Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peace-Keeping Operations in All Their Aspects

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A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 79Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects, published in 1994.

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69 documents · 1965–2025

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2025A/RES/79/296Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspectsCompare with earlier document
2024A/RES/78/291Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspectsCompare with earlier document
2023A/RES/77/302Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspectsCompare with earlier document
2022A/RES/76/263Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspectsCompare with earlier document
2021A/RES/75/281Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspectsCompare with earlier document

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What does this mandate say?

64 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the report of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations; 4/

Definition and implementation of mandates

Emphasizes that respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States and non-intervention in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State is crucial to common efforts, including peace-keeping operations, to promote international peace and security;

Stresses the need to address effectively the underlying causes of conflict;

Also stresses that peace-keeping operations contribute to, but are not a substitute for, political settlement of disputes and should be preceded and accompanied, as appropriate, by the use of all possible means for the ____________

peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, and urges parties involved in long-standing operations to find political solutions to outstanding disputes;

Expresses its belief that it is of paramount importance that there be a clear and precise formulation of the mandate of peace-keeping operations, based on a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the situation on the ground by the Secretary-General and the Security Council and incorporating objectives achievable within a clear time-frame, which objectives should contribute to a political solution and are clearly related to the availability of the resources essential for their implementation;

Underlines the importance of considering, on a case-by-case basis, the establishment of demilitarized zones and the use of preventive deployment of troops, as indicated its resolution 47/120 B of 20 September 1993;

Stresses the importance, taking into account the principles that have guided peace-keeping operations and the increasingly complex nature of those operations, of the elaboration of a set of principles and guidelines, and the need to consider on a case-by-case basis the coordination between political, military, civilian and humanitarian aspects, as well as the need for United Nations peace-keeping operations to continue to fulfil their mandates impartially, and requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with Member States, to develop further common definitions of terms used in peace-keeping and related activities;

Consultation and coordination mechanisms

Stresses that, while the Security Council bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Charter also provides for General Assembly functions and powers in this regard and that, in addition to its responsibility for financing peace-keeping operations, the Assembly could, inter alia, recommend, in accordance with relevant articles of Chapter IV of the Charter, principles and guidelines for the conduct of peace-keeping operations, for their effective management and, consistent with the Charter, for encouraging support of their mandates;

Notes that the views of troop-contributing countries 7/ are of critical importance, and calls for enhanced arrangements for consultations and exchange of information with troop-contributing countries regarding peace-keeping operations, including their planning, management and coordination, throughout the duration of those operations;

Welcomes the recent practice of members of the Security Council, including its President, of attending meetings between the Secretariat and troop-contributing countries, agrees with the Secretary-General that this

constitutes a step towards the development of improved mechanisms for effective consultation, and considers that such consultations are particularly important when the Council is considering changes to or significant extensions of the mandates of existing missions;

Also welcomes the statement of the President of the Security Council of 4 November 1994 on consultations between members of the Council, troop-contributing countries and the Secretariat; 2/

Notes the important role played by countries of the region concerned in supporting peace-keeping operations, welcomes the recognition, in the statement of the President of the Security Council of 4 November 1994, of the practice of informal communication between the President of the Council or Council members and non-members, and encourages the inclusion of countries of the region concerned, on a case-by-case basis, in those communications when they relate to decisions regarding a peace-keeping operation that may affect them directly;

Recommends the regular transmission of situation reports to troop-contributing countries, members of the Security Council and, where possible, other Member States, on all peace-keeping operations;

Evaluation of operations

Requests the Secretary-General, once again, to provide periodically to Member States analytic reports on the performance of all peace-keeping operations;

Takes note of the progress report of the Secretary-General on the start-up phase of the in-depth evaluation of peace-keeping, 8/ and expresses its belief that a continuing process of in-depth evaluation of various phases and aspects of peace-keeping operations is important to the deliberations on improving the capacity of the United Nations for peace-keeping;

Command and control

Stresses the need for a unified and well-defined United Nations command and control structure, incorporating a clear delineation of functions between United Nations Headquarters and the field, and notes that while operational matters should essentially be the responsibility of the Force Commander, Headquarters is responsible for overall control and political direction;

Confirms, as a leading principle, that a peace-keeping operation should be under the operational control of the United Nations in accordance with its mandate, taking into account the intended tasks of the unit provided and according to the agreement between the Secretary-General and the troop-

contributing countries, and that the appropriate channel for raising specific national concerns regarding the course of actions pursued in an operation is through Headquarters;

Also stresses the need for effective coordination between the field headquarters and contingent commanders on issues affecting the planning and management of a peace-keeping operation;

Urges that immediate steps be taken to strengthen current arrangements in the United Nations for political direction, military command and control and consultations, as well as to improve coordination, when required, with the humanitarian and other civilian aspects of peace-keeping operations, both at Headquarters and in the field;

