CHANGING NATURE OF THE UN PEACE OPERATIONS: CHALLENGES FOR BANGLADESH AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Following the devastation of the World War II, the United Nations (UN) came into being in 1945 with the central mission of maintaining international peace   

Mohammad Mahabubul Haque is Lieutenant Colonel in Bangladesh Army. His e-mail address is:

haquemohammadmahabubul@gmail.com
© Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), 2023

and security. Since then, it has been working on preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, counterterrorism, and disarmament. The first UN mission was launched in 1948. Until the Cold War, all missions’ environments were mostly characterised by interstate conflicts. Those were labelled as traditional peacekeeping. Traditional peacekeeping also ensured that the government was functioning normally, the judicial system was in place and international rules were operable. There were no responsibilities to protect the population and involvements with civilian agencies were minimum. But the failure of UN peacekeepers in Rwanda in 1994 and Srebrenica in 1995 forced the UN leadership to realise that the environment of mission has changed where interstate conflict has mostly turned into intrastate conflict. In this phase of the UN peacekeeping mission, they experienced that state infrastructure of the host countries had broken down, governments became ineffective, arms proliferation went uncontrolled, international humanitarian law had become handicapped. Factors like attacking the UN ambulance, use of human armour, involvement of peacekeepers to disarm and neutralise the rebels and increased factional groupings intermingled with populations etc. had been observed in the mission area. These changes in the character of the mission environment forced to adopt multidimensional peacekeeping where the peacekeepers are expected not only to maintain peace and security but also to expedite the political process, protect civilians, assist disarmament, disbandment and reintegration of earlier combatants, keep up the organisation of elections protect and promote human rights and assist in refurbishing the rule of law. 1 The complexities further demonstrate the need for intelligence-based operation by peacekeepers coupled with robust peacekeeping in attitude and approach in recent time.  

In 2017, the UN published Cruz Report which was mostly focussed on action plans for all mission components to address contemporary context of UN missions, where General Santos Cruz stated, “We need to change the way we are doing business.”2 Until today, this report is regarded as an important document that describes the changing scenario in peacekeeping operation and the need for adaptive approach to ensure desired success. The report stated,  

 United Nations (UN), “What is Peacekeeping,” accessed August 8, 2022,

https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/what-is-peacekeeping 2 United Nations, Improving Security of United Nations: We Need to Change the Way We Are Doing Business
(Cruz Report) (New York: UN, 2017)

“The age of Chapter VI-style peacekeeping is over, but the UN and troop/police contributing countries (T/PCCCs) are, on the whole, still engulfed by a Chapter VI Syndrome. The United Nations and T/PCCs will be deliberately sending troops into danger if they do not adopt a new mindset, take calculated risks, and demonstrate a readiness to meet these new challenges. Tactical information is necessary for peacekeeping deployments to avoid casualties. Situational awareness, management, networks of human intelligence, and the fundamental intelligence system are all lacking.”3 

Today, Bangladesh has achieved international recognition in peacekeeping mission in one hand, and had to pay a high cost by sacrificing lives on the other. Yet, it stands resolute to work for peace in the zone of conflicts.4 Bangladesh has shown consistency in maintaining leading position in terms of number of peacekeepers deployed under the UN umbrella. This achievement has come through undaunted commitments towards the restoration of world peace that also stemmed from its constitutional obligation.

However, asymmetric threats posed by perpetrators, the necessity of adopting new age equipment by peacekeepers, setting top priority of the mission in the protection of civilians (POC),5 etc. have posed challenges for Bangladesh which demand revisiting of policies in regard to the UN peacekeeping operations. This article suggests some policy options for Bangladesh in peacekeeping missions under this challenging scenario.

Due to the evolving nature of UN peacekeeping operations, the operationreadiness of Bangladeshi peacekeepers is highly challenging in the current missions. It is necessary to brand Bangladesh as peace-promoter,6 along with modernisation of Bangladeshi peacekeepers with appropriate training and capacity building to endure current threats and risks prevalent in the conflict zones. This article aims to suggest some policy interventions to progress and modernise Bangladeshi armed forces and police in line with today’s changing operational  

3 UN Peacekeeping Resource Hub, UN Military Peacekeeping Intelligence Officers, accessed August 1,

2022, https://research.un.org/RTP/MPKIO
4 Niloy Ranjan Biswas, “Bangladesh in the United Nations: Promoting Peace, Partnership and Proactive
Diplomacy,” BIPSOT Journal (January 2019). 5 Julian Harston, “Protection of Civilian,” Peace Operations Training Institute, 2016, 11. 6 “Brand Bangladesh as powerful peace promoting country,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as chief guest
marking the “International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers-2022,” Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, May
29, 2022, https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/63481 

environment. In doing so, the main question that will be addressed in this paper is: How to adopt the right course of action for Bangladesh in order to ensure operational readiness of its peacekeeping forces according to the demand and present standard of the UN in congruence with its defence expenditure? 

