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27.05.2015 - UNESCO Office in Nairobi

Dialogue for Peace: Peacekeeping in Perspective: Reflections from Africa on the Past Five Decades

UN Peacekeepers from Kenya Defense Force at the UN compound in Nairobi pay tribute to those who continue to serve as peacekeepers around the world © Masakazu Shibata

27 May,2015, Nairobi - In recognizing the 2015 International Day of UN Peacekeeping, UNESCO, in partnership with UN Information Centre (UNIC) organized an interactive panel discussion to reflect on the state of UN peacekeeping in Africa over the past five decades tiled, Peacekeeping in Perspective: Reflections from Africa on the Past Five Decades. The event was held at UNON compound which brought together a distinguished group of panelists including Kenya’s Ambassador to UNON, H.E. Dr. Martin Kimani, the Executive Director of African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA), Retired Ghanaian Colonel Festus Aboagye, two representatives from the Kenya Military, Lt. Col. Joyce Sitienei and Ms. Catherine Njeru, youth activist, Felix Lone, and Pernilla Ryden, a Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region.

In his introductory remarks, the panel moderator, Abdul Lamin, UNESCO Programme Specialist situated UN Peacekeeping in historical and geopolitical context, highlighting the evolution of the practice since 1948, when the first such operation was established and deployed by the UN Security Council to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Lamin further explored the implications of the practice in Africa, which is currently home to half of the total number of peacekeeping operations (PKO) globally and the relationship between such operations and African regional and sub-regional organizations including the AU, EAC, ECOWAS and SADC.

Rt. Col. Festus Aboagye of African Peace Support Trainers Association, acknowledged the efforts and sacrifices of those “who keep the peace” noting that part of the factors that lead to such operations has to do with the fundamental collapse of social and political structures of the conflict states. Aboagye also identified what he referred to as “a new normal” with Africa as the disproportionate recipient of PKO globally, especially since the end of the cold war.

Aboagye points out to what he described as Africa’s “double jeopardy” whereby on the one hand, the continent faces the challenge of generating capacity for Africa peace missions, but on the other contributes immensely to UN PKO globally. He therefore identified the need to develop and implement effective training architecture and centres of excellence (such as the APSTA) so as to build capacity for Africa and its member states, and advanced the notion of a multidimensional approach to peacekeeping. African Union and the United Nations in pursuance of peacekeeping missions and operations need subsidiarity and division of labour, Aboagye concluded.

Kenya’s Ambassador to UNON, H.E Dr. Martin Kimani, emphasized the need to promote robust global governance to enhance peace and security that will eventually support long term peacekeeping where necessary. He highlighted Kenya’s global high ranking in promoting peace and security, and country’s contributions to UN peacekeeping. Kimani noted as an example, Kenya’s contribution to peacekeeping in Somalia in an effort to stabilize the country and win peace, urging the international community to take on its fair share of responsibility in supporting the AU led PKO in Somalia, and not simply wish it away as an “African problem.”

Addressing the aspect of peacekeeping in perspective, Lt. Col. Joyce Sitienei, Republic of Kenya Armed Forces, reinforce Kenya’s commitment to global peace security with thousands of troops deployed to conflict zones across the globe, over the past five decades. The Kenya Defence Force first took part in the PKO in the Middle East in 1973. It has since then participated in 26 UN peace missions. Some of the major operations they undertake in PKO, include guarding UN installations, vehicle and foot patrolling, search and rescues, evacuation of personnel and local people, movement and relocation of Internally Displaced People (IDPs), infrastructure improvement, disarmament, provide social services, protection of civilians among others.

Catherine Njeru, a civilian researcher with the Kenya military complimented Lt. Col. Sitienei contribution by specifically highlight the role and place of the youth and women in working with PKO deployed in theatres of conflict, noting that the youths can play a vital multidimensional role as peacekeepers by becoming human right advisors, supply managers, electoral observers, press officers and military observers, and so forth.

Pernilla Ryden from the Office of the SRSG for the Great Lakes noted that there is increase in the number of UN PKO in Africa without a corresponding increase in the budget to support those operations, and therefore called for advocacy for more funding. There is need for a mixture of peacebuilding, diplomacy and PKO and sometimes peace reinforcements in order to have a robust mission. As Ryden stated, “remember that since peace and stability starts with an individual” more emphasis should be placed on preventive diplomacy before peacekeeping missions, and this can be partially achieved by involving the civil society and youth in peace activities in the region.

The forum which attracted an audience that included diplomats, university students and the media, had as part of its overall goal generating, through citizens’ engagement, a public conversation on the experience of peacekeeping in Africa over the past five decades, exploring its complex challenges during this period, as well as its contribution to peace and security, more broadly in the region, placing youth at the centre of that conversation. It was also an opportunity to take stock of peacekeeping in Africa as part of the 70th anniversary of the founding of both the UN, and its specialized agency, UNESCO. Earlier in 2014, UNESCO launched a series of public dialogues designed to deepen conversation around issues of social transformation and related topics. This was therefore a continuation of those conversations.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 57/179 (A/Res/57/1790), on 22 May, 2002 declaring 29 May as International Day of UN Peacekeepers. In that resolution, the General Assembly set out two clear objectives for marking the day annually, namely; first, to honour the memory of those peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the line; and second, pay tribute to those who continue to serve as peacekeepers around the world, and therefore urged all Member States and the UN System for that matter, to observe the day, “in an appropriate manner.” Each year, the day provides a moment for reflection on some of the critical challenges associated with peacekeeping, more specifically, and broadly speaking, the maintenance of peace and security, both within, and among member states of the United Nations.




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