Enhancing the capacity of the United Nations

for peace-keeping

Finances

Reaffirms that the financing of peace-keeping operations is the collective responsibility of all Member States in accordance with Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter, and reiterates its call upon all Member States to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time, commends those Members States which have offered voluntary contributions in addition to their assessed ones, and encourages other Member States, including those directly concerned in a dispute that has resulted in deployment of a peace-keeping operation, to do the same, including contributions in kind, in accordance with their financial capacity and the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;

Expresses deep concern about the adverse effect that the deteriorating financial situation has on the reimbursement of troop contributors, many of which are developing countries, placing an additional burden on all troop-contributing countries and putting at risk the continuing supply of troops to United Nations peace-keeping operations and, consequently, the effective implementation of the mandates;

Takes note of the important proposals on rationalization of the budgetary process contained in section V of the report of the Secretary-General on improving the capacity of the United Nations for peace-keeping 9/ and the proposals in the report of the Secretary-General on the effective planning, budgeting and administration of peace-keeping operations; 10/

Recommends that decisions on the allocation of additional resources for peace-keeping operations should be taken without prejudice to decisions on the allocation of future resources intended for international cooperation for development;

Calls for a better mechanism of financial control, including reinforcement of audit and inspection mechanisms, and recalls its establishment of the Office of Internal Oversight Services in resolution 48/218 B of 29 July 1994;

Stresses the need to delegate the appropriate degree of financial and administrative authority to Force Commanders or Special Representatives, while ensuring that measures relating to responsibility and accountability are strengthened in order to increase the capacity of missions to adjust to new situations and specific requirements;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue his consultations with Member States with a view to concluding, as soon as possible, his current review of the rates of reimbursement for depreciation of contingent-owned equipment deployed at the request of the United Nations and to report thereon to the General Assembly;

Stresses the importance attached to the ongoing review of current arrangements for compensation for death, injury or illness attributable to peace-keeping service, intended to develop equitable arrangements, takes note of the report of the Secretary-General in this regard, 10/ and encourages appropriate forums to consider this matter on an urgent basis;

Resources

Welcomes the work of the Stand-by Forces Unit of the Planning Division of the Department of Peace-keeping Operations of the Secretariat and notes that some Member States have made commitments to the Secretary-General in this regard, looks forward to the completion of the compilation of lists of units, forces, capabilities or resources that Member States would in principle be prepared to put at the disposal of the United Nations on a case-by-case basis, subject to the agreement of the Government concerned, and recommends that the list be periodically updated and brought to the attention of Member States;

Recognizes the need to enhance the United Nations logistics capability, considers that a first step is the operational support manual for all areas of logistics support, and in this connection looks forward to the completion and issue of all chapters of that manual to troop contributors;

Considers that all the implications of creating limited stockpiles of equipment should be examined in the appropriate bodies of the United Nations;

Notes the growing weight of the civilian component in peace-keeping operations, requests, in this respect, the Secretary-General to develop a proposal for regularly updated data banks recording the type and availability of resources that Member States could provide, at the request of the United Nations, for civilian duties, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to include civilian personnel, such as police, in the current stand-by arrangements and planning;

Urges the Secretary-General to consider the endowment of a memorial medal honouring civilian participants in order to encourage their activities;

Planning, organization and effectiveness

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue with his plans to strengthen the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, in order to ensure the best structure and capacity for successfully managing such operations, bearing in mind the need to give due regard to the principle of equitable geographical representation, and notes the organizational approach of the Secretary-General as set out in his report on improving the capacity of the United Nations for peace-keeping; 9/

Welcomes the creation of a Policy and Analysis Unit and a Planning Division within the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, and considers that those units should be further developed to improve the capacity of the United Nations to manage peace-keeping;

Considers it important that Force Commanders and other key personnel be associated with the planning of peace-keeping operations from the outset and that they should, where feasible, participate in preparatory technical missions to the field, which should be designed with clear terms of reference, and also considers that deployment of some of the members of technical missions to the field at an early stage of an operation is useful;

Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen further the civilian police function within the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, with particular attention to planning, training, logistical support and standardized doctrine and procedures, noting, in this connection, the views expressed in his progress report on the start-up phase of the in-depth evaluation of peace-keeping; 8/

Requests the Secretariat immediately to make all necessary arrangements for the updating and reissue of The Blue Helmets 11/ in 1995;

Safety and security of United Nations personnel

Stresses the need for security of personnel to be an integral part of the planning of any peace-keeping operation, and stresses also that appropriate measures should be taken to ensure their safety and security;

Welcomes the adoption by the Sixth Committee of the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel; 12/

Recognizes that overall responsibility for the safety and security of the members of a peace-keeping operation lies with the Secretary-General, who also has to follow the development of the situation, make timely

adjustments in the safety and security arrangements when the situation so requires and cooperate closely with troop-contributing countries and the Security Council in this regard, and urges the Secretary-General to initiate a dialogue with Member States on possible additional safety measures that can be taken in situations where current measures are deemed inadequate;

