Briefing on UN Peace Operations
On Tuesday morning (29 July), the Security Council will hold a briefing on “Adapting peace operations for the pursuit of political solutions – priorities and challenges” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. Pakistan, July’s Council president, is convening the meeting. The expected briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Peace Institute (IPI) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
Pakistan has circulated a concept note for Tuesday’s meeting, which emphasises the role of UN peace operations—including peacekeeping missions and special political missions (SPMs)—as vital components of the UN’s diplomatic toolbox for addressing threats to international peace and security. The note also highlights the serious challenges currently facing these operations, particularly the lack of consensus within the Security Council, which is critical for their effectiveness.
The concept note references the Pact for the Future, the outcome document of the 2024 Summit of the Future, which underscores the urgent need for peace operations to adapt to an increasingly complex security environment. The Pact, however, emphasises that peace operations can only succeed when they are underpinned by actively pursued political solutions and backed by predictable, adequate, and sustained financing. In the Pact, member states requested the Secretary-General to undertake a review on the future of all forms of UN peace operations and to provide recommendations on how the UN toolbox “can be adapted to meet evolving needs, to allow for more agile, tailored responses to existing, emerging and future challenges”.
At a 24 March open debate on “Advancing adaptability in UN peace operations—responding to new realities” convened by Denmark during its Council presidency, Secretary-General António Guterres briefed on his plans to conduct extensive consultations as part of the comprehensive review of UN peace operations. Unlike the 2015 review, which was conducted by the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), the current review is being carried out by the UN Secretariat, with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) jointly leading the process. Lacroix and DiCarlo briefed member states on the review process during an informal meeting of the General Assembly held on 27 May.
The two departments plan to convene a series of discussions with other intergovernmental bodies, including the General Assembly’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) and Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee), the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), the Security Council, and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). DPO and DPPA also intend to consult with regional groups and, following a similar approach to that used in developing the New Agenda for Peace and the Pact for the Future, have requested written inputs by 15 August.
Lacroix and DiCarlo may use Tuesday’s meeting to brief Council members on the ongoing review and to invite them to share their views on how UN peace operations can be adapted to address evolving needs—allowing for more agile and tailored responses to current, emerging, and future challenges. They are also likely to underscore the critical importance of consistent and unified political support from the Security Council—which the body has faced difficulties in providing amid rising geopolitical tensions among major powers—as well as the need for clear, prioritised mandates and adequate resources.
Pakistan hopes that Tuesday’s briefing will help to inform the ongoing review of UN peace operations. The concept note proposes the following questions to help guide the discussion:
- what does “putting politics at the centre of the work of peace operations” mean in practice for the missions and the Security Council? how can the Council ensure that peace operations contribute to political solutions and improved coherence among all relevant actors towards that end;
- how can peace operations benefit from stronger and more sustained political support from the Security Council and other stakeholders;
- how can peace operations be equipped with the necessary resources and capabilities to pursue mandates centred around the search for political solutions; and
- what measures can be taken to address the constraints limiting the full effectiveness of UN peace operations.
It seems that David Haeri, the Director of the Policy, Evaluation and Training Division at DPO, has recently briefed the C34 on the ongoing review. Several member states apparently inquired about the possible link between the peace operations review and the UN80 Initiative, which the Secretary-General announced on 12 March to address persistent funding challenges facing the UN. The initiative aims to implement “deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment” within the UN system, including in UN peacekeeping, to improve efficiency and effectiveness. On Tuesday, Council members are likely to raise the same issue.
The UN’s ongoing liquidity crisis—driven by member states’ failure to pay their assessed contributions in full or on time—is significantly affecting UN peace operations by disrupting cash flow and undermining operational effectiveness. The US, the largest financial contributor to both the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets, has accumulated substantial arrears in recent years. On 17 July, the US House of Representatives approved a rescissions act totalling $9 billion, which includes cuts to previously approved funding for the UN. Although the act does not provide specific details, it reportedly cuts $361 million from UN peacekeeping operations, which might affect some missions, such as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
On 31 June, the General Assembly approved a $5.38 billion budget for UN peacekeeping operations for the 2025–2026 fiscal year. However, the UN Controller—who oversees the organisation’s finances and ensures its financial health—underscored the need to address the lack of sufficient cash flow, which continues to be severely affected by the ongoing liquidity crisis, forcing the UN to cut spending. In this regard, there seems to be particular concern in light of the fact that the administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating US contributions to UN peacekeeping entirely in the 2026 fiscal year, citing concerns over high assessment levels and the perceived ineffectiveness of certain missions. The US Congress has yet to approve the proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
In anticipation of a possible funding shortfall, the UN has apparently developed a contingency plan that includes budget cuts across all peacekeeping missions. It seems that some missions have already proposed repatriating contingents to address the financial constraints. There are concerns that such measures could undermine the ability of UN peacekeeping missions to effectively carry out mandated responsibilities, including the protection of civilians.
Peacekeeping is one of Pakistan’s main priorities during its 2025–2026 term on the Security Council, reflecting its role as one of the largest troop-contributing countries. This year, Pakistan is working alongside Denmark and the Republic of Korea (ROK) as part of a “Peacekeeping Trio Initiative” to elevate the issue as a Council priority. As part of this joint effort, Denmark hosted an open debate on peacekeeping during its Council presidency in March and Pakistan is convening Tuesday’s briefing, while the ROK is expected to hold the annual peacekeeping briefing during its presidency in September.
In addition to formal meetings, the Trio has been convening a series of informal discussions outside the Council, the most recent being a policy forum held on 8 July at IPI, focused on the “Ten-Year Review of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) Report”. The Trio appears eager to closely follow Security Council discussions on peacekeeping in the coming months, with the aim of proposing a Council product before the end of the year. The last thematic resolution on UN peacekeeping—resolution 2668 of 21 December 2022 on mental health and psychosocial support for personnel of UN peace operations—was adopted three years ago.
