media proclaimed the end of a national identity as peacekeepers, and the birth of one as warriors. This is no small change.

Canada practically invented the notion of international peacekeeping. In 1956, a Canadian diplomat named Lester B. Pearson — who later became prime minister — was instrumental in setting up the United Nations' first peacekeeping force, which helped end the Suez Canal crisis. Pearson won the Noble Peace Prize for his efforts.

That action solidified Canada’s international role as a middle power mediator, respected by both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, and opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 because it wasn’t approved by the U.N.

This collective self-image — and the foreign policy that flowed from it — began to change when the Canadian government sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002. There was much talk about rebuilding the war-ravaged country. But when Canadian forces took command of operations in violent Kandahar province, it became clear that killing the Taliban was the main goal.

Read the full article

New Report: Protecting Civilians in the Context of UN Peacekeeping Operations

Since 1999, an increasing number of United Nations peacekeeping missions have been expressly mandated to protect civilians. However, they continue to struggle to turn that ambition into reality on the ground. This independent study examines the drafting, interpretation, and implementation of such mandates over the last 10 years and takes stock of the successes and setbacks faced in this endeavor. It contains insights and recommendations for the entire range of United Nations protection actors, including the Security Council, troop and police contributing countries, the Secretariat, and the peacekeeping operations implementing protection of civilians mandates. 

This independent study was jointly commissioned by the Department of Peace keeping Operations and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations. 

Download the report

China seeking a leading role on UN peacekeeping reform

From the Financial Times

China convened an unprecedented conference on international peacekeeping in Beijing yesterday, in a sign it is seeking to shape the future of an area in which it plays a rapidly growing role.

The ministry of national defence has invited Alain Le Roy, United Nations undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, military officials and defence attachés from many countries and representatives of the Red Cross, for four days of discussions on how the UN peacekeeping system should be reformed.

Beijing's step follows an appeal by the UN secretariat earlier this year to redefine the scope of peacekeeping operations, which have increased fivefold and grown in complexity over the past decade, and to seek a new dialogue with contributors of troops and funds.

Read the full article

Canada helps train African peacekeepers

Source: CBC news

Canada's deep commitment to peacekeeping is highlighted in a $15-million program, now in its third year, to train African peacekeepers.

Since the dramatic failure of the U.S.-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia in the early 1990s, where many peacekeepers were killed, Western militaries have shied away from the continent, handing over peacekeeping duties instead to their less experienced African counterparts. That has produced mixed results at best in places like Darfur and Somalia.

So Canada set up a program to send eight of its military officers, all peacekeeping veterans, to the Peace Support training facility outside the Kenyan capital Nairobi to put their African counterparts, from across the continent, through three-week training courses in peacekeeping basics.

Read the full article

Whither Canadian peacekeeping? Dramatic drop seen in contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations

Media Advisory 

For Immediate Release
November 10, 2009

Ottawa, ON – Peacebuild’s Peace Operations Working Group today released an analysis that shows that Canadian contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) have declined dramatically in recent years.

“During the Cold War, Canada was the top troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping operations, providing ten per cent of the total number of forces,” said Professor Walter Dorn of the Canadian Forces College, who contributed the analysis to Peacebuild. “There has since been a hundred-fold decline in percentage contribution.” 

With a total of 15 separate peace operations currently being conducted by the United Nations, countries from around the world are contributing record numbers of peacekeepers. By September 2009, the total number of peacekeepers engaged in United Nations missions reached 96,075. 

Yet while demand by the United Nations for peacekeepers has never been higher, Canadian contributions of personnel have rarely been lower. The total military and police contribution made by Canada sits at only 0.19 per cent of the total, making Canada 55th out of 116 contributors. Canada’s overall contribution of 178 personnel ranks between that of Cameroon, with 177 personnel, and Malawi, with 198.
 

