UN Chief Urges Support for Peacekeeping Amid Deep Funding Crisis
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Member States to boost support for peacekeeping operations amid a deepening financial crisis, warning that the UN faces the highest number of conflicts since its founding.
The UN's peacekeeping budget runs on a July-June cycle and has unpaid arrears of $2.7 billion. Guterres said that in the coming years, "a clear exit strategy" for Blue Helmets will be key, as well as working with Member States and the Security Council "to ensure that any new mandates" are prioritized and achievable with the resources available.
The UN chief's push to streamline the global body comes a day after his call to push ahead with major efficiency improvements and cost-cutting in response to the chronic liquidity crisis caused by Member States falling into arrears.
InFocus
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Burundi, a major contributor to African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia for 17 years, has decided not to participate in the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), citing a dispute over the number of troops.
This decision follows a disagreement with Somalia over troop allocation to the Burundi National Defense Forces (BNDF), which is a blow to peacekeeping efforts in the region. Somalia offered
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The army's latest campaign in the central region of Hiran comes as African Union troops, which has been helping with peacekeeping operations in the country since 2007, scale down its operations. Senior military officers said the offensive is part of a broader strategy to weaken the militant group's hold on the region.
Hiran has reportedly been a key battleground in the war against Al-Shabaab, with
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United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions have received a significant boost from UN member states, who pledged their support and resources this week at the 2023 ministerial meeting in Accra. UN peacekeeping missions have received a significant boost from UN member states, who pledged their support and resources this week at the 2023 ministerial meeting in Ghana's capital, Accra.
In Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, UN peacekeeping missions haven't
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Peacekeepers secure a checkpoint in Begoua, Central African Republic (file photo).
