What is the role of theUN in times of conflict?

IGCSE Global Perspectives

Useful links/movies

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHmXZXsABm0

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqYuRh78-_4&feature=channel

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQ3zbxd6JA&feature=related

Peace Making and Preventive Action

Main body: The United Nations Department of Political Affairs

Through peacemaking, preventive diplomacy and a host of other means, the United Nations works to prevent and resolve deadly conflict around the globe and to promote lasting peace in societies emerging from wars.

The Department of Political Affairs plays a central role in these efforts: • monitoring and assessing global political developments; • advising the U.N. Secretary-General on actions that could advance the

cause of peace; • providing support and guidance to U.N. peace envoys and political missions

in the field; • and serving Member States directly through electoral assistance and

through the support of DPA staff to the work of the Security Council and other U.N. bodies.

• http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/

Peacekeeping

• Main bodies: Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Department of Field Support (DFS)

• United Nations peacekeeping is a unique and dynamic instrument developed by the Organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict create the conditions for lasting peace.

• http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/

Peacebuilding• Main body: Peacebuilding Commission

The Peacebuilding Commission plays a unique role in • bringing together all of the relevant actors, including international

donors, the international financial institutions, national governments, troop contributing countries;

• marshalling resources and • advising on and proposing integrated strategies for post-conflict

peacebuilding and recovery and where appropriate, highlighting any gaps that threaten to undermine peace.

The concurrent General Assembly and Security Council resolutions establishing the Peacebuilding Commission also provided for the establishment of a Peacebuilding Fund and Peacebuilding Support Office.

• http://www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding/

Disarmament• Main body: UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)

• The Office promotes the goal of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the strengthening of the disarmament regimes in respect to other weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons. It also promotes disarmament efforts in the area of conventional weapons, especially land mines and small arms, which are the weapons of choice in contemporary conflicts.

• UNODA supports the development and implementation of practical disarmament measures after a conflict, such as disarming and demobilizing former combatants and helping them to reintegrate in civil society.

• http://www.un.org/disarmament/

Countering Terrorism• Main body: Counter-terrorism Committee Executive Directorate

(CTED)

• The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted by Member States on 8 September 2006, serves as a common platform, bringing the efforts of the United Nations system entities that work on counter-terrorism related issues into a common, coherent and more focused framework.

• The Strategy gives support to the practical work of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), established by the Secretary-General in July 2005 to ensure overall coordination and coherence in the counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations system.

• http://www.un.org/terrorism/

Electoral Assistance• The Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of political Affairs

The focal point is supported in this function by the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs. The division:

• Reviews requests from Member States; • Undertakes needs assessment missions; • Provides technical assistance; • Maintains the institutional memory of the Organisation’s experience in

electoral assistance; • Collaborates with other UN agencies and departments to design electoral

assistance projects and the electoral components of peacekeeping operations;

• Coordinates and supports the activities of international observers, and helps to develop capabilities for non-partisan national election observation; and

• Maintains a roster of international electoral experts.

• http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ead/

Decolonization

When the United Nations was established in 1945, 750 million people - almost a third of the world's population - lived in Territories that were non-self-governing, dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people live in such Territories.

• http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/

Children and Armed Conflict• Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children

and Armed Conflict The key objectives of the strategic plan are: • to support global initiatives to end grave violations; • to promote rights-based protection for children affected by armed conflict; • to make children and armed conflict concerns an integral aspect of

peacekeeping and peacebuilding; • to identify new trends and strategies for the protection of children through

research; • to secure political and diplomatic engagement on CAAC initiatives and • to raise global awareness with regard to all issues relating to children and

armed conflict.

• http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/

Women, Peace and Security

Entities Specializing in Gender Issues:• OSAGI - Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues

and Advancement of Women

• DAW - United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women

• UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women • INSTRAW - United Nations International Research and T

raining Institute for the Advancement of Women

• http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/wps/

Mine Action• Fourteen UN department, agencies, programmes and funds play a role in

mine-action programs in 30 countries and three territories. • Mine action entails more than removing landmines from the ground. It includes

actions ranging from teaching people how to protect themselves from danger in a mine-affected environment to advocating for a mine-free world.

There are five aspects or "pillars" of mine action: • Removing and destroying landmines and explosive remnants of war and

marking or fencing off areas contaminated with them. • Mine-risk education to help people understand the risks they face, identify

mines and explosive remnants of war and learn how to stay out of harm's way. • Medical assistance and rehabilitation services to victims, including job skills

training and employment opportunities. • Advocating for a world free from the threat of landmines and encouraging

countries to participate in international treaties and conventions designed to end the production, trade, shipment or use of mines and to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities.

• Helping countries destroy their stockpiles of mines as required by international agreements, such as the 1999 anti-personnel mine-ban treaty.

• http://www.mineaction.org/