The broad objective of this paper is to make some policy suggestions for Bangladesh on how it can adopt the right course of action for its peacekeeping forces in order to maintain its reputation and supremacy as the leading troop contributing country in the world. The specific objectives, therefore, to be pursued are as follows: to analyse the evolving nature of UN peacekeeping operations and to find out areas of intervention for the Government of Bangladesh to maintain the peacekeeping forces as per its commitment to the world in pursuit of peace, stability, and security under the changing and challenging scenario of peacekeeping operations. 

To reach its objective, this paper uses qualitative methods to identify the important policy options by conducting the Key Informant Interview (KII) data analysis, problem tree analysis and comparison of three UN reports [Brahimi7 ; High-level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations (HIPPO)8 and Cruz Reports) in tabular form. For this study, both primary and secondary data were collected and critically analysed including the UN reports and important documents. In-depth Interview with key informants like high ranked ex-UN stakeholders and concerns to identify important policy options and comparison of three UN reports in tabular form have been done. The target population for the KII was the Bangladesh Armed Forces officials who have completed UN mission at least once in their service life. For stakeholder mapping, at first a list of stakeholders was prepared from the UN reports and relevant literature that can influence the UN operation and proposed policy implementations. Here, participation of Bangladesh in UN peacekeeping operations is a dependent variable; on the other hand, modernisation of Armed Forces and Police, capacity building and budgetary issue are independent variables. Based on this method,  

7 UN Peacekeeping, “Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Brahimi report) [A/55/305],”

accessed August 6, 2022, https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/report-of-panel-united-nations-peace-operationsbrahimi-report-a55305 8 UN Peacekeeping, “High-level Panel on Peace Operations,” accessed August 6, 2022,
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/report-of-independent-high-level-panel-peace-operations 

some policy options have been identified and evaluated. These are further recommended with the required implementation and risk mitigation options.

This article is divided into six sections including introduction and conclusion. Section two discusses the nature and evolution of peacekeeping operations over time, the challenges of UN in present environment. Section three elaborates contemporary peace operation environment and section four discusses challenges for Bangladesh in changing scenario of peacekeeping operation. Section five comprises with some policy recommendations.  

Since 1948, the UN has conducted 57 peacekeeping operations covering from Central America to Southeast Asia. In that context, the UN was formed to respond to interstate conflicts and to safeguard the sovereignty of its member states.9 The traditional model of UN peacekeeping was developed during the Cold War period as a means of resolving conflicts between two or more states. The UN started its peacekeeping efforts by deploying unarmed and, in some cases, only lightly armed UN military personnel between belligerents. The rise of intra-state conflicts, following the Cold War, resulted in a shift towards multidimensional peacekeeping operations.10 With its ever-changing trend, peacekeeping has now turned into a very complex effort to cope with the precarious pattern of conflicts in the 21st century. As far as the POC and force protection are concerned, the peacekeeping effort has now become very risky due to multifaceted threats. The UN also faces considerable challenges in ensuring consistency in capacity, equipment, and training across the units deployed in peacekeeping, particularly when UN peacekeeping missions take over from existing operations, as was the case in Mali and the Central African Republic.11 The UN faces considerable shortfalls in delivering the capabilities required in the field, particularly for the troops on ground. 

Today, in many of the operating environments of peacekeeping, the UN faces challenges related to state-building and execution of mandates to support the   

9 Donald A. Hempson III, “Avoiding the Scourge of War: The Challenges of United Nations Peacekeeping,”

accessed July 16, 2022, https://origins.osu.edu/article/avoiding-scourge-war-challenges-united-nationspeacekeeping
10 Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations, “From Disarmament to Lasting Peace: Defining the
Parliamentary Role” (Background note prepared by the United Nations Department of Peace Operational)
(New York: October 2004), 1.
11Ali Reza Mohammad Ashaduzzaman, “Evolving Trends of UN Peacekeeping Operations and Preferred
Preparations of Bangladesh Armed Forces,’ BIPSOT Journal (January 2017)

restoration and extension of state authority.12 Promoting legitimate governance, developing infrastructure, and service delivery are all essential prerequisites to longer-term peacebuilding and sustainable development.13 

