Global Issues: Peace and Security
Introduction
Among the very first words of the UN Charter (in its Preamble) are "To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and those words served as the primary impetus for the creation of the United Nations, whose founders had witnessed the destruction of two world wars by 1945. Since the United Nations was established on October 24, 1945 (the day its Charter entered into force), it has frequently been required to stop conflicts from turning into war, to assist in reestablishing peace after hostilities have broken out, and to foster long-lasting peace in societies that have recently emerged from conflict.
With the Security Council serving as the primary body charged with upholding international peace and security, the UN has played a significant role in putting a stop to several hostilities over the years. The Council initially advises that the parties seek a peaceful resolution when it receives a complaint concerning a threat to the peace. The Council itself conducts inquiries and mediates in some situations. It has the option to designate special representatives, ask the Secretary-General to do so, or utilize his influence. It might lay out the foundation for a harmonious resolution.
The Council's top priority is to put an end to any conflict that results from a disagreement as soon as possible. The Council has frequently ordered a cessation of hostilities, which has assisted in averting major wars. Additionally, it sends out UN peacekeeping missions to ease tensions in tense areas, keep hostile forces apart, and establish the framework for a lasting peace after agreements have been made. The Council may choose to take collective military action, economic sanctions (such trade embargoes), or enforcement actions.
General Assembly
According to the Charter, the Basic Assembly has the authority to suggest general guidelines for cooperation in order to ensure international peace and security, including disarmament, and to resolve any disputes peacefully so as to preserve friendly relations between nations. Any topic pertaining to global peace and security may also be discussed by the General Assembly, which may also offer suggestions if the Security Council is not currently debating the matter.
In accordance with its "Uniting for Peace" resolution (resolution 377 (V)) from November 1950, the General Assembly has the authority to act in situations where there appears to be a threat to, breach of, or act of aggression if the Security Council is unable to act due to the abstention of a Permanent Member. To recommend to Members collective action to maintain or restore world peace and security, the Assembly may take up the topic right away.
The Charter empowers the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General is given the authority by the Charter to "bring to the Security Council's notice any situation which, in his judgement, may jeopardize the maintenance of international peace and security." Utilizing his "good offices," or actions performed in public and privately that rely on his independence, impartiality, and integrity to stop international disputes from starting, intensifying, or spreading, is one of the Secretary-most General's important tasks.
Conflict Avoidance
Preventative diplomacy and preventive disarmament are the major tactics to stop conflicts from turning violent and to stop them from happening again. Actions done to avert conflicts from developing or escalating into disputes as well as to contain the development of existing conflicts are referred to as preventive diplomacy. It could be done by negotiation, conciliation, or mediation.
Strategic diplomacy
Early warning is a crucial part of prevention, and the United Nations closely watches global developments to identify dangers to global peace and security, allowing the Security Council and the Secretary-General to take preventive action. Around the world, the Secretary-envoys General's and special representatives are involved in diplomatic mediation and conflict prevention. The sheer presence of a capable envoy can defuse tension in some troubled areas. These envoys frequently work with regional institutions
Preventing armed Conflict
Preventive disarmament, which aims to minimize the quantity of small armaments in conflict-prone areas, complements preventive diplomacy. As part of a comprehensive peace accord, this has involved demobilizing combat units and gathering and destroying their weapons in places like El Salvador, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and other places. The destruction of outdated weapons prevents their use in conflicts in the future.
Genocide prevention and the duty to protect
Allocating blame and encouraging cooperation between the affected States and the international community are necessary for prevention. The State has a primary responsibility to prevent and put an end to genocide and other mass atrocities, but the international community also has a role to play that cannot be restricted by invoking sovereignty. State responsibility for the welfare of their citizens is a charge of sovereignty, which no longer just shields them from external meddling. The phrase "sovereignty as responsibility" and the idea of the Responsibility to Protect are both representations of this principle, which is stated in article 1 of the Genocide Convention.
The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide serves as a catalyst for promoting understanding of the dynamics and causes of genocide, alerting key parties to potential genocide situations, and advocating and organizing for appropriate response. The intellectual, political, institutional, and practical development of the Responsibility to Protect is overseen by the Special Adviser on the Matter. In order to strengthen the UN's ability to stop these crimes, including their incitement, their Office works to notify relevant players to the risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
United Nations peacekeeping operations
The international community uses United Nations peacekeeping operations as a crucial tool to enhance peace and security.
When the Security Council approved the deployment of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to the Middle East to oversee the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the first UN peacekeeping mission was established. More than 70 UN peacekeeping missions have taken place worldwide since that time.
In the past 72 years, UN peacekeeping has changed to adapt to the needs of various wars and a shifting political environment. UN peacekeeping missions were founded at a time when the Security Council was regularly paralyzed by Cold War rivalry, and their major objectives were to uphold ceasefires and stabilize the situation on the ground so that political efforts to end the conflict peacefully could be made.
In the 1990s, UN peacekeeping increased as fresh prospects to put an end to civil hostilities through negotiated peace agreements arose with the end of the Cold War. Numerous crises were resolved thanks to the efforts of others working with UN backing or through direct UN mediation. El Salvador, Guatemala, Namibia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Tajikistan, and Burundi were among the nations that received assistance. New operations were launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, and Kosovo in the late 1990s as a result of ongoing crises.
