Originally published on the CGS blog on October 18, 2011.
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
Citizens for Global Solutions CEO Don Kraus and co-founder of the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping noted,
“In 2009, President Obama considered ‘contributing more U.S. civilian police, civilian personnel, and military staff officers to UN missions.’ Ambassador Susan Rice urged that ‘the chronic shortages of … helicopter, engineering, and medical units’ and an ‘expanded Standing Police Capacity’ be resolved. These aspirations have yet to be implemented.”
This report provides 26 recommendations for Congress and the Adminstration with tangible steps to improve U.S. participation in these vital operations.
Highlighted recommendations include:
- Full funding of the U.S. contribution to U.N. peacekeeping missions
- United States leadership at the U.N. to advance peacekeeping reforms that provide for more timely and cost-effective delivery of human and material resources to peacekeeping operations and permits changes to the Peacekeeping Reserve Fund and flexible funding to speed the initial deployment or the expansion of missions
- Bolster the Presidential Peacekeeping Initiative, which contemplates increasing the number of U.S. personnel sent to peacekeeping operations
- The Department of Defense provides a contingent of military support and increases the number of women sent to peacekeeping missions
- Supporting an increase in the U.N. standing police capacity
Kraus said,
“This report provides a pragmatic blueprint developed by leading experts on how the Administration and Congress can work to better leverage U.S. participation in international peacekeeping efforts, to provide greater peace and security for the United States and the world.”
To read the entire report, click here.
