The number of personnel deployed to multilateral peace operations fell by more than 40 per cent between 2015 and 2024, according to a new analysis of developments and trends in multilateral peace operations.
According to the report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) a total of 61 multilateral peace operations were active in 36 countries or territories around the world during 2024.
This was two operations fewer than in 2023. The largest number (21) were in sub-Saharan Africa, 19 in Europe, 14 in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), 4 in the Americas and 3 in Asia and Oceania.
As of 31 December 2024, 94,451 international personnel were deployed in 57 peace operations, 42 per cent fewer than in 2015 (161,509 international personnel) and 6 per cent fewer than in 2023 (100,568).
The large drop in personnel deployments over the decade happened even as the number of active missions remained relatively stable, said in a report of SIPRI dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament since 1966.
The new report and data are published ahead of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on 29 May and are available at www.sipri.org.
Geopolitical tensions within the UN Security Council continue to impact multilateral peace operations. Despite a rising incidence of conflict around the world, the past decade has seen no new large-scale UN-led peace operations being deployed. Talks on mission mandates in 2024 were often difficult and ambitions low, it reads.
Nearly three quarters of peace operations personnel (74 per cent, or 69,913) were deployed in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024. Another 15 per cent (14,498) were deployed in MENA; 9 per cent (8,898) in Europe; 1 per cent (828) in the Americas; and 0.3 per cent (314) in Asia and Oceania.
The only region to see a significant increase in personnel deployments compared to the end of 2023 was the Americas (+120 per cent), while numbers fell or stayed at around the same level in the other regions.
Divisions within the UN Security Council contributed to delays in approving and deploying the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS). In the interim, the problems related to gang violence that the MSS was meant to help address had deepened considerably.
Funding constraints affected many multilateral peace operations in 2024.
All of the top 10 contributors of military personnel to multilateral peace operations were in the Global South.
Nepal became the top contributor of military personnel, followed by Bangladesh and India, with all three countries contributing chiefly to UN missions.
The remaining top 10 contributors were located in sub-Saharan Africa (Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Burundi and Kenya) or South Asia (Pakistan). Overall, the top 10 contributors accounted for just over half of all military personnel deployed as of 31 December 2024.
The five largest multilateral peace operations in 2024 were in sub-Saharan Africa: the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the report added.
