UN PEACE KEEPING

Subject : International Relations

Context : India and the U.S. are looking to undertake training of military personnel for the missions from Southeast Asian countries on the lines of the ongoing initiative for African countries.

Concept :

• India has consistently been among the top troop contributing nations to the UN and is the fifth largest with 5,424 personnel in eight countries.
• The U.S. on the other hand has never contributed ground troops but contributes 27% of the U.N. peacekeeping budget.
• In 2016, India and the U.S. began a joint annual initiative “UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners” to build and enhance the capacity of African troop and police-contributing countries to participate in the U.N. and regional peacekeeping operations.

UN Peacekeeping Mission :

• United Nations Peacekeeping is a joint effort between the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support. Every peacekeeping mission is authorized by the Security Council.
• The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States. According to UN Charter every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share for peacekeeping.

Composition:

• UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. Peacekeeping forces are contributed by member states on a voluntary basis.
• Civilian staff of peace operations are international civil servants, recruited and deployed by the UN Secretariat.

Features:

• United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create conditions for lasting peace.
• Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing, and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional mandates.

UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

• Consent of the parties.
• Impartiality
• Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Global partnership:

• UN peacekeeping is a unique global partnership. It brings together the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop and police contributors and the host governments in a combined effort to maintain international peace and security.