Chief Peacekeeper Leaves the UN
March 9, 2008 by SocProf and tagged Peace, Peacekeeping, United Nations
Via le Monde,
Le Français Jean-Marie Guéhenno va quitter l’ONU
LEMONDE.FR | 06.03.08
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After eight years at the head of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Jean-Marie Guehenno will leave at the end of June. The DPKO is one of the most prestigious UN agencies and there is speculation going on as to whether this high-ranking position will be remain in French hands. Guehenno was the highest-ranking French within the UN.
The DPKO is a big agency. It has a $7 billion budget and employs over 100,000 people distributed over 20 missions worldwide. This is one of the most visible UN operation. But there is much more to DPKO than deploying blue helmets in the world’s hot spot. The agency is always engaged in patient and discrete, behind-the-scenes diplomacy to get warring parties to negotiate truces and settlements, and then, the process starts all over again within the UN to get the Security Council and donors to commit to means to stop conflicts. This tedious process was made dramatically visible in Paul Cowen’s documentary, The Peacekeepers (review).
Jean-Marie Guehenno’s personal style certainly reflect the necessary patience, even-temperament and discretion needed to make this agency work. His position was especially difficult when he accepted the job after the failure in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda. Under his leadership, the operations multiplied and there were more troops dispatched to more places, such as Haiti, Liberia, Ivory Coast or Lebanon. More recently, Guehenno had been pleading for more troops to be sent to Darfur.
The United States and the UK have their eyes set on that position.
Photo Source: AFP/LIONEL HEALING, from article.
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