On August 20th, the UN finally released the long-anticipated review of the secretary-general on the future of all forms of UN peace operations. For months, policymakers and others in the peace operations community have waited for the report, which was originally anticipated at the beginning of the year but experienced numerous delays due to interdepartmental […]
Tag: peace operations
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A year ago, on August 28, 2025, the UN Security Council decided to close the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a large UN peacekeeping mission that has been stationed in southern Lebanon for nearly 50 years. What little attention this decision attracted at the time was almost immediately overtaken by the announcement of the […]
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For Resolution 2719 to succeed, it must be decoupled from its narrow association with peace enforcement and instead be leveraged across a broader spectrum of peacemaking approaches.
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The United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial took place in Berlin earlier this month, bringing together one of the largest numbers of delegations of any ministerial. The UN is grappling with challenges not only from changes in the peace and security landscape, but also due to broader geopolitical shifts, major funding shortages. Against this backdrop, this article outlines three major themes from the ministerial that may continue to influence policymaking and peace operations in the near future.
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The deadly toll of the M23’s military escalation has presented an urgent call for international attention and support, including consideration of punitive measures against armed groups that attack civilians and peacekeepers. It also forced SADC member states to make a choice: showcase their commitment to regional conflict management under the SADC Mutual Defence Pact by reinforcing SAMIDRC or withdraw the mission. Their choice for withdrawal reflected waning political support for the mission, particularly among the three troop-contributing countries (TCCs), as the operating environment turned more hostile and the mission failed to show results.
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In late February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recommended that the Security Council establish a UN-funded logistics support office to bolster the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti. The proposal, prepared in response to the Council’s November request for a “full range of options” of assistance the UN could provide to the Haitian authorities […]
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ATMIS will end on December 31, 2024, and be replaced by a new African Union Stabilization and Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). United Nations Security Council approval will have to be given this month to meet the changeover deadline. Yet the new force is unlikely to significantly degrade the long-term threat al-Shabaab poses. al-Shabaab is stronger than generally perceived and may be in a position to achieve significant large-scale success.
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As the war in Sudan reaches the 18-month mark with no signs of abating and increasing devastation for civilians, the UN Secretary-General recently presented a report to the Security Council on recommendations for the protection of civilians in the country. This article looks at what’s in the report, what isn’t, and where it may fall short.
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The Security Council has not committed to protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people in conflict-affected contexts—at least not explicitly. Yet as in other contentious areas, this lack of explicit mention in Security Council documents does not foreclose the possibility of the UN helping to protect LGBTIQ people in conflict-affected or post-conflict areas, including through UN peace operations.
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After nearly two decades of effort and intense negotiations, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2719 on December 21, 2023. The resolution represents a major step forward in the partnership between the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU), and provides a framework for AU-led peace support operations (PSOs) to access UN assessed contributions on a case-by-case basis. While the importance of the resolution should not be understated, much of the real work to operationalize it is still ongoing. This article outlines the key challenges and critical steps needed to ensure the resolution’s successful implementation.
