CAIRO: While May 29 marked the 60th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping, Francesco Manca, senior advisor with United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), and Major General Ian Gordon, head of the mission, arrived in Cairo this week to meet with Egyptian officials, promote UN Peacekeeping and explain the challenges it faces today.
UNTSO senior officials held a press conference at the UN Information Center in Garden City Tuesday to mark the anniversary.
Egypt currently provides more than 1,400 troops and police to 11 United Nations peacekeeping operations with its largest deployments in Southern Sudan and Darfur.
The UN, in its celebrations, honored 2,400 peacekeepers who lost their lives over the past 60 years, including 90 in 2007 alone. Egyptian Lieutenant Colonel Ehab Ahmed Nazih, who lost his life while serving with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in May 2007, was also honored.
UNTSO was established in 1948 to monitor the armistice between Israel and the Arab countries it had fought following its declaration of independence.
It has since broadened to include the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights.
Noting Egypt’s contribution of more than 150 observers to UNTSO and its role as the 20th largest contributor of peacekeepers to UN missions, Major General Gordon called Egypt a “major player in peacekeeping.
In an attempt to describe the understanding that allows peacekeepers to do their jobs, Manca compared the role of the UN to that of a referee at a football match.
“The assumption is that the parties accept each other, respect the rules of the game and accept the UN as the referee, he said.
However, following the end of the Cold War the number of internal conflicts rose as wars between states decreased.
The new, and often more challenging, dynamics of intrastate conflict strained the capabilities of UN Peacekeeping missions.
“Expectations of peacekeeping went beyond what peacekeeping could actually deliver, said Manca.
He acknowledged the failure of UN missions in Rwanda, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia, blaming them on the “shortcomings of UN peacekeeping.
However, Manca said they were important learning experiences regarding the limitations of UN peacekeeping operations and the dangers that may arise when a mission is launched without suitable forces or a proper mandate.
“The secretary general learned to say no to the international community and tell them when a mission was not feasible with the forces they wished to allocate, he said.
Describing another new challenge, Manca said that UN peacekeepers, as well as civilian personnel, face greater danger than ever before as they are now being actively targeted in certain areas.
“The attack on the UN in Baghdad in 2003 represented a turning point in our security assessments. Peacekeepers were often in danger when they found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, now they are often the target, he said.
However, Manca affirmed the vital role played by peacekeepers, explaining that Peacekeeping operations have expanded beyond their traditional military role, and are now involved in mine clearing, facilitating negotiation, training police, monitoring elections and protecting human rights.
Asked where he would like to see peacekeeping operations expanded, Manca replied that there is much progress to be made in the developed West.
“I would like peacekeeping to work better in the capitals of developed countries in order to advise them on how to develop foreign policies that aim to foster peace rather than feed conflict.
