European Peace Institute / News

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IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji and H.E. Mohammed Adnan Mehmood, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq to the Kingdom of Bahrain, stressed the fundamental importance of Iraq’s role in building peaceful relations to achieve regional integration in the MENA region at a February 24th meeting.

Accompanied by IPI MENA Policy Analyst Dalya Al Alawi, Mr. Friji emphasized the necessity of economic cooperation and investment in sustainable development as mechanisms to reinforce regional integration. He also underlined the need for reconciliation to change the environment of hostility to one of sustainable development and forward-looking, rights-based constructive growth to achieve durable peace.

During the meeting, both parties explored means of cooperation, including the active participation of Iraqi women in peace processes to build a resilient society, achieve long-term sustainable development, and nurture peaceful relations with MENA countries and beyond.

On Monday, February 25th, IPI together with the Government of Canada are cohosting a policy forum event on the Training for Senior Leaders in Field Operations: Gaps, Challenges and Techniques for Improvement.

Remarks will begin at 10:15am PST / 1:15pm EST

The report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) described leadership as “one of the most crucial factors in the success or failure of UN peace operations.” Yet, due to the unique and complex nature of these operations, the UN Secretariat faces a challenge finding and rapidly deploying leaders who possess the requisite mix of diplomatic and managerial skills, situational knowledge, political judgment, and stamina. Few, if any, mission leaders are fully prepared for their responsibilities upon selection, no matter how rigorous the appointment process. Senior mission leaders therefore require continuous, institutionalized, and sustained training and learning support.

In an effort to support this process, in 2016, IPI developed the Scenario-Based Training for Senior Leadership in Peace Operations project. Under that umbrella, various authors have created a series of scenarios covering issues that senior leadership will likely face during their deployment. These scenarios are based on complex crises but go beyond operational responses to challenges, aiming to support team building, leadership skills, and critical thinking by leaders.

To complement these scenarios, the project has published a policy paper on the training provided to senior leaders, gaps in the preparation of senior leaders, factors that have hindered reform, and recommendations to better prepare senior leaders for the challenges they face in contemporary missions.

Welcoming remarks:
Brig. Gen. Martin Girard, Military Advisor, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations

Opening remarks:
Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild, Assistant Secretary General for Strategic Coordination in the Secretary General’s Executive Office, United Nations

Speakers:
Mr. Kevin S. Kennedy, lead author of IPI Paper: “Senior Leadership Training in UN Peace Operations” and Principal Officer, DPKO (ret.)
Mr. Mark Pedersen, Chief, Integrated Training Services, Department of Peace Operations, United Nations
Ms. Gabriella Seymour, Chief, Leadership Support Section, Office of the Director for Coordination and Shared Services, United Nations
Maj. Gen. Robert Gordon, CMG CBE (ret.) and Senior Mentor at the Senior Mission Leadership training Program

Moderator:
Ms. Lesley Connolly, Senior Policy Analyst, IPI

On Tuesday, February 26th, IPI is hosting the next event in its “Leading for Peace: Voices from the Field” series, featuring Mr. Parfait Serge Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the Central African Republic and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).He will share his experience and analysis on stabilization efforts and peace consolidation efforts in the Central African Republic. He will also share his insights and ideas regarding the Political Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR, signed in Bangui on February 6, 2019, as well as what he believes will be necessary for its sustainability.

Remarks will begin at 3:15pm PST / 6:15pm EST

Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga has served as the Acting Special Representative for the Central African Republic and Head of MINUSCA since August of 2015, when he succeeded Babacar Gaye of Senegal, who served as the first Special Representative of the Secretary-General of MINUSCA. Mr. Onanga-Anyanga has extensive experience with the United Nations in conflict-affected areas, including in his role as the Coordinator of United Nations Headquarters Response to the Boko Haram crisis since January 2015, and, previously, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Burundi and Head of the United Nations Office in Burundi, as well as Assistant Secretary-General and System-Wide Senior Coordinator on Burundi (2012-2014).

