The author is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
On September 2, 2015, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported to the 70th session General Assembly of Security Council about the implementation of the recommendations of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO).
This HIPPO was commissioned by Ban on October 31, 2014 to conduct a comprehensive assessment of UN peacekeeping operations. According to the Panel’s report, UN peace operations are facing many challenges, for instance, since 2008, the number of major violent conflicts has almost tripled, the number of people displaced by war is approaching 60 million, and global humanitarian needs for 2015 amounted to close to $20 billion. UN special political missions and peacekeeping operations today deploy more than 128,000 people in 39 missions, more than at any time in their history.
However, the lack of unity among member states over the scope and application of the peacekeeping missions makes them struggle to cope with the spread and intensity of conflicts.
The action plan centers on three pillars – renewed focus on prevention and mediation, stronger regional-global partnerships, and new ways of planning and conducting UN peace operations – to make them faster, more responsive and more accountable to the needs of countries and people in conflict.
Accordingly, the agenda for action includes seven parts: strengthening capacities for conflict prevention and mediation; reinforced global-regional partnerships, tailored peace operations, agile field support, speed, capabilities and performance of uniformed capabilities, safety and security, and leadership and accountability.
Africa is by far the most important area for UN peace operations. More than 80 percent of the annual peacekeeping budget is spent on missions in Africa, and 62.5 percent of UN peace operations and 87 percent of all uniformed UN peacekeepers are in Africa.
The UN-African Union partnership has come a long way over the past decade. Several successful peacekeeping missions have taken place in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and Sudan, and joint prevention efforts have been successful in West Africa and elsewhere.
However, there are some criticisms from Africa. The African Union argues that, when it intervenes in conflict and crisis situations in Mali and the Central African Republic, the UN Security Council rejected to provide logistical and other support in the same way that it is supporting the African Union Mission in Somalia. It is clear that the lack of necessary funding mechanisms to support African Union peacekeeping operations undermines their sustainability and effectiveness, which in turn has an impact on the effectiveness of UN peace operations when they take over.
Aside from continuing to provide technical and planning expertise to assist the African Union in conflict prevention, mediation, military and police planning, financial and logistics management, security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and mine action, the UN is going to give consideration on the initiative about financing 25 percent of future African Union peace operations informed by the results of the recent strategic review of the UN Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia.
Among all permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has sent the largest number of personnel for peacekeeping missions in Africa. In nowadays, there are nearly 3,000 Chinese troops, police, and military experts in nine UN peacekeeping operations areas in Africa. China also had three military experts in Cote d’Ivoire and 10 in the Western Sahara. In 2013 and 2015, China sent armed security troops to Mali and South Sudan.
Chinese engineering troops and motorized infantry build roads and bridges, transported military materiel for UN peacekeeping troops from other countries at risk of their lives. Even as China decided to downsize military by 300,000 personnel, it prepared to increase the number of peacekeepers at the same time. At the Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept 28, President Xi Jinping announced that China will set up a permanent peacekeeping squad, build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops, and will train 2,000 foreign peacekeepers, carry out 10 mine clearance projects, and provide $100 million worth of military aid for the African Union to support the establishment of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises in the next five years.
Ban used to say “peacekeeping is an area where China stands tall.” Looking into the future, except cooperation on infrastructure, industrialization, agriculture and other areas, obviously, peacekeeping will be more and more important in the cooperation between Africa and China. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/981950.shtml
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