UN Mission Research Articles

The main features of medical units participating in UN peacekeeping operations

The article is devoted to the organization of medical support for UN peacekeeping operations in modern conditions. Special attention is paid to the levels of medical care for military observers in UN missions. The main tasks of medical units, their composition of forces and means, as well as their state of the material and technical base located in missions and participating in the medical support of armed conflicts are disclosed. The main performance indicators of the medical unit based on the results of the work of 2017-2018 are analyzed.

People on the Move: Addressing Vulnerabilities of Nomadic Communities in Darfur

Until recently, the needs and concerns of the Arab nomadic communities in Darfur were not given sufficient attention by the international community, probably because of the tendency to equate them with the notorious “Arab militia” accused of committing crimes during the conflict in Darfur. This began to change after several Arab nomad leaders complained to the United Nations and relief groups about their exclusion from humanitarian and development programmes and projects implemented in the region. The article explores the conditions and vulnerabilities of nomadic communities in Darfur and highlights some of the subsequent successful initiatives undertaken by the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to address the concerns of the nomadic community members.

The Peacekeeping Deployment that Never was: Domestic Considerations Behind Brazil’s Decision not to Send Troops to MINUSCA

ABSTRACT The article aims at investigating how do mechanisms of bureaucratic politics contribute to the decision of deploying troops and in so doing to mold the national motivations underscoring the deployment. The text takes Brazil as a case and researches the decision-making process in the country, using past cases of deployments that actually happened. The bulk of the analysis, however, is dedicated to the negative case where Brazil decided not to contribute to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The analysis provides a breakdown of the 2017–2018 domestic political and bureaucratic decision-making process in Brazil as regards the possibility of deploying troops to MINUSCA and traces the mechanisms in action that resulted in the negative decision by the government. Based on the case of Brazil, considerations are made on the importance of investigating negative scenarios to better understanding how developing countries, such as the BRICS, value the motivations and ultimately decide to contribute to a UN mission.

How Africa and China may shape UN peacekeeping beyond the liberal international order

Abstract UN peacekeeping became a flagship activity of the liberal international order (LIO) in the post-Cold War era, characterized by globalization, liberal norms and western leadership. Western states' diminished support for LIO UN peacekeeping has left it increasingly open to challenge, but significant changes are only likely if a strong group of states coalesces around an alternative model of UN peacekeeping. This article highlights African actors and China as well positioned to play pivotal roles in such a coalition. African states, who host the preponderance of UN missions and furnish almost half of the UN's uniformed peacekeepers, support globalized UN peacekeeping, show relatively weak support for the most liberal peacebuilding principles and assert the need for African-led solutions to continental crises. China's influence reflects its P5 status, financial and personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping and engagement with regional actors, notably in Africa. Aspiring to global leadership and a ‘new world order’, China endorses globalized UN peacekeeping but proposes a non-liberal (and non-western led) notion of ‘developmental peace’ to guide it. The complementarities between African and Chinese priorities raise the possibility of a profound challenge to LIO peacekeeping. Rather than heralding deglobalization, however, this challenge illustrates that post-LIO international institutions may instead be characterized by deliberalization and dewesternization.

Protection through peacebuilding in South Sudan

ABSTRACT Protecting civilians has been the primary raison d’être of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) since civil war erupted in late 2013. Since then, UN efforts to protect vulnerable civilians have focused on a handful of so-called protection of civilians (PoC) sites. While they have unquestionably saved lives, the PoC sites have also absorbed the lion’s share of mission resources, severely limiting UNMISS’ ability to protect civilians elsewhere. The signing of the still-fragile Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) has enabled a reconsideration of the UNMISS protection mandate in light of what remains an uncertain transition. Given the systemic constraints on the UN’s ability to project force in the name of PoC, we argue that UNMISS’ most constructive and lasting contribution to both protection and peace in South Sudan will be through sustained investments in inclusive local-level peacebuilding. Re-orienting the PoC mandate along these lines offers an opportunity to at least partially counteract the decidedly exclusive nature of the country’s current peace process, and to support bottom-up conflict resolution processes that could eventually interact in constructive ways with top-down dynamics.