Peacekeeping operations before Cold War were aimed at monitoring ceasefire agreement between two warring states where the UN forces deployed unarmed or lightly armed, mainly used to observe weapon free zone and ensure compliance of rules set by the UN for both parties who agreed to maintain peace. The classical role of peacekeeping forces was to keep peace and, when applicable, arrest because of any violation of the set norms that might be threatening to the prevalence of peace.14 The nature of the dispute that required the intervention of the UN was characterised by interstate’s interest; however, governments of those states, involved in the conflict, were functional and capable of exercising authority, and also the judicial system within the states were active to implement the rule of law. The UN peacekeepers were neutral body and remained responsible to adopt the UN mandate in the area demarcated between two or more warring states. This has been termed as the first-generation peacekeeping which covers the period from 1948 until the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. In the arrangement of the first-generation peacekeeping, the UN peacekeepers had to be invited by the host state and would not deploy until a ceasefire had been established. The invitation protected the sovereignty of member states—a paramount concern for the UN; and the ceasefire provided some sign that the belligerents were committed to resolving the conflict. In reality, the first-generation peacekeeping was more passive than what is exercised today 

The UN peacekeeping forces of the first-generation consisted of lightly armed troops deployed to serve in a neutral capacity, physically interposed or inserted between opponents. The UN peacekeepers were primarily a visible deterrent and a reminder of the international community’s reciprocal commitment to resolving the conflict. As such, peacekeepers did not need heavy weaponry and intentionally did not project an offensive capability. Being armed with light arms  

12 Herve Ladsous, “New Challenges and Priorities for UN Peacekeeping, United Nations Under Secretary

General,” The Brookings Institution, June 17, 2014. 13 Fantini C, Morgan G, Kumar S, Adeoti T, Reese A, Schouten P, Crosskey S and O’Regan N, “Infrastructure
for Peacebuilding: The Role of Infrastructure in Tackling the Underlying Drivers of Fragility,” United
Nations Office for Project Services, 2020. 14 Cedric De Coning, Chiyuki Aoi and John Karlsrud, eds., UN Peacekeeping Doctrine in a New Era:
Adapting to Stabilisation, Protection and New Threats (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2017) 

and blue helmets, the UN peacekeepers monitored ceasefires and remained in the field only so long as the invitation remained. 

At the end of the Cold War, the second-generation peacekeeping started its journey to address the complex nature of the ethnic and communal violence increasingly confronted by the peacekeepers. The UN moved its peacekeeping endeavours beyond the passive interposition role into something far more complex, involving multidimensional effort as its first-generation model of peacekeeping appeared inadequate for the new types of clashes. The UN was forced to expand its understanding of what peacekeeping entailed to include long-term conflict resolution. Peacekeeping quickly evolved from a limited role of symbolic deterrence primarily charged with monitoring an existing ceasefire to an active involvement in conflict resolution and peace enforcement.15 Peacekeeping remained centred on preventing the resumption of hostilities between warring parties. However, from the 1990s, its approach to resolving the underlying conflict also became more robust because third generation peacekeeping is attentive on human security, individuals and a separation of victims and offenders as mentioned in the Brahimi report 

The present trends of peacekeeping missions are exposed to increasingly risky environments, where ongoing violence makes it more challenging for peacekeepers to perform their job safely and effectively. For example, in Mali, peacekeepers faced attacks and asymmetric threats from armed groups and criminal organisations.16 Similarly, in Darfur, peacekeepers continued to operate under the threat of deadly attacks, abduction, and carjacking. The growing trend of terrorist and extremist activities adds new dimension to the peacekeeping environment, creating challenges for detection, warning and reaction. These challengers pose severe difficulties to the peacekeepers in performing their mandated tasks including protection of civilians and force protection.

The process of generating and deploying uniformed contingents normally takes six months. The UN is trying to shorten this timeframe significantly. Missions are also increasingly deployed to places where there is no peace agreement to support.17 This demands that missions first attempt should be to bring about the   

15 John Gledhill, Richard Caplan and Maline Meiske, “Developing peace: the evolution of development goals

and activities in United Nations peacekeeping,” Oxford Development Studies 49, no. 3 (2021): 201-229. 16 “Two peacekeepers killed in an attack against UN convoy in Mali,” UN News, January 25, 2019,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1031342
17 Ladsous, “New Challenges and Priorities for UN Peacekeeping, United Nations Under Secretary General.”

cessation of hostilities, while providing protection to civilians, before they can focus on long term sustainable peace. The job is not easy because it is difficult to identify the parties to the conflict, and the line between combatants and civilians is blurred. In many cases, the threats that missions confront are increasingly transnational in nature, even though peacekeeping missions operate within national boundaries.