The event will be moderated by Jake Sherman, IPI Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations.

In September 2018, warring parties in South Sudan signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), which has resulted in several positive developments, including the establishment of transitional committees and a reduction in casualties of political violence. In spite of this, however, the UN mission (UNMISS) and humanitarian actors continue to confront impediments to complete and unhindered success. Threats against civilians continue, armed groups are clashing, and implementation of key R-ARCSS provisions is behind schedule.

In this context, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Stimson Center, and Security Council Report organized a workshop on February 6, 2019, to discuss UNMISS’s mandate and political strategy. This workshop offered a platform for member states, UN actors, and outside experts to share their assessment of the situation in South Sudan. The discussion was intended to help the Security Council make informed decisions with respect to the strategic orientation, prioritization, and sequencing of the mission’s mandate and actions on the ground. The workshop focused on the dynamics of the current political process in South Sudan, including the challenges facing the implementation of the R-ARCSS and continuing threats to civilians, the UN mission, and humanitarian actors. Participants identified several ideas to strengthen and adapt UNMISS’s mandate to help the mission advance its political strategy and achieve the Security Council’s objectives in the coming year.

Workshop participants encouraged the Security Council to maintain the UNMISS mandate’s flexible nature and advised against making radical changes. They highlighted several opportunities to improve the mission’s mandate by refining existing tasks to ensure the mission is well-positioned to respond to changes in the operating environment. Among these, the Council should authorize the mission to provide technical support to the peace process, maintain flexible POC language and mandate the mission to facilitate voluntary returns from POC sites, and encourage continued regional engagement in South Sudan’s political process.

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Myanmar simultaneously faces multiple armed conflicts and crises, each with its own challenges. In Rakhine state, the government’s persecution of the Rohingya people has led to massive displacement, as have decades of armed conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states. Combined with chronic underdevelopment, these humanitarian crises have left people without access to adequate healthcare, leading international humanitarian actors to step in.

The public health system in Myanmar is generally poor, and government funding for health services is among the lowest in the world. There are wide discrepancies in health services between rural and urban populations and between central and peripheral states. In Rakhine, there are only nine public health workers per 10,000 people, and access to secondary and tertiary healthcare is limited. Community-based or ethnic health organizations provide primary healthcare in many areas without government facilities. In crisis-affected areas, UN agencies and international and local NGOs play an important part in providing healthcare services. However, international action can be unbalanced both regionally and medically. In many areas, health actors have focused on responding to diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, leaving a critical gap in mental health services and clinical health responses to sexual and gender-based violence. Likewise, funding has been imbalanced, with Rakhine state receiving more funding than Kachin or northern Shan.

This paper looks at the state of healthcare in Rakhine, Kachin, and northern Shan states, the role of humanitarian actors in the provision of health services, and the trends and challenges affecting the humanitarian health response. It provides several recommendations for improving the humanitarian health response in Myanmar, including:

1. Adjust the scope of the humanitarian response;
2. Advocate for better humanitarian access;
3. Strengthen local capacities, and;
4. Address the dilemmas inherent in providing aid amid a development and human rights crisis.

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On Wednesday, February 20th, IPI is hosting a Distinguished Author Series event featuring Richard Haass, author of A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order, with a new afterward to account for a new president with strikingly different ideas of America’s role in the world. The conversation will be moderated by IPI Senior Adviser for External Relations Warren Hoge.

Remarks will begin at 3:15pm PST / 6:15pm EST

In A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order, one of America’s best known and most respected foreign policy experts, Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, offers a profound examination of a world increasingly defined by disorder. He explains why the fundamental elements of a world order that has served the West well since World War II have largely run their course. Haass makes the case that the world needs a new operating system—call it World Order 2.0—that reflects the reality that power is widely distributed and that borders count for less. He argues for a new approach to sovereignty, one that embraces its obligations and responsibilities as well as its rights and protections, and he asserts that the US needs to define national security in broader terms than it has. A new afterward addresses what he considers the US’s unilateral abdication of world leadership over the past two years and issues the stark warning that the alternative to a US-led international order is less international order.

