RETHINKING PEACEKEEPING IN AFRICA

Sabrine Dao, Research Analyst, Security & Intelligence Policy Lab
sdao@africacfsp.org

Introduction

For decades, peacekeeping operations have been combined global enterprises, aiming at providing security in time of transition and building conditions for lasting peace in countries and regions of the world torn apart by violent conflicts. The concept of a world cooperating to end human rights violations is a core foundational concept of the United Nations (UN). For the past 20 years, UN peacekeeping operations have been deployed on three continents. Africa, to this day, hosts seven peacekeeping operations which are complex and multidimensional, focusing on maintaining peace and security by facilitating political processes such as elections, the promotion of human rights and restoration of the rule of law, civilians, supporting disarmament and rehabilitation of former combatants.¹ Some of the most complex peacekeeping interventions are in Africa. Africans are protected by peacekeeping, but are also peacekeepers – since the end of 2014, most UN peacekeepers originate from Africa, and to this day Africans are a core component of the global peacekeeping enterprise.

Since 1999, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has hosted the largest UN peacekeeping mission.² However, for nearly three decades, the Eastern DRC has witnessed a multitude of frequent violent conflicts and crimes. Hundreds of armed groups continue to spread terror among civilians, the principal victims of insurgencies led by these groups. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has taken over from the previous UN peacekeeping operation in the country, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) in July 2010. This renewed mission has been granted authority to make use of “all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts³.

The UN peacekeeping operation is seen more than ever as a primary target by some local insurgent armed groups. Between July and October 2022, a total of 33 MONUSCO peacekeepers were killed by militias⁴. Another example of this trend is one of the largest peacekeeping operations in Mali, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), which was attacked in October 2022 by terrorist groups⁵.

Peacekeeping in Africa has massively evolved over time and the challenges that peacekeepers face differ starkly from the past. Yet the future of peacekeeping in Africa is complex and the growing threats to UN operations throws into question aspects of their effectiveness and legitimacy. How can we rethink peacekeeping operations in Africa in the light of today’s rapidly evolving security challenges?

A brief history of peacekeeping in Africa

Peacekeeping in Africa has historically served two purposes. First, to stop an armed conflict and attain a climate conducive to diplomacy. Second, to act as a deterrent against further armed conflicts.⁶ Numerous international organizations and non-African nations have intervened to help resolve crises including civil war, political unrest, refugee resettlement and peacebuilding on the continent. Since 1960, over thirty United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions have been conducted across Africa, more than any other region.⁷ After an attack on the UN mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL⁸) in May 2000, the UN Security Councils’ decision to extend and intensify the mission was considered a turning point in the UN’s peacekeeping strategy for the region. Since then, the number of UN military observers has increased from 1,500 to 65,394 and the percentage of total UN personnel deployed to the region has increased from 15% to 75%.⁹

While the UN assumed the predominant peacekeeping role on the continent, regional bodies do have a history of peacekeeping efforts within their jurisdictions. As an economic organization established in 1975, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expanded its mandate to include peacekeeping duties in 1990. It created the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) as its regional security force to intervene in the Liberian civil war of 1989–1996 with a strategy to resolve conflicts and establish peace.¹⁰ ECOMOG was later deployed in 1997 to Sierra Leone amidst their civil war and in 1999 to Guinea-Bissau to end the civil war here.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was succeeded by the African Union (AU) in 2002, organized the first African led peacekeeping operation during the Chadian–Libyan conflict in 1981. As part of this operation, a force comprising of troops from Benin, Zaire and Nigeria was deployed to Chad. The mission aimed to ensure freedom of movement, restore order, and set up a new Chadian army.¹¹ The AU has since launched peacekeeping operations across the continent, including in Burundi after the overthrow and assassination of their first democratically elected president in 1993; in Comoros to ensure peaceful elections and transfers of power since 1995; in Darfur, Sudan, where the AU has led the peace process and sent forces to monitor the situation since 2003; and through the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA), the former peacekeeping mission to stabilize the Central African Republic following the 2013 coup d’état.¹²

Individual nations have also intervened to fund and/or provide training to regional peacekeeping operations. France, for instance, has been contributing to peacekeeping operations on the continent since 1997 with its Reinforcement of African Capacity to Maintain Peace (RECAMP) program. The United States and the United Kingdom have also intervened in peacekeeping operations throughout the continent.

