United Nations Peace Keeping Force

Why in news?

• With China significantly scaling up its troop contribution for United Nations Peace Keeping (UNPK) missions, India and the U.S. are looking to undertake training of military personnel for the missions from South East Asian countries on the lines of the ongoing initiative for African countries.

About UN Peacekeeping:

• UN Peacekeeping helps countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace as mandates set by the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
• Peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
• Peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also to
  • Facilitate the Political process
  • Protect civilians
  • Assist in the disarmament
  • Support the organization of elections
  • Protect and promote human rights

Power of UNSC:

• The United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) the power to take collective action to maintain international peace and security.
• Thus the decisions about the establishment, maintenance or expansion of peacekeeping operations are taken by the Security Council.

UN peacekeepers

• Referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets.
• Can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel.
• India has consistently been among the top troop contributing nations to the U.N. and is the fifth largest with 5,424 personnel in eight countries

Finance

• The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States.
• According to UN Charter every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share for peacekeeping.
• The U.S. on the other hand has never contributed ground troops but contributes 27% of the U.N. peace keeping budget.
• China presently contributes 12% of the U.N. regular general budget and 15% of the peace keeping budget.
• India’s contribution to the regular budget is 0.83% and 0.16% of the peacekeeping budget.

About the new initiative:

• In 2016, India and the U.S. began a joint annual initiative “UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners” to build and enhance the capacity of African troop and police-contributing countries to participate in the U.N. and regional peacekeeping operations.
• While this is going on, the U.S. is keen on a similar initiative for South East Asian nations like Vietnam and others
• China currently has over 2,500 troops in various U.N. missions and has committed another 8,000 troops as standby.  Once implemented, it will make China the largest provider of troops to the UNPK.
• India has so far participated in 51 of the 71 missions and contributed over 2 lakh personnel.
• It has troop deployment in Lebanon, Golan Heights, Congo and South Sudan in addition to staff officers in other mission

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding UN peace keeping force:
1.They are referred to as Blue Helmets. 
2.The decisions about the establishment, maintenance or expansion of peacekeeping operations are taken by the UN General assembly.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question