PROTECT
THE FUTURE OF U.N PEACEKEEPING
On
a Friday in early October -- amid a flood of news on ISIL and an escalating
Ebola crisis -- it might have been easy to miss this headline: Nine United
Nations Peacekeepers were ambushed and killed by gunmen in Mali. Less than a
week later, another Peacekeeper in Mali was killed in a rocket attack. However,
much as these tragedies may seem part of peacekeeping's inherent risks, they
were more than just a couple stories amid a mass of troubling news.
The
ambush, the deadliest single attack on the force in its year and a half on the
ground, represents the next chapter in a troubling trend. Thirty-one
peacekeepers have been killed in Mali since the operation first deployed in
July 2013, and ninety more have been wounded -- making it the deadliest place
in the world for UN Peacekeepers. Attacks have come in the forms of improvised
explosive devices, landmines, suicide attacks, and as was most recently the
case, ambushes by gunmen.
In
the past several years, especially as threats from global terrorists have risen
in places like Mali and the Central African Republic, UN Peacekeeping has been
sent to tackle some of the most dangerous missions in its nearly 70-year
history. Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that just in the past five years,
violent attacks against UN personnel have increased by nearly 20 percent.
The
landscape of Peacekeeping is clearly changing. Blue helmets are not regarded
with the same political neutrality they once were. Peacekeeping is more
dangerous than ever for roughly 120,000 men and women serving in 16 missions
around the world, and we must take measures to protect them.
Presently,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is initiating a Strategic Review of Peacekeeping,
a process which all member states -- most especially the U.S. -- should embrace
and utilize as an opportunity to close dangerous gaps in security. The review
is slated to address six critical needs that would define UN peacekeeping, all
of which would contribute to improved safety, either directly or indirectly.
They include: improving rapid deployment; creating greater mobility;
strengthening medical support; enhancing information and analysis; augmenting
expertise on organized crime; partnering with regional organizations; and
notably, specifically improving protection for peacekeepers.
These
goals should be a rallying cry for member states to prioritize the safety of
the UN's men and women putting boots on the ground, and it is heartening that
the Administration, through Vice President Biden, has signed on as an early
backer. During September's UN General Assembly meeting, the Vice President
convened a gathering of 30 UN member states to secure new commitments of
funding and troops to support the Secretary-General's Strategic Review.
As
Biden said then, "When we ask them to do more than ever, that is the
Peacekeepers, in even more difficult and more dangerous environments, we owe
them more. The result is that peacekeeping is under greater strain than it ever
has been... We are already making contributions, all of us. But we can and
should do more together, and we can do it, in our view, more effectively.
That's why the United States, Mr. Secretary-General, welcomes the comprehensive
review of peacekeeping operations that you have put forward."
This
conversation must continue with concrete benchmarks for the Reform's progress,
or the consequences will be severe. Additionally, troop and funding commitments
must be paired with the right tools, including: information analysis from the
ground on threat assessments; proven technologies that enable 24-hour
surveillance, such as Unarmed Unmanned Arial Vehicles and night vision to
monitor insurgents when they are most likely to move; armored vehicles;
counter-narcotics and organized crime units to prevent the financing of
terrorist organizations; and helicopters that can move forces, food, and aid to
the populations who desperately need them.
With
all that of course comes a necessary training component, as well as requisite
levels of funding. As it stands now, the U.S. is in danger of not paying its
full share of peacekeeping dues unless Congress acts to address the current law
on peacekeeping assessment rates. As the American public has made clear for
years, fully honoring our peacekeeping dues needs to be a priority for Congress
and the Administration.
Simply
put, UN member states, must create an environment in which Peacekeepers have
the tools and resources to best protect themselves. If we cannot make
peacekeeping safer, then we cannot ensure that top troop-contributing countries
will see fit to provide the human capital fundamental to protecting civilians
who are in desperate need of peacekeepers.
There
was once a time when the blue helmet carried with it a globally unique sense of
neutrality and authority that was both literally and figuratively enough
protection to carry out a mandate. Those days are clearly coming to a close,
and the UN and its members -- U.S. included -- need to prepare.