China in UN Peacekeeping Operations: A 30-Year Assessment (1990-2019)

Abstract This article presents a broad assessment of Chinese personnel deployments to peacekeeping operations (PKOs) for the past three decades (1990-2019). To this end, an original dataset was built with data collected from the UN Department of Peace Operations. The following four indicators were considered in the analysis: (i) total personnel contribution per year; (ii) personnel contribution per mission; (iii) personnel contribution in relation to the mission’s total contingent; and (iv) personnel in a given mission in relation to the total personnel dispatched by China that year. Generally speaking, UN missions in Liberia (UNMIL) and South Sudan (UNMISS) have been the main destinations of Chinese peacekeepers in the 21st Century, while Cambodia (UNTAC) was by far the only place where China got deeply involved during the 1990s. In addition to displaying descriptive data, the paper also briefly analyses Chinese engagement in these operations.

The Right to Life in the Mothers of Srebrenica Case: Reversing the Positive Obligation to Protect from the Duty of Means to that of a Result

In July 1995, Bosnian Serbs killed between 7,000 and 8,000 Bosniac1 males in a matter of days. This took place in and around the region of Srebrenica, which ironically was designated a ‘safe area’ by the United Nations (‘UN’). At the time, the Dutch armed troops were on the ground in Srebrenica in a UN mission to establish peace. In the <em>Mothers of Srebrenica</em> case the Dutch courts had to decide whether the Dutch troops on the ground had failed to ensure the right to life and prohibition of torture of thousands of Bosniac males. In 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court found that, if the Dutch troops had allowed (only) approximately 350 Bosniac males to remain in their compound, those victims would have had 10% chance of survival. Nevertheless, the Court found the Dutch troops’ other actions, including the alleged failures to protect other victims in Srebrenica and to report war crimes to the UN, and the Dutchbat involvement in separation of Bosniac males, who were handed over to Bosnian Serbs, to be lawful. In this paper, I argue the Dutch Supreme Court reversed the test of positive obligations under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’ or ‘Convention’) from the duty of means to that of a result and failed to diligently examine the decision-making, planning and operations of Dutchbat to determine whether, at the time, the State authorities had done all they could have reasonably done to protect or, at the least, minimise the risk to life.

UN Peacekeeping and Households' Well‐Being in Civil Wars

AbstractCivil wars affect the economic conditions of households by disrupting economic transactions and harming their psychological well‐being. To restore basic conditions for local economic recovery in conflict‐torn regions, the international community has only a limited number of tools at its disposal. We ask whether UN peacekeeping is one instrument to mitigate the negative effect of conflict on households' economic well‐being. We argue that, by reducing violence and heightening perceptions of safety, UN missions (i) encourage labor provision and economic exchanges, and (ii) instill confidence by reducing the psychological impact of daily stressors. Combining high‐frequency household survey data and information on subnational deployment of UN peacekeepers in South Sudan, we show that peacekeepers' military presence improves security (observed and perceived), which in turn revitalizes local economies and households' subjective well‐being. These improvements ultimately boost households' consumption, partially countering the negative effect of ongoing civil wars by keeping local communities' economy afloat.

The Impact of Integrated UN Missions on Humanitarian NGO Security

Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has extended many of its missions in conflict zones to include political, military, and humanitarian activities. Many humanitarian nongovernmental organizations have been critical of these “integrated” UN missions, claiming that they can blur the distinction between political, military, and humanitarian action, thus placing humanitarian aid workers at risk of retaliation from warring factions opposed to the UN’s political objectives. This proposition is empirically tested using generalized methods of moments statistical analysis of sixty-seven countries that experienced intrastate conflict between 1997 and 2018. When assessing attacks in general—to include the sum of aid workers killed, wounded, and kidnapped—the results indicate that humanitarian aid workers are more likely to come under attack in countries that have an integrated UN mission. However, when the attacks are assessed separately, results show that this relationship holds only with aid workers who are killed in the field.

