The United Nations is struggling to continue funding its peacekeeping missions as various nations worldwide are calling for such efforts to face reform or their complete withdrawal.
The top peacekeeping official of the global agency, however, defended the organization's efforts worldwide. It comes as concerns continue to grow that the missions have gone into retreat as African leaders demand their withdrawal from Mali to Congo.
UN Peacekeeping Operations
In a statement on Wednesday, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that the force is currently operating on a $5.5 billion budget. This is less than the budget of the New York City Police Department despite having a larger force of 70,000 worldwide.
The official told delegates at a UN peacekeeping ministerial meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, that efforts had been hampered by divisions among member states. The majority of the UN's peacekeeping missions are operating in Africa, particularly in the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Western Sahara, as per ABC News.
However, the global agency's efforts in these areas have faced increasing blowback and scrutiny over their ability to successfully carry out their missions. This includes protests in Congo from residents who claim peacekeepers did little to actually protect them from armed groups.
The UN's peacekeeping missions, which require approval from the Security Council to be extended, have gradually gone into retreat in Africa. Mali leaders in June requested that the agency withdraw its forces. Additionally, Congo leaders made a similar request to the Security Council in September.
In a statement, Congolese President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi said that the UN mission in the region had failed to confront fighting. On Wednesday, Lacroix defended the force, saying that he received feedback from residents that they wanted the peacekeepers to continue operations.
The meeting in Accra that is scheduled for two days and includes ministers is taking place as polarizing divides emerge among UN member states regarding the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The Security Council and other institutions have struggled to reach consensus on Israel's latest war with the Hamas militant group, according to the Associated Press.
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Support From Other Nations
While Lacroix lamented how the UN's peacekeeping budget was only 0.3% of global military spending, he also noted that it provides a good return on investment as peacekeepers save lives for relatively little cost.
He added that peacekeepers operate in the face of armed groups, terrorists, and criminal networks with access to lethal weaponry. He noted that they work among improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and face growing threats from the weaponization of digital tools.
On the other hand, various UN member states pledged their support and resources this week for the peacekeeping missions at the 2023 ministerial meeting in Accra. Lacroix said that the meeting provides hope of securing the support of political leaders towards maintaining peacekeeping operations.
He noted that these efforts have helped many nations navigate from war to peace, from Liberia and Namibia to Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Timor Leste, and many more. Lacroix claimed that the UN's operations had an exceptionally strong record of preventing and reducing violence, said DW News.
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