Peacekeeping is cost effective, but must adapt to new reality

António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations

PREMIUM

New York / Wed, May 31, 2017 / 01:58 pm

Peacekeeping is cost effective, but must adapt to new reality

Helmet and flack jackets of the members of the 1 parachute battalion of the South African contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), in a photo dated 14 February 2008. (UN Photo/Marie Frechon)

When I entered the United Nations Secretariat building for the first time as secretary-general in January, my first act was to lay a wreath honoring more than 3,500 UN staff who died in the service of peace. Later that same week, two Blue Helmets were killed in the Central African Republic, where they were working to prevent violent confrontations between communities from descending into mass killings. UN peacekeepers place themselves in harm’s way every day, between armed groups that are trying to kill each other or to harm civilians. Countless lives have been saved and improved by UN peacekeeping over the past 70 years; countless families ravaged by war have been given a new start. Independent research has shown the worth of peacekeeping: it prevents the spread of violence; and it typically reduces the numbers of civilians killed by more than 90 percent, compared to befo...