The United Kingdom will preside over the Security Council in June. A ministerial-level open debate on women, peace and security, focusing on prevention of sexual violence is planned, with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague presiding. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Zainab Bangura, the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, are expected to brief. An open debate on the linkages between conflict prevention and natural resources is planned, with briefings by Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and a representative of the World Bank. The semi-annual debate on the ad hoc international criminal tribunals may be open to the membership at large to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Briefers will be the presidents and prosecutors of the ICTY and ICTR.
Peacekeeping Reports
Below you will find a compilation of reports related to international peacekeeping, including the latest and most relevant research and information from PEP Partners and Academics, as well as the UN, U.S. Government and Foreign Governments.
Note: The PEP report library is a “comprehensive compilation in progress.” We encourage PEP Partners to submit relevant reports for inclusion on the site.
The Latest Reports
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Security Council ReportPublished May 31, 2013Posted June 13, 2013
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Rethinking Force Generation: Filling Capability Gaps in UN PeacekeepingPublished May 8, 2013Africa, UN Peace Operations | Posted May 14, 2013
Force generation is the process by which the UN Secretariat generates, rotates, and repatriates contributions of military and police personnel and equipment from member states, based on the requirements derived for each peace operation from its UN Security Council resolution. At the UN, force generation is a time-intensive, complex process that must be completed with great speed. It is based on plans developed without a precise understanding of the capabilities available to operationalize those plans. It is a highly technical process requiring intricate knowledge and careful logistics that must also be cognizant of—and sometimes subordinate to—politics. It requires deep institutional knowledge, but is largely conducted by military staff seconded from UN member states for only limited periods of time. Such contradictions highlight the political, bureaucratic, and logistical challenges to effective force generation that are systemic—and, in some cases, unavoidable.
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Peace Operations, the African Union, and the United Nations: Toward More Effective PartnershipsPublished April 25, 2013African Union Peacekeeping, All Regions, UN Peace Operations | Posted April 25, 2013
Both the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) have a vested interest in conducting more effective peace operations in Africa. Both councils want to build on the various UN-AU peace and security coordination mechanisms that have been established since 2006 and support the implementation of the AU’s principle of “non-indifference.” In many respects, considerable progress has been made with the UN and AU enjoying a deep, multidimensional and maturing relationship. Yet disagreements remain over how best to respond to particular peace and security challenges in Africa, and the AU still suffers from important capability gaps with respect to peace operations.
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The Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding CommissionPublished April 18, 2013Posted April 19, 2013
This Special Research Report examines the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC)—a relatively recent addition to the UN system—mainly in the country-specific contexts of its work: Sierra Leone, Burundi, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic and Guinea. It will strive to provide new insights into the important issue of Security Council working methods based on how the Council interacts with the work of the PBC and absorbs this relationship into the broader focus of the Council.
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Advancing Peace and Security in AfricaPublished April 3, 2013
This chapter is part of Top Five Reasons Africa Should be a Priority for the United States. African countries face various security challenges from violent extremist organizations, which are inextricably linked to U.S. national security. In a complex and globalized security environment, having strong and capable partners on the African continent to tackle transnational challenges advances U.S. national security interests. In this regard, the growing capabilities of African countries to respond to regional security challenges are an asset to the United States. Globally, African nations account for 10 out of the top 20 contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, African countries and the regional organizations to which they belong are starting to play a larger role in leading peacekeeping operations on the continent through the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and the possible African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA).
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Promoting Peace in the Post-2015 Framework: The Role of Rising PowersPublished February 1, 2013All Regions | Posted February 14, 2013
The international consultations underway to set out a new development framework post-2015 present an opportunity to reassess and refresh policy approaches to conflict- affected states. For this to be effective, rising powers, such as China, India, and Brazil, must be involved in and contribute to the debate. There is now a real opportunity to develop a legitimate global framework for conflict-affected states, traditional donors, rising powers, and others to agree on a set of genuinely shared goals and indicators that can guide their engagement and facilitate greater cooperation, coordination, and coherence.
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Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in AfricaPublished January 31, 2013Africa, African Union Peacekeeping | Posted February 5, 2013
Ending impunity and promoting justice and reconciliation reflect core objectives underpinning the African Union. Amid renewed debate about justice and peace on the African continent, this report investigates the issue of impunity and its relationship with peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing. The report proposes a draft Policy Framework on Transitional Justice for adoption by the relevant organs of the AU and recommends an advocacy role for the Panel of the Wise in promoting and reinforcing guiding principles on the rule of law and transitional justice across the African continent.
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Building Police Institutions in Fragile StatesPublished January 18, 2013Africa, Protection of Civilians, Security Sector Reform, UN Peace Operations | Posted January 29, 2013
The aim of this report is to look at what the United States has been doing to help reform or transform the police in three African states: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. It provides recommendations of what could be done better, or differently, based on an assumption that the federal budget for overseas policing will remain small. The findings are based on meetings with policymakers and other experts in Washington, D.C., as well as interviews with program implementers, government officials, police, and civil society representatives in all three countries.
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UN Peacekeeping: The Next Five YearsPublished November 30, 2012All Regions, UN Peace Operations | Posted November 30, 2012
This paper, commissioned by the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations, analyzes current trends in United Nations peacekeeping and makes predictions about the development of UN operations over the next five years (to 2017). It covers (i) the changing global context for UN operations and efforts to enhance the organization‟s performance over the last five years; (ii) trends in troop and police contributions; (iii) projections about potential demand for UN forces in various regions, especially the Middle East and Africa, in the next five years and (iv) suggestions about the types of contributions European countries such as Denmark can make to reinforce UN missions in this period.
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Contracting the Commanders: Transition and the Political Economy of Afghanistan’s Private Security IndustryPublished October 23, 2012Asia, Security Sector Reform | Posted October 23, 2012
Over the past decade the United States and the international community have funded an unprecedented private security industry in Afghanistan. As a result, this industry has become entangled with the Afghan political economy, as international spending has been implicated in funding informal armed groups and commanders. Considerable uncertainty remains as Afghanistan approaches the 2014 deadline for assuming national security responsibilities. Matthieu Aikins argues that with the expected decrease in international aid and changes in the national economy, future stability of Afghanistan depends on ensuring a political settlement among the country's diverse powerbrokers and networks.
