Their tireless efforts range from monitoring ceasefire agreements to protecting civilians, rebuilding critical infrastructure and facilitating elections to help countries and the community moves from war to peace. Peacekeepers can be soldiers, police officers, engineers, doctors, veterinarians, human rights officers, justice and corrections officers, radio producers, environmental scientists schools and supervising experts.
When we think of peacekeeping, we often think of mediation, treaties and international law. However, peacekeepers use a variety of tools to maintain and nurture peace in some of the most fragile places in the world. As we tick International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29, we look at five non-traditional tools peacekeepers use to protect the communities they serve.
A female Senegalese peacekeeper works on a helicopter deployed to MINUSCA, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.
1. Helicopter
Across Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, peacekeepers have used helicopters to overcome geographical barriers and extend their support to communities. in many different regions.
Helicopters are vital aviation assets in peacekeeping missions for many reasons – they help peacekeepers reach remote villages that are inaccessible by land or water, enable rapid response and evacuation during emergencies, deliver essential supplies and aid to communities in need, and provide aerial surveillance and reconnaissance to monitor and gather information intelligence news. In some cases, armed helicopters can act as a deterrent to armed groups.
Helicopters also play an indispensable role in delivering election materials to ensure that people in remote places can participate in their country’s democratic process. Sometimes, in the most remote places, peacekeepers have to use helicopters, walk or carts to ensure documents reach the people on time.
Their flexibility remains vital in providing the support and protection people need. There are currently 81 helicopters operating in peacekeeping missions. The United Nations branding is visible on the outside of the helicopter, including on its underside – to signal that it is a peacekeeping or humanitarian convoy.
Even so, UN helicopters were still attacked – a sign of how volatile the security situation can be across multiple peacekeeping missions and forces. risking their lives Daily. Earlier this year, a helicopter conducted a medical evacuation attacked by armed groups in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) North Kivu.
At the medal parade in South Sudan, peacekeepers got creative with the construction equipment used as parade aids.
2. Excavator
To truly build peace, peacekeeping focuses on people and their needs. In conflict-affected countries, the loss and lack of critical infrastructure such as schools, health facilities, roads and bridges, hinders any efforts to help communities build sustainable peace. That is why engineers and commandos in peacekeeping operations play a vital role in helping people recover and rebuild after the devastation of war and natural disasters.
“We save people not from bullets but from floods” Captain Taimoor Ahmedan engineer works for UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Using excavators and other construction equipment, his team built dikes to help hundreds of people stranded by devastating floods in Bentiu. They also built roads along the dike to ensure essential humanitarian supplies reached people displaced by the disaster.
Just outside South Sudan’s capital Juba, peacekeeping forces have built up new classroom, a soccer field and a playground for a small school serving a community that relies heavily on subsistence agriculture and has limited access to education. In the DRC, peacekeepers built one Ebola treatment center in North Kivu, and renovated and expanded roads to the facility at a time when the outbreak was highest in the country.
3. Satellite images
Over the past two decades, satellite imagery has been used in peacekeeping missions to provide an overview of conflict zones, significantly enhancing situational awareness. Peacekeepers, who are surveillance and geospatial experts, use satellite imagery to track troop movements, displacement trends and flows, threats and activities potential movements of armed groups as well as the impact of impending natural disasters.
With such vital information, they can make informed decisions, plan patrols, and coordinate responses effectively. Satellite imagery, one of the most innovative tools available for peacekeeping, helps improve operational awareness in many missions, especially in countries with vast, remote and difficult terrain. towel. Real-time imagery of inaccessible areas also allows peacekeepers to quickly assess the extent of damage or needs and prioritize appropriate interventions.
In Mali, where Multi-dimensional integrated stabilization mission Deployed from April 2013 to December 2023, satellite imagery helped identify routes used by smugglers in the north of the country. inside DRCimagery is used to track the movements of armed groups, monitor illegal mining activities, and assess the impact of conflict on civilians.
In South Sudan, satellite data is used for a variety of purposes – from monitoring natural disaster preparedness, response and recovery to tracking displacement patterns and cross-border movement. The United Nations peacekeeping force in Cypruswas established to monitor the ceasefire agreement between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island, using data to monitor activities along the buffer zone.
UNIFIL Cambodian peacekeepers carry out a mechanical demining operation along the Green Line in Ras Naqoura, southern Lebanon.
4. Mine detector
Mine detectors have played a vital role in saving countless lives worldwide. From Angola to Cambodia, landmines remain a horrifying legacy of war, killing or injuring most civilians. Nowadays, almost 70 countries and territories There are mines. The United Nations mine action agency deploying demining machines to nearly 20 countries and territories, including on peacekeeping missions, to detect and destroy mines.
Not only does demining prevent loss of life and limb, it also makes the land safe and productive again – allowing local communities to farm or build schools or hospitals, essentially is to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Unfortunately, the cost of demining can be detrimental to the lives of deminers. In recent years, casualties among deminers have occurred in many places, including Afghanistan, South Sudan and Syria.
How do deminers protect themselves? They wear personal protective equipment such as bulletproof vests, helmets, gloves and boots. They use metal detectors, detectors and demining vehicles to detect and destroy mines. The detectors use electromagnetic waves to identify metal, which is instrumental in locating buried mines.
There are limitations to detectors but overall they have proven to be highly effective in minimizing risk. Since the late 1990s, more than 55 million landmines destroyed, more than 30 countries are free of landmines and casualties have been significantly reduced.
On World Radio Day 2024, Radio Okapi Director Joyce Fernandes de Pina (right) and Theresa Kankou, Radio Okapi community radio relations, discuss the power of radio.
5. Radio
Radio may not be the first thing we think of when looking for information today, but it remains a powerful communication tool in many parts of the world, including in countries with a United Nations peacekeeping.
Radio has played an important role in many missions since the late 1980s. Today, three peacekeeping missions each have their own radio stations – Radio Miraya in South Sudan, Okapi Radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guira FM inside Central African Republic. Peacekeepers, who are radio producers and communications workers, use radio to deliver important news, warn early about potential threats, discuss relevant issues educational programs and programs, empowering communities to make informed decisions. Furthermore, they provide an invaluable platform for local voices and perspectives, helping to promote reconciliation between often divided communities.
Why does radio perform better than newspapers, television or the internet? Radio frequency and receivers are relatively inexpensive and widely available, even in the most remote areas. In places with low literacy rates, radio programs can reach wider audiences, promoting a more comprehensive way of sharing information. Radio stations can also provide information in local languages in real time.
Given its stature, radio is a reliable tool to fight misinformation and dispel rumors that can harm people’s safety and health. During that time Covid-19 pandemic, Radio Miraya, which reaches two-thirds of South Sudan, has carried out programs to help counter local resistance to physical distancing. In the DRC, Radio Okapi has worked with the Congolese Government to provide online education to some 22 million children who cannot leave their homes – delivering essential French, math and reading lessons.
