8 Regional peacekeeping and enforcement action

Author(s):  
Gray Christine

This final chapter examines the role of regional peacekeeping, the limitations on what may be expected from it, and the uncertainties about the applicable law that remained at the end of the Cold War. The UN Secretary General, in his 1991 Agenda for Peace, argued that the regional organizations possessed a potential that should be used for preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, peacemaking, and post-conflict peace building. Since then the UN has increased its cooperation with regional organizations in the sphere of peacekeeping. The Brahimi Report and the 2015 High-level Panel Report made recommendations on the division of labour between the UN and regional organizations in the light of their comparative advantages. Today, regional organizations, and particularly the African Union, operate as ‘first responders’ when the UN is not willing or able to take swift action in situations of ongoing conflict.

1965 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Gross

Legal controversy within the United Nations has resulted from the confrontation of the Organization's purposes with the specific rules set forth in the Charter for their implementation. Two sections of the Charter stand out as having produced yet unresolved legal tangles: One is the provision relating to the maintenance of international peace and security through effective collective action; the other is the group of provisions relating to self-determination and human rights. The Cold War and the attempts of the Great Powers to use the UN to attain or defend their policy objectives have shaped the attitude of Members toward the law and the role of law in the more clearly political activities of the UN. Consequently, politico-legal controversy has arisen with respect to the allocation of competences and powers between the General Assembly and the Security Council, the manner of operation of these two bodies, and the distribution of responsibility for “enforcement action’ between the UN and regional organizations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 361-384
Author(s):  
Ayodele Akenroye

The end of the Cold War witnessed the resurgence of ethnic conflicts in Africa, which necessitated the deployment of peacekeeping missions in many crisis contexts. The risk of HIV transmission increases in post-conflict environments where peacekeepers are at risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS. In response, UN Security Council Resolution 1308 (2000) stressed the need for the UN to incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention awareness skills and advice in its training for peacekeepers. However, troops in peacekeeping missions remain under national command, thus limiting the UN prerogatives. This article discusses the risk of peacekeepers contracting or transmitting HIV/AIDS, as well as the role of peacekeeping missions in controlling the spread of the disease, and offers an account of the steps taken within UN peacekeeping missions and African regional peacekeeping initiatives to tackle the challenges of HIV/AIDS. While HIV/AIDS remains a scourge that could weaken peacekeeping in Africa, it seems that inertia has set in, making it even more difficult to tackle the complexity of this phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Page

<p>The potential role of women in conflict and post-conflict environments has been the subject of much debate in the field of peace and conflict studies. In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which called for a greater involvement of women and acknowledgement of gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments, and this has led to further discussion about what this might mean and how it might be implemented. Despite this women are continually under-represented in nearly all peace processes and there is no universally agreed upon way to ensure this situation does not come about. The barriers women face range from cultural to logistical and economic, and surmounting them can be hard to achieve.  One case where women have been involved at all levels in the peace process with substantial success is the Pacific island of Bougainville, where a conflict over mining issues and secession from Papua New Guinea was waged from 1988-1997. Women were active in attempts to bring all parties to negotiations during the conflict and have also been heavily involved in the continuing reconciliation and healing processes. For cultural reasons Bougainvillean women were well placed to perform the role of peace-builders but that is not to say that they did not face challenges and barriers to their involvement. This thesis examines the involvement of women in both the immediate peace negotiations and the longer-term aspects of the peace process in Bougainville in order explain how and why they enjoyed these successes and what lessons can be learnt from this case in regards to the potential roles of women in other post-conflict environments. Four factors will be identified as key to women's involvement in the peace process: the history of Bougainville up to and including the conflict; the grassroots mobilisation and organisation of women; the traditional cultural roles of women in Bougainville; and the identification of women with motherhood and its associated traits.  These factors indicate that the involvement of women in peace processes is highly context-specific and although there are policies which can be pursued to encourage their participation the potential barriers to this are imposing.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Husnul Khotimah

This paper intends to explore the events of the conflict on 23 May 1997 from the aspect of the peaceful resolution. Where a peace-building effort is needed to maintain a peaceful situation. With the collective memory being represented in the present mass, it is part of the form of efforts in fostering post-conflict sustainable peace. Through the elements of society (Non-Governmental Actor) the memory of conflict is represented in the public sphere as a form of warning against forgetting over history.The role of a non-governmental actor in peacebuilding has a strategic role in resolving conflicts and building peace post-conflict. There are three things raised in this research that is: The incident of conflict "Jum'at Kelabu" in the city of Banjarmasin in 1997, a collective memory form of conflict that built elements of society after the conflict, and the views of elements of society to the collective memory that was represented in the present in the effort to build peacebuilding. This research is a qualitative research, using a sociology-historical approach. The method used in data collection is through observation, interview, and documentation as secondary data. From the results of data analysis, the following results are obtained: the conflict that occurred in Banjarmasin city has a long chronology, the cause of this conflict is an unclear campaign route, the party base that controls Banjarmasin, because the mass of one the OPP that interfere with the Friday prayer, and aggressiveness of campaign participants. The form of peacebuilding efforts of the elements of society is to take peaceful action down the street, discussion/dialogue, and watching a documentary film. Elements of society argue that bringing back the memory of the conflict has two impacts: negative and positive impacts on people’s lives thereafter. These efforts need to be built to create an awareness that the conflict is painful, unpleasant and disturbing so hopefully it will never happen again.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Aswin Ariyanto Azis

