What Is The Future Of UN Peacekeeping?
Members of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol the road near the border ... More with Israel in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqura on March 19, 2025. UNIFIL, a mission of about 10,000 troops of various nationalities, was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon and to help the Lebanese government restore authority over the border region. (Photo credit: MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
In May 2025, the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial took place in Berlin, gathering over 130 Member States and international partners to reaffirm their support for UN peacekeeping and to pledge a concrete plan to enhance the effectiveness and adaptability of peace operations. The Ministerial focused on the future of peacekeeping, reflecting the need for innovative approaches to address complex conflicts, leverage emerging technologies, and address threats such as mis- and disinformation.
Today, more than 61,000 military and police peacekeepers from 119 countries and more than seven thousand civilian personnel serve across 11 Peacekeeping Missions, including in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and Kosovo, among others.
In the CAR, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has been responding to security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in the country and its regional implications. Its other initial tasks included support for the transition process; facilitating humanitarian assistance; promotion and protection of human rights; support for justice and the rule of law; and disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation processes.
In the DRC, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has been authorized to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, 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 efforts.
In Kosovo, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was there to provide an interim administration for Kosovo under which the people of Kosovo could enjoy substantial autonomy. Following the declaration of independence by the Kosovo authorities and the entry into force of a new constitution in June 2008, the Mission was modified to focus primarily on the promotion of security, stability and respect for human rights in Kosovo.
While such peacekeeping missions have been doing important work, they have been marred by controversies, including allegations of sexual exploitation, abuse, and serious misconduct. For example, in March 2024, the UN reported that in the previous year, 100 allegations were reported in peacekeeping and special political missions. The UN has been trying to address the issue, with Secretary-General António Guterres repeatedly underlining that the UN has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, stressing that preventing and eliminating it is a top priority.
Peacekeeping operations have also been facing mounting challenges, with a record number of global conflicts, the targeting of peacekeepers by drones and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the rising threat from disinformation campaigns.
During the Ministerial in Berlin, participants agreed on the need to focus on a total of 74 Member States that made pledges to strengthen the future of UN peacekeeping. Among others:
The Ministerial also fed into the UN's broader reform efforts, including an ongoing Review of Peace Operations announced in last year's Pact for the Future, aimed at making peacekeeping and peace enforcement more flexible, cost-effective, and aligned with real-world needs.
With a record number of global conflicts, the world faces unimaginable challenges that require comprehensive and joint efforts to address them. Peacekeeping missions can provide some responses to the issues. However, to be able to do so, changes are needed. Changes in relation to the support granted to the peacekeeping operation, but also changes that can help to improve trust in such peacekeeping operations.
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