On Thursday, February 21st, IPI together with the United Kingdom Mission to the UN are cohosting a policy forum event, entitled “A Legacy of Peacemaking: Celebrating the Centennial of Sir Brian Urquhart.”

Remarks will begin 3:15pm PST / 6:15pm EST

The event will mark the 100th birthday of Sir Brian Urquhart (born February 28. 1919), a lifelong supporter of the United Nations and former IPI Board Member.

The discussion will reflect on Sir Brian’s extraordinary career as a peacemaker, which began when he was a member of the British diplomatic staff working to help establish the United Nations in 1945. The conversation will highlight, in particular, the important role Sir Brian played in the founding and development of UN peace operations. It will be framed by the history of peacekeeping at the UN, where we are today, and where we are headed.

Opening remarks:
Dr. Adam Lupel, Vice President, International Peace Institute

Speakers:
Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, United Nations
H.E. Amb. Karen Pierce DCMG, Permanent Representative, the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations

Moderator:
Mr. Jake Sherman, Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations, International Peace Institute

Due to their unique and complex nature, UN peacekeeping missions depend on effective leadership. Because few, if any, mission leaders have the requisite skills, knowledge, political judgment, and physical and mental stamina upon being selected, they require continuous, institutionalized, and sustained training and learning support. While the Secretariat has undertaken a number of training and learning initiatives, critical gaps remain.

This paper identifies these gaps and analyzes obstacles that impede progress in addressing them. It looks at gaps in three broad areas: knowledge of peacekeeping doctrine, policy, and practice specific to UN peacekeeping; knowledge of UN policies and procedures on financial and human resources management; and leadership and team-building skills. To address these gaps, it recommends that the Secretariat prioritize action in several areas:

• Centralize responsibility for mission leadership training in a single unit;
• Integrate training into planning and recruitment processes;
• Provide more sustained support to training; and
• Employ new tools such as scenario-based exercises for in-mission training.

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Due to ongoing conflict and insecurity in northern Mali, 1.8 million people require humanitarian health assistance, and 2.5 million are considered food insecure. Given the level of need, Mali’s healthcare system is ill-equipped to respond, and humanitarian health actors play an important role filling the gaps.

This issue brief maps the challenges these health actors face and assesses their response. It accompanies a policy paper published in 2018 entitled “Hard to Reach: Providing Healthcare in Armed Conflict,” as well as another case study on provision of healthcare in Nigeria. These papers aim to assist UN agencies, NGOs, member states, and donor agencies in providing and supporting the provision of adequate health services to conflict-affected populations.

This issue brief concludes with recommendations for how health actors can improve delivery of health services in Mali:

• UN agencies, international NGOs, and donors should continue to focus on strengthening and supporting Mali’s community healthcare structures.
• Military, political, and humanitarian actors need to preserve the humanitarian space in Mali.
• Relevant UN agencies, local and international health NGOs, donors, and the Ministry of Health should place greater emphasis on noncommunicable diseases, particularly mental health.
• Humanitarian health actors and donors, as well as development actors and global health actors, should improve coordination with each other on the health response.
• Humanitarian health actors should better ensure that they are accountable for the health services they provide, in particular to affected populations.

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The humanitarian situation in Nigeria’s northeast is deteriorating, with more than 5 million people in need of healthcare and over 800,000 out of the reach of humanitarian actors. Given this level of need and the poor state of the healthcare system in northeastern Nigeria, humanitarian and other nongovernmental health actors play an important role.

This issue brief maps the challenges these health actors face and assesses their response. It accompanies a policy paper published in 2018 entitled “Hard to Reach: Providing Healthcare in Armed Conflict,” as well as another case study on provision of healthcare in Mali. These papers aim to assist UN agencies, NGOs, member states, and donor agencies in providing and supporting the provision of adequate health services to conflict-affected populations.