Institutionalizing Prevention at the UN

Abstract This article assesses recent UN reforms to enhance the organization’s capacity to prevent violent conflict. These reforms target crucial inefficiencies within the UN that have hampered effective preventive and protection practices in violent conflict and atrocities. The article argues that state actors have viewed the reform process as a site of norm contestation, and negotiations have created an avenue for compromises on the centrality of human rights and political backstopping of UN missions in volatile field contexts that are vital to better prevention and protection outcomes. Contestation by state actors is significant in steering the outcomes of institutional reform as states advance their normative agendas, and seek to integrate these preferences into new institutional structures that are open to negotiation through the reform process. A broad assessment of these reforms confirms the move toward a more pragmatic vision of peace and security in the UN to accommodate global power shifts.

Book Review: Fighting for peace in Somalia—A history and analysis of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) 2008–2017

Book Review: Fighting for peace in Somalia—A history and analysis of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) 2008–2017

Rebuilding armies in southern Somalia: What currently should donors realistically aim for?

ABSTRACT Improving defence accountability and effectiveness is even more difficult when wars are actively underway. Southern Somalia bears considerable resemblance to previous counterinsurgency theatres in Afghanistan and Iraq, and thus considerations of defence assistance should be actively informed by those campaigns. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) intervention force has been critical to seizing much of the towns and terrain now freed from the Islamist Al-Shabaab insurgents. But after 13 years AMISOM’s power is waning. There are vanishingly few instant and game-changing initiatives donors could take quickly to aid the build-up of Somali military forces either at the federal or regional levels. Yet decentralised Federal Member State governments represent important political forces in southern Somalia, and since 2012 efforts have been made to reinforce them. Perhaps the most immediate action that donors could take to aid the build-up of legitimate Somali military forces is to supply and work with, not just the Federal Government’s forces as has long been the case, but also the various military forces maintained by the Federal Member States.

New Data on UN Mission Mandates 1948–2015: Tasks Assigned to Missions in their Mandates (TAMM)

Tasks Assigned to Missions in their Mandates (TAMM) provides comprehensive new data on the mandates of UN missions between 1948 and 2015. Until now, datasets have described mandates in terms of their influential characteristics, such as whether they are robust or multidimensional, or placed them into broad categories driven by idiosyncratic theoretical expectations. Despite limitations on data availability, mandates have been tied to numerous outcomes related to peacekeeping effectiveness. TAMM meets the need for flexible, minimally processed, and fine-grained data on mission mandates by recording the full range of tasks in mandates. The dataset comes in mission-resolution and mission-month versions that are designed to complement existing data on peacekeeping and to be easily adaptable to a wide range of research interests. In this article, I introduce TAMM and use the data to conduct a replication and expansion of Hultman, Kathman and Shannon (2014). I find evidence that missions with mandates that dictate they provide security guarantees and raise the costs of fighting, reduce battlefield hostilities.

United Nations Mission Contribution Towards Conflict Resolution in Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, 1991-2019

This study looks into the UN Mission and Conflict Resolution in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from 1991 to 2019. Since 1975, when Spain granted the region to Morocco and Mauritania, Western Sahara has been in a state of political turmoil. The analysis used a descriptive and historical research style. A total of fifteen military personnel who have served or are currently serving in MINURSO, as well as two related civilians, were interviewed via Skype, Whatsapp, Messenger, and face-to-face interviews, with additional information obtained from journals and published books. The philosophy embraced and deemed important for this analysis was the Paris-proposed Liberal Peace. For the analysis, two research questions and objectives were established. The data was analysed using a descriptive and contextual approach. According to the findings, the unresolved disagreements over the status of Western Sahara include, among other things, the weak performance of the UN mission mandate, regional dominance squabbles between Algeria and Morocco, and finally, the combined super powers' self-interest and struggle for supremacy, which makes the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict difficult. The study suggests, among other things, that the UN move forward with the Settlement Plan's transitional and referendum phases. Major powers should once again avoid prioritizing their self-interests to the detriment of the general welfare of the local population impacted by the Western Sahara conflict.