Requests the Secretary-General to keep troop-contributing countries and the members of the Security Council informed as appropriate on evacuation plans and arrangements;

Urges the Secretary-General to strengthen the Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator, within existing resources, in order to facilitate better coordination to ensure the security of the personnel participating in peace-keeping operations;

Model agreement

Notes the importance of concluding arrangements between the United Nations and troop contributing countries before deployment occurs, and stresses that, as far as possible, those arrangements should be along the lines of the model agreement outlined in the report of the Secretary-General of 23 May 1991; 13/

Public information

Stresses the need for the United Nations to adopt a more proactive approach to public information policy for peace-keeping operations, to keep local populations informed of the nature of United Nations operations, with a view, inter alia, to facilitating constructive communication between the parties to provide, where possible, troop-contributing countries with materials on peace-keeping operations that may assist them in their domestic public information efforts and to provide the international media with objective information so as to promote a more accurate understanding of United Nations actions, and encourages the Committee on Information to review ways to strengthen public information activities in support of peace-keeping;

Requests the Secretary-General to improve support for the planning and implementation of public affairs programmes in peace-keeping missions, including their print and broadcast needs, and, drawing upon the experience of the United Nations and national expertise, to develop programmes and materials to train public affairs officers;

Also requests the Secretary-General to train Headquarters and mission staff in dealing with the media, in presenting the case for a peace-keeping operation and commenting on it as it progresses;

Training

Recognizes that, while the training of personnel for peace-keeping operations is essentially the responsibility of Member States, the United Nations should establish basic guidelines and performance standards and provide descriptive materials;

Welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop manuals, including a curriculum module, and a programme of correspondence instruction which will enable Member States to train personnel provided for United Nations peace-keeping operations in a standardized and cost-effective manner in accordance with agreed common standards, skills, practices and procedures, and looks forward to those manuals and other materials being made available to Member States;

Requests the Secretary-General to investigate the means to strengthen the leadership cadre available for peace-keeping, inter alia, by coordinating relevant training for potential Force Commanders and other senior military and civilian personnel for peace-keeping leadership and management duties;

Also requests the Secretary-General to establish, on a trial basis, a peace-keeping training coordination programme; such a programme, administered by the United Nations, could include training-the-trainer workshops, specialized training in community relations and conflict resolution, arrangements to organize and rapidly dispatch training teams, at the request of Member States, to assist in national training efforts, seminars in mission management and short orientation courses at Headquarters or in the field for staff officers before deployment to a new mission;

Encourages Member States that have peace-keeping training programmes to share information and experience and, if requested, to enable personnel from other Member States to participate in the work of national staff colleges to help in the development of training programmes and to receive personnel from other Member States interested in such programmes;

Encourages the establishment of peace-keeping training centres, on a national or regional basis as deemed appropriate, for military and civilian personnel;

Recommends that the Training Unit, as the focal point for peace-keeping training in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, act as a coordinating centre on peace-keeping training matters between the United Nations and national and international peace-keeping training centres to develop links with counterpart bodies and to encourage the exchange of training materials with and between Member States;

Encourages Member States to examine the feasibility of developing, in their regions, small short-term training teams from Member States experienced in peace-keeping to assist other Member States;

Encourages the Secretary-General to examine the feasibility of establishing a training advisory group providing a link to national and regional peace-keeping training institutions to assist the Department of Peace-keeping Operations in the periodic review of training requirements;

Cooperation with regional organizations

Stresses the need, bearing in mind the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter, to enhance the cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and those regional arrangements and organizations able to assist it in its peace-keeping activities in accordance with their respective mandates, scope and composition, and encourages the Secretary-General and Member States to consider ways and means to assist those regional arrangements and organizations in the activities described above;

Notes the recent initiative of the Secretary-General to convene an informal meeting at Headquarters with representatives of regional arrangements and organizations and with other intergovernmental organizations;

Also notes the recent work of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization in elaborating the text of the Declaration on the Enhancement of Cooperation between the United Nations and Regional Arrangements or Agencies in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security; 14/

* * *

Recommends that, should any of the proposals contained in the present resolution result in budgetary implications for the biennium 1994-1995, such additional costs should be accommodated within the appropriation level approved by the General Assembly for that biennium;

Decides that the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, in accordance with its mandate, should continue its efforts for a comprehensive review of the whole question of peace-keeping operations in all their aspects;

Requests the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations to submit a report on its work to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session;

Invites Member States to submit further observations and suggestions on peace-keeping operations to the Secretary-General by 1 March 1995, outlining practical proposals on specific items in order to allow for more detailed consideration by the Special Committee;

Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, within existing resources, a compilation of the above-mentioned observations and suggestions and to submit it to the Special Committee by 30 March 1995;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fiftieth session the item entitled "Comprehensive review of the whole question of peace-keeping operations in all their aspects".

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Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peace-Keeping Operations in All Their Aspects

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