This issue brief concludes with recommendations for how health actors can improve delivery of health services in northeastern Nigeria:

• Humanitarian health actors should improve coordination both with each other and with global health actors working in northeastern Nigeria.
• Relevant UN agencies, local and international health NGOs, donors, and the Ministry of Health should scale up the response to under-prioritized health services.
• Humanitarian and development NGOs, donors, and the Ministry of Health should focus efforts to implement the humanitarian-development nexus for health services on areas where it is relevant and feasible.
• Humanitarian health actors should improve their accountability for the health services they provide.
• Humanitarian donors need to ensure that counterterrorism clauses in their funding contracts are not overbroad and do not impede neutral, independent, and impartial aid.

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The Middle East and North Africa region could benefit from additional efforts to promote the Culture of Peace, according to IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji, President of Bahrain’s Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, and BACA Adviser Mounir Bouchenaki.

This was the subject of a January 30th meeting during which the three parties pledged to further promote the Culture of Peace and the protection of world heritage. In order to do so, they asserted that it would be necessary to initiate dialogue among cultures, maintain the protection and conservation of world cultural heritage during conflict, and enact more preventive measures to do so in peace contexts as well.

At the meeting, Mr. Friji and Shaikha Mai Al-Khalifa discussed the substance and objectives of the forthcoming conference “World Forum for Culture of Peace” to be held at the Peace Palace in the Hague on June 13, 2019, in cooperation with the Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation, UNESCO, Leiden University, and IPI, and highlighted the forum’s focus on Iraq and Yemen.

Shaikha Mai Al-Khalifa confirmed her attendance and participation to the international conference, which is set to bring together heads of states, ministers, and high-level officials to advocate education of the culture of peace as a tool to protect world cultural heritage, with a focus on Iraq and Yemen in efforts to consolidate peace, transition, and reconstruction.

IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji met with Ahdeya Ahmed, the newly elected President of the Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA). Mr. Friji emphasized that the cooperation between IPI and BJA promotes the Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development involving print, audiovisual, digital, and social media.

The IPI MENA Director congratulated the BJA for electing a woman at their helm, stressing the need for women’s participation in leadership.

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How can we build on the achievements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)? This was the topic of this January 29th forum entitled “The UDHR: A Legacy Continued for Development and Human Rights Protection.” The event marked the 70th Anniversary of the Declaration, which was December 2018.

The forum was held at the Royal University of Women (RUW) in collaboration with the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR); the Ombudsman’s Office, United Nations Bahrain; the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of Bahrain; and IPI MENA.

Dr. Pasquale Borea, Dean of the College of Law at RUW, stressed the educational value of the declaration as a seminal international legal instrument whose influence can be seen in  regional conventions, national legislations, and instruments of soft law.

“Spreading knowledge and awareness of the UDHR among the youth can be an antidote to extremism, radicalism, and intolerance,” Dr. Borea stated. “It represents a fundamental step to inculcate values such as dialogue, respect, and tolerance in the next generation.”

Focusing on Article 7 within the Declaration, United Nations Resident Coordinator Amin El Sharkawi underlined its connection to the fifth Sustainable Development Goal, gender equality, and the role women played in conceptualizing the UDHR.

Mr. Sharkawi highlighted the roles of Hansa Mehta of India, Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic, and Begum Shaista Ikramullah of Pakistan who fundamentally transformed the UDHR by including women.

German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Kai Boeckmann offered examples of how his government urged companies to implement human rights. He also highlighted the private sector’s responsibility in upholding and promoting human rights.

Noting that International Holocaust Remembrance Day was on January 27th, Mr. Boeckmann pointed to the achievements of the international community in working together following the mass violations of human rights. “We need to resolutely defend all that we have achieved,” he stated.