Effective Adoption of Tablets for Psychodiagnostic Assessments in Rural Burundi: Evidence for the Usability and Validity of Mobile Technology in the Example of Differentiating Symptom Profiles in AMISOM Soldiers 1 Year After Deployment.

Research on the use of mobile technology in health sciences has identified several advantages of so-called mHealth (mobile health) applications. Tablet-supported clinical assessments are becoming more and more prominent in clinical applications, even in low-income countries. The present study used tablet computers for assessments of clinical symptom profiles in a sample of Burundian AMISOM soldiers (i.e., African Union Mission to Somalia; a mission approved by the UN). The study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of mHealth-supported assessments in field research in Burundi. The study was conducted in a resource-poor setting, in which tablet computers are predestined to gather data in an efficient and reliable manner. The overall goal was to prove the validity of the obtained data as well as the feasibility of the chosen study setting. Four hundred sixty-three soldiers of the AMISOM forces were investigated after return from a 1-year military mission in Somalia. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were assessed. The used data-driven approach based on a latent profile analysis revealed the following four distinct groups, which are based on the soldiers' PTSD and depression symptom profiles: Class 1: moderate PTSD, Class 2: moderate depression, Class 3: low overall symptoms, and Class 4: high overall symptoms. Overall, the four identified classes of soldiers differed significantly in their PTSD and depression scores. The study clearly demonstrates that tablet-supported assessments can provide a useful application of mobile technology in large-scale studies, especially in resource-poor settings. Based on the data collected for the study at hand, it was possible to differentiate different sub-groups of soldiers with distinct symptom profiles, proving the statistical validity of the gathered data. Finally, advantages and challenges for the application of mobile technology in a resource-poor setting are outlined and discussed.

Sequencing United Nations peacemaking: Political initiatives and peacekeeping operations

The UN has developed a diverse range of peacemaking tools, including different forms of political initiatives (diplomatic, technocratic, and political-development missions) and peacekeeping operations. Yet we know surprisingly little about when and why we observe the onset of different types of UN missions. Examining an “escalatory trajectory,” we analyze the United Nations Peace Initiatives data, a new dataset providing information on all different types of UN engagements. Our main contributions are that we provide insights into how the different types of missions relate to one another and conceptual clarity about what the different types of missions are.

On the Internal Political Situation in the DRC and the Prospects of the UN Mission (MONUSCO)

This article examines the activities of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the main problems associated with its organization and conduct. The author analyzes the prospects for effective modernization of the UN mission in this country, taking into account the historical, socio-political, ethnic, economic contradictions existing there. Based on his own experience of participation in the UN mission in the DRC and the experience of his colleagues, the author provides a comprehensive assessment of the conflict and possible ways to resolve it. The research has shown that mission work can be significantly more efficient under certain conditions. The author, on the basis of personal participation in the UN mission in the DRC, for the first time summarized the problem zones in the work of the mission and the reasons for their existence and proposed direction for increasing the efficiency of the UN mission in the DRC, the prospect for its development. Despite the multimillion-dollar infusion, the country has remained one of the most economically backward in the world for decades. Many analysts agree that expensive development projects tend to work for themselves rather than for the Congolese. The shadow economy in the DRC is flourishing, and with it the illegal export of the most valuable minerals (coltan, tungsten, cassiterite, gold, diamonds and much more), the final destination of which is in the largest industrial corporations in Europe and America. As the analysis has shown, the colossal financial flows going to the DRC are primarily aimed at protecting the sphere of raw material interests of foreign companies in this country. This is precisely where the policy of double standards of Western and now Eastern partners is manifested.

