The United Nations has authorized 71 peacekeeping operations as of April 2018. These do not include interventions authorized by the UN like the Korean War and the Gulf War. The 1990s saw the most UN peacekeeping operations to date. Peacekeeping operations are overseen by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and share some common characteristics, namely the inclusion of a military or police component, often with an authorization for use of force under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. Peacekeeping operations are distinct from special political missions (SPMs), which are overseen by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). SPMs are not included in the table below.
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| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Ongoing | UN Truce Supervision Organization | UNTSO |  Israel | To monitor ceasefire in the Arab-Israeli conflict. | Authorized in June 1948 after the First Arab-Israeli War. The first UN peacekeeping mission. |
| 1949 | Ongoing | UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan | UNMOGIP |  India | To monitor India-Pakistan ceasefire in the Kashmir conflict. | Authorized after the First Indo-Pakistani War. |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 1967 | UN Emergency Force I | UNEF I |  Egypt | To supervise withdrawal of Egyptian and Israeli troops from Suez Crisis. | First armed peacekeepers. Ended June 1967 during the buildup to the Six-Day War. |
| 1958 | 1958 | UN Observation Group in Lebanon | UNOGIL |  Lebanon | To prevent troops and weapons entering Lebanon during crisis. | Ended December 1958 |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1964 | UN Operation in the Congo | ONUC |  Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) | To prevent foreign intervention in and preserve territory of the Congo during the Congo Crisis. | Ended June 1964 |
| 1962 | 1963 | UN Security Force and UN Temporary Executive Authority | UNSF / UNTEA |  Netherlands New Guinea | Monitor ceasefire during transition of West Irian from Dutch to Indonesian rule. | Ended April 1963 |
| 1963 | 1964 | UN Yemen Observation Mission | UNYOM |  North Yemen | Supervise disengagement of Saudi Arabia and Egypt from the North Yemeni Civil War. | Ended September 1964 |
| 1964 | Ongoing | UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus | UNFICYP |  Cyprus | Prevent conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. | |
| 1965 | 1966 | Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic | DOMREP |  Dominican Republic | Monitor situation caused by rival governments in Dominican Republic. | Ended October 1966 |
| 1965 | 1966 | UN India-Pakistan Observation Mission | UNIPOM | India | Supervise India-Pakistan ceasefire outside of Kashmir after the Second Indo-Pakistani War. | Ended March 1966 |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 1979 | UN Emergency Force II | UNEF II |  Egypt | Supervise withdrawal of forces from the Sinai Peninsula after Egypt, Syria and Israel fought in the Yom Kippur War. | Ended July 1979 |
| 1974 | Ongoing | UN Disengagement Observer Force | UNDOF | Golan Heights | Maintain ceasefire between Syria and Israel on the Golan Heights. | |
| 1978 | Ongoing | UN Interim Force in Lebanon | UNIFIL | Lebanon | Supervise Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Keep the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area. |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 1990 | UN Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan | UNGOMAP |  Afghanistan | Enforce Afghanistan and Pakistan from mutual non-interference. | Ended March 1990 |
| 1988 | 1991 | UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group | UNIIMOG |  Iraq | Supervise ceasefire after the Iran-Iraq War. | Ended February 1991 |
| 1989 | 1991 | UN Angola Verification Mission I | UNAVEM I |  Angola | Supervise withdrawal of Cuban troops from the Angolan Civil War. | Ended June 1991 |
| 1989 | 1990 | UN Transition Assistance Group | UNTAG |  South West Africa ( | Supervise Namibia's elections and transition to independence from South Africa. | Ended March 1990 |
| 1989 | 1992 | UN Observer Group in Central America | ONUCA |  Nicaragua | Monitor ceasefire in the Nicaraguan Civil War. | Ended January 1992 |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2003 | UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission | UNIKOM |  Kuwait | Enforce Kuwait-Iraq border after Gulf War. | Ended 2003 |
| 1991 | 1995 | UN Angola Verification Mission II | UNAVEM II | Angola | Enforce ceasefire in the Angolan Civil War. | Ended February 1995 |
| 1991 | 1995 | UN Observer Mission in El Salvador | ONUSAL |  El Salvador | Enforce ceasefire in the Salvadoran Civil War. | Ended April 1995 |
| 1991 | Ongoing | UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara | MINURSO |  Western Sahara (independence disputed by | Implement ceasefire and help promote referendum on area's future after the Western Sahara War. | |
| 1991 | 1992 | UN Advance Mission in Cambodia | UNAMIC |  Cambodia | Prepare way for UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia after the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. | Ended March 1992 |
