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UN peace missions and Germany’s engagement
German soldiers during a UN mission, © Liesa Johannssen/photothek.net
The paramount task of the United Nations Security Council is to maintain and restore peace. To this end, the Security Council issues mandates for peace missions. Germany is among the participants in these missions.
According to Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, the purpose of the organisation is “to maintain world peace and international security”. Given the many crises and conflicts around the world, as well as new risks and threats to international security posed in part by non-state actors, the need for such efforts is no less pressing today than in the past.
Organs and instruments
The UN Security Council takes appropriate measures to maintain or restore peace. This includes issuing mandates for peace missions. The Security Council can mandate the UN itself, regional organisations (such as NATO, the EU, the OSCE or the African Union) and coalitions of the willing led by a country or an international organisation to intervene in a conflict situation. Since its foundation, the UN has conducted over 70 peace missions itself and mandated many others through the Security Council.
As a result of the increasing complexity of crises around the world, UN‑led missions cover a wide range of tasks and have grown in number and scope. This shows the importance of UN peace missions, but also poses significant challenges to the system as regards planning, conducting and concluding missions. Germany is therefore advocating for the missions to be reformed and adapted to current circumstances.
Today, peace missions are often planned in line with a “multidimensional approach”. This means that, alongside purely military peacekeeping tasks such as safeguarding or monitoring borders and protecting the civilian population, the missions increasingly also assume a wide range of civilian duties. Depending on their mandate, peace missions actively support political processes, for example by endeavouring to mediate between conflict parties; supporting security-sector reform; destroying small arms; monitoring elections and other democratic processes; establishing rule-of-law institutions; and monitoring the human rights situation.
UN peace missions can involve peacekeeping or special political missions. Unlike peacekeeping missions, special political missions do not have any military components, but instead focus solely on civilian conflict resolution. Examples of such missions include UNSOM in Somalia and BINUH in Haiti.
Around 100,000 people (soldiers, police officers and civilian personnel) are involved in 12 peacekeeping missions around the world at present.
German personnel in UN peace missions
Germany’s engagement in UN peace missions is an important component of German foreign and peace policy.
Germany contributes civilian experts, police officers and soldiers to UN peace missions. At present, its personnel are involved in three peacekeeping missions and five special political missions. Furthermore, Germany is involved in missions mandated by the UN, as well as in NATO, EU and OSCE missions.
Members of German security forces are currently participating in the following UN peace missions:
German Bundestag mandates for Bundeswehr deployments in:
Further personnel contributions to:
Besides contributing personnel to UN peace missions, Germany also supports the UN’s extensive engagement in many places by conducting bilateral capacity-building and stabilisation measures and, for example, by deploying mobile training teams. This is part of a joined-up approach to peacekeeping.
As the fourth-largest contributor to the relevant UN budget after the US, China and Japan, Germany is also a crucial source of funding for peace missions. It is currently contributing approximately six percent of the budget.