On 29 May 1948, the UN established its first peacekeeping mission when the Security Council deployed a small force of UN military observers to the Middle East (United Nations 2022). This force formed the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which monitored the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors (United Nations 2022). Every year, the 29th of May represents the annual opportunity to remember and honor the more than 4 200 uniformed and civilian personnel who sacrificed their lives in an effort to protect peace and stability in the world (United Nations - UN Web TV 2022).

Since its inception, UN Peacekeeping has deployed many more troops to conflicts around the world, and currently, it has posted 87 000 military, police and civilian personnel in 12 global operations (United Nations 2022). This year, the theme for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers is People Peace Progress: The Power of Partnerships. This theme makes us reflect not only on the past, on where the UN has come from, but also allows us to think more broadly about where the UN is today, and where it will be in the future. It reminds us that peacekeeping is a collective effort, one that is, not only done by the UN, but through partnerships and collaborations, including community leaders, women and youth, civil society, host governments, troop and police who have been loaned out to the UN by member states (United Nations - UN Web TV 2022 and United Nations Peacekeeping 2022). 

While this is aspirational, it also allows us to think of how these ideals measure up to the increasing insecurity in the international system. Traditional threats like wars are still prevalent within the international system, however, new and emerging threats like climate change are destabilising the system and creating new challenges for states to face. For the UN, meeting and mitigating these kinds of threats means embracing new ways of enhancing their peacekeeping mandate. To this end, the UN has pledged to incorporate the digital world into its peacekeeping mandate. 

On 18 August 2021, the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres launched the Strategy for the Digital Transformation of UN Peacekeeping (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). This digital policy recognises the ‘greatest opportunities’ and the ‘greatest challenges’ of the 21st century, particularly how technology can mitigate risks and promote global peace (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). This strategy reflects the UN’s desire to transform peacekeeping and bring the UN into the digital age (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). It is also a recognition that technologies offer a way to make peacekeeping missions ‘safer and more effective’, not only for civilians, but also for peacekeepers (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). 

The UN’s strategy for the digital transformation of peacekeeping runs along four pillars:

• Promoting technological innovation within the field and at the UN headquarters
• Maximising current and new technologies to enhance the work of peacekeeping missions
• Using technologies that enhance the detection and analysis of threats in a ‘timely and integrated manner'
• Setting out guidelines and principles to safeguard the responsible use of technologies in peace operations

(United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021)

These pillars are reflected in current peacekeeping operations. Pillar three is reflected in the Unite Aware platform that uses an ‘integrated approach to situational awareness’ (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). Pillar two is currently being carried out in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). This mission is ‘using machine learning to analyse radio data to detect hate speech’, which serves as an ‘automated early-warning system’ for conflict and unrest (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) uses a social media monitoring tool that uses ‘artificial intelligence to identify perceptions of the Mission to improve service’ (United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 2021). This is not only a reflection of Pillar two, but also Pillars 1 and 3. 

The use of these kinds of technologies, the ones that are currently in use and the ones yet to come, will better help the UN in its missions and mandate to promote a peaceful and stable world. Especially in this ever changing international system, keeping up with the trends and improving on technological innovations will help us to achieve a more peaceful world by integrating technology to the efforts of the UN. These innovations will also help us honor, and recognise, the service and sacrifice that more than one million UN personnel have tried to protect since 1948 (United Nations Peacekeeping 2022). 

Happy International Day of UN Peacekeepers!

Bibliography

ReliefWeb. 2021. Online: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/un-peacekeeping-embraces-digital-world. Date of Access: 26 May 2022.

United Nations. 2022. UN Peacekeeping: Harnessing the power of people to secure peace, progress and prosperity. Online: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1x/k1xb3pchzx. Date of Access: 26 May 2022.

United Nations - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 2021. Secretary-General Outlines Elements of Digital Transformation Strategy for Peacekeeping, at High-Level Security Council Debate. Online: https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sgsm20856.doc.htm. Date of Access: 26 May 2022.

United Nations Peacekeeping. 2022. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UN PEACEKEEPERS 2022 People Peace Progress: The Power of Partnerships. Online: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/international-day-of-peacekeepers-2022. Date of Access: 26 May 2022.

United Nations - UN Web TV. 2022a. 2022 Theme: People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships. Online: ​​https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day. Date of Access: 26 May 2022.