The role of education in post conflict reconstruction has become increasingly important and gained much greater acknowledgment in development studies in recent years. Education is increasingly accepted as an integral part of humanitarian response in emergencies. It can help conflict-affected community and individual to return to normalcy, safeguard the most vulnerable, provide psychosocial care, promote tolerance, unify divided communities, and begin the process of reconstruction and peace building. However, research also suggests that education can encourage intolerance, create or generate inequality, and intensify social tensions that can lead to civil conflict and violence. Education is a key determinant of income, influence, and power. Inequalities in educational access can lead to other inequalities–in income, employment, nutrition and health as well as political position, which can be an important source of conflict. Hence, education has potential to either aggravate the conditions that lead to conflict or to heal them. Nonetheless, the unavoidable conclusions must be that ignoring education, or postponing it, is not an option. This essay attempts to answer question on how post-conflict education be able to contribute to social transformation and sustainable development. It argues that education in general has a key role in both preventing conflict and rebuilding fractured post-conflict societies. Hence it puts forward education as a human development activity and must be undertaken with a development perspective if it is to contribute reversing the damage and to building resilience to prevent further violence conflict.


Author(s):  
Charlene Cook ◽  
Donna Winslow

Post-conflict reconstruction provides a unique opportunity to redress the experience of women during war and capitalize on the shifting gender roles prompted by conflict to advance a more equitable female citizenship. However, most post-conflict initiatives have not incorporated a gender-based action plan, impeded by a disparate prioritization of gender by civil and military actors. In order to ensure equitable post conflict outcomes, gender representation and mainstreaming must be comparably prioritized by civil and military engagement in peace building. This paper explores Bosnia as a case study to highlight the necessary role of civil-military cooperation in gender-based peace building.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Farmaki ◽  
Katerina Antoniou

Purpose This paper aims to extend understanding on how the tourist experience at dark heritage sites is directed and consequently influences the narratives of cultural heritage. By discussing the way dark heritage sites are projected by suppliers, the paper anticipates to advance knowledge on the nexus between dark tourism and heritage and to offer insights into the management of dissonant heritage sites. Design/methodology/approach The cases of two opposing national museums in the divided island of Cyprus are presented and discussed in an attempt to illustrate how dissonant heritage interpretation in a post-conflict context is often the product of political direction, commemorating the past and to a great extent influencing the future of a society. Findings National struggle museums represent dark heritage sites, which evoke emotions pertinent to ethnic identity reinforcement. Evidently, the management of such sites is in opposition to peace-building efforts taking place in a post-conflict context. The paper concludes that visitation to dark heritage sites is culturally driven rather than death-related and suggests that efforts consolidate to target specific segments of visitors, if the reconciliation potential of dark tourism is to be unleashed. Originality/value Insofar, minimal attention has been paid on the conditions of the supply of dark heritage sites and the role of suppliers in influencing culture-based issues including collective memory and national identity. This paper addresses this gap in literature and advances understanding on the developmental elements defining dark heritage tourism, by identifying and discussing trajectories between dark tourism and politics.


2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphanie Vig

AbstractThe role of UN missions in post-conflict societies has progressed through peace-keeping and peace-making to a more recent emphasis on peace-building. To accompany this new focus, the UN has articulated a rule of law agenda, two central components of which are promoting international norms and standards and facilitating national ownership. This paper explores the self-sanctioned role the UN has awarded itself in promoting the rule of law in post-conflict societies by exploring each one of these two central components and their interaction.Meritorious in their own right, the potential of these two components of the rule of law agenda may position the UN in situations where both cannot be satisfied contemporaneously. In implementing its rule of law agenda, the United Nations will likely come to face the prospect of a local authority seeking to differ from international norms and standards. In such circumstances, the UN's rule of law agenda makes conflictual promises. The choices and prioritization that the UN will be called upon to make in such circumstances will reveal much about how it conceptualizes its role in promoting the rule of law in post-conflict societies. This paper seeks to delineate the nature of the choices confronting the United Nations in pursuit of its rule of law agenda.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-17
Author(s):  
Dorothy Goredema ◽  

This paper argues that conflict resolution, peace building and reconciliation in the 21st century requires a cultural slant in addition to conventional political and military approaches. This development should not be surprising especially given the nature of recent wars which have turned out to be more intra-state than inter-state. Since the end of the Cold war, wars have been focused on issues of culture, ethnicity, politics and religion than on nationalisms. Thus, cultural beliefs, norms, traditions, ethnicity and religion have contributed towards many major disruptions that have cost innocent lives and loss of valuable property. In addition, conflicts and divisions within societies reflect lack of appreciation and intolerance of others` cultural beliefs, views and are motivated by cultural differences. In the wars of recent decades, rape has been used as a weapon of war and children have been abducted to be killers and sex-slaves. Millions of families have been uprooted from their homes. Taken as a whole, these current developments allow us to witness how everyday people are experiencing the historical, cultural, economic and social forces that shape our world. As such, this present effort unpacks the role that culture can play in peace building and reconciliation. The research is qualitative in nature and applied discourse analysis to draw information from journal articles, published books as well as reports in the area of reconciliation and peace-building. Examples will be drawn mainly from Zimbabwe and other different countries in world to substantiate some of the arguments put forward in the paper.


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