United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial

Peacekeeping is one of the most effective and cost-effective instruments that the international community has at its disposal to help promote peace and security. Currently, around 70,000 men and women in eleven missions are striving to maintain stability for people who in many cases have been suffering for years under the impact of war and violence. And they do so with a budget that is smaller than that of the New York Police Department. Nevertheless, United Nations Peacekeeping is coming under increasing pressure – with regard to financing, acceptance and in connection with large-scale missions which are not always able to completely fulfil their mandate. In a world full of crises and conflicts, we need the UNUnited Nations peace missions more than ever. Therefore, we want to tackle these challenges.

The UNUnited Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial is the most important conference for generating support for UNUnited Nations peacekeeping operations. They require funds, material and equipment as well as civilian, police and military personnel. At Germany’s invitation, representatives from more than 130 countries will come together to make concrete pledges. Germany will likewise make additional funds available.

Not only do we need to ensure that peacekeeping has sufficient resources. We also need to talk about how future UNUnited Nations peace missions could be better structured. At the instigation of Germany, the countries at this conference will therefore, for the first time, also discuss the future of peacekeeping. The focus will be on reforms and on how UNUnited Nations missions could be better tailored and more adaptable to often evolving situations on the ground. By tailoring peace missions more closely to the actual needs of the countries in which they are deployed, we seek to boost their effectiveness and their acceptance.

Germany is the fourth-largest financial contributor to peacekeeping and the UNUnited Nations system. That is another reason why we enjoy the trust of the international community, and that is also why more than 130 countries have accepted our invitation to Berlin. The fact that Germany is hosting the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin is a clear sign of Germany’s determination to continue to assume responsibility for peace and security within the United Nations.

Statement by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in the run-up to the conference:

“The United Nations was founded to maintain peace and security in the world. Across the globe, courageous UNUnited Nations peacekeepers are defending the rules of our common UNUnited Nations Charter. The large number of conflicts means that UNUnited Nations-Peacekeeping is more important than it has ever been. Yet the challenges,
too, are greater than ever before. Together with German Defence Minister Pistorius, I am therefore grateful that the international community has accepted our invitation to the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin. The discussions there will centred on the question of what needs to be done to ensure that the world can continue to be able to rely on UNUnited Nations peacekeepers as the face and the arm of the UNUnited Nations.”

Statement by Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius in the run-up to the conference:

“Even if Germany is focusing more on national and collective defence in the current European threat environment: We are determined to strengthen UNUnited Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide. Germany continues to participate in blue helmet missions. Unique to our approach is that we support other troop contributors in helping them build up their own capabilities. That means we provide training - not only in Germany, but also in mission. We provide support with material and help, for example, with setting up field hospitals, mobile command posts or dealing with Improvised Explosive Devices. We thereby contribute to the professional deployment of blue helmets on the ground. I am delighted that we are coming together in Berlin 80 years after the end of the Second World War to discuss Peacekeeping and to initiate necessary reforms.“