Performance and effectiveness of peace operations
Understanding the factors that make peace operations effective is critical to ongoing efforts to strengthen mission performance. It can also facilitate ongoing political support for peace operations and their efforts to deliver on peace. Key recommendations included:
- Strengthen the culture of continuous learning in peace operations. Peace operations continue to evolve and need to be responsive to events and developments that affect their ability to deliver on mission mandates. The Secretariat should strengthen a culture of continuous learning in peace operations, drawing on the work being undertaking as part of CPAS, which has the potential to deliver data and lessons that can assist missions to innovate and try new
approaches. - Utilise independent reviews, research, and data to shape mission mandates. In addition to the independent reviews commissioned by the UN Secretary-General, there are a range of research studies and pieces of analysis undertaken by think tanks and researchers which draw directly on engagement with the local communities and peacekeepers in the field. Security Council members should draw on these independent studies and engage in an evidence-based dialogue more regularly to support the drafting of mandates. Field missions and member states should engage with researchers to present on their data and analysis, particularly when there are opportunities to draw on their findings to influence decision-making processes.
- Share CPAS data with a range of internal and external stakeholders. Field missions and the Secretariat should share CPAS data within the broad UN family to inform political decisions at the strategic level, and the broader peacekeeping partnership to assist TCCs and their leadership to improve the quality of their contributions.
- Utilise digital technologies and data to make peace operations more adaptive. The Secretariat should utilise digital technologies and advanced data tools to provide more regular real-time updates and as a potential predictive tool, and ensure it is effectively staffed with expertise to manage data analytics. This will require a cultural shift towards data-driven approaches.
- Undertake analysis of the performance of the bodies which deploy peace operations. One of the key factors determining the effectiveness of peace operations is the degree of political will among partners and the UNSC, although this isn’t something peace operations control. The impact of these political processes needs to be better assessed, by researchers and think tanks.
- Develop tools to assess the whole effort in a conflict-affected country. While there are ongoing processes to examine the role of different peace operations, partners and actors, these are siloed. They are an incomplete picture of overall change and effectiveness for a country and host communities. There is a need for researchers and think tanks to undertake analysis of the whole effort to build and sustain peace in a country, in order to identify lessons.