The missions of peacekeeping They are missions organized by international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), or regional, like the European Union or the African Union, which consist of political and military actions to facilitate a peace process and guarantee international peace and security following a ceasefire agreement between two parties involved. Peacekeeping missions, the meaning of which is precisely peacekeepingin the United Nations are decided by the UN Security Council and carried out under the control of the United Nations Secretariat, with the consent of the respective countries involved. Also defined blue helmetsfrom the color of the helmet worn by the soldiers employed in the missions, or International peacekeeping forces, in 1988 they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Italy is very active in this sense: our country is the seventh among the largest contributors to funds for peacekeeping missions.
What is meant by “peacekeeping” missions
The missions peacekeeping forces are made up of contingents and personnel from the Member States of an organization – international or regional – and are characterized by three elements fundamental. First of all, the consent of the State on whose territory the work is carried out peace mission. Secondly, during peacekeeping missions, activities are carried out to maintain and guarantee a condition of security and peace in the territory in question. without the use of forcewhich can be used only in self-defense. Finally, it must be ensured that neutrality and therefore the impartial and impartial nature of the peacekeeping mission. The government of the country or countries involved in the mission agrees with the body promoting the mission on the forces and the deployment of personnel on their territory. UN peacekeeping missions can be divided into two categories: peacekeeping missions first generationconducted from 1948 to the late 1980s and consisting mainly of actions of a military, such as ensuring a ceasefire, protecting civilians of a given state and were mainly conducted by armed forces. The missions of second generation, conducted from the late 1980s to today, also include political and diplomatic activities, such as facilitating the political process in a given region, protect civilians, promote and defend the human rights, guarantee free elections.
UN peacekeeping operations currently active
The majority of personnel participating in peacekeeping missions of the United Nations comes from developing countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Rwanda are among the countries with the greater number of personnel employed in missions, approximately 6000 units per country. According to the UN Charter, all member countries must contribute personnel or infrastructure to peacekeeping missions. From 1948 to today, there have been 71 peacekeeping missions conducted by the United Nations. Currently those There are 11 active ones: of these 18,448 personnel units are employed in the Central African Republic18,412 in South Sudan17,971 units in the Democratic Republic of Congo which however withdrew at the beginning of July 2024, putting an end to the UN mission, 10,385 in Lebanon3388 in the area of Abyei, In Sudan, which enjoys a special administrative and political status, 1331 are employed in Syria for the supervision of the ceasefire between Syria and Israel, 1017 are at Cyprus, 468 for the referendum and the status of Western Sahara375 units for the supervision of the Armistice in Middle East353 still present in Kosovo and 104 in the peacekeeping mission between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.
Italy’s role in peacekeeping
THE‘Italy is one of the most populous Western countries active in United Nations peacekeeping missions: it is in fact the seventh among the countries that contribute the most to the funds for peacekeeping missions. In our country, moreover, Toasts it is present CSG, the Global Service Center of the UN, whose task among others is to provide administrative and logistical support to peacekeeping missions. Italy is currently present in the peacekeeping mission operating in Western Sahara – United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) – in the mission a Cyprusthe United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), in the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) and the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon. Furthermore, since last April our country has been pushing for a peacekeeping mission in Gaza in case of creation of one Palestinian State and a ceasefire, as part of a broader de-escalation strategy in the area and with the support of other countries.
