United Nations Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Peacekeeping and security=== {{Main|United Nations peacekeeping|List of United Nations peacekeeping missions}} [[File:United Nations Peacekeeping Helmet Icon.svg|thumb|upright|United Nations Peacekeeping Logo]] The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states. These soldiers are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Helmets" because they wear distinctive blue helmets.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=52}}{{sfn|Coulon|1998|p=ix}} Peacekeeping forces as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1988/| author=Nobel Prize| title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1988| access-date=3 April 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402191526/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1988/| archive-date=2 April 2011| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}</ref> The UN has carried out 71 peacekeeping operations since 1947, and as of April 2021, over 88,000 peacekeeping personnel from 121 nations have been deployed on missions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Where we operate|url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/where-we-operate|access-date=2021-06-26|website=United Nations Peacekeeping|language=en|archive-date=10 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310144614/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/where-we-operate|url-status=live}}</ref> The largest is the [[United Nations Mission in South Sudan]] (or UNMISS), which has close to 19,200 uniformed personnel,<ref>{{cite web|title=UNMISS|url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss|access-date=2021-06-26|website=United Nations Peacekeeping|language=en|archive-date=23 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423064759/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss|url-status=live}}</ref> and the smallest, the [[United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan]] (or UNMOGIP), consists of 113 civilians and experts charged with monitoring the ceasefire in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. UN peacekeepers with the [[United Nations Truce Supervision Organization]] (or UNTSO) have been stationed in the Middle East since 1948, the longest-running active peacekeeping mission.<ref name="UNPO">{{cite web |date=29 February 2016 |title=United Nations Peacekeeping Operations |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323162900/http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml |archive-date=23 March 2016 |access-date=24 March 2016 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> A study by the RAND Corporation in 2005 found the UN to be successful in two-thirds of their peacekeeping efforts. It compared efforts at nation-building by the UN to those of the United States, and found that 87.5% of UN cases are at peace, as compared with 50% of U.S. cases at peace.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf| publisher=RAND Corporation| title=The UN's Role in Nation Building: From the Congo to Iraq| access-date=30 December 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216225937/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG304.sum.pdf| archive-date=16 December 2008| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Also in 2005, the [[Human Security Report 2005|Human Security Report]] documented a decline in the number of wars, [[genocide]]s, and [[human rights abuses]] since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism β mostly spearheaded by the UN β has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.humansecurityreport.info/| publisher=Human Security Centre| title=The Human Security Report 2005| access-date=8 February 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20090728163300/http%3A//www.humansecurityreport.info/| archive-date=28 July 2009| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Situations in which the UN has not only acted to keep the peace but also intervened include the Korean War and the authorization of intervention in Iraq after the Gulf War.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=56}} Further studies published between 2008 and 2021 determined UN peacekeeping operations to be more effective at ensuring long-lasting peace and minimizing civilian casualties.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=7 May 2021 |title=A U.N. Peacekeeping Mission Is Afghanistan's Best Hope |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29632/after-us-war-afghanistan-peacekeeping-mission-deserves-a-chance |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310033741/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29632/after-us-war-afghanistan-peacekeeping-mission-deserves-a-chance |archive-date=10 March 2022 |access-date=2021-06-23 |website=World Politics Review |language=en}}</ref> {{anchor|inaction on genocide and human rights}} [[File:GreenLine BufferZone Large.JPG|thumb|upright=0.95|The [[UN Buffer Zone in Cyprus]] was established in 1974 following the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]].]] The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In many cases, member states have shown reluctance to achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions. Disagreements in the Security Council about military action and intervention are seen as having failed to prevent the [[1971 Bangladesh Genocide|Bangladesh genocide in 1971]],{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=46}} the [[Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia|Cambodian genocide]] in the 1970s,{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=187}} and the Rwandan genocide in 1994.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|pp=102β105}} Similarly, UN inaction is blamed for failing to either prevent the [[Srebrenica massacre]] or complete the peacekeeping operations during the [[Somali Civil War]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=294β311}} UN peacekeepers have also been accused of child rape, soliciting prostitutes, and sexual abuse during various peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html |title=U.N. Sexual Abuse Alleged in Congo |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Colum |last=Lynch |date=16 December 2004 |access-date=21 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111062103/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3145-2004Dec15.html |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Haiti,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm| title=UN troops face child abuse claims| work=BBC News| date=30 November 2006| access-date=21 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209171221/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm| archive-date=9 December 2013| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Liberia,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/world/africa/08iht-abuse.html |title=Aid workers in Liberia accused of sex abuse |work=The New York Times |date=8 May 2006 |access-date=22 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003214726/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/world/africa/08iht-abuse.html |archive-date=3 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sudan,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-accused-of-raping-children-in-Sudan.html| title=UN staff accused of raping children in Sudan| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| date=4 January 2007| first=Kate| last=Holt| access-date=21 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107000450/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-accused-of-raping-children-in-Sudan.html| archive-date=7 November 2013| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Burundi, and CΓ΄te d'Ivoire.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm|title=Peacekeepers 'abusing children'|work=BBC News|date=28 May 2007|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209173237/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7420798.stm|archive-date=9 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Scientists cited UN peacekeepers from Nepal as the source of the [[2010s Haiti cholera outbreak]], which killed more than 8,000 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/world/americas/haiti-un-cholera-lawsuit/ |title=U.N. sued for 'bringing cholera to Haiti,' causing outbreak that killed thousands |last1=Watson |first1=Ivan |first2=Joe |last2=Vaccarello |date=10 October 2013 |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002147/http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/world/americas/haiti-un-cholera-lawsuit/ |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:A United Nations Peacekeeper from Nepal provides security at a rice distribution site in Kenscoff, Haiti, Feb. 20, 2010 100220-N-HX866-010.jpg|thumb|left|A Nepalese soldier on a peacekeeping deployment providing security at a rice distribution site in Haiti during 2010]] In addition to peacekeeping, the UN is also active in encouraging [[disarmament]]. Regulation of armaments was included in the writing of the UN Charter in 1945 and was envisioned as a way of limiting the use of human and economic resources for their creation.<ref name="Chapter|V">{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-v/index.html |title=United Nations Charter: Chapter V |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2 November 2017 |date=17 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103075309/http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-v/index.html |archive-date=3 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The advent of [[nuclear weapon]]s came only weeks after the signing of the charter, resulting in the first [[United Nations General Assembly resolution|resolution]] of the first [[General Assembly]] meeting calling for specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/1/ares1.htm |title=Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly During its First Session |access-date=24 March 2008 |publisher=United Nations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312102841/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/1/ares1.htm |archive-date=12 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN has been involved with arms-limitation treaties such as the [[Outer Space Treaty]], the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]], the [[Seabed Arms Control Treaty]], the [[Biological Weapons Convention]], the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]], and the [[Ottawa Treaty]].{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=188β189}} Three UN bodies oversee arms proliferation issues: the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]], the [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]] and the [[Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission]].{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=189β190}} Additionally, many peacekeeping missions focus on disarmament: several operations in West Africa disarmed roughly 250,000 former combatants and secured tens of thousands of weapons and millions of munitions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mano River Basin, 25 years of peacekeeping|url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mano-river-basin-25-years-of-peacekeeping|access-date=2021-06-26|website=United Nations Peacekeeping|language=en|archive-date=13 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313084209/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mano-river-basin-25-years-of-peacekeeping|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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