Peacekeepers have been sent to Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali in the new millennium.
Conflicts in the modern era are less frequent but more entrenched. For instance, there is currently a second or third wave of fighting in South Sudan, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Numerous problems also are exacerbated by geographical factors that are crucial to their resolution. In actuality, around two thirds of peacekeeping personnel are currently stationed in areas of ongoing conflict with weak or nonexistent peace agreements. Today's conflicts are more fierce and involve armed organizations that are committed to fighting and have access to advanced tools and tactics.
Conflict's nature has evolved over time as well. Initially designed to settle interstate disputes, UN peacekeeping has increasingly been used to end intrastate disputes and civil wars. Although the military still forms the core of the majority of peacekeeping operations, today's peacekeepers carry out a wide range of intricate tasks, such as demining, monitoring human rights, reforming the security sector, and assisting in the development of long-lasting institutions of governance.
Peacebuilding
By enhancing national capacities for conflict management and laying the groundwork for lasting peace and development, peacebuilding is a term used by the United Nations to describe efforts to support nations and regions in their transitions from war to peace and to lower the risk of a country slipping back or relapsing into conflict.
It is a difficult task to bring enduring peace to communities that have experienced conflict. For the widest variety of actions, including national initiatives, peacebuilding calls for consistent international support. For instance, peacebuilders keep an eye on ceasefires, demobilize and reintegrate combatants, help refugees and internally displaced people return home, organize and oversee elections for a new government, support reforms in the justice and security sectors, strengthen the protection of human rights, and promote peace after atrocities.
Action on peacebuilding is required from a broad range of UN system agencies, including the World Bank, regional economic commissions, NGOs, and neighborhood civic associations. In UN operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Kosovo, Liberia, and Mozambique, as well as more recently in Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq, Sierra Leone, and Timor-Leste, peacebuilding has been a key component. The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea is one example of interstate peacebuilding.
The 2005 World Summit endorsed the establishment of a new Peacebuilding Commission in recognition of the need for the UN to better foresee and address the problems of peacebuilding. The UN General Assembly and Security Council mandated the Peacebuilding Commission in resolutions 60/180 and 1645, which established it, to gather all relevant actors to provide advice on proposed integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery, to gather resources and ensure predictable financing for these activities, and to develop best practices in collaboration with political, security, humanitarian, and development actors.
The resolutions also call for the Commission to continue focusing on post-conflict nations for a longer length of time and, as necessary, to draw attention to any deficiencies that could jeopardize peacekeeping efforts.
A Peacebuilding Fund and a Peacebuilding Support Office were also established by resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council that established the Peacebuilding Commission.
Promoting the rule of law
The core of the UN's purpose is to advance the rule of law on both a national and global scale. To achieve a lasting peace following a conflict, to effectively defend human rights, and to sustain economic growth and development, respect for the rule of law must be established. A key idea that underpins most of the work done by the United Nations is that everyone - from the individual to the State itself - is accountable to laws that are publicly publicized, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated. Many UN agencies, as well as the main UN bodies like the General Assembly and Security Council, play crucial roles in helping Member States promote the rule of law.''
The Rule of Law Coordination and Resource Group, led by the Deputy Secretary-General and assisted by the Rule of Law Unit, is in charge of overseeing how the United Nations system as a whole coordinates its rule of law activity. The Group's members are the directors of 20 United Nations organizations that assist Member States in enhancing the rule of law. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been named as the joint worldwide focal point for the police, justice, and correctional aspects of the rule of law in post-conflict and other crisis situations, according to the Secretary-General.
Civilians make up much to 90% of casualties, primarily women and children.
Up to 90% of casualties in modern conflicts are civilians, primarily women and children. Specific and terrible types of sexual assault against women can occur in war-torn civilizations and are occasionally used systematically to further military or political goals. Women continue to be underrepresented in formal peace procedures despite their numerous unofficial contributions to conflict resolution.
However, the UN Security Council has acknowledged that engaging women and gender views in decision-making can increase the prospects for a lasting peace in its resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. The historic resolution calls for women to be involved in all stages of conflict resolution and peacebuilding decision-making and tackles the plight of women in armed conflict.
The Security Council enacted three supplementary resolutions, 1820, 1888, and 1889, because resolution 1325's key ideas served as the foundation for the agenda. Strengthening women's participation in decision-making and putting an end to sexual assault and impunity are the two main objectives of all four resolutions.
Since 1999, the UN Security Council has consistently addressed the problem of children impacted by armed conflict as one that affects peace and security. In order to address abuses against children, the Security Council established a robust framework and gave the Secretary-General the necessary resources. The chief UN spokesperson for the protection and welfare of children impacted by armed conflict is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
The UN works to ensure that outer space is used for peaceful purposes
The UN works to guarantee that space is utilized for peaceful purposes and that all nations share in the advantages of space activity. Since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, in 1957, there has been growing concern for the peaceful uses of space that has kept up with advancements in space technology. The UN has contributed significantly by fostering international cooperation in space science and technology as well as by creating international space law.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space, located in Vienna, Austria, supports developing nations in utilizing space technology for development by acting as the secretariat for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its subcommittees.
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