ROLE OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY FOR EVALUATION OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS: A UNAMID EXPERIENCE

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound findings as compared to operative findings and positive predictive value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.&#x0D; Study Design: Cross sectional study.&#x0D; Place and Duration of Study: Pak Field Hospital – 7 (Level III) United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Darfur, Sudan, from Mar 2015 to Mar 2016.&#x0D; Methodology: All patients presenting with clinically suspected acute appendicitis (Alvarado’s score &gt;4) were referred for right lower quadrant sonography. Three point scale was used to grade sonographic findings ranging from grade 1 to grade 3. Fifty One patients with persistent symptoms and/or positive sonographic findings were operated. Operative findings were also graded on a 3 point scale. Subsequently, sonographic and operative findings were compared. Surgical findings were considered gold standard to assess diagnostic accuracy of sonography.&#x0D; Results: Out of 51 patients 46 (90.2%) were males and 5 (9.8%) were females. Mean age of the patients was 32.3 ± 7.3 years. Among the study subjects, 15 (29.4%) patients were from Nigeria followed by 12 (23.5%) from Pakistan, 7 (13.7%) from Egypt and 17 (33.5%) from other countries.The sonographic findings were detected positive for acute appendicitis in 40 (78.4%) and negative in 11 (21.6%) out of 51. All Fifty-one patients underwent surgery. The surgical findings were positive for appendicitis in 43 patients (84.3%). Four patients with negative sonographic findings did have acute appendicitis according to surgical findings. The positive predictive value was 90.9%. There was good agreement between sonographicfindings and surgical findings..........

THROMBOCYTOPENIA AND ELEVATED ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE LEVELS IN MALARIA PATIENTS

Objective: To study thrombocytopenia and elevated ALT levels in malaria patients reporting to Pak Med Level II+ Hospital XII and XIII, UN Mission Liberia, West Africa.&#x0D; Study Design: Cross sectional study.&#x0D; Place and Duration of Study: Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Pak Med Level II+ Hospital XII and XIII, UN Mission Liberia, West Africa, from Feb 2015 to Dec 2016.&#x0D; Methodology: In total of 100 febrile patients of both gender and all ages reported to Pak Med Level II+ Hospital XII and XIII, Liberia with clinical features of malaria and having positive malarial parasite (MP) on any of the methods of immune chromatography (ICT) or microscopic film were included. The febrile patients with typical clinical features of malaria but having negative MP both on ICT and microscopic methods were excluded.Pretreatment whole blood in EDTA was collected for testing MP on ICT and by microscopic method including MP index and platelets, while serum for ALT.&#x0D; Results: Out of total 100 patients, 75 were males, 25 females with mean age of 38 ± 5 years. MP was found positive on MP film in 95% and on ICT in 88% cases. Thrombocytopenia was found in 69% and ALT was elevated in 60% cases. Mean and SD for platelets count was 129 ± 72 x 109/L and of ALT 76 ± 66 U/L. Mean of MP index was 0.49 ranging from 0 to 3.5%. Correlation of MP index with platelets and ALT was found insignificant, although in malaria patients, platelets and ALT was inversely correlated significantly with each other showing low platelets along with elevated ALT levels.&#x0D; Conclusion: In malaria patients, thrombocytopenia and elevated ALT are frequent findings, which may not definitely correlate with MP index. So it is advisable to test for platelet count and ALT in all patients of malaria for early diagnosis and better management.

Evolving Trends in Peacekeeping: United Nations–African Union Hybrid Peacekeeping Operations (UNAMID) in Darfur

Peacekeeping has become a far more complex and multifaceted phenomenon due to the emerging non-traditional security threats and the changing nature of intrastate conflicts. This paper focuses on the evolving trends in peacekeeping operations and illuminates the transition from 'traditional‘ to a 'robust‘ and 'hybrid‘ peacekeeping model. In doing so, the paper presents the hybrid United Nations and African Union (UN-AU) peacekeeping model as a pilot project in Darfur. It further highlights the extent to which the model proved to be effective and inclusive, and secured financial and troop-contributing obligations jointly by the UN and AU. Furthermore, understanding the dialectics of 'traditional‘ and 'hybrid‘ peacekeeping operations has been analyzed through positive peace. Overall, the article highlights the essential contours of United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) transition from AMIS and inquires its contribution towards peacebuilding and developing the state institution, thus ensuring sustainable peace and stability.