Over the last several years, member states, host governments and local communities placed high expectations on the UN peacekeeping to support the protection of civilians, particularly women and children, which the UN Security Council has mandated as the centre of responsibilities.18 The protection of civilians is a crucial task for the peacekeeping operations because peacekeepers alone cannot ensure unless government is capable of re-establishing security and the political process. 

18 Dyan Mazurana, “Do Women Matter in Peacekeeping? Women in Police, Military and Civilian

Peacekeeping,” Canadian Woman Studies (January. 2003). 19 Compiled from UN Reports.

The UN faces a number of challenges at present in implementing the mandates. These challenges are quite complex in nature, which are obstructions in the process of bringing peace or keeping peace in the war-ravaged host country. When a mission is deployed in a conflict that lacks a clear political framework to guide the parties towards peace, the central political role can be challenged by all parties. Making a balance between the two principles of consent and impartiality has always been complicated and challenging.20

In many of the operating environments for peacekeeping today, the UN faces a challenge relating to state-building and the execution of mandates to support the restoration and extension of state authority. Promoting legitimate governance, developing the infrastructure and service delivery are all essential prerequisites to longer term peace building and sustainable development. When government capacity is extremely weak, the UN faces considerable challenges in supporting the extension of legitimate, effective state presence beyond the capital to the regions.21 Lack of national judicial and legal capability is both a contributing factor to conflict and a barrier to a long-lasting settlement. Since post-conflict environments are the ideal places to work for change, many peacekeeping operations now include initiatives for legal and judicial reforms. This, in turn, make it required to take a well-rounded and balanced approach to reform the rules that emphasises bolstering the legal and judicial systems as well.22 It is crucial to develop a unified UN strategy for rule of law chain involving a responsible and effective policing system.  

As mentioned in the Brahimi Report, the UN should not be asked to do what it is not structurally, culturally and politically organised to do. Specifically, any move towards a more assertive conception of the use of force should be accompanied by the utmost prudence, and in any case be ad hoc. This is so because a military option carried out by the UN peacekeepers cannot be a long-term response to what are fundamentally political problems, and there might be threats—  

20 United Nations, Handbook on United Nations Multidimensional Peacekeeping Operations (New York:

United Nations, 2003).
21 Øystein H. Rolandsen, “Small and Far Between: Peacekeeping Economies in South Sudan,” Journal of
Intervention and Statebuilding 9, no. 3 (2015): 353-371. 22 S. N. Carlson, “Legal and Judicial Rule of Law Work in Multi-Dimensional Peacekeeping Operations:
Lessons Learned Study,” United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (2006), accessed July 9,
2022, https://gsdrc.org/document-library/legal-and-judicial-rule-of-law-work-in-multi-dimensionalpeacekeeping-operations-lessons-learned-study/

such as the ones posed by radical armed groups—that the UN is simply not in a position to confront in any significant military manner.

The ability to deploy necessary capabilities rapidly is also a big challenge. When a crisis erupts, a rush against time begins where UN endeavours to deploy peacekeepers to protect civilians and stabilise a zone of conflict before the situation escalates further. This becomes more and more important as the UN is mandated to deploy into situations where conflicts are ongoing, as the delay in deployment makes violence, destruction, and suffering take further heavy toll on the lives of civilians.23 In particular, the UN needs specialised capabilities that are critical in the start-up phase of a peacekeeping mission.

In order to close the information gaps relating to early warning, the protection of civilians, and the mission itself, the UN peace operations have created approaches. But because there is a lack of clear framework for the UN-specific information, since actions have typically been spontaneous and situation-specific. Intelligence used by the UN for peace operations is likewise conceptually unclear. It is crucial to define this politically sensitive term in the context of the UN and discuss its needs, requirements, current institutions, and limitations in order to demystify it.24 This will also require technology and linguistic skills that support the collection, management, analysis, and dissemination of peacekeeping intelligence as part of a unified mission-wide intelligence infrastructure.25

Bangladesh has earned a creditable reputation in the international environment for an effective participatory role in UNPKOs. The nation has significantly contributed to establishing peace in many war-torn countries through hard work, professionalism, skill and discipline. The image of the country has been glorified as a promoter of peace along with the participation of female peacekeepers 

