Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda ranked among top troop contributors for peace missions

Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda are among the top 10 largest contributors of military personnel to peace operations, accounting for 57 per cent of all deployments across the globe.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) noted this in its latest ranking, for the year 2023, which was published on Wednesday as the world marked the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The day honours the peacekeepers' extraordinary contributions to international peace and security.

India topped the list with 5,901 personnel and was followed by Nepal at 5,878, while Uganda came in third at 5,764, Bangladesh fourth at 5,393, and Ethiopia fifth at 4,984. Rwanda followed with 4,794, and then came Pakistan at 4,299, Burundi at 4,054, Kenya at 3,665, and Indonesia at 2,505.

SIPRI notes that last year, 63 multilateral peace operations were active in 37 countries or territories around the world, one operation less than in 2022.

“Twenty were conducted by the United Nations. Another 38 operations were conducted by different regional organisations and alliances. The other five were conducted by ad hoc coalitions of states,” the report states.

Of the 63 operations, 24 were in sub-Saharan Africa, 19 in Europe, 14 in the Middle East and North Africa, three in Asia, and another three in the Americas.

A total of 100,568 international personnel had been deployed to these multilateral peace operations as of December 31, 13 per cent fewer than at the end of 2022.

“This marked both the largest decrease and the lowest total seen in the past decade. The overall decrease in personnel numbers was primarily due to an 18-per cent drop in sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, sub-Saharan Africa still accounted for the vast majority, with 76,372 international personnel deployed,” the report adds.

In 2023, new operations were launched in Armenia, Moldova, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while other operations closed in Mali, Sudan, the DRC, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Key missions

The European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) was established on January 23, 2023, to observe and report on the security situation along the Armenian side of the international border with Azerbaijan.

It succeeded the temporary EU Monitoring Capacity for Armenia (EUMCAP), which was deployed between October and December 2022 following renewed hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC was established on May 8, 2023, and was officially deployed on December 15, 2023, to support the Congolese army in fighting armed groups in eastern parts of the country.

It took over tasks previously handled by the East African Community Regional Force in the DRC (EACRF).

In October 2023, the UN Security Council authorised the establishment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti to support the Haitian National Police in addressing the security crisis in the country, but it has not yet been deployed.

Kenya is among the nations set to deploy forces to Haiti, with a commitment to send 1,000 personnel to help restore order in the gang-ravaged Caribbean country.

Four multilateral peace operations were ended in 2023.

After a decade of operations in Mali, the UN Security Council terminated the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on June 30, 2023, and ordered its full withdrawal, at the request of Mali's transitional government.

In November 2023, the Sudanese government called for the termination of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) with immediate effect, claiming the mission’s performance in implementing its objectives had been disappointing. The Security Council complied with the request, and UNITAMS ceased its mandate delivery on December 4, 2023.

At the same time, the AU Military Observer Mission to the CAR (MOUACA) ceased its operations last year due to the precarious security conditions in the CAR and the uncertain financial support for MOUACA.

SIPRI observes that as multilateral peace operations face increasing demands from host governments, conflict management is likely to become more militarised and securitised.

“This is evident from the closure of MINUSMA and the pressures on MONUSCO to either fight armed groups or close. Similarly, the establishment of forces such as the EACRF-DRC, SAMIDRC, and SAMIM, along with the expanded use of PMCs to counter terrorist or rebel activities, highlights this shift," the report says.

"As a result, multilateral peace operations may be slowly pulled towards more militarised approaches and away from multidimensional peacekeeping."

According to the UN, more than two million peacekeepers have served in 71 missions, helping countries navigate the difficult path from war to peace since 1948.