Contact: Deborah DeYoung, 202-276-8670

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Eighteen months ago, the South Sudan town of Bentiu was bustling. People in the newly-independent nation were working and trading, their children were going to school, and markets were vibrant. The UN's peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was there too, working alongside the people of Unity State and elsewhere to support development and growth in the world's newest nation.

Today, Bentiu is deserted. Its main dirt road is littered with the grim evidence of civil war. Outside the town, a sea of blue and white tents and hastily-erected market stalls have been erected on the UNMISS base, turning it into the temporary home of 63,000 civilians who have sought protection from the cataclysm of violence that has gripped the country since December 2013.

Bentiu's story echoes throughout this young country. Civilians fleeing grave human rights violations and unimaginable suffering continue to arrive at UN peacekeepers' bases, seeking protection. More than 130,000 South Sudanese people are sheltering alongside UN peacekeepers at seven bases now.

There also is little peace to keep in some of the other nations that also host UN peacekeepers. They are working, in some of the harshest conditions on Earth, to provide security while pursuing political solutions to ongoing conflict. What that means for each day of their deployment is negotiating complex threats in an unstable political environment – while protecting large, often terrified populations.

This is the case in Mali, where peacekeepers trying to bring stability to communities are bearing the brunt of violent attacks by armed groups. To date, 36 peacekeepers have been killed, and more than 170 wounded, in hostile incidents since the UN established its Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in 2013.

This also is the case in the Central African Republic. Some 10,000 UN troops, police and civilians were deployed there following the breakdown in law and order, and widespread ethnic violence, which began in 2013. A few weeks ago, the country adopted a peace pact that reflects its people's aspirations to put the conflict behind them once and for all. That is encouraging, but doesn't mean UN peacekeepers' work is done. They continue to battle the inhospitable terrain and an almost complete lack of infrastructure in order to react quickly to flare-ups of violence. Left unchecked, these spasms could threaten the fragile, nascent peace.

For almost seven decades, UN peacekeeping has proven itself as a legitimate, reliable and effective way to protect civilians and help them make the transition from conflict to peace. Today, more than 125,000 military, police and civilian staff carry on this work in 16 UN peacekeeping operations world-wide. This deployment - the largest in history – is tangible evidence of the international community's faith that peacekeeping can help foster peace and security.

To continue responding effectively and robustly, peacekeepers depend on all UN member states to renew their engagement, and to help share the burdens and risks. Well-trained troops from a broad array of countries must be ready to deploy quickly, and with modern tools and capabilities. For example:

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, unarmed, unmanned aerial vehicles are being used to improve situational awareness, deter armed groups, and protect UN personnel.
   
• In Mali, an innovative "Information Fusion Cell" is improving peacekeepers' information-gathering efforts to confront determined non-state actors and armed groups.

Where peacekeepers are directly targeted, where violence is widespread and ongoing, and where thousands of civilians seek UN protection, these operations must answer the challenges quickly and definitively.

Peacekeeping missions deliver because they represent the convergence of global interests that is the fundamental concept behind the United Nations. With new crises and conflicts emerging almost continually, the stakes are higher than ever - and the consequences of failure even more dire.

The UN Secretary-General and other global leaders are convening a summit in New York this fall to ensure UN peacekeeping remains up to its vital work. For our part, UN peacekeeping is determined to be more innovative, more flexible and more cost-effective. We are committed not only to protecting the vulnerable people we serve, but also to delivering greater value and to fulfilling our mandates more effectively and efficiently.

As we honor the 126 peacekeepers who died in the UN's service in 2014, we also remember the people of Bentiu and so many other places protected by our missions around the world. Their ability to return to their towns and resume their lives depends on greater security. They deserve peace. And they look to the "Blue Helmets" who are the familiar face of the UN for help in restoring their reason to hope for a better future.

By Hervé Ladsous,
Under-Secretary-General for the
United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations