UN chief urges reshaping of peacekeeping operations
July 21, 2023
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday highlighted serious "limitations" to the global body's peacekeeping operations.
Guterres therefore called for a "serious, broad-based reflection" on reforming the UN's way of bringing about and maintaining peace.
Last year saw the highest number of conflict-related deaths in almost three decades, according to the UN.
And with no end in sight to ongoing conflicts, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the civil war in Myanmar, as well terrorist insurgencies raging across more than a dozen African countries, Guterres said the UN's task was getting more and more difficult, particularly with the nuclear threat re-emerging.
"New potential domains of conflict and weapons of war are creating new ways in which humanity can annihilate itself," Guterres said.
Agenda for change
Presenting his most recent policy brief, entitled the "New Agenda for Peace," Guterres cited "longstanding unresolved conflicts, driven by complex domestic, geopolitical and transnational factors" as well as a "persistent mismatch between mandates and resources."
"Peacekeeping operations cannot succeed when there is no peace to keep," he added.
They also cannot achieve their objectives, "without clear, prioritized and realistic mandates from the Security Council, centered on political solutions."
As a result, the former Portuguese prime minister called for a, "serious, broad-based reflection on the future of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, with a view to moving towards nimble, adaptable models with appropriate exit strategies in place."