What is a Peace Operation?
There is no “typical” peace operation. Operations conducted by the different international organisations vary in terms of scope and tasks: While one may consist of a single office located in the respective country, another could be the size of a small city and have dozens of locations.
Definition Peace Operation
Neither international law nor political science has a clear definition of the term “peace operation.” And there are major differences in practice as well. Still, three elements are useful in defining the term:
- Authorising body
- Legitimation
- Aims.
Accordingly, we understand a peace operation to be
- deployed by an international organisation
- with the consent of the respective host country
- in order to defuse crisis situations, end violent conflicts and secure peace in the long term.
Such a peace operation can be deployed before, during and after the violent phase of a conflict.
“Peace operations are an important tool for international crisis prevention and conflict management. They help prevent violence, secure a ceasefire and build peace in a sustainable way.”
While a majority of peace operations are deployed by the UN, a number of other international and regional organisations, including the EU, OSCE or African Union (AU) also make use of this tool. Today, it is not uncommon for multiple missions with different mandates to operate in parallel within the same theatre of operations.
The Development of Peace Operations
Today’s peace operations originate from the early peacekeeping missions of the United Nations. The first of these was deployed in the late 1940s and consisted of unarmed military observers and lightly armed forces (“blue helmets”) tasked with securing ceasefires. This instrument of “peacekeeping” , had not been foreseen nor was it defined in the UN Charter, but emerged out of practical necessity. Since the end of the Cold War, it has undergone substantial change. Today, the aim of peace operations is no longer to “freeze” a conflict, but rather to deal with the underlying causes of the conflict – even if in practice this is not always successful. The resulting shift in focus is reflected in the following:
- a growing circle of actors besides the UN, including the EU, OSCE, NATO, AU and groups of states (so-called “coalitions of the willing”);
- deployment of police officers and civilian staff in addition to military personnel;
- a much wider (“multidimensional”) spectrum of tasks;
- the demand for greater specialisation of personnel;
- authorisation to use military means to protect civilians and defend the mandate (so-called “robust” operations).
Generations of Peace Operations
1. Generation: Traditional operations (from 1948)
- Static monitoring of peace and ceasefire agreements
- Safeguarding a buffer zone between parties to a conflict
2nd generation: Multidimensional operations (from late 1980s)
- Establish temporary security presence
- Simultaneously tackle causes of the conflict
3rd generation: Robust operations (from early 1990s)
- Same tasks as 2nd generation
- Plus permission to use force to defend the mandate
4th generation: (from late 1990s)
- Same tasks as 3rd generation
- Plus temporary assumption of governance tasks in individual cases, such as in Kosovo and East Timor
How Does a Peace Operation Come About?
For a peace operation to come about, various elements must align. There are different ways this process can take place, but as a rule, the following steps are required before an operation can be deployed.
Actors and Typical Formats of Peace Operations
UN
- Blue helmet operations: extensive, multi-dimensional operations with a strong military component, up to 20,000 persons
- Political missions: purely civilian, usually with advisory functions, up to several hundred persons
EU
- Military training missions to support the armed forces of the host country, up to 700 persons
- Civilian missions to advise and strengthen local capacities, frequently in the civilian security sector (police, border guards, customs authorities), up to 300 persons per mission
OSCE
- All OSCE missions are purely civilian; the number of deployed personnel is usually under 30; primary areas of operation are the Balkans and Central Asia
- Exception: the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) with over 800 “monitors” that oversee the ceasefire in Ukraine
NATO
- Two long-term, purely military peace operations with a staff of several thousand persons (Kosovo and Afghanistan)
What Are the Typical Tasks of Peace Operations?
Modern peace operations are active in a broad spectrum of areas. Large multidimensional UN missions, in particular, normally have a range of different mandated tasks, while smaller EU or OSCE missions, usually, have a narrower focus. Personnel working in peace operations are active in the following fields, among others:
1. Protection of Civilians
Since the late 1990s, this remit has become one of the core mandated tasks, in particular of UN peacekeeping operations. To protect civilians, the UN pursues a holistic approach, in which all components – military, police and civilian – contribute in three tiers: (1) Protection through dialogue and engagement (i.e. supporting political processes, building institutional capacities, managing conflict and fostering reconciliation), (2) provision of physical protection (i.e. deterrence through troop presence, military intervention in the event of imminent danger, preventive security operations), (3) establishment of a safe environment (e.g. patrols in refugee camps, securing the return of refugees, training security forces).
2. Human Rights
Peace operations pursue three core objectives related to human rights: (1) Protecting and promoting human rights through long-term measures; (2) empowering the population to assert and claim their human rights; and (3) enabling state institutions to implement their obligations in this area. A typical activity is human rights monitoring, i.e. monitoring and verification of compliance with human rights. Increasingly, peace operations also offer human rights training for government institutions and components of the security sector. Another important element is support for civil society and national human rights bodies.
3. Police
Since the 1960s, police activities have been a part of peace operations – from individual officers in EU or OSCE missions to large police components in UN peace operations. Their mandated tasks vary significantly, but mainly entail providing advice and building capacity. In many peace operations, this also includes basic and specialised training for local personnel, e.g. in the areas of border management and forensics. Another focus is on developing structures and procedures of police institutions, in particular training institutions. Peace operations also advise local security forces on the selection and recruitment of police officers. In the majority of missions, international police officers do not carry out executive functions. However, they have taken on executive tasks in individual cases, where they provided public safety and investigated criminal cases.
4. Institutional Capacity Building and Governance
In some mission areas, peace operations contribute to delivering basic services to the population, including security, health and education. In crisis regions, official institutions are often only able to fulfil these core governmental tasks to a limited degree. For this reason, activities in the area of institutional capacity building and governance aim to build and strengthen the capabilities of ministries, parliaments and oversight bodies. This entails a broad range of measures such as strengthening the watchdog function of parliaments and civil society, improving transparency in public expenditures or promoting anti-corruption initiatives.
5. Monitoring and Verification
Observers are deployed in peace operations to support the implementation of ceasefire agreements and peace accords through the neutral verification of compliance with the agreed terms by all conflict parties and to document breaches thereof. Their presence contributes to confidence building, crisis prevention and early warning. While in the past monitoring and verification tasks were mostly carried out by military observers (MilObs), nowadays police and civilian personnel have also become active in this area.
6. Women, Peace and Security
The Women, Peace and Security agenda includes the implementation of UN resolution 1325 and its seven subsequent resolutions. This agenda represents the linkage between the needs and experiences of women and girls in conflict situations and the responsibility of member states to incorporate a gender perspective in peace operations and security policies (gender mainstreaming). The WPS agenda demands action in four central areas: participation, prevention, protection and reconstruction and reintegration.
You can find a detailed description of the 23 most common mandated tasks at
On Your Way to a Peace Operation
If you are a German national and have relevant expertise, ZIF can offer you the chance to deploy to a peace operation, as well as
- Professional pre-deployment preparation
- Comprehensive support before, during and after deployment and
- An employment contract with ZIF in accordance with German labour law and with an attractive salary.