2023: A challenging year for UN peacekeepers in Africa
United Nations peacekeeping missions have struggled in 2023 to protect civilians and bring stability to the countries they operate in, especially in Africa.
In countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR), the UN troops have had little success.
According to some analysts, the UN missions that operate under strict guidelines have been overwhelmed in some of these countries.
"A clear case in point is Mali, [the security situation] has not been resolved because day by day the violence seems to be worsening," Adib Saani, director of the Jatikay Center for Human Security and Peace Building, told DW. "It looks almost like the [UN] mission is helpless."
For analysts like Saani, recent poor performances of UN missions in parts of Africa are disappointing.
"They have failed consistently to deal with the cycle of violence in those countries and the very reason for which they were brought in in the first place," Saani said.
UN peacekeepers restricted by mandates
UN missions have clear cut operational mandates that restrict their activities. For example, UN peacekeeping operations are not considered tools of enforcement.
They are not allowed to use lethal force except in self-defense or defense of their given mandate. Some experts blame the "weak" mandate for the peacekeeping struggles.
"I wouldn't say that the UN missions in Africa are all failing, but rather it is the nature of their mandate that limits their efficacy or effectiveness in the areas they are meant to operate," Fidel Amakye Owusu, an expert on conflict resolution, told DW.
He stressed that the limit to the operations of UN missions sometimes puts them in an awkward position where citizens consider them counterproductive to stabilizing volatile situations.
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