The United Nations has contributed to peace and security in many countries. The UN facilitates and maintains international peace and security by deploying peacekeeping missions — which often involve military, police and civilian components — to the areas affected by conflict and collaborating with local authorities and communities. The UN peace interventions including its peacekeeping missions has successfully helped reduce tensions, restore stability and prevent further armed violence after a period of intense conflicts. The UN peace interventions, according to multiple sources including the BBC, helped reduce tensions in many regions and countries including in East Timor and Sierra Leone and brokered and implemented numerous peace agreements including the Camp David Accords, which has brought peace between Israel and Egypt.
But the United Nations is not as successful in bringing peace as is needed, despite its noble intentions and efforts in preventing violence, protecting civilians and supporting the implementation of peace agreements, leading to a growing skepticism among its member states and the international community regarding the organization’s ability to fulfill its main mandate of maintaining global peace and security enshrined in the UN Charter. There are many examples including the Ukraine war and the Syrian civil war where the UN has been unable to effectively intervene and bring about a resolution for ending conflicts and establishing peace, resulting in many deaths, immense human suffering and the displacement of millions in many countries in different regions which could have been avoided.
There are definitely diverse factors that make the United Nations less effective in making and maintaining peace many times. The complexity of international conflicts, the lack of cooperation from member states and the lack of consensus among the UNSC members are some of the crucial factors. While the lack of consensus among the permanent member states of the UN Security Council led to the failure to pass several resolutions on the Yemen war, it has failed to pass a ceasefire for the Gaza war. Among others, navigating complex political dynamics, inadequate adaptation to evolving security threats and ineffective coordination put some other crucial challenges to UN peace efforts including its peacekeeping operations.
But challenges need to be addressed to make the UN more effective in promoting peace and security. It is crucial to emphasize generating cooperation from the permanent member states of the UNSC — which is responsible for and makes the UN’s decisions on global peace and security. This is often difficult, given several causes including diverse geo-economic and geopolitical interests. But emphasizing diplomatic negotiations among the UNSC permanent members, finding a ground for their shared responsibility in peace and security and promoting open dialogues between/among conflicting parties may be helpful many times. The good intention of the UNSC members is also vital.
In addition to the member states of the UNSC, cooperation from the other member states of the UN including the countries where the UN peacekeeping forces are deployed is imperative. The UN peacekeeping forces face significant challenges including restrictions on movement and outright hostility in carrying out their peace efforts due to a lack of cooperation from the host government in several countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among others, increasing the capacity-building of peacekeepers and engaging local communities and stakeholders can help effectively navigate complex conflict situations and generate active local participation and support in maintaining peace and security.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