| 1992 | 1995 | UN Protection Force | UNPROFOR and UNPREDEP [1] |  Croatia | Protect area of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Republic of Macedonia during the Yugoslav Wars. | restructured December 1995 |
| 1992 | 1993 | UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia | UNTAC |  Cambodia | Assist reorganization of Cambodia. | Ended September 1993 |
| 1992 | 1993 | UN Operation in Somalia I | UNOSOM I |  Somalia | Enforce ceasefire during the Somali Civil War, reorganized as Unified Task Force (UNITAF [2] ) | Replaced March 1993 by UNOSOM II |
| 1992 | 1993 | UN Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea | UNOVER |  Ethiopia | Monitor referendum for independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. | Ended April 1993 |
| 1992 | 1994 | UN Operation in Mozambique | ONUMOZ |  Mozambique | Monitor ceasefire in the Mozambican Civil War. | Ended December 1994 |
| 1993 | 1995 | UN Operation in Somalia II | UNOSOM II | Somalia | Stabilize Somalia and assist humanitarian efforts during the Somali Civil War. | Ended March 1995 |
| 1993 | 1994 | UN Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda | UNOMUR |  Rwanda | To enforce ceasefire between Rwanda and the rebel group based in Uganda during the Rwandan Civil War. | Ended September 1994 |
| 1993 | 2009 | UN Observer Mission in Georgia | UNOMIG |  Georgia
| Enforce ceasefire between Georgia and Abkhaz separatists after the Abkhaz War. | Russia vetoed extension in June 2009 |
| 1993 | 1996 | UN Observer Mission in Liberia | UNOMIL |  Liberia | Monitor ceasefire and elections after the First Liberian Civil War. | Ended September 1997 |
| 1993 | 1996 | UN Mission in Haiti | UNMIH |  Haiti | Stabilize Haiti after coup overturned. | Ended June 1996 |
| 1993 | 1996 | UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda | UNAMIR | Rwanda | Monitor ceasefire, and after the Rwandan Genocide to promote relief efforts. | Ended March 1996 |
| 1994 | 1994 | UN Aouzou Strip Observer Group | UNASOG |  Chad | Monitor Libya's withdrawal from disputed territory given by International Court of Justice to Chad. | Ended June 1994 |
| 1994 | 2002 | UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan | UNMOT |  Tajikistan | Monitor ceasefire in the Tajikistani Civil War. | Ended May 2000 |
| 1995 | 1997 | UN Angola Verification Mission III | UNAVEM III | Angola | Monitor ceasefire and disarmament. | Ended June 1997, but follow-up mission MONUA |
| 1995 | 1996 | UN Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia | UNCRO | Croatia | Attempts to implement ceasefire in the Croatian War. | Ended January 1996 |
| 1995 | 1999 | UN Preventive Deployment Force | UNPREDEP |  Macedonia | Replaced UNPROFOR in Macedonia and monitored border with Albania. | Ended February 1999 |
| 1995 | 2002 | UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina | UNMIBH |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | Monitor human rights, demining, relief after the Bosnian War. | Ended 31 December 2002 |
| 1996 | 1998 | UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium | UNTAES |  Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia | Supervises integration of region into Croatia. | Ended January 1998 |
| 1996 | 2002 | UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka | UNMOP | Croatia | Monitor demilitarization of the Prevlaka peninsula, Croatia. | Ended December 2002 |
| 1996 | 1997 | UN Support Mission in Haiti | UNSMIH | Haiti | Modernize police and army of Haiti. | Ended July 1997 |
| 1997 | 1997 | UN Verification Mission in Guatemala | MINUGUA |  Guatemala | Monitor ceasefire in the Guatemalan Civil War. | Ended May 1997 |
| 1997 | 1999 | UN Observer Mission in Angola | MONUA | Angola | Monitoring ceasefire and disarmament. | Ended February 1999 |
| 1997 | 1997 | UN Transition Mission in Haiti | UNTMIH | Haiti | Help stabilize Haiti. | Ended November 1997 |
| 1997 | 2000 | UN Civilian Police Mission in Haiti | MIPONUH | Haiti | Modernize Haiti's police forces. | Ended March 2000 |
| 1998 | 1998 | UN Civilian Police Support Group | UNPSG | Croatia | Monitor Croatian police | Ended October 1998 |
| 1998 | 2000 | UN Mission in the Central African Republic | MINURCA |  Central African Republic | Maintaining security and stability in Central African Republic | Ended February 2000 |
| 1998 | 1999 | UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone | UNOMSIL |  Sierra Leone | Monitor disarmament and demobilization in the Sierra Leone Civil War. | Ended October 1999 |
| 1999 | Ongoing | UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo | UNMIK | Kosovo | Exercise administrative authority, including administration of justice in Kosovo | |
| 1999 | 2005 | UN Mission in Sierra Leone | UNAMSIL | Sierra Leone | Help stabilize and disarm Sierra Leone | Ended December 2005 |
| 1999 | 1999 | UN Mission in East Timor | UNAMET |  Indonesia | To oversee popular consultation on political relation to Indonesia | Ended 1999, See UNTAET the follow-up mission. |
| 1999 | 2002 | UN Transitional Administration in East Timor | UNTAET | East Timor (later independent | Transition East Timor to independence | Ended May 2002. See UNMISET the follow-up mission. |