Oversight of peacekeeping operations

Several peacekeeping operations were led by regional alliances as alternatives to traditional UN peacekeeping operations, who predominantly authorize and oversee peacekeeping missions. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) (est. 2007), the G5 Sahel Joint Force (est. 2014), and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram (est. 2015)¹³ are three major African-led peacekeeping operations on the continent. They were each initially authorized by the AU and approved by the UN Security Council to strengthen their mandates.

Additionally, there were several regional initiatives that ultimately transferred authority to the UN. The International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) was jointly established and led by the African Union and ECOWAS to support the destabilized political situation in Mali and restore security throughout the country. However, in 2013 it transferred authority to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) due to the extensive resources required to ensure sustained peaceful development in the country.¹⁴ MISCA was eventually transferred to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in The Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in 2014.

The varying remits of peacekeeping missions in Africa

Peacekeeping mandates differ based on conflict scope, scale, and who oversees the operation. UN peacekeeping operations assist state transitions, protect civilians during armed conflicts, prevent or contain violence, stabilize post-conflict areas, and implement peace accords.¹⁵ Similarly, the AU has historically aimed for the peaceful resolution of conflicts among member states through African-led approaches.¹⁶ Yet given the intensifying nature of conflict since the end of the Cold War, the UN and the AU have mandated security operations to combat terrorism, cross-border crime, and human trafficking as well.¹⁴

International organizations and foreign nations have also been active in organizing training operations. For example, in 2005 the European Union established a security mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC DR Congo) to provide guidance for security sector reform and to support the army’s successful integration.¹⁷

Geographic distribution of peacekeeping operations

Peacekeeping operations have been distributed across the continent in response to major crises. Based on historical peacekeeping operations, the region with the largest number of operations is Central Africa, followed by West Africa, East Africa, then Southern Africa.¹⁴ Over 100,000 uniformed peacekeepers now serve a variety of missions across the continent.¹⁵

The continent has a significant history of peacekeeping operations that focus on stabilizing political and security unrest. With conflict-stricken nations increasingly turning to non-UN peacekeeping initiatives for support, the continent will need to prioritize streamlined, regional mobilization to mitigate the continent’s peace concerns.

Questioning the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations

Peacekeeping operations have been part of the international quest for peace for several decades and it is difficult to assess how countries and regions which are subject to a peacekeeping operation would look like without it. In any case, little is known about the effectiveness of the presence of a UN peacekeeping operation in preventing insurgent groups’ military offensives.

The complexity surrounding the protection of civilians is one of the main challenges that peacekeeping operations face in Africa. Field researchers and academics have shown that peacekeeping operations have been instrumental in the protection of civilians: the presence of “Blue Helmets” shows that fewer civilians are victims of violent attacks and that cooperation between the belligerent involved in conflicts is enhanced.¹⁸ Research has also found that the presence of peacekeeping troops correlates with less battlefield loss due to the security guarantee that it provides.¹⁹ Civil Society tends to be more robust when peacekeeping operations are ongoing. Studies show that in Central African Republic, in recent years, Civil Society appears more resilient than before the hosting of the UN multidimensional integrated stabilization mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, since 2014.²⁰

When it comes to sexual abuse, gender-based violence and exploitation, where women and girls are disproportionately victims, it has been reported that peacekeepers have perpetrated such crimes. Transactional sex is also a reality that has exposed the dark side of peacekeeping operations. The widely reported case of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), present in the country since the end of the civil war in 2003, revealed a transactional sex economy where half of the women aged between 18 to 30 years old from Monrovia reportedly engaged in transactional sex with UN personnel²¹. Over the past years, women have played a growing key role in UN peacekeeping operations. Often, they are on the frontline of violence committed towards women and girls²². Overall, there is an increase in the number of women in the military, police and civilian peacekeeping contingent. The UN is also asking member states to deploy more women in peacekeeping efforts.²³ As of 2021, women constitute only 5% of UN military contingents and 28% of police officers²⁴.

