Center on International Cooperation

Thematic Series on More Effective Peace Operations

UN peacekeeping is increasingly under strain – over-deployed, heavily-mandated and under-resourced. This state of overstretch, coupled with continuing demand for new missions, presents a fundamental strategic challenge for the UN and its members. To adapt to the challenges facing peace operations, the international community must examine options for institutional improvements in UN peacekeeping as well as strategies for responding to emerging global trends.

In support of this objective, the Center on International Cooperation and the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations are cooperating to convene a series of panel discussions to explore critical issues confronting the future of UN peace operations. The series will draw on expertise from the practitioner, NGO, academic and UN communities. It will provide a forum for candid discussion of current challenges and potential solutions.

This series builds on a similar series held through 2009 and 2010. The intention of renewing this series is to build on the lessons emanating from these early discussions to inform new strategic and operational challenges facing United Nations peacekeeping operations.

The series will be conducted throughout 2012, with each event preceded by a concept note prepared by the Center on International Cooperation and circulated to all member states. All events will be hosted at or near the United Nations in New York, and will be open to the full UN membership.

This page, which contains all of the documents from the first series of discussions, will be updated regularly to provide all of the concept notes and event summaries for this series of panel discussions.

Title	Source	Author	Date
Publications
Building More Effective UN Peace Operations - Full Collection - English - Français	CIC	CIC	April 2012
Building More Effective UN Peace Operations - Full Collection - English - Français	CIC and Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations	CIC and Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations	August 2010
Building the Rule of Law - Panel Discussion	CIC	CIC	May 2010
Building the Rule of Law - Background Paper	CIC	CIC	May 2010
Field Support for Peace Operations - Panel Discussion	CIC	CIC	March 2010
Field Support for Peace Operations - Background Paper	CIC	CIC	February 2010
Towards More Inclusive Mandate-Making, More Effective Mandate Implementation	CIC	CIC	January 2010
Toward More Inclusive Mandate-Making, More Effective Mandate Implementation English - Français	CIC	CIC	November 2009
The Political Dimensions of Peace Operations - Panel Discussion	CIC	CIC	September 2009
The Political Dimensions of Peace Operations - Background Paper	CIC	CIC	September 2009
Summary of 26 May 2009 Launch Event English - Français	CIC	CIC	June 2009
Peacekeeping Overstretch:Symptoms, Causes, and Consequences English - Français	CIC and Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations		May 2009

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News & Recent Publications

Building the Rule of Law
Spring 2010

On 6 May 2010 the fifth event of the series was held focusing on the proliferation of mandates tasking UN peace operations to support the rule of law in post-conflict environments. Panelists H.E. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Ambassador of Jordan to the United States) and William G. O’Neill (Program Director, Conflict Prevention Peace Forum) engaged in a discussion of the strategic, operational, and institutional issues driving the evolution of rule of law activities in peace operations and the challenges that they face.

Building the Rule of Law - Panel Discussion

Field Support for Peace Operations
Spring 2010

The fourth panel discussion of the series focused on the current state of field support and explored how reforms proposed under the broader Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Field Support’s “New Horizons Initiative” could better ensure delivery of services. Panelists Ms. Susanna Malcorra (Under-Secretary-General for Field Support) and Major General (ret’d) Patrick Cammaert (former Division Commander, MONUC in Eastern DRC), discussed the challenges facing the UN’s support structures and the implications of DFS’s forthcoming Global Field Support Strategy (GFSS).

Towards More Inclusive Mandate-Making, More Effective Mandate Implementation
Winter 2010

The third roundtable in the series was held on 4 December 2009. Panelists Lakhdar Brahimi and Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor (UN Military Advisor), discussed the process of mandate-making for contemporary peacekeeping operations and the operational impact of those political negotiations.

Read the summary of the event here

Political Dimensions of Peace Operations
Autumn 2009

A roundtable on the "Political Dimensions of Peace Operations", took place on September 11, 2009 and featured Mr. Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Senior Fellow, Center on International Cooperation and Brookings Institution and former Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, and Mr. Michael von der Schulenburg, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL).

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