Field missions
As of December 2016, the DPA manages the following political missions and peace-building support offices engaged in conflict prevention, peacemaking and post-conflict peacebuilding in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East:
In Africa:
In Asia:
In the Middle East:
In South America:
These DPA-led field operations are headed by senior representatives of the Secretary-General and provide a forward platform for preventive diplomacy and other activities across a range of disciplines, to help prevent and resolve conflict or to build lasting peace in nations emerging from civil wars. The peace-building offices, currently active in Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone aim to help nations consolidate peace through comprehensive peace-building strategies developed and carried out in coordination with national actors and U.N. development and humanitarian entities on the ground. Political missions are part of a continuum of UN peace operations working in different stages of the conflict cycle. In some instances, following the signing of peace agreements, political missions overseen by the Department of Political Affairs during the stage of peace negotiations have been replaced by peacekeeping missions. In other instances, U.N. peacekeeping operations have given way to special political missions overseeing longer-term peace-building activities.
Good Offices missions
In addition to the field-based missions currently under its supervision, DPA provides guidance and support to traveling envoys and special advisers of the Secretary-General bringing to bear his “good offices” for the resolution of conflicts or the implementation of other UN mandates. These currently include UN envoys or special advisers for Cyprus, Yemen, Syria, Western Sahara, and the Macedonian-Greek naming dispute.
Investigative Mandates and Fact-Finding Missions
DPA has also assisted in establishing and providing support to various UN investigative and fact-finding bodies. These have included: the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG); the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan; the International Commission of Inquiry on the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea; and the United Nations International Investigation Commission in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodies of the UN, and the implementation of the decision of these bodies. The secretary-general, who is appointed by the General Assembly, is the head of the secretariat.
The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) was created by UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world. It was welcomed by the General Assembly in the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit and was created by the UN Secretary- General.
An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-secretary-general is the third highest rank in the United Nations, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general. The rank is held by the heads of different UN entities, certain high officials of the United Nations Secretariat, and high-level envoys. The United Nations regards the rank as equal to that of a cabinet minister of a member state, and under-secretaries-general have diplomatic immunity under the UN Charter.
Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. The process includes violence prevention; conflict management, resolution, or transformation; and post-conflict reconciliation or trauma healing before, during, and after any given case of violence.
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a United Nations intergovernmental advisory body of both the General Assembly and the Security Council that supports peace efforts in conflict-affected countries. A key addition to the capacity of the international community in the broad peace agenda, it was established in 2005 with the passage of both A/RES/60/180 and S/RES/1645 Mr. Sérgio França Danese (Brazil) is the incumbent chair of the PBC.
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 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.
Preventive diplomacy is action to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur.
Sir Marrack Goulding KCMG was a British diplomat who served more than eleven years as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as presented in his report to the General Assembly in July 1997.
United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict a cross-UN initiative that unites the work of 24 United Nations entities tasked with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict. The 24 UN entities are from sectors that include peacekeeping, political affairs, justice, human rights, humanitarian, health, gender equality and women's empowerment. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General Pramila Patten chairs the network, which represents an effort by the UN to improve its coordination and accountability, amplify advocacy, and support national efforts to prevent sexual violence and respond effectively to the needs of survivors. The UN Action Secretariat is based in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Alan Claude Doss is a British international civil servant who has spent his entire professional life in the service of the United Nations, working on peacekeeping, development and humanitarian assignments in Africa, Asia and Europe as well as at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Jean Arnault is a French diplomat who currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres' Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues.
The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel is a United Nations political mission in Dakar, Senegal established in 2002 for preventive diplomacy, political mediation, and facilitation in West Africa and the Sahel. It is managed by the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
The United Nations Police (UNPOL) is an integral part of the United Nations peace operations. Currently, about 11530 UN Police officers from over 90 countries are deployed in 11 UN peacekeeping operations and 6 Special Political Missions. The "mission of the UN Police is to enhance international peace and security by supporting Member States in conflict, post-conflict and other crisis situations to realise effective, efficient, representative, responsive and accountable police services that serve and protect the population".
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1734, adopted unanimously on December 22, 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Sierra Leone, including resolutions 1620 (2005) and 1688 (2006), the Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) until December 31, 2007.
Elizabeth Mary Spehar is a Canadian diplomat and senior United Nations official. She was appointed as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs by UN Secretary General António Guterres on 18 January 2022. She previously held roles as Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Director of the Policy and Mediation Division in the former Department of Political Affairs, Director for the Americas and Europe Division and Director of the Europe Division in DPA.
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee is a Ghanaian diplomat who has been serving as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Africa at the United Nations Secretariat since 2021. In this capacity, she is part of the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat tasked with serving the United Nations' spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC). The Special Representative holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN and chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mandate of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and the first Special Representative, Margot Wallström, took office in 2010. The current Special Representative is Pramila Patten of Mauritius, who was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2017. The work of the SRSG-SVC is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law/Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), also established under Security Council Resolution 1888.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) is a special political mission of the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. Its primary purpose is to assist the Federal Government of Somalia in achieving peace, stability and reconciliation. It works closely with and supports the work of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and, since 2022, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.
Due to the capabilities of the Egyptian Army, its battalions are often selected to participate abroad in to establish stability and peace in tense spots in the world, within the peacekeeping forces. 1,654 individuals currently participate in international missions deployed in several regions and countries in Africa. Egypt is a major troop- and police-contributing country to UN peacekeeping missions: It is the 7th largest contributor overall, the 3rd largest contributor of police, and the 3rd largest contributor of military experts. Egypt is also a major contributor to doctrinal and policy development through its role as the Rapporteur of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), and more recently as a member of the UN Security Council (2016–2017). In Africa, Egypt is a major contributor to the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), including the African Standby Force (ASF) and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). It is also a member of the AU Peace and Security Council.
