UN Asks 9 Countries That Include China, France, And South Korea To Delay Their Peacekeeper Rotations

The United Nations asked nine countries, all of which have experienced significant outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus, to delay rotations of the peacekeeping Blue Helmets by three months

AFP: Coronavirus: UN asks 9 countries to delay peacekeeper rotations

The United Nations on Friday asked nine countries, including China, South Korea and France, to delay by three months the rotations of their UN peacekeeping forces due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The request was made to the countries "to maintain operational strength and execute their mandated tasks," diplomatic sources at the UN said.

The nine countries also include Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Italy and Germany -- all of which have experienced significant outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus.

The UN peacekeeping missions, known as the Blue Helmets, are under constant reassessment in relation to the rotations of the soldiers and police, who are deployed to the mission by their home countries.

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WNU Editor: They are not saying it directly, but there is a genuine fear that these rotations may bring in soldiers into conflict zones who are infected with the coronavirus.

UN-Backed Peacekeepers In Sub-Saharan Africa Have Lost Enough Arms Over The Past Two Decades To Arm An Army

UN peacekeepers in Liberia. Photo: UNMIL/Staton Winter

Al Jazeera: UN peacekeeping arms losses could equip an army: report

UN-backed peacekeepers have lost enough guns and ammunition in sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades to arm an army, according to a study by the Small Arms Survey.

The research group's director, Eric Berman, said peacekeepers have lost "at least thousands of weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition" this century, often handing them over to local fighters without putting up a fight.

Losses range from pistols and bullets to heavy machine guns, mortars, recoilless guns and grenade launchers, which can be military game-changers on the battlefields of Somalia, Democratic republic of Congo, and Sudan, Berman told Al Jazeera.

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WNU Editor: The report that details these loses can be read here .... Making a Tough Job More Difficult.

President Trump's Budget Proposal Will Cut Funding To A Point That UN Peacekeeping Will Be 'Impossible'

UN peacekeepers in Liberia. Photo: UNMIL/Staton Winter

DW: UN's Guterres: Trump budget would make UN peacekeeping 'simply impossible'

The proposed cuts would reduce the UN peacekeeping budget by more than $1 billion USD. The US currently pays for more than one-fourth of the UN peacekeeping budget.

A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the proposed US budget cuts to the UN would make it "simply impossible" for the international organization to continue humanitarian work.

"From where we stand, looking at the budget as it is proposed now would make it simply impossible for the UN to continue its work advancing peace, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance around the world," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The US is the largest contributor to the UN's budget, supplying 25 percent of the UN's $5.4 billion regular operating budget and 28.5 percent of its separate $7.8 billion peacekeeping budget. US President Donald Trump wants to cap the US peacekeeping contribution at 25 percent.

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WNU Editor: When I first started working for the UN 25 years ago .... talk of the U.S. curtailing their financial contributions to the UN was nothing new. And almost no one believed it would happen .... they always made the same legitimate excuse that the UN does a lot of good for the U.S., and it is not in the interest of the U.S. to change the status quo. Besides .... almost all of the money that the U.S. gives to the UN is generated back to the US via through employment at New York, purchase of U.S. equipment and supplies, and having an important voice when decisions have to be made on setting international norms and regulations. But this complacency came with a cost .... as long as the money flowed from the U.S. there was no need for the UN to go to other countries and make demands that they should increase their contribution. The Trump administration is now signalling that those days are gone .... even if it is going to hurt a lot of countries. Will other countries step up and make the difference .... we shall see. But if history is any condition .... leaders of the world are always praising the valuable role that the UN plays .... but when it comes to giving money .... even a little bit .... they always develop "cold feet". My prediction .... the U.S. Congress is going to put back the money.

More News On President Trump's Budget Proposal Will Cut Funding To The UN's Peacekeeping Budget

Donald Trump budget cut plan would make it 'impossible' for UN, spokesman says -- ABC News Online
Donald Trump's bid to slash UN funding would make essential aid work 'impossible', says UN -- The Independent
Trump budget cut bid would make it 'impossible' for U.N.: spokesman -- Reuters
Trump's budget cuts would make UN peacekeeping 'impossible' -- BBC
Trump budget cuts would make essential UN work 'impossible' – spokesman -- RT

U.N. Peacekeepers Failed In Their South Sudan Mission

New York Times: As South Sudan Troops Killed and Raped, U.N. Forces Didn’t Stop Them

As South Sudanese troops entered the Terrain Hotel and began attacking the civilians — many of them Western aid workers — who had sought refuge inside, frantic pleas for help to United Nations peacekeepers stationed less than a mile away went unanswered.

That was one of the sharply critical conclusions of a report, issued on Tuesday, into the performance of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, where in July government soldiers went on a killing, raping and looting spree in the capital, Juba.

That mayhem worsened South Sudan’s three-year-old civil war, overshadowed the fifth anniversary of independence and caused foreign aid groups to rethink their commitments there.