“At the end of 2011, when Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is scheduled to end, there is a significant opportunity for the Canadian Forces to re-engage with United Nations peacekeeping operations,” said Dominic Leger, Peace Operations Working Group Coordinator of Peacebuild. “This sort of an approach would be likely to win wide support from the Canadian public.”
 

In an opinion poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for the Department of National Defence in March 2009, it was revealed that half of Canadians support a “peacekeeping only” role for the Canadian Forces. Analysis conducted by the polling company suggested that this is a “statistically significant increase” from the 46 per cent of Canadians who agreed in 2008.

The Dutch are reported to be secretly exploring the possibility of sending Dutch peacekeepers to conflict zones in Africa

The Dutch Minister for Development Bert Koenders is secretly exploring the possibility of sending Dutch peacekeeping forces to conflict zones in Africa, the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) reported today.

According to AD, these tasks could be carried out without the cooperation of European countries and NATO. The countries which are being looked into are Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to a memo cited by the newspaper, the scenario has been been the subject of discussions between Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Ministers of Defense, Cooperation and External Affairs.

This news comes as political parties in the Netherlands fail to agree on a possible prolongations of the Dutch peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan which expires next year.

Read the full article by Anne Saenen of Radio Nederland

Lack of U.N. air power endangers Congo civilians. Can Canada help?

Last Sunday, the UN head of Peacekeeping Alain LeRoy said that the lack of much needed aircraft that U.N. member states were meant to donate has hampered the ability of a Congo peacekeeping force to protect civilians.

"We are still lacking, I think, 16 military helicopters. And we are still lacking a C-130. We are requesting that from many member states," Alain Le Roy told Reuters during a visit to the central African nation.
"In the protection of civilians, the key is mobility. And mobility in this country, where there are no roads, is by air," Le Roy said.

Would Canada be in a position to help MONUC with much needed tactical airlift?

In the past, Canada did use its C-130 Hercules fleet to help UN peacekeeping missions. In 1994, during operation Scotch, Canada's C-130 Hercules did 312 humanitarian aid flights to Kigali Rwanda or to Goma Zaire to deploy 1 Canadian Division Headquarters and a Signal Regiment to UNAMIR.

While Canada's ageing fleet of 23 C-130 Hercules is in high-demand in Afghanistan where it performs some critical tasks, its size is set to increase starting in the winter of 2010. Lockheed Martin will be shipping the first of 17 new C-130J 'Super Hurcules' planes to the Canadian Air Force as part of a 1.4 billion cargo plane deal with the Canadian government in January 2008. 

Some of those new C-130J 'Super Hercules' will undoubtedly be replacing older models currently operating in Afghanistan but with the scheduled end of Canada's combat operations in Afghanistan set for 2011, Canada could possibly free up one of its older C-130 Hercules to offer some much needed help to MONUC.

The Canadian government recently decided to strengthen the capacity of UNAMID by providing 24 armoured vehicles to African troops participating in the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur. It is also providing equipment and basic operator and maintenance training as part of a package valued at over $35 million.

MONUC needs the contribution from countries with advanced military capabilities to increase its mobility. Canada, with its recent equipment contribution to UNAMID and with its new fleet of Hercules C-130J has the equipment, the capacity and the experience in peacekeeping to help MONUC boost its air power.

Veteran Mountie says Canadian officers not fully protected in overseas missions

By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Photograph by: Canwest News Service, Handout

An RCMP veteran of international missions is warning that Canadian police injured in Afghanistan and on other foreign deployments could be left high and dry by the organizations that sent them overseas.


Eric Rebiere, a retired RCMP constable, was on Parliament Hill earlier this week to protest what he calls the lack of action by the Mounties in taking care of its veterans and in the coming days will be in front of an RCMP detachment in Kingston, Ont., with the same message.

Read the full article from the Ottawa Citizen

Canada and the CANZ Group Call for a Consensus on Robust Peacekeeping, the Protection of Civilians and Peacebuilding

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met on October 27 to continue its general debate on the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects. In his statement to the Committee, Canada's representative -– on behalf of the CANZ group (Canada, Australia, New Zealand) -– stressed the need for a consensus from member states on robust peacekeeping, the protection of civilians and peacebuilding.