After noting the gender imbalance on the panel, moderator and IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji gave the floor to IPI MENA Program Assistant Dalya Al Alawi to deliver IPI MENA’s statement and reiterated the importance of including women and youth to build on the legacy of the UDHR.

Ms. Al Alawi emphasized the connection between respect for human rights, peacefulness, and “positive peace,” and she advocated for the participation of women and youth in leadership to whom the 2030 Agenda’s pledge to “leave no one behind” applies.

Mr. Abdulla Ahmed Alderazi, Vice Chairperson of the NIHR’s Council of Commissioners reminded citizens and civil society of their duties to uphold human rights and in particular the importance of Article 29 of the UDHR.

Mashael Al Qutami, Specialist Investigator at the Ombudsman Office, pointed to the timeliness of the UDHR and drew on the example of how the 1970s international feminist movement gave way to the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination Against All Women (CEDAW), a significant treaty born from the UDHR.

In attendance were parliament representatives, private sector representatives, diplomatic corps, students, media, and the first female judge in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Mona Al Kawari.

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12-year old Adam Jade Kadia called on his peers, fellow students, and youth, as the leaders of future generations, to work together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the launch of his new book 17 SDGs held at IPI-MENA in collaboration with the Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC), Supreme Council for Women (SCW) and Representatives of the Shura Council (Senate) of the Kingdom of Bahrain on January 24th.

IPI-MENA Director Nejib Friji opened the book launch that coincided with the International Day of Education, and strongly reaffirmed the key role of education in IPI’s strategy to promote the Culture and Education for Peace.

“Students, children, and youth are the custodians of peace and culture,” he stressed, highlighting the fundamental need to nurture them and build on their existing knowledge and practices.

He called on educators, nurtures, and parents to support children and youth, emphasizing the importance of building a peace culture from within communities and homes, and educational institutional efforts.

“I urge the educational institutions to streamline the Culture of Peace throughout different curricula, from primary and secondary to postgraduate endeavors,” he stated.

Reiterating the importance of youth in a culture of peace, Adam Kadia stressed, “we are the future generations, and if we do nothing, the world will not change.”

Underlining the importance of each Sustainable Development Goal, Adam explained the inspiration behind his book entitled 17 SDGs as wanting to share the message of peace, respect, tolerance and understanding with his peers.

“These Sustainable Development Goals are like a roadmap, we can use these goals to get to the place we want be,” he stated, adding that they apply to all members of the international community.

Calling on local, regional, and international organizations in the Middle East to undertake more youth-related programs, Dr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, President of the Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC), highlighted the refreshing creativity and innovation young children can bring in sustaining peace and development.

He stressed the key role private and public sectors can play by providing a rich and positive environment that will unlock the untapped potential of youth to explore fields of talent for the service of peace and sustainable development.

Dr. Fatima Al Kooheji, Chairperson of the Shura Council’s Women and Child Affairs Committee, underlined the importance of national legislation in providing opportunities to encourage the youth and the responsibility governments have in supporting future generations through education.

Concluding the book launch, Supreme Council for Women Representative Sheikha Dina bint Rashid Al Khalifa, Director General for Policies and Development, stressed the ability of children to think outside the box and how that can build on the efforts and contributions of past generations in addressing the interconnected complexities of the SDGs.

“The main question we will all walk away from is what we can do, how can every one of us in our own lives work towards implementing the SDGs, and how can we inspire others, how can we make a difference in our communities and societies,” she stated.

Following the launch, a debate took place where all the children, representing nine different schools, interacted actively, mainly on their roles to advocate and implement the SDGs.

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IPI MENA and the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) noted the necessity of women’s participation to achieve sustainable development and social peace in Manama on January 13th. In a meeting with representatives of SCW and John Hopkins University Graduates, IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji stressed the importance of the achievements of Bahraini women and called for additional efforts to realize the aspirations of Bahraini women and the objectives of the Supreme Council for Women to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dalya Al Alawi, IPI MENA Program Assistant, emphasized IPI’s research on women’s inclusivity, stating that women’s participation and involvement across all levels of constitution and policy-making is a clear indicator of effective, durable and lasting peace.

