Peacekeeping and security United Nations

bolivian blue helmet @ exercise in chile, 21 october 2002

the un, after approval security council, sends peacekeepers regions armed conflict has ceased or paused enforce terms of peace agreements , discourage combatants resuming hostilities. since un not maintain own military, peacekeeping forces voluntarily provided member states. these soldiers nicknamed blue helmets distinctive gear. peacekeeping force whole received nobel peace prize in 1988.

in september 2013, un had peacekeeping soldiers deployed on 15 missions. largest united nations organization stabilization mission in democratic republic of congo (monusco), included 20,688 uniformed personnel. smallest, united nations military observer group in india , pakistan (unmogip), included 42 uniformed personnel responsible monitoring ceasefire in jammu , kashmir. un peacekeepers united nations truce supervision organization (untso) have been stationed in middle east since 1948, longest-running active peacekeeping mission.

a study rand corporation in 2005 found un successful in 2 out of 3 peacekeeping efforts. compared efforts @ nation-building un of united states, , found 7 out of 8 un cases @ peace, compared 4 out of 8 cases @ peace. in 2005, human security report documented decline in number of wars, genocides, , human rights abuses since end of cold war, , presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, international activism—mostly spearheaded un—has been main cause of decline in armed conflict in period. situations in un has not acted keep peace intervened include korean war (1950–53) , authorization of intervention in iraq after gulf war (1990–91).

un buffer zone in cyprus established in 1974 following turkish invasion of cyprus.

the un has drawn criticism perceived failures. in many cases, member states have shown reluctance achieve or enforce security council resolutions. disagreements in security council military action , intervention seen having failed prevent bangladesh genocide in 1971, cambodian genocide in 1970s, , rwandan genocide in 1994. similarly, un inaction blamed failing either prevent srebrenica massacre in 1995 or complete peacekeeping operations in 1992–93 during somali civil war. un peacekeepers have been accused of child rape, soliciting prostitutes, , sexual abuse during various peacekeeping missions in democratic republic of congo, haiti, liberia, sudan , south sudan, burundi, , ivory coast. scientists cited un peacekeepers nepal source of 2010–13 haiti cholera outbreak, killed more 8,000 haitians following 2010 haiti earthquake.

in addition peacekeeping, un active in encouraging disarmament. regulation of armaments included in writing of un charter in 1945 , envisioned way of limiting use of human , economic resources creation. advent of nuclear weapons came weeks after signing of charter, resulting in first resolution of first general assembly meeting calling specific proposals elimination national armaments of atomic weapons , of other major weapons adaptable mass destruction . un has been involved arms-limitation treaties, such outer space treaty (1967), treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (1968), seabed arms control treaty (1971), biological weapons convention (1972), chemical weapons convention (1992), , ottawa treaty (1997), prohibits landmines. 3 un bodies oversee arms proliferation issues: international atomic energy agency, organization prohibition of chemical weapons, , comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty organization preparatory commission.