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POLITICS: Conflict Prevention Cheaper than Peacekeeping

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 31 2008 (IPS) - When former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan led mediation efforts to end the post-election ethnic rioting in Kenya, which cost the lives of over 300 people, he proved that conflict prevention was more cost-effective than peacekeeping.

That successful mediation, which forestalled a civil war and avoided a major bloodbath in the West African country earlier this year, cost only 208,000 dollars, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“And that effort ended Kenya’s deadly inter-ethnic political clashes,” he said.

Ban said a recent report by the U.S.-based RAND Corporation had indicated a 40-percent decline in the number of military conflicts worldwide since 1992. This, he said, was attributed largely to an increase in U.N. efforts at peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

Although the annual U.N. peacekeeping budget has climbed steadily to about 7.0 billion dollars, Ban pointed out, “it is still dwarfed by the approximately trillion dollars spent annually on military expenditures (worldwide) and on the arms trade.”

“And it doesn’t begin to take into account the massive human costs of war,” he added.

At a press conference early this week, the outgoing Under-Secretary-General for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno said the United Nations was currently overseeing 20 peacekeeping operations worldwide, with some 110,000 peacekeepers in the field.

When the joint U.N.-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is in full force by the end of the year, the total number of peacekeepers will rise to 136,000.

Guehenno underlined two of the most fundamental elements of peacekeeping that were beyond the control of the U.N.’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Firstly, the will of the warring parties to take steps to ensure lasting peace; and secondly, the level of engagement of and unity among the 192 member states, especially the 15-member Security Council.

If the Council was divided, as in the case of Sudan, then its edicts would be weak and its divisions would be played out by the various parties.

“When the Council was truly united, it was a formidable force,” he added.

“The notion that you can enforce a peace is wrong,” he said. “What you can do is deter spoilers on the margins of a conflict, but peace has to be made by those who made war.”

Despite risks, on-the-ground complexities and political sensitivities, he pointed out, U.N. peacekeeping operations were making a difference as one of the world body’s core functions.

But still it required the necessary financial and political backing of member states.

“I have seen in a number of places, from Liberia to Haiti to Sierra Leone, where a difference was made – insufficient, imperfect – but a difference was made and I think it is important for the United Nations to be able to continue to make that difference because for many people it is their only hope and the United Nations is the institution of last resort,” he added.

Meanwhile, as of June this year, the total strength of UNAMID was only 11,359 personnel, far below the fully operational force of 26,000.

In a report to the Security Council last month, Ban said the deployment of troops in Darfur has been “substantially delayed” due to several factors, including the continued insecurity in Sudan and the slow pace of readying deployment sites to receive the police and military units.

Additionally, he blamed the lack of equipment to bring former infantry battalions of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to United Nations size and standards, and the numerous logistical challenges associated with transporting equipment and supplies into the mission area.

A major support issue that will have a significantly negative impact on UNAMID deployment relates to the contractor providing accommodations and other critical infrastructure.

“The contractor is behind schedule and has not performed as expected,” the secretary-general said.

Asked for his personal views on the beleaguered U.N. mission in Darfur, Guehenno said the political context of the crisis in Sudan must evolve significantly towards a solidly backed peace agreement.

“Failing that, even a significantly strengthened peacekeeping force would be incapable of living up to the hopes that had been placed in it,” he said.

“It sort of angers me that, there we are, wanting to make a difference, but not having the means, the resources or the context in which we can make all the difference we would like to make,” he added.