Highlighting women’s progress in the region through their expanding participation across political, economic and social sectors of society, she stressed the receptiveness and willingness demonstrated by governments in the region towards upholding women’s rights, such as through initiatives like Bahrain’s National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women, and the active dynamism demonstrated by Bahraini women. She underlined the rapidly increasing percentage of female graduates and the subsequent growth of women working in the public sector as a prime example.

The question and answer session took place between IPI; SCW Representatives Ranya Ahmed Aljurf, Director of Gender Balance Center and Amina Al-Haddad, Head of Equal Opportunities from the Legislature and Civil Society Department; and John Hopkins University Graduates Ben Nussbaumer, Devan Kerley, Ao Yin, and Dania Abdalla. Participants discussed the importance of gender equality as a factor for regional integration, the key role religious education can play in mainstreaming women’s participation, and the role women played during the Arab Spring.

“There is no regional integration without social integration,” stated Nejib Friji, stressing that integration is the work of society at the grassroots level and cannot take place without the involvement of 50% of society.

He reiterated the necessity of incorporating women throughout all sectors of society, and compared countries that invested in women with those that did not, and how they fared better during the instability.

Pointing to Tunisia and Yemen as prime examples, he compared the crucial role Tunisian women played in steering the country away from the brink of collapse to Yemen’s lack of investment in women and the tragic result of the civil war. “Where women were not involved, it was a disaster,” he stated.

Nejib Frji concluded the meeting by reiterating IPI’s strong commitment and readiness to cooperate and engage in further exchanges with the Supreme Council of Women, civil society, and Parliament on women issues and empowerment.

Number of UN troops and police authorized by the Security Council in Haiti (Click for full graphic)

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 on the two most recent peacekeeping transitions in Haiti: one from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH), or from a multidimensional peacekeeping operation involving a substantial military component to a small peace operation focused on police and rule of law; and the ongoing transition toward the closure of MINUJUSTH and preparations for the eventual handover to other actors.

For both missions, the paper focuses on three issues: (1) transition planning, including the political dynamics that influenced decision making, gaps between plans and the reality on the ground, and the limited role of the host state, UN country team, civil society, and donors; (2) management, logistical, and administrative challenges; and (3) issues related to business continuity and changes in substantive areas of work. It concludes by offering lessons learned from the past and current transitions that can inform the next drawdown and exit of peacekeepers from Haiti.

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International humanitarian actors face challenges to providing medical care in armed conflict. What does the legal framework for medical care in armed conflict look like? And what are the challenges it faces?

On December 21, 2018, International Peace Institute (IPI) Policy Analyst Alice Debarre briefed the United Nations Security Council Open Arria Meeting on “Protecting Medical Care in Armed Conflict—from Policy to Practice.” Ms. Debarre outlined some of the key international humanitarian law norms relating to medical care in armed conflict, and explained the significance of Security Council resolution 2286, which reaffirmed the relevance of international humanitarian law. She then provided thoughts on how these challenges in provision of services can be overcome.

One of the foundational principles of international humanitarian law, codified in the First Geneva Convention of 1864, is that all wounded and sick—including combatants—are entitled to medical care, she explained.  From this principle, a series of obligations have been delineated in subsequent treaties. Key among these are that parties to armed conflict must protect the wounded and sick from ill treatment and that killing or causing suffering or injury to those wounded and sick is strictly prohibited. Another obligation is that parties to armed conflict are required to protect and respect medical personnel, transport and facilities, and that the wounded and sick must be treated without distinction on any basis other than their medical condition. Also, medical personnel cannot be punished for providing such impartial care.