With regards to robust peacekeeping, CANZ's statement underlined that in order to ensure that the mission objectives established by the Security Council can be met, Member States need to come to a shared understanding on the tasks peacekeepers may be expected to perform, and what implications robust peacekeeping may have on operational requirements.

On the issue of the protection of civilians, CANZ reiterated its concerns that military and police personnel tasked to protect civilians do not have appropriate guidance to effectively implement protection mandates.  CANZ requested that DPKO, in consultation with the wider UN community, commence developing operational guidelines and training standards, as a matter of priority, to assist mission personnel to effectively implement protection mandates.

On peacebuilding, the CANZ group stated that the development of indicators and benchmarks of progress is required to form the basis of a transition policy that would clarify when and how a peacekeeping mission evolves into a peacebuilding one.

Click here to read the full statement

Course Announcement: The Challenge of Contemporary Peacebuilding

This course examines the nature of cotemporary civil wars and the challenges of stabilization, reconstruction and recovery encountered by modern international peace operations/peacebuilding missions. It will trace the origins and evolution of today’s expansive international interventions to support war to peace transitions in places such as Afghanistan, Liberia, Kosovo and elsewhere. It will feature examination of the diverse and interconnected roles of international civilian and military agencies (the UN and other international organizations, donor states, foreign military forces and coalitions, NGOs, and commercial entities) in promoting humanitarian relief, physical security, development, human rights and, ultimately, sustainable peace. It will present influential social science research; as well, review the evolving “state of the art” amongst practitioners and policy makers.

The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies is offering this Blockweek Course in January 2010 (4-8, 2010).


*This is a graduate level strategic studies course (STST 651.26) at the University of Calgary that is also open to non‐degree professionals working in the fields of aid, peace and security through University of Calgary’s Department of Continuing Education.
 
Click here for more information.

World must help fund, train African Union peacekeeping missions – UN

 Read the report on Support for AU peacekeeping which was produced by Security Council Report prior to yesterday's debate at the Security Council on support for AU peacekeeping. The report explores key recent developments, key issues and council dynamics with regard to this issue

Sudan UN peace mission head assassinated in Islamabad

Suspected Taliban militants shot and killed a Pakistani army brigadier and his driver in the capital on Thursday as the military continued a major offensive against the insurgents in their strongholds near the Afghan border.

(photo AP)

Militants shot and killed Brigadier Moin-ud-din Ahmed, deputy force commander of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), who was on vacation in Islamabad.

'Everyone in the mission is very shocked,' Kouider Zerrouk, UNMIS spokesman told Reuters. UNMIS, one of the world's largest UN peacekeeping missions with around 11,000 personnel, was set up to monitor and support the 2005 peace deal than ended the two-decade civil war between Sudan's north and south.

UN, INTERPOL Join Forces

Canadians teach peacekeeping to African troops

Canada is one of the biggest supporters of the Bamako peacekeeping school, contributing more than $2-million for its construction and development since 2007 and sending several Canadian military officers to help with training and management at the school. The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Canada is one of the school's main partners.

Read the article
(photo and article: The Globe and Mail)

Call For Articles To Peacekeeping This Month

The African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) was established in Pretoria, South Africa, in October 2002, as the African Chapter of the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres (IAPTC). Among others, the Association aims to provide a forum in which representatives from its members could discuss issues pertaining to their work - peace support training, explore areas of cooperation, and develop strategies on how to contribute to the capacity-building needs of the African Union and its sub-regional organisations.

The Association hosts an online bulletine ‘Peacekeeping This Month’ which offers the platform for members of the Assciation to discuss and debate as well as be informed of current issues pertaining to peacekeeping in general and peacekeeping training in particular.

click here for more

Report of Interest: International Police: Improving Professionalism and Responsiveness

Source: Henry L. Stimson Center

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