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More News On The Failed UN Peacekeeping Mission In South Sudan

UN sacks South Sudan peacekeeping chief over damning report -- BBC
South Sudan peacekeeping commander sacked over 'serious shortcomings' -- The Guardian
U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan criticized for response to July attack -- UPI
UN commander fired over peacekeepers' response in South Sudan -- CNN
U.N. chief fires commander in South Sudan after harsh report -- AP
UN Dismisses South Sudan Peacekeeping Chief for 'Lack of Leadership' -- Newsweek
South Sudan: Ban to put in place measures to improve UN Mission’s ability to protect civilians -- UN News Centre
UN must clarify why its peacekeepers failed in South Sudan -- Gulf News

UN Peacekeepers Have A Corruption Problem

UN peacekeepers in Liberia. Photo: UNMIL/Staton Winter

New York Times: Armies Used by U.N. Fail Watchdog Group’s Test

The militaries of the 30 countries that provide the most soldiers and police officers to United Nations peacekeeping operations also are among those most susceptible to corruption, according to a study released Sunday by an anti-corruption monitoring organization.

The organization, Transparency International, known for its annual corruption rankings of governments around the world, said that in its A-to-F grading for the armed forces of the top troop-contributing countries, only Italy scored higher than a D.

Six of the countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Morocco and Togo — received F grades, Transparency International said.

The three countries that contribute the most troops, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and India — which together provide about 25,200 uniformed personnel, roughly a quarter of the total in United Nations peacekeeping operations — also scored poorly in the study’s rankings. Bangladesh and India each received a D, and Ethiopia an E.

The organization cited poor anti-corruption practices and inadequate training as factors in assessing the rankings.

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WNU Editor: It appears that many of these UN peacekeepers do everything but keep the peace ... but the need to have them grows with each passing year .... UN peacekeeping at new highs after post-Cold War surge and decline (PEW Research).

U.N. Peacekeepers Are Not Keeping The Peace In Africa

Record Number Of U.N. Peacekeepers Fails To Stop African Wars -- Washington Post

NAIROBI — The United Nations has dispatched a record number of peacekeepers in Africa in recent years, deploying soldiers to trouble spots such as the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Yet the “blue helmets” and thousands of other soldiers sent by African regional groups have failed to prevent fresh spasms of violence.

The peacekeeping forces have cost billions of dollars, largely paid by the United States and European nations. But they have been hobbled by weak mandates and a shortage of manpower and equipment. Some critics also say Washington, its allies and U.N. officials are at fault in the peacekeeping failures, for not following through with enough political pressure to prevent crises.

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My Comment: Not enough money, manpower, equipment, training, and political will to get involved .... that about sums up UN peacekeeping operations in Africa.

When Peacekeepers Go Bad

A one-time de facto ally of the UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo, General Bosco Ntaganda is now wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. WSJ's Christopher Rhoads reports on the region's tangled politics. Photo: Getty Images.

Peacekeepers At War -- Wall Street Journal

In the eastern Congo, a onetime rebel leader charged with a range of war crimes lived in high style for three years, in full view of a large United Nations peacekeeping force. How did the U.N. find itself in the middle of one of the world's bloodiest and most unmanageable conflicts? And why are its troops picking sides?

The Congo has long had a knack for bringing out the worst in foreign adventurers, from King Leopold II of Belgium to Joseph Conrad's fictional Kurtz. Now it is forcing a well-intentioned visitor, the United Nations, to reconsider how it keeps the peace in time of war.

The U.N. faced harsh criticism in the mid-1990s when its peacekeepers stood aside as atrocities unfolded in Rwanda and in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war. Determined not to repeat such failures, the U.N. resolved to use force in the name of protecting civilians.

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My Comment: A prediction .... this UN peacekeeping operation will fail .... not because they cannot defeat the rebels and militias .... but because the countries that are paying the bills and supplying the soldiers are getting tired of this conflict.

Demand For Peacekeepers Exceeds Troops, Funds - UN

Photo from UN Dispatch

From Reuters:

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers are increasingly finding themselves deployed with too few troops, insufficient funds and in countries where there is hardly any peace to keep, a top U.N. official said on Friday.

"There is a constant strain now between mandates and resources ... expectations and our capacity to deliver," U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said in a speech to the U.N. Security Council. "United Nations peacekeeping is overstretched."

Analysts and diplomats say that the operations are headed for a crisis as demand for peacekeepers skyrockets while funds and troop reserves are getting harder to find.

They say the global financial crisis will likely make U.N. member states less willing to contribute to peacekeeping.

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My Comment: The global financial crisis coupled with a worldwide recession is going to completely gut the UN's peacekeeping budget. They will now have to make the decision that resources will need to be rationed, and that only certain conflicts will receive UN assistance.

U.N. Peacekeepers In Africa -- Who Are They

Kaibil unit patrolling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(Photo from Wikipedia)

The Kabiles As Peacekeepers In The Democratic Republic Of Congo -- Global Voices Online

The Kaibiles are soldiers in the Guatemalan Army that undergo a specialized, yet controversial training at a school in the northern part of the country, nicknamed “Hell”. Many Guatemalans reject the abusive training that the Kabiles receive, which some say, closely resembles self-inflicted torture. It is often difficult to fathom why such methods are necessary, as described by blogger Statchka [es] when he details “Black Week of a Kaibil”. He explains that they are even forced to drink animals blood to survive.

One point of their decalogue had been: “The Kaibil is a killing machine.” In the past, many of the soldiers have been involved in counter-insurgency operations, but also some have been accused of human-rights violations, but now they are mainly involved with anti-crime duties. In addition, the Kabiles have also been sent as Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 72 Guatemalans are currently on the front line in the city of Goma. Here is an Institutional Video regarding the mission in the DRC.

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My Comment: An excellent post. it describes accurately why there are fwe if any European soldiers in the Congo. A must read.