RPN 23 January-April 1997

1. Use of UN peacekeeping forces for humanitarian purposes by Adam Roberts

In the post-Cold War world, and to an unprecedented extent, forces operating under a UN mandate have become involved in a wide range of humanitarian tasks. These have taken the following main forms:

Such tasks were a key part of the UN's effort in several war situations, including in former Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda. Peacekeeping forces have been deeply involved in such activities, sometimes as an almost complete substitution for traditional peacekeeping activities, such as manning cease-fire lines, since in these conflicts there was often little or no peace to keep. Other forces and agencies operating in association with the UN have also been involved in these various humanitarian tasks. For an international organisation such as the UN to attempt this in the midst of ongoing wars is historically unprecedented. The tasks are by nature extremely difficult, and also controversial.

This change in practice has not always been reflected in general statements about the purpose and character of peacekeeping.1 Within the UN, against a background of multiple and difficult commitments of peacekeeping forces, humanitarian issues have not loomed large in attempts to establish criteria that should be considered before new tasks are undertaken. A UN Security Council Presidential Statement on Peacekeeping, issued on 3 May 1994, listed six factors which must be taken into account when a new operation is under consideration. These are the existence of a threat to international peace and security, whether regional bodies are ready to assist, the existence of a cease-fire, a clear political goal which can be reflected in the mandate, a precise mandate and reasonable assurances about the safety of UN personnel.2 This list contained no reference to humanitarian operations in the midst of continuing hostilities, and indeed suggested a natural desire to return to something more like normal peacekeeping. Two days later, on 5 May 1994, the Clinton administration's long-planned Presidential Decision Directive 25, on 'multilateral peace operations', did suggest that one relevant consideration for the US when voting on a military operation proposal under UN auspices would be whether there was an 'urgent humanitarian disaster coupled with violence'. There would also have to be consideration of 'the political, economic and humanitarian consequences of inaction by the international community'.3

There have been some remarkable successes in using UN peacekeeping forces for humanitarian purposes in situations of war, civil war and breakdown of government. Many lives have been saved and refugee flows limited by some of these humanitarian actions. Sarajevo, where a population of well over 350,000 was at risk during the siege, is a case in point. Despite the many failures and interruptions, the maintenance of supplies - gas, water and electricity, as well as food and material brought in by land convoys and air - did effectively mitigate many of the extreme cruelties of siege warfare.

This achievement would have been impossible without UN peacekeeping forces. The figures for supplies brought in by the UNHCR airlift are impressive. The longest-running humanitarian air-lift in history, it lasted from 30 June 1992 to 5 January 1996. Although there were many periods when, due to Serb threats, it was not possible for aircraft to fly to Sarajevo at all, during the three-and-a-half years of the airlift there were 12,951 sorties delivering 160,677 tonnes, of which 144,827 were food and the rest non-food items (such as shelter materials and medical supplies).4 In other words, an average of about 125 tonnes a day was delivered. During many months of the war the airlift provided more than 85% of all assistance reaching Sarajevo. In addition, over 1,000 patients were medically evacuated by air, plus over 1,400 of their relatives.5 While the Sarajevo airlift was remarkable in the hostile circumstances, the overall tonnage delivered in three-and-a-half years was about the same as the average delivered each month in the Berlin airlift of 1948-49.6

The special problems attendant upon humanitarian efforts by peacekeeping forces in situations of great violence have been well publicised. They fall under the following headings: