Peacekeeping: the UN very present in Africa

Published on 24.04.2023 at 10:00 am by Mohamed Kenouvi

Of the 12 ongoing UN peacekeeping missions around the world, 6 are deployed in Africa. In addition to Mali (MINUSMA), they are present in the DRC (MONUSCO), in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), in Western Sahara (MINURSO), in South Sudan (MINUSS) and in Abyé, in Sudan (FISNUA).

They derive their legitimacy from Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which stipulates that in the event of a threat to peace, the Security Council may authorize the use of all means, including coercive ones. And therefore very often aim to facilitate the political process and the organization of free elections, to assist in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants and to protect civilians.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) replaced the 1^is July 2010 MONUC (Mission of the United Nations Organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo). This change reflected the new phase the country had entered pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1925 of May 28, 2010. The new mission is authorized to use any means necessary to fulfill its mandate.

In the Central African Republic, it was in a report on March 3, 2014 that the Secretary-General recommended that the Security Council authorize the deployment of a multidimensional peacekeeping operation, whose first priority would be the protection of civilians. Thus was born the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), replacing the International Support Mission for the Central African Republic, under African leadership (MISCA), deployed in the country in 2013.

Created by Resolution 690 of April 29, 1981, following the acceptance of settlement proposals by Morocco and the Polisario Front on August 30, 1988, the United Nations Mission for the Organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is the oldest peacekeeping mission on the continent. On April 29, 2016, as the dispute persisted, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2285, calling on the parties to continue to show political will in order to engage in resolute and substantive negotiations.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was established by Resolution 1996 on July 9, 2011, after the country’s independence. Previously, the UN had set up an Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), to respond to the emergency in this area of ​​Sudan claimed by the two countries.

Authorized to use force to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, UNISFA controls this area and facilitates the delivery of aid.