News

Metal Detector

What is the impact of the UN missions in Mali and South Sudan?

Date: 29 May 2019
Time: 09:30
Location: NUPI
Language: English
Available seats: 17

Peacekeeping is one of the most prominent tools available to the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security. The former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, referred to peacekeeping as the flagship enterprise of the UN.

However, a mixed record of successes and failures, an unprecedented high number of fatalities, and new threats like violent extremism have raised questions as to whether UN peacekeeping is still fit for purpose. The UN and other international organizations conducting peace operations, including the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU), are therefore under increasing pressure to justify the effectiveness and impact of their engagement.

At this seminar, we will turn our attention to the effectiveness of the UN missions in Mali (MINUSMA) and South Sudan (UNMISS). Researchers from the Effectiveness of Peace Operations (EPON) research network will present findings from their research into these two operations. Each presentation will be followed by a panel, consisting of a representative from the UN missions as well as a representative from a local civil society organisations from the country.

Programme:

09:30 Welcome and briefing on EPONCedric de Coning, NUPI
09:45 An Assessment of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Adam Day, UN University
10:00 Panel on South Sudan
Brig.Gen. Wang Chuanjin, Commander, Sector West, UNMISS
Zacharia Diing Akol, The Sudd Institute
Adam Day, UN University
Moderator: Kari Osland, NUPI
10:45 Coffee break
11:00 An Assessment of the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Jair van der Lijn, SIPRI
11:15 Panel on Mali
Natasja Rupesinghe, Research Fellow, NUPI
Jair van der Lijn, SIPRI
Sharon Wiharta, Peace Operations Specialist, Challenges Forum
Moderator: Kari Osland, NUPI

The Executive Summary of the EPON report on the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is available here: effectivepeaceops.net/minusma

The EPON report on the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is available here: effectivepeaceops.net/unmiss

NUPI has received funding from the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support EPON and its research, including via the UN Peace Operations project (UNPOP) and the Training for Peace (TfP) programme.

The seminar will be live streamed on NUPI’s YouTube channel.