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New Special Resource
U.S. Engagement in International Peacekeeping - From Aspiration to Implementation
Citizens for Global Solutions, as part of the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping, has released a new report entitled, "U.S. Engagement in International Peacekeeping: From Aspiration to Implementation." The report calls on Congress and the Obama Administration to improve U.S. participation in international peacekeeping operations and offers recommendations in four areas:
- U.S. funding of U.N. peacekeeping
- Women in peacekeeping
- Training and Equipping Peacekeepers
- Standing Civilian and Police Capacity
Watch A Few Clips from the Launch of the Peacekeeping Report
About Peacekeeping
Today, 15 UN peacekeeping operations are deployed worldwide, involving nearly 100,000 troops and police from about 120 countries. In addition regional organizations, such as the African Union, the European Union and NATO, have conducted missions all over the world. Today’s peacekeepers are deployed in unstable and hostile environments to support the implementation of fragile peace agreements. They undertake complex missions from ensuring security and protecting civilians to promoting the rule of law and organizing democratic elections.
Increasing international demand for peacekeepers and broadening of mission mandates are stretching the UN capacity to deploy required resources and uniformed personnel.
Citizens for Global Solutions believes that international peace operations are a crucial instrument to support peace and security worldwide, protect civilians in armed conflicts, and provide the secure environment necessary to implement peace processes and rebuild war-torn societies. CGS actively supports the U.S. Administration strengthening UN peacekeeping capacity by providing sufficient and timely funding, providing equipment and training, strengthening the UN's ability to protect civilians and enhancing the ability of regional organizations to carry out peacekeeping missions.
Susan Rice's Five Goals of Peacekeeping
At the Security Council Debate on U.N. Peacekeeping Operations held last year, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, issued a statement on global peacekeeping operations in which she laid out five peacekeeping goals:
Provide peacekeeping missions with clear, credible, and achievable mandates. - Increase cooperation and collaboration with troop and police contributing countries.
- Promote a "New Partnership Agenda"
- Implementation peacekeeping mandates in a successful and timely manner
- Have the U.S. meet its financial obligations ~ "We remain ready to invest in U.N. peacekeeping, even in a time of economic crisis, because this truly global enterprise serves a shared interest and offers millions of people the prospect of a more secure, prosperous, and dignified future."
Special Resource
Preventing Mass Atrocities
Chapter 5: International Action, this chapter includes:
- Challenges facing UN peacekeepers
- Steps the U.S. can take to provide support to UN peacekeepers
Resources and Links
Resources
- CGS White Paper: United Nations Emergency Peace Service: One Step Towards Effective Genocide Prevention, Citizens for Global Solutions
- Report: A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, 2009
- Report: Brahimi Report on United Nations Peace Operations, 2000
- Report: Building on Brahimi: Peacekeeping in an era of Strategic Uncertainty, Center on International Cooperation, 2009
External Links
- The Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping
The Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping (PEP), founded in 2001, is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan working group led by Citizens for Global Solutions, Refugees International and the Better World Campaign. The PEP brings together the policy, advocacy, humanitarian, and academic communities to promote improved international peacekeeping capacity and increased U.S. support for peacekeeping through the development of pragmatic policy solutions. - UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Official website of United Nations Peacekeeping.
- Security Council Report Publications on Peacekeeping
The Global Citizen
A blog by Citizens for Global Solutions
May 15, 2013 - 5:29pm EDT
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From the President
"UN peacekeeping can deliver important results by protecting civilians, helping to rebuild security, and advancing peace around the world. From Sudan to Liberia to Haiti, peacekeeping operations are a cost-effective means for the United States and all nations to share the burden of promoting peace and security. Over the last ten years, the demands on peacekeeping have grown, and operations have become more complex. It is in all of our interests to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these efforts."
~ Barack Obama, U.S. President