The United Nations Information Service, Vienna (UNIS) organized a special lunchtime Discussion Forum today to commemorate the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The theme of the Forum was "Challenges to United Nations peacekeeping: growing demand, decreasing resources", drawn from the recent op-ed article of Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean Marie Guéhenno. Two speakers were invited as panellists to launch the discussions: Colonel Franz Leitgeb, the Commander of the Centre for Operations Preparations of the Austrian International Command, who reviewed the main theme from a practical, field-centred, troop contributor perspective while Janos Tisovszky, an Information Officer with UNIS - who has been lecturing on this topic for the past decade - focused on the broader aspects of current peacekeeping challenges. The intention was to use the occasion for a broader review of the complexities of UN peace operations and thus serve as background information and a useful thinking framework for understanding and assessing current topical developments such as the Security Council debate on Iraq or the riots in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In his presentation, Mr. Tisovszky highlighted the continued relevance of UN peacekeeping, and its status as a specific conflict management tool in the hands of Member States. The need for Member States to provide clear mandates, the necessary resources for executing the mandates and to maintain continued political engagement to deal with complex and long-term peacekeeping tasks was a recurring theme. He reviewed the development of UN peacekeeping, highlighted the current challenges posed by the continued and desired adherence of Member States to the classic peacekeeping principles of consent of the parties, impartiality on the part of the UN and minimal use of force on the ground. He also explored the challenges faced by the international community as a whole in assessing the complexities of "use of force". The challenge of globalization and the problematics of non-state-based actors and threats were also discussed with a focus on how these may put pressure on the need to reinterpret such concepts as security, intervention, sovereignty and legitimacy.
In his presentation, Colonel Leitgeb reviewed Austrian participation in past and present peacekeeping missions. He also stressed that Austrian peacekeepers were volunteers motivated by professionalism, adventure, the humanitarian idea of contributing to international stability and also financial considerations and new career advantages. He reviewed some of the qualitative changes to peacekeeping operations, highlighting the changes in the nature of conflicts, mandates and actual tasks in the field. Amongst the challenges, he mentioned the fact that the UN's peacekeeping role is being challenged by other actors, especially in Europe, like the European Union and the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This, he said, may lead to a higher political commitment on the part of European potential troop contributors to EU missions rather than to UN peacekeeping missions. He concluded by underlining the importance of better coordination among the various actors in the field, especially the military and civilian components, more flexibility in their cooperation and the need for better and more unified training for all those taking part in peacekeeping missions.
The presentations were followed by a lively debate among the speakers and the audience, with many audience members offering comments and questions on the information provided.
Responding to a question on how peacekeeping missions were received by Austrian soldiers, Colonel Leitgeb pointed out that in Austria, joining a peacekeeping mission was a voluntary option, and so far, they have had no problem in recruiting forces. He elaborated that there were a series of factors that motivated soldiers into volunteering, from professional experience to the financial aspect, besides the nature of the mission.
The peacekeeping mission in Cyprus also received a number of queries from the audience, directed at both the speakers, including how many contingents were actually posted on the ground, to the recent report of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, where he stated the UN's intention to continue its mission.
An audience member observed that following the first surge in UN peacekeeping activities in the early 90s, the UN had adopted a more reserved, selective stance in its involvement in peacekeeping operations. He questioned whether there is enough basis for the current resurgence of peacekeeping activities to the same levels as of the 90s, because he did not see any change in political will, resources and the readiness of Member States to contribute to peacekeeping. He wondered whether the only positive development, a change in the way the UN manages its operations, was basis enough.
In response to a comment from the audience, on the relevance and effectiveness of the UN in peacekeeping missions, Mr. Tisovszky responded that the UN was only a "vehicle" guided by the interests of the Member States. If a clear political will, a strong mandate and enough resources were not in place, the UN could only be as relevant as the Member States want it to be.
The event was held in the UNIS Multimedia room and was attended by representatives of the media, permanent missions and NGOs as well as interested staff members.
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