UNITED NATIONS PEACE OPERATIONS YEAR IN REVIEW 2006 New challenges, New horizons asdf United Nations TABLE OF CONTENTS p. 1 More UN peacekeepers called into action, even as conflicts continue p. 2 2006: A year of hope for the Congolese people p. 4 UN helps Lebanon recover, as Europe returns to peacekeeping p. 7 Other UN peace operations in the Middle East p. 8 UN pursues peace in Darfur p. 10 UNMIS helps to cement peace between North and South p. 11 BONUCA: Peacekeeping to follow dialogue p. 12 Timor-Leste: Hard lessons in peacekeeping p. 14 Sierra Leone: Sustaining the hard-won peace p. 15 Peacebuilding architecture takes shape p. 16 Côte d'Ivoire: Transition to peace extended by another year p. 18 Wanted: Female peacekeepers p. 19 Kosovo: Keeping the momentum p. 20 New DDR tools to "turn swords into ploughshares" p. 20 Fighting sexual exploitation and abuse p. 21 SHIRBRIG: Ready to deploy p. 22 Nepal: Peacemaking bears fruit p. 23 Haiti: Progress against all odds p. 24 Cyprus: Building bridges between neighbours p. 25 UNAMI: Behind the scenes for a better Iraq p. 25 Afghanistan: Progress and growing security challenges p. 26 Tajik peacekeepers may soon join UN ranks p. 27 Encouraging dialogue in Georgia p. 27 India and Pakistan continue peace process p. 28 Somalia: Will peacekeepers return? p. 30 UNMIL: Rising optimism as Liberia solidifies peace p. 31 UNMEE: The stalemate continues p. 31 Deadlock in Western Sahara p. 32 Public information: Getting the message out p. 34 Interview with the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno p. 35 UN political missions: Addressing the roots of conflict p. 36 United Nations peacekeeping operations p. 38 United Nations political and peacebuilding missions p. 40 Peacekeeping contributors p. 41 Facts and figures Cover photo: A Moroccan peacekeeper observes as Congolese voters line up for the second round of presidential and provincial elections in Bunia, Ituri district, DRC, 29 October 2006. (MONUC Photo by Martine Perret) INTRODUCTION More UN peacekeepers called into action, even as conflicts continue In the annals of United Nations peace Pressure grew to send peacekeepers to the In Timor-Leste, however, a new peace- operations, 2006 will go down as a Chad/Central African Republic/Sudan keeping operation began after violence in record-breaker in terms of deployment, border region where the Darfur conflict April and May threatened to undo the with just under 100,000 uniformed and threatened to ignite regional war. Mean- progress since independence. Many ar- civilian personnel serving in the field by while the UN’s 10,000 troops deployed in gued that the previous UN mission had the end of the year. South Sudan continued to shore up the left too soon; others believed the UN in- 2005 North-South Comprehensive Peace tervention had not been thorough Behind this unprecedented growth was a Agreement as part of the UN mission in enough to leave behind a stable Govern- series of peace agreements, ceasefires or Khartoum (UNMIS). ment and reconciled population. With cessations of hostilities accomplished with the security situation stabilized for now, UN political and diplomatic support. Elsewhere, UN peace operations helped Timor-Leste looks towards national elec- to protect a fragile peace and provide a “A Chance for a Safer World”announced tions in mid-2007. measure of stability in a variety of com- a January 2007 cover of The Economist, plex, post-conflict situations. Also in the field, UN mediation efforts over a photo of Spanish UN peacekeepers to seek political solutions to prevent grouped in Lebanon under a dozen UN- The high point of the year was perhaps new conflicts from breaking out and blue flags. the surprisingly successful elections in the old ones from flaring up continued in Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Call it peacekeeping, peace-enforce- 2006. UN political missions and peace Commentary about the DRC’s prospects ment, stabilization or anything else, but envoys were active in nearly a dozen as a functioning country and the UN’s one thing is clear: the world’s soldiers are countries, including in the Middle East peacekeeping role there had long been busier than ever operating in the wide and Somalia. pessimistic. But even cynics cheered both grey zone between war and peace,”began Under-Secretary-General for Political an article headlined “Peacekeeping: Call the Congolese and the UN when more Affairs Ibrahim Gambari travelled twice the Blue Helmets.” than 20 million voted in the two rounds of polling. to Myanmar, becoming the only inter- Throughout the year, Jean-Marie national figure to mediate between sen- Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for In Lebanon, soldiers from almost 30 ior Government officials as well as Peacekeeping Operations,raised other flags. countries, including from Europe – opposition figures including Aung San donning Blue