The non-use of force, except in self-defense and defense of a mandate, is one of the key principles of peacekeeping. Over the 20^th century, the international community has been challenged to make this principle legitimate in situations where the aim is to end violent armed conflicts. The complexity of conflicts in Rwanda and Somalia, for example, questioned the role of UN peacekeepers. The results of the operations launched in these two countries were not satisfying and significantly impacted the UN’s credible role in preserving or restoring peace in time of conflict.²⁵

With the case of the MINUSMA, such an operation is not adapted to the nature of the active conflicts in the country. The support of a “parallel force” operation in the same environment as the Serval and then Barkhane operation, deployed by France following a bilateral agreement with Mali, permitted MINUSMA to fulfill its mandate.

Investing in UN peacekeeping for human security and sustainable peacebuilding

Today’s global dynamics affect the ability of nations to find common ground in achieving consensus on situations. UN peacekeeping operations are political instruments that need the consensus of the UN constituency. The growing defiance of Russia on the international stage creates a polarized Security Council and could pose a threat to the conduct of the UN’s peace mission when it comes to decision making on a peacekeeping operation establishment, resources, and mandate.

Peacekeeping operations are constantly evolving entities. The adaptability and flexibility of such instruments is crucial to achieve the mandate of peacekeeping operations. In Africa, hybrid and asymmetric threats are becoming more prevalent, along with increased foreign influence and an increase in non-state actors. Mandates of peacekeeping operations must be frequently re-assessed as their environments shift rapidly. This is manifested in innovative initiatives in the DRC with the deployment of “Intervention Brigades” or a more systematic use of drones²⁶. However, the need for new military and equipment is growing and relies on contributions from UN member states. The efficiency of the peacekeeping operations could be improved by more robust equipment which can compensate for the difficult strategic coverage of certain regions and countries, such as in the case of Mali.

In June 2022, the United Nations General Assembly’s (GA) Fifth Committee, specialized on administrative and budgetary issues, approved a USD 6.45 billion annual budget for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. This new agreed budget increased by USD 74 million compared to the previous of USD 6.37 billion set in June 2021. This is the first time that the UN peacekeeping budget has increased since 2015 and concerns mainly operational costs (+ 70%) civilian personnel compensation (+ 23%)²⁷. Nations recognize the needs of a more important contribution to peacekeeping missions, but since the establishment of UN peacekeeping missions, their financing has been a challenge for secretary-generals, with moments of consensus or crisis. In 2016, the US, largest financial contributor to peacekeeping operations, drastically reduced its contribution which had a direct impact in the implementation of operations. Aside from fluctuating level of contribution, late payments are making the funding of peacekeeping operation unsteady. Building a more sustainable and reliable funding system has been at the center of the UN secretariat’s preoccupations. Ideas such as creating a peacekeeping “cash reserve” could represent an opportunity to encourage volunteer donations, alongside the established member states’ yearly contribution.

Conclusion

In spite of the myriad funding and operational challenges and ever-evolving conflicts, peacekeeping operations are still effective and manage to mostly fulfill their mandates in Africa. Peacekeeping has imposed itself as the most hands-on and effective form of multilateral cooperation for peace and security.

However, a changing international order could threaten the UN’s peacekeeping mission. It also represents an opportunity to invest and reaffirm commitment towards peace in Africa and beyond.

Thinking about the future of peacekeeping operations is also looking at emerging peacekeeping actors’ motivation. The involvement of China and Russia in Africa pushes nations to redefine the peacekeeping framework.

Recommendations

Allocate more funds to UN peacekeeping efforts: peacekeeping operations could reach their full potential with more funds available to lead impactful actions.
Give a more important decision-making role to African regional organizations and nations hosting peacekeeping operation in the way they are established.
A common and intersectional UN peacekeeping training: involve a gender approach and climate approach to address long-standing challenges in a way that will have long-term benefits.
Creating a yearly peacekeepers conference: building a space where all UN member states would meet could offer a space to discuss peacekeeping operations and emphasize their impact.
A re-commitment to peacekeeping and impartiality from UN member states: peacekeeping can only be more effective if member states are committed to this tool. Peacekeeping operations are more effective when countries can easily reach a consensus.
More cross regional or cross-nation partnerships: more than ever, the world is interconnected and integrated. The impact of a domestic conflict in one country or region in Africa can affect multiple corners of the world, changing the flux of humans and economic structures. Promoting partnership for peace in Africa could improve lives across the board.

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