UN begins review of peacekeepers amid criticism

International body’s internal watchdog says forces respond immediately to only a minority of attacks on civilians

By Cara Anna 1 November 2014, 8:53 am

Edit

Mideast Israel UN peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, also known as UNDOF, observe Syria's Quneitra province at an observation point on Mount Bental in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, overlooking the border with Syria, Friday, August 29, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Ariel Schalit)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations secretary-general on Friday began a sweeping review of the world body’s peacekeeping operations by naming an “independent” panel of experts with past ties to several UN missions, after a year in which more than 100 peacekeepers have died, including in targeted attacks, and 45 were taken captive for two weeks by al-Qaida-linked fighters in the tense border area between Syria and Israel. It’s the most comprehensive look at the 130,000-strong peacekeeping staff in almost 15 years.

Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said Friday that operations are under the most severe strain since the UN was founded, almost 70 years ago. Ebola is the latest threat.

At the same time, some of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping missions have been criticized for their lack of effectiveness and slow pace of deployment to crisis zones.

In May, the UN’s internal watchdog said peacekeeping forces responded immediately to only a minority of attacks on civilians between 2010 and 2013 and almost never used force to protect them when they did respond. Its report studied eight peacekeeping missions whose mandate included protecting civilians.

And this week, a UN review found that the 20,300-strong UN-African Union joint peacekeeping force in western Sudan’s Darfur region had been “unduly conservative” in publicly sharing information about possible wrongdoing by Sudanese government or pro-government forces. The Security Council, concerned about the overall Darfur mission and its $1.3 billion annual budget, ordered a review of it earlier this year.

Such findings, along with the growing dangers that peacekeepers face from terror groups like al-Qaida, helped prompt the new, system-wide review.

In comments to a UN debate on peacekeeping Friday, the United States pointed out it can take more than a year for the UN, which has no standing army and relies on contributing from member states, to get some peacekeeping missions completely on the ground.

“It has been 10 months since the Security Council authorized an emergency increase in troops to stem the violence in South Sudan, and yet the mission is still not at full strength,” said David Pressman, alternate representative for special political affairs. In Mali, a year and a half after the UN took over from the African Union, the mission is only at 74 percent of its expected strength.

“To realize genuine reforms, the UN itself must be frank about institutional obstacles, in addition to gaps in resources and gaps in political will,” Pressman said.

The review panel, led by Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, is expected to present its recommendations next September.

About half of its 14 members have served with UN peacekeeping missions.