| 1999 | 2010 | UN Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo | MONUC |  Democratic Republic of the Congo | Monitor ceasefire in Democratic Republic of the Congo | Ended June 2010. See MONUSCO the follow-up mission. |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Location | Purpose | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2008 | UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea | UNMEE |  Ethiopia | Enforce ceasefire after the Eritrean–Ethiopian War. | Ended July 2008 after both Eritrea (forced out UN troops) and Ethiopia (refused to accept ICJ ruling on the border) refused to cooperate |
| 2002 | 2005 | United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor | UNMISET |  East Timor | To ensure security and stabilise the nascent state during the post-independence period. | Ended May 2005 |
| 2003 | 2018 | United Nations Mission in Liberia | UNMIL | Liberia | Oversee ceasefire and train national police after the Second Liberian Civil War. | |
| 2004 | 2017 | United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire | UNOCI |  Cote d'Ivoire | Facilitate implementation of peace process after the First Ivorian Civil War | |
| 2004 | 2017 | United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti | MINUSTAH | Haiti | Return stability to Haiti | Later Coordinated security response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake |
| 2004 | 2006 | United Nations Operation in Burundi | ONUB |  Burundi | To help implement the Arusha accords | ended December 2006, replaced by BINUB |
| 2005 | 2011 | United Nations Mission in the Sudan | UNMIS |  Sudan | To support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement after the Second Sudanese Civil War, perform certain functions relating to humanitarian assistance, and protection and promotion of human rights | ended in July 2011, succeeded by UNMISS. |
| 2006 | 2012 | United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste | UNMIT | East Timor | To support the Government in consolidating stability, enhancing a culture of democratic governance, and facilitating political dialogue among Timorese stakeholders, in their efforts to bring about a process of national reconciliation and to foster social cohesion | |
| 2007 | Ongoing | United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur | UNAMID | Sudan | To monitor arms trade and shipping, to cause and keep a ceasefire during the War in Darfur. | |
| 2007 | 2010 | United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad | MINURCAT | Central African Republic | Established due to refugee crisis from the Darfur genocide in Sudan. | ended December 2010 due to opposition by Chadian government |
| Start | End | Name | Acronym | Purpose | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Ongoing | UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | MONUSCO | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Monitor ceasefire in Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 2011 | Ongoing | UN Interim Security Force for Abyei | UNISFA | Abyei (disputed by Sudan and  South Sudan) | Monitor ceasefire in Abyei | |
| 2011 | Ongoing | UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan | UNMISS | South Sudan | Assist the new state of South Sudan | |
| 2012 | 2012 | UN Support Mission in Syria | UNSMIS |  Syria | Monitor the ceasefire agreement in the Syrian Civil War. | |
| 2017 | 2019 | UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti | MINUJUSTH | Haiti | Assist the Government to further develop the Haitian National Police (HNP); to strengthen Haiti's rule of law institutions, including the justice and prisons; and to promote and protect human rights in Haiti |
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(December 2014) |
Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
A United Nations Medal is an international decoration awarded by the United Nations (UN) to the various world countries members for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief. The medal is ranked in militaries and police forces as a service medal. The United Nations awarded its first medal during the Korean War (1950–1953). Since 1955, many additional United Nations medals have been created and awarded for participation in various United Nations missions and actions around the world.
Civil Affairs (CA) is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions, but for different purposes in each case.
The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) was a peacekeeping mission established by the United Nations Security Council in December 1994 and extended on several occasions until its mandate expired in May 2000. Its purpose was to monitor peace agreements during and after the Tajikistan Civil War. The observers were first deployed in the wake of the ceasefire, in 1994, between the ruling government of Tajikistan, led by Emomali Rahmonov, and the United Tajik Opposition. After the UN-sponsored armistice ended the war in 1997, the UN expanded the mission's original mandate to monitor the peace and demobilization. The mission was headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations. Previously known as the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), it was created in March 1992, as part of a restructuring of the UN's peace and security apparatus. The DPO retains the core functions and responsibilities of its predecessor, with a greater emphasis on cohesion, integrating different resources and knowledge, and promoting human rights.