Helmets for the first Suu Kyi. Would the UN be able to muster enough time in significant numbers in more troops to meet the demands, which for than 10 years – deployed in record In November, the UN’s mediation ca- current and possible future missions time to the expanded UNIFIL, follow- pacity received further acknowledg- could reach 140,000 personnel? Was ing the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict dur- ment as the Maoists and the there a concomitant political will to make ing the past summer. Government in Nepal reached a historic real peace? Were the Blue Helmets being agreement to lock up arms and share called upon to keep peace where there is On the other hand, the last peacekeepers political space and power. The parties no peace to keep? of a two-year-old mission departed from requested the UN to further assist them Burundi on 31 December, having com- in implementing key aspects of their Both the outgoing Secretary-General, pleted their mandate as scheduled and agreement by means of a political mis- Kofi Annan, and the incoming, Ban Ki- leaving behind democratically elected sion authorized by the Security Council moon, placed Darfur at the top of their local and national structures. The peace- on 23 January 2007. agendas. But at the close of 2006, the keeping operation has been succeeded by agony of Darfur grew worse, and the a UN integrated office which will con- A major gap in the UN peace and secu- pressure on the UN more intense to stop tinue to help the country move past the rity architecture was closed with the es- the fighting and protect the people. The fragile post-conflict stage towards long- tablishment of the Peacebuilding Sudanese Government in Khartoum, term stability. Commission, which in 2006 decided to holding out against concerted interna- focus on Burundi and Sierra Leone as its tional pressure to accept a UN presence In Haiti as well, while street violence con- first countries to support in the wake of in Darfur, slowly seemed to be moving tinued in some neighbourhoods of Port- completed peacekeeping operations. towards agreement that the UN could au-Prince, two rounds of UN-supervised help beef up the 7,000 African Union elections were held and new Government As 2007 opened, the new Secretary-Gen- troops there. In late 2006, the UN began structures established. The UN continues eral had proposed a restructuring of the deploying small numbers of civilians, po- to assist Haiti in providing security for its headquarters peace operations support lice and troops in two phases of support people while seeking ways to promote structure in an effort to better meet the that were expected to culminate in a continued international support for the burgeoning demands on the UN to assist unique UN-AU joint “hybrid”operation. beleaguered nation. countries emerging from conflict. I YEAR IN REVIEW 2006 1 2006: A year of hope for the Congolese people For the Democratic Republic of the To ensure that the elections took place Global and All-Inclusive Agreement of Congo (DRC), 2006 was a pivotal year: under safe and secure circumstances, 2002 which had established a transi- the first democratic elections since the MONUC conducted joint operations tional Government, headed by Joseph country’s independence from Belgium with the national armed forces. It also Kabila and four Vice-Presidents – two of more than 40 years ago were held. After collaborated with the Congolese Gov- them former rebel leaders. two rounds of polling, the results were ernment in reforming the security sec- ultimately respected by the contenders. tor through the creation of an integrated With more than 17,000 peacekeepers This was a success that Congo-watchers national army and disarmament, demo- and some 100 aircraft, MONUC was called miraculous, particularly since the bilization and reintegration (DDR) pro- able to provide vital logistical and tech- DRC had been riven by years of conflict grammes. The mission provided further nical support to the country that which in the past six years has cost some security and assistance to local popula- matches Western Europe in size, but four million lives. tions affected by the grave humanitarian the Kalahari wilderness in infrastruc- situation in the country. ture. MONUC supported the recruit- For the United Nations Organization ment and training of over 250,000 Mission in the DRC (MONUC), 2006 By their approval of the new Constitu- polling agents, and transported over was also a year of major challenges and tion on 18 December 2005, the Con- 3,500 tons of election material from achievements. MONUC assisted the In- golese people manifested their wish for four logistic bases to over 200 destina- dependent Electoral Commission (IEC) democracy and development. In 2006 tions around the country using air- in the organization of the largest and they came out in formidable numbers – craft, boats and other vehicles.