Cairo, Egypt – Today’s Peacekeeping missions are facing increasing pressure to adapt to riskier and more volatile environments. This is particularly true in Africa and the Arab world, where most peacekeeping missions are deployed.

As a result, significant efforts are already underway in the United Nations (UN) to reform the peace and security architecture, and to make peacekeeping more fit for purpose. The Secretary-General’s “Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)” initiative was followed by the broadly endorsed “Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operations”, which aimed at renewing Member States’ individual and collective commitments to strengthening UN peacekeeping.

To translate “shared political commitments” into “a joint, coherent and mutually reinforcing implementation framework”, the Government of Egypt and CCCPA present the “Cairo Roadmap for Enhancing the Performance of Peacekeeping Operations from Mandate to Exit."

The Roadmap aims to advance the ongoing reform efforts by presenting concrete and actionable recommendations for the implementation of the A4P, with the aim of enhancing the performance and, consequently, the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping. It draws upon outcomes of other key policy documents, most notably the three strategic reviews of 2015 [1] and Security Council Presidential Statement of December 2017 [2].

The Roadmap is partially based on the outcome of the “Cairo High-Level Regional Conference on Enhancing the Performance of Peacekeeping Operations: From Mandate to Exit,” organized by the Government of Egypt and CCCPA, on 18-19 November 2018 [3]. In its current and final version, it has also benefited from comments received during an extensive process of consultations with other member states, the UN Secretariat, and leading practitioners and subject-matter experts, including during two events organized jointly by the Egyptian Mission in New York and CCCPA in December 2018 and February 2019.

The Roadmap defines “peacekeeping performance” as “the ability of a peacekeeping mission to achieve its strategic political objectives, set forth by the Security Council – and revised as the need arises – in its mandate, subject to the availability of the appropriate resources and  its functioning in a coherent and integrated manner, through measurable progress towards exit.”

As such, enhancing the performance of peacekeeping (i) requires a clear and adaptable political strategy; (ii) is a shared responsibility between all peacekeeping actors and stakeholders; (iii) covers the entire life cycle of the peacekeeping mission (from mandate to exit), (iv) requires capable leadership, (v) demands “whole of mission’’ coherence, and an integrated approach to mandate implementation, including through the contribution of the UN development system. 

Accordingly, this Roadmap aims to ensure a balanced, concurrent and mutually reinforcing implementation framework for the Shared Commitments, as follows:

First: Advance political solutions, including through clear, focused, prioritized, sequenced, achievable and appropriately-resourced mandates.

Second: Hold all civilian and uniformed peacekeepers, particularly leadership, accountable for effective performance under common parameters, while addressing performance shortfalls.

Third: Provide well-trained and well-equipped uniformed personnel, and support the effective development and delivery of peacekeeping training

Fourth: During the lifecycle of the mission, and particularly during transitions from peacekeeping operations, support UN Country Teams to continue assisting host countries to build peace.
For any questions or comments on the recommendations of the Roadmap, please get in touch with our Director General: ashraf.swelam@cairopeacekeeping.org
Footnotes:[1] The reports of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), the Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture and the Global Study on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security. [2] S/PRST/2017/27

[3] Held against the backdrop of ongoing reform efforts at the UN and beyond, including most notably the A4P initiative, the conference aimed to develop concrete recommendations and action points to advance the implementation of the Declaration of Shared Commitments. It provided a platform for top African and Arab troop/police-contributing countries to exchange views with other key stakeholders in UN peacekeeping operations, including host nations, members of the Security Council, the UN Secretariat, the African Union Commission, regional peace and security mechanisms, as well as leading global and regional think tanks, on enhancing the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.

Photo credit: Adama Diarra/Reuters
 

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