The Congo has a fragile democracy, one that is threatened by armed militia in the country. It was to bolster democracy that the UN commenced a strong peacekeeping mission there.
Then came the revelation from the BBC that the mission may itself be somewhat responsible for keeping the militia armed!
According to that report, a peacekeeping contingent in The Congo was under investigation for allegedly disarming militants, then returning the weaponry to them in exchange for gold.
The contingent in question was from Pakistan.
Now, Pakistan provides the largest contingent of peacekeepers to the UN: 10,619 out of a total of 83,312. Those numbers are for May 2007. And diplomats in New York say a message has gone out to the UN that if the report of the investigation is too harsh, then Pakistan may choose to withdraw those forces. That will cause a serious manpower problem for the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The buzz is that the report may be diluted to prevent that from happening.
The two largest contingents in peacekeeping, after Pakistan, are from Bangladesh and India - 9677 and 9342, respectively. But it isn't that South Asians are genetically disposed towards making the world a better, more peaceful place to live in.
It's about money. A DPKO official once told me that the major reason for these large troop deployments from South Asia is because of the relatively generous salaries and allowances that the UN provides. That helps with the foreign exchange reserves of these countries.
In effect, then, what you have are peacekeepers who could also be described as mercenaries. And since they can be that, we should not be surprised that such scams are in place. If it's Pakistan today, it could well be India tomorrow.
Of course, volunteer armies are not immune from corruption either. However, there is an emotive breadth to these troops that the troops-for-hire may be divorced from.
For peacekeeping to succeed, the forces would need to have a vested interest in stability in the region. For instance, a force composed of troops from African nations neighbouring The Congo.
That the UN isn't really getting it done, in peacekeeping or otherwise, is also exemplified by the conviction of former chief of its Commodity Procurement Department, Sanjaya Bahel, on bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud charges in New York.
Of course, these are not the fault of the new Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. These are legacies left over from the regime of Kofi Annan that he could have done without. However, for him to prove that the UN is not compromising on corruption, he will need to ensure that the report on the events in The Congo is not altered. Otherwise, peacekeeping could well turn into war-mongering.first published:June 12, 2007, 13:28 ISTlast updated:June 12, 2007, 13:28 IST
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It's very possible you aren't aware of this story. The United Nations' Office of Internal Oversight Services is undertaking an investigation into apparent irregularities in its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Congo has a fragile democracy, one that is threatened by armed militia in the country. It was to bolster democracy that the UN commenced a strong peacekeeping mission there.
Then came the revelation from the BBC that the mission may itself be somewhat responsible for keeping the militia armed!
According to that report, a peacekeeping contingent in The Congo was under investigation for allegedly disarming militants, then returning the weaponry to them in exchange for gold.
The contingent in question was from Pakistan.
Now, Pakistan provides the largest contingent of peacekeepers to the UN: 10,619 out of a total of 83,312. Those numbers are for May 2007. And diplomats in New York say a message has gone out to the UN that if the report of the investigation is too harsh, then Pakistan may choose to withdraw those forces. That will cause a serious manpower problem for the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The buzz is that the report may be diluted to prevent that from happening.
The two largest contingents in peacekeeping, after Pakistan, are from Bangladesh and India - 9677 and 9342, respectively. But it isn't that South Asians are genetically disposed towards making the world a better, more peaceful place to live in.
It's about money. A DPKO official once told me that the major reason for these large troop deployments from South Asia is because of the relatively generous salaries and allowances that the UN provides. That helps with the foreign exchange reserves of these countries.
In effect, then, what you have are peacekeepers who could also be described as mercenaries. And since they can be that, we should not be surprised that such scams are in place. If it's Pakistan today, it could well be India tomorrow.
Of course, volunteer armies are not immune from corruption either. However, there is an emotive breadth to these troops that the troops-for-hire may be divorced from.
For peacekeeping to succeed, the forces would need to have a vested interest in stability in the region. For instance, a force composed of troops from African nations neighbouring The Congo.
That the UN isn't really getting it done, in peacekeeping or otherwise, is also exemplified by the conviction of former chief of its Commodity Procurement Department, Sanjaya Bahel, on bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud charges in New York.
Of course, these are not the fault of the new Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. These are legacies left over from the regime of Kofi Annan that he could have done without. However, for him to prove that the UN is not compromising on corruption, he will need to ensure that the report on the events in The Congo is not altered. Otherwise, peacekeeping could well turn into war-mongering.
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