UN peacekeeping transitions are long-term processes that span a range of political and technical issues and require sustained engagement by the entire UN system. The UN and its member states have improved their understanding of transitions in recent years and dedicated additional attention and resources to support these processes. This is evidenced by the UN secretary-general’s February 2019 directive on transitions and the July 2019 UN Security Council debate on transitions in the context of peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Nonetheless, the next wave of peacekeeping transitions will confront challenges unlike those of recent transitions.
Over the past two years, IPI’s project on peacekeeping transitions has helped improve the understanding and implementation of the transitions in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, and Darfur. Building on this momentum, IPI will continue supporting the design and implementation of UN peacekeeping transitions in 2020, focusing on three areas where the politics and practice of peacekeeping transitions require additional support: (1) the relationship between early transition planning and Security Council oversight; (2) the role of partnerships between the UN and non-UN actors in ensuring sustainable transitions and preventing the recurrence of conflict; and (3) the experiences of UN special political missions with 11 reconfiguring and transitioning. In addition, IPI plans to undertake a follow-on study to the ongoing UN transition in Sudan, which has already been impacted by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the face of evolving security dynamics and geopolitical pressures, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council initiated the withdrawal of the AU-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in 2017. This transition is a uniquely complex undertaking—all the more so following Sudan’s political revolution in April 2019, which required the […]
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There has been a 25% reduction in United Nations peacekeeping troops since 2014, and while that is “largely a story of success,” the future will be more complicated, said Jake Sherman, Director of the IPI Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations. Five years ago, the UN had 16 peacekeeping missions, 127,000 uniformed authorized personnel, more […]
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UN peace operations are going through an accelerated period of reconfiguration and drawdown. Between June 2017 and March 2018, long-standing peacekeeping missions in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia closed, while the mission in Haiti was reconfigured into a transitional peacekeeping mission. Looking ahead, the Security Council has mandated the closure of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur […]
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When the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) deployed in 2007, the AU and the UN Security Council expected that the United Nations would eventually take over from the AU force. But while a UN peacekeeping operation remains a theoretical option for the council, its prospects have diminished. Instead, the focus of Somali and international […]
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The process of reconfiguring, closing, and handing over responsibilities to a UN country team or host-state institutions is a crucial—and challenging—part of the life cycle of a UN peacekeeping mission. Transitions have been a central feature of UN peacekeeping in Haiti, in particular, which has gone through numerous transitions since the 1990s. This paper focuses […]
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In April 2016, after four years of progressive downsizing, the Security Council decided to close the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) within a year. This decision reflected a consensus that it was time for UNOCI to leave and hand over to the UN country team with no follow-on mission. However, the transition was abrupt, […]
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From 2003 to 2018, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was ever-present throughout the country. The peacekeeping mission’s work, and its transition out of the country, are considered positive examples of how the UN can support countries through conflict and post-conflict phases. Nevertheless, UNMIL’s transition offers many lessons that member states, UN officials, and international […]
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This issue brief addresses the nature and timing of peacekeeping transitions, paying particular attention to the perspectives of UN member states and decisions by the Security Council.
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The meeting note summarizes a high-level discussion on the drawdown and withdrawal of peacekeeping and special political missions. It addresses the political dimensions of these transitions from the perspective of member states and examines the UN’s approach to planning and managing these transition phases.
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