The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting the UN Secretary General and his envoys in the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflict around the world. The department manages field-based political missions in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and has been increasing its professional capacities in conflict mediation and preventive diplomacy. DPPA also oversees UN electoral assistance to Member States of the organization. Established in 1992, the department's responsibilities also include providing secretariat support to the UN Security Council and two standing committees created by the General Assembly concerning the Rights of the Palestinian People and Decolonization. DPPA is based at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
Hédi Annabi was a Tunisian diplomat and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). He was previously an Assistant-Secretary-General at the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, from 1997 to 2007.
Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) is the equipment owned and brought by United Nations member states to peacekeeping missions. The UN financially reimburses member states for their contributions of COE, and also for the self sustainment services they provide to contingents. This method of reimbursement is commonly referred to as the “COE System". UN staff in peacekeeping missions serve as COE inspectors, verifying that the member states' equipment and the services they provide meet the standards required for reimbursement.
The United Nations Peacekeeping efforts began in 1948. Its first activity was in the Middle East to observe and maintain the ceasefire during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Since then, United Nations peacekeepers have taken part in a total of 72 missions around the globe, 12 of which continue today. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.
Civil-military coordination is efforts to coordinate activities in peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance missions during United Nations (UN) operations. Civil-military cooperation seeks to gain unity of effort among military forces, police agencies and civilian organizations engaged in such operations.
The Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) is a department of the United Nations providing safety and security services for UN agencies and departments as part of the UN Safety Management System. UNDSS reports directly to the Secretary-General. The UNDSS manages a network of security advisers, analysts, officers and coordinators in more than 125 countries in support of around 180,000 United Nations personnel, 400,000 dependents, and 4,500 United Nations premises worldwide. The department is led by Under-Secretary-General Gilles Michaud from Canada.
Walter Dorn is a scientist, educator, author and researcher. Dorn teaches military officers and civilian students at the Canadian Forces College (CFC) in Toronto and also at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston. He lectures and leads seminars on the ethics of armed force, peace operations, the United Nations, arms control, Canadian and US foreign/defence policy, Canadian government and society, and science/technology applications. He serves as chair of the Department of Security and International Affairs at CFC and previously was chair of the Master of Defence Studies programme at RMC.
Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the UN's Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished from peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are "mutually reinforcing" and that overlap between them is frequent in practice.
Luiz Carlos da Costa was an international civil servant working for the United Nations. Originally from Brazil, da Costa joined the United Nations in 1969 and stayed with the organization for the remainder of his life. His last assignment was as the Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and second in command of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). He died together with his superior, Tunisian Hédi Annabi, in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. On 18 January 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and several high-ranking UN officials traveled from New York to Port-au-Prince to see the devastation firsthand. Mr. Ban hosted a small memorial service with both men's families at the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Peter Schmitz is a retired United Nations official, former Director of the Europe and Latin America Division, Office of Operations, Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
The Department of Field Support (DFS) was a department of the United Nations dedicated to the support of peacekeeping field missions and political field missions. Following the UN Secretary-general's management reform, it ceased to exist on 31 December 2018. In January 2019, the new Department of Operational Support was created.
The Republic of Singapore officially became the 117th member of the United Nations (UN) after its independence on August 9, 1965. From 2001 to 2002, Singapore held a rotational seat on the United Nations Security Council and has participated in UN peacekeeping/observer missions in Kuwait, Angola, Kenya, Cambodia and Timor Leste.
The Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC) is a United Nations multidisciplinary structure created in 2005, whose mandate is to provide integrated analyses for the senior management of peacekeeping missions, or in other words provide the UN with an intelligence-collection capability at strategic or operational levels.
The United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) is United Nations Peacekeeping office based in Brindisi, Italy, as well as Valencia, Spain that provides logistics, geospatial intelligence, IT services and training to peacekeeping and special political missions around the world.
The Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP) was a peacekeeping operation established in 1965 by the UN to observe the ceasefire agreement between the two de facto authorities in the Dominican Republic during the Dominican Civil War. DOMREP was instructed to report any breaches of the agreements between the Constitutionalists led by Juan Bosch and Francisco Caamaño, and Loyalists commanded by Elías Wessin y Wessin and backed by the United States. Once the new Dominican constitutional government was formed, DOMREP withdrew.
