Recording: International Day of UN Peacekeepers Conference 2021

Marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, this virtual conference is both an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifice made by those who have died in the service of humanity, and to analyse developments in peacekeeping operations.

The UK government’s recently-released Integrated Review sets the context for this year’s discussions. The document casts the UK as a problem-solving and burden-sharing country with a global perspective, and invokes the country’s responsibilities as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. It also promises to play a more active part in sustaining the international order and protecting human rights and global norms.

While the ambition is welcome, details about how such objectives might be achieved remain scarce. Our conference aims to consider how the UK might match its ambitions with action. It will reflect on the lessons from the deployment of UK forces to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and assess how this might influence future contributions to peacekeeping. Building on this experience, the conference will address opportunities for the UK to engage more with peacekeeping, both in terms of the capabilities it provides as well as how it could harness its interest in training and partnering to greatest effect. We will also assess how peacekeeping itself is changing to a more human-centred approach.