In the years preceding the May 2016 adoption of Resolution 2286, the world was shocked by a spike in brutal violence against healthcare personnel and facilities in countries affected by armed conflict. The adoption of the resolution was evidence that the council heeded the urgent call from medical and humanitarian organizations on the ground to address this concern.

The adoption of resolution 2286 also represented a strong political commitment to protect the sanctity of healthcare delivery in armed conflict. It created momentum for positive efforts to tackle this issue. As requested by the resolution, the Secretary-General published a list of ambitious and concrete recommendations for its implementation in August 2016. Last year, France led the signing of a political declaration on the protection of humanitarian and health workers. Some countries—notably Sweden—engaged in internal reviews of their laws and military doctrine. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed a surveillance system of attacks on healthcare.

“Resolution 2286 is also a strong tool because of its broad scope. We often talk about ‘attacks on healthcare,’ and people have in mind the bombing of hospitals, or violence against medical personnel. But resolution 2286 also addresses challenges such as the obstruction of medical care, the criminalization of healthcare workers or the removal of healthcare supplies from a convoy,” said Ms. Debarre. “They all constitute attacks on healthcare – and all need to be prevented.”

On the ground, there is an unabated flow of attacks on healthcare. Three key types of challenges in armed conflict contexts are:

• Outright attacks on medical facilities, transport and personnel. These attacks are often violations of international humanitarian law, they are insufficiently investigated, and those responsible are rarely held accountable – legally or politically.
• Legal, administrative and other barriers that health workers and patients face. Overbroad counterterrorism laws and policies, for example, have adversely impacted the provision of medical care. Health actors may also face complex and burdensome bureaucratic procedures to be able to operate, or to access certain areas.
• Politicization of healthcare. Parties to conflict have instrumentalized health services by denying access to or imposing conditions on healthcare providers as a political or military strategy.

Ms. Debarre then recommended ways to overcome these challenges. First, she said, we can insure we make more systematic use of existing international and other mechanisms to investigate attacks against healthcare—not just for the purpose of ensuring accountability, but also in some cases to understand what happened, and whether systems can be put in place to prevent future attacks.

Second, we can also include clear exemptions for the provision of medical care in counterterrorism measures, to protect health workers’ ability to do their job and provide impartial care. Finally, she concluded, it is important we better understand what it means to be a health worker in the country contexts in which the issues we are talking about play out, and to hear what changes these health workers think are necessary.

“We have a robust, longstanding normative framework and clear principles,” she said. We have knowledgeable actors willing to guide and support in their implementation, some coming all the way from Afghanistan and South Sudan. We need states to take concrete action to uphold the fundamental norm that those who are wounded and sick have access to the medical care they need.”

Other participants were Ambassador Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden, who gave introductory remarks, and Farhad Jawid, Country Director, Marie Stopes International, Afghanistan; and  Dr. Evan Atar Adaha, Medical Director, Bunj hospital, in South Sudan, both of whom shared experiences from medical practitioners in the field.

UNOCI Peacekeeping Contributions (Click for full graphic).

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, without sustained dialogue, capacity transfer, or financial fluidity, leaving the UN country team unprepared to take on the mission’s responsibilities.

This policy paper examines the political dynamics in Côte d’Ivoire and in the Security Council that led to the decision to withdraw UNOCI, as well as the stages of the withdrawal and handover. It also analyzes the gaps and shortcomings that left the country team ill-prepared to take over, highlighting two main challenges. First, the Security Council viewed the transition as a political process. Its objective of withdrawing the mission superseded all others, leading it to underestimate, if not overlook, the continued peacebuilding needs of the country. Second, the transition was accompanied by waning donor interest, undercutting programming by the country team in priority areas like reconciliation, security sector reform, human rights, and land tenure.

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During an event in Tunis on December 13, 2018, IPI-MENA Director Nejib Friji warned against perils to world heritage and called on the international community to provide all conditions of protection and preservation.

