International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
- April Dykes
- 1 日前
- 読了時間: 6分
Peace is a concept that we are all familiar with in varying capacities. To the fortunate, it is a part of their everyday life. To others, it is a hope for the future. There will always be people who crave chaos and seek to sow it into the world, but where there is darkness, there will always be light. That light can be seen in people who strive to promote peace with their actions and words. A beacon of that peace can be seen in the peacekeepers stationed throughout the world. Among those are the United Nations’ (UN) peacekeepers.
Today, we celebrate the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers with the 2025 theme of “The Future of Peacekeeping”. This event was created in 2002 to commemorate the UN’s very first peacekeeping mission in Palestine on May 29, 1948. Since then, it has been used to honor the lives lost while keeping the peace and strengthening bonds with the communities they protect.
Though it may not feel like it when so much attention is given to the negative things that are happening in the world, there are people who fight for peace and positive change. Positive change is like a ripple effect. Through actions of peace, kindness, and consideration for life, that in itself is a form of promoting peace. It doesn’t have to be grand, just sincere.
Peacekeepers, as agents of peace, face opposition from those who seek to perpetuate violence and negatively impact people’s quality of life. That opposition can come in the form of interfering with peace talks, spreading misinformation among civilians, and even direct violence towards the peacekeepers who are not there to fight. Since the UN’s first peacekeeping mission in 1948, 4,433 have lost their lives while maintaining peace. This day serves to honor their sacrifices, to “... recognize the bravery and commitment of all peacekeepers who serve globally and pay our respects to those who sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of peace” (UN Peacekeeping).
To better understand the concept of peace, let’s define violence. Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies, defines violence as being “... present when human beings are being influenced so that their actual somatic and mental realizations are below their potential realizations” (Galtung, 1969, p.168). This refers to any avoidable action that negatively impacts the quality of someone’s life: hunger, homelessness, etc. This does not include natural disasters, as they are not caused by someone’s actions.
Violence can be categorized as direct or indirect. Direct violence is the act of physical violence or harm that can be seen with the naked eye. Some examples of this are war, bullying, and fighting. Indirect violence can’t be easily defined or traced to one simple act. It can come as a result of structures (governments), rules (laws), or social norms that perpetuate or facilitate actions that harm people and impact their quality of life. Examples of this include racism, poverty, and inequality.
In simple terms, peace is the absence of violence, direct or indirect. According to Galtung, the idea of peace starts with 3 principles:
“1. The term 'peace' shall be used for social goals at least verbally agreed to by many, if not necessarily by most.
2. These social goals may be complex and difficult, but not impossible, to attain.
3. The statement peace is absence of violence shall be retained as valid” (Galtung, 1969, p. 167).
While there may not be direct violence or indirect violence, it doesn’t always mean that things are peaceful. The acknowledgement of that tension, but lack of violence, can be seen in the term negative peace. The version of peace that most think of is known as positive peace.
Positive peace isn’t something that just magically happens after a conflict or acts of violence have ended. It is something that must be worked towards for it to be long-lasting. It is something that is “built on sustainable investments in economic development and institutions as well as the societal attitudes that foster peace” (Vision of Humanity, 2020). Negative peace is the absence of violence, wars, etc.
There can still be feelings of unrest, but those feelings can turn into acts of violence and recidivism or lead to positive peace. This is where peacekeepers like the UN come into play. Peacekeepers help create environments that make it possible for communities to rebuild and invest in a society that has peace, with the ultimate goal of becoming positive peace.
The UN can become involved in a country’s affairs when asked to intervene or when the Security Council determines that the country’s actions are violating international peace and security. However, peacekeepers can only be deployed when they have consent from the country facing conflict. The peacekeepers are made up of voluntary troops, volunteers, and police from member countries, as the UN does not have military forces.
With the mission of international peace and security, the UN peacekeepers operate under 3 principles:
(1) consent of the parties,
(2) impartiality,
(3) Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.
Consent of the parties: peacekeepers are deployed after they receive consent from the main parties involved in the conflict. “Their acceptance of a peacekeeping operation provides the UN with the necessary freedom of action, both political and physical, to carry out its mandated tasks. In the absence of such consent, a peacekeeping operation risks becoming a party to the conflict; and being drawn towards enforcement action, and away from its fundamental role of keeping the peace” (UN Peacekeeping). Even when consent is given, there is the risk of other parties not approving of outside involvement, which can lead to loss of life.
Impartiality: Peacekeepers have to be impartial, not choosing a side, when dealing with the conflict, but they cannot be neutral when it comes to executing their mandates. “Just as a good referee is impartial, but will penalize infractions, so a peacekeeping operation should not condone actions by the parties that violate the undertakings of the peace process or the international norms and principles that a United Nations peacekeeping operation upholds” (UN Peacekeeping).
Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate: “UN peacekeeping operations are not an enforcement tool. However, they may use force at the tactical level, with the authorization of the Security Council, if acting in self-defence and defence of the mandate” (UN Peacekeeping).
Through their peacekeeping principles, and the brave women and men who participate as peacekeepers, they are able to protect civilians, prevent conflicts, build the Rule of Law and security institutions, promote human rights, empower women, and deliver field support.
Japan is among the top 10 countries that contribute to international peace and security through financial support, providing relief materials, and supplying personnel to the UN's peacekeeping operations. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Japan has provided personnel support to the UN peacekeeping operations through the deployment of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
“Japan has made financial contributions as the third-largest donor country of the assessed contributions to the UN Peacekeeping, following the U.S. and China. Also, Japan has made extrabudgetary contributions to projects such as enhancement of medical system in fragile missions against pandemic like COVID-19 and countermeasure against new threats like Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and dis/mis-information, which missions are facing.” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2024).
“Japan has served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for ten terms and has been actively taking part in discussions towards the maintenance of international peace and security. Furthermore, Japan has engaged in a spectrum of international peace cooperation activities, including participation and assistance to United Nations PKOs and coalition forces, different forms of diplomatic engagement such as preventive diplomacy and mediation, provision of emergency humanitarian assistance, and assistance for rehabilitation, reconstruction, and post-conflict nation-building and peacebuilding. To date, Japan has dispatched contingents and personnel to fifteen peace operations, including Cambodia, Mozambique, and Nepal. Currently, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) are working on the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).
Furthermore, Japan has been making concrete efforts for peacebuilding in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Cambodia, Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Palestine, and other areas” (Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations). If you are interested in learning more about Japan’s contributions to peacekeeping operations, please click here and explore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan records for a more in-depth analysis.
You can support UN peacekeepers as a civilian, police officer, or military. You can support as a civilian by volunteering with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV). You can support as a police officer by serving as an Individual Police Officer (IPO), Formed Police Unit (FPU), or National seconded police officers on professional posts. You can support as military if your country is working with the UN.
You can also support by donating to NGOs that support UN Peacekeeping operations, staying informed, and helping spread awareness about peacekeeping. At present, 11 peacekeeping missions are taking place throughout the world. If you’re interested in seeing if your country is supporting these peacekeeping missions or if you’re interested in what you can do to help, check out the interactive map on the official UN peacekeeping website.
My driving force to learning about peace and conflict was the desire to bring about positive change, and realizing that I, too, can do something. What will your driving force be? How will you promote peace? Let us know in the comments below or @ us on social media! #GivingTuesdayJapan #GivingTuesdayJP @GivingTuesdayJapan
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