Location: Geneva
Website: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/about/dpko/
Type: International
UN peace-keeping dates back to 1948, with the DPKO officially established in 1998, under Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
The DPKO is in charge of providing political and executive direction to UN Peacekeeping operations around the world. It also maintains communication with the Security Council, troop and financial contributors, and parties to the conflict in the implementation of Security Council mandates. The Department works to integrate the efforts of UN, governmental and NGO entities in the context of peacekeeping operations. DPKO also provides guidance and support on military, police, mine action and other relevant issues to other UN political and peacebuilding missions.
The work that peacekeepers do puts them in direct danger from IED, UXO, landmines and other ERW. In regard to these issues specifically the DPKO integrates this work into its worldwide operations. This is in line with a November 2003 Presidential Statement of the Security Council. Mr. Hervé Ladsous, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations chairs the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action, which brings together representatives from all UN mine-action entities. UNMAS provides direct support and assistance to UN peacekeeping missions.
These issues come under the DPKO’s Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), which was established in 2007. The purpose of the office in general is strengthen the links and coordinate the Department’s activities in the areas of police, justice and corrections, mine action, the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants and security sector reform.
This profile is part of AOAV’s investigation into counter-IED (C-IED) actors around the globe. To see the list of all C-IED actors recorded by AOAV, see here. To see those engaged in the Middle East, the Sahel, North Africa or other highly impacted countries please see here, here, here, and here respectively. This research was made possible by funding from the NATO Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE). To read the full report, ‘Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, Regional and Global Initiatives’, see here.
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