In a statement delivered at the opening plenary session of the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization’s (ALECSO) Fourth Meeting of the Liaison Officers of the Architectural and Urban Heritage Observatory in the Arab States, Mr. Friji reiterated the importance of the protection and conservation of world heritage as crucial criteria to achieve sustainable development and social peace.

Likening cultural and world heritage to a running thread that ties and weaves civilizations together, Mr. Friji highlighted the contribution of world heritage to the development of relations between countries and regions. “It thus becomes a work of cooperation and coordination, paving the environment for peaceful relations of stability and development beyond the borders and members of one community.”

Referring to the major damage incurred by radical religious groups to sites such as the old city of Mosul in Iraq or Sana’a in Yemen, he stated that “the destruction of cultural and world heritage strikes at the very foundation of a society, deliberately erasing common roots and destroying social fabric, creating a breeding ground for conflict, instability and social unrest.”

The IPI-MENA Director emphasized how the ruination of “oral traditions, museums, artifacts, temples, and statues” is detrimental to regional stability and social peace. He stated, “the destruction of cultural heritage ultimately amounts to a violation of human rights, and subsequently humanitarian law—both of which are core requirements to achieve sustainable development and peace.”

At a time when extremist groups are distorting religion and using the message of Islam as a political tool to erase cultural heritage, Mr. Friji drew attention to the significant role of religious leaders in the Islamic world. He mentioned the example of the religious representatives who convened at IPI-MENA office in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain in 2016, who called for religious leaders to unite in their condemnation of the destruction of world heritage by religious extremist groups.

Underlying the importance of involving youth, Mr. Friji stressed that “the value of our cultural heritage must become part of a national curriculum from primary schools up to universities”, and that education is a powerful tool that must be incorporated to instill a sense of common responsibility and duty within citizens.

In order to achieve sustainable development and peace, “a holistic approach that engages all relevant stakeholders: civil society, nations at the grassroots level, governments, regions, and the multilateral system” is required.

He concluded his statement during the opening plenary session by calling on all relevant stakeholders and key players locally, regionally, and internationally “to uphold, maintain and protect world heritage, to respect past generations, educate present ones, but most of all, to pass down to future generations their cultural history.” He emphasized that the collective responsibility of prevention is a mechanism to safeguard long-lasting peace.

The meeting focusing on the creation of the Observatory of Urban Architectural Heritage in Arab Countries, it was chaired by Hayat Guermazi, Director of the Cultural Department of ALESCO, and featured participants Mounir Bouchenaki, Adviser to UNESCO Director General, Consultant on the protection and conservation of world heritage, Karim Hendili, Coordinator at the World Heritage Center, UNESCO, Bilel Chebbi, ISESCO Representative and IPI MENA-Director Nejib Friji.

Mr. Friji highly commended the creation of an Observatory for Urban Architectural Heritage, highlighting the platform it creates that can allow the development of international legal frameworks that will protect civilians and the state of conflict, as well as the archeological and cultural sites.

Describing the way forward, he concluded that these recommendations “may be used to form the basis for a package of laws that may be brought up by ministers to international forums to become elements of binding international laws.”

Actual and authorized number of uniformed UN personnel in Liberia, September 2003-March 2018 (Click for full graphic)

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 partners can learn in order to strengthen future UN peacekeeping transitions.

This paper examines the process of Liberia’s transition from a peacekeeping mission to a UN country team configuration, focusing on the period from July 2016 to July 2018. It identifies the political and operational dynamics that drove the transition, examines the policy processes and context within which the transition was executed, and assesses the ability of the UN’s post-mission configuration to sustain peace in Liberia.

The paper underscores that member states and the UN Secretariat should change their approach to transitions from racing against deadlines to instead viewing them as processes that begin well before a peacekeeping mission closes and continue for several years after the mission ends. By viewing transitions as long-term, multi-stakeholder activities, member states have the opportunity to ensure that future transitions adopt integrated approaches with adequate political, operational, and financial support.

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