23 Hanne Fjelde, Lisa Hultman and Desirée Nilsson, “Protection through presence: UN peacekeeping and the
costs of targeting civilians,” International Organization 73, no. 1 (2019): 103-131. 24 Olga Abilova and Alexandra Novosseloff, Demystifying Intelligence in UN Peace Operations: Toward an
Organisational Doctrine (New York: International Peace Institute, July 2016): 1-2. 25 UN Peacekeeping, Final Report of the Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping,
accessed July 9, 2022, https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/performance-peacekeeping_expertpanel-on-technology-and-innovation_report_2015.pd 

in frontlines of the field missions.26 Bangladesh, till date, has fundamentally ventured through troops contribution. The footprints left by the peacekeepers in countries like Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, South Sudan and Liberia are not only the mark of peace enforcement, they also embodied how peacekeepers can contribute to nation building. The troops also excel at “winning people’s hearts and minds” by establishing a personal connection with the local population through their medical services and reconstruction projects, which is an important but frequently overlooked aspect of assuring the success of a peacekeeping operation. Though Bangladesh did not undertake any major peacebuilding mission, but participation started much before with the deployment of troops in peacekeeping operations. However, Bangladesh, with all potentialities, should engage in more peacebuilding operations. Due to the established reputation of Bangladesh in peacekeeping, it will be comparatively easy for her to excel in this sector too. The hard-earned dedicated efforts of the peacekeepers have been applauded which has given the scope to explore other humanitarian efforts in the international arena.27 

A variety of factor influence Bangladesh’s decision of participation in UNPKO today. These include: the assessment of national interests in a given situation, the principles of peacekeeping, bilateral relations, regional equations, public perception in the host country, domestic national sentiment, the viability of the mission, the potential for professional growth and exposure for the armed forces, vital operational issues and risk factors etc. 

The first initial cause of the wavering nature found in the problem tree analysis is the fundamental framework of the conflict. It is more complex and challenging because of intra-state conflict, struggles related to the identification of parties, targeted attack, and asymmetric threat to peacekeepers. Here, the key issues are related to the fluid characters of the conflict. Armed groups get merged with civilians and protection against Improvise Explosive Devices (IEDs) is difficult which causes increased casualties respectively. Peacekeeping efforts face  

26 “Bangladesh Global Partnership and peacebuilding 2020,” Centre for Research and Information (CRI),

accessed July 9, 2022, https://cri.org.bd/publication/2021/Partnership-and-Peacebuilding/BangladeshGlobal-Partnership-and-Peacebuilding-2020.pdf 27 Md Ziaul Haque, “A Paradigm Shift from Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding: Way forward for Bangladesh,”
Armed Forces War Course (2013).  

continuous challenges, enduring hardship is vital, and at the same time, effective training becomes essential to survive and reduce threats for peacekeepers. 

Another significant cause is the deterioration in the political, legal, and social fabric of the host country which results from the absence of a clear political framework, collapse of the judicial system and obstruction in the implementation of rule of law and severe break-down in the security sector. These are the indications that state authority is not being exercised, violation of basic human rights has increased and sufferings of civilians have multiplied. Thus, increase in all types of crimes identifies the gap that the host government is completely ineffective to ensure all basic rights of general people. Along with this, humanitarian disasters or the lack in coordination among different associated parties are caused by several reasons. Regional actors may involve for the selfinterest, a coordinated effort among NGOs and INGOs is difficult due to the nonexistence of state authority, and the increased requirement of humanitarian aids/assistance in the mission areas.28 This particular problem arises from the vital point that the attention is misdirected, and the focus is not on the core issue and the distribution of human aid cannot be done with a correct plan. Therefore, it increases human sufferings.  

Bangladesh has excelled in peacekeeping activities which resulted in being one of the highest troops-contributing countries in the last decade. Training for peacebuilding and training curriculum of peacekeepers is formulated accordingly to suit the peacekeeping environment. Still, it is felt that Bangladesh’s expertise in the pacification programme can be further utilised in peace-building activities. Bangladesh requires enhanced emphasis on institutional training in peacebuilding activities in order to match with the developed nations.29

When asked about the three most important challenges they faced during their mission period, the key informants indicated that, as the outlooks of the UN missions have shifted, they mentioned several challenges. Among the challenges, operation readiness, logistic supply problem, and lack of modern equipment came   

28 Paul D. Williams, “The Security Council’s Peacekeeping Trilemma,” International Affairs 96, no. 2

(2020): 479-499. 29 Rashed Uz Zaman and Niloy Biswas, “Bangladesh and United Nations Peacekeeping Missions: The Quest
For a National Policy to Meet the Challenge of Uncertainty,” The Journal of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
(Humanities) 62, no. 2, 2017: 155-181. 

frequently. Furthermore, volatile environment consisting political and arms struggle movement with the new delicacies on security issues in the mission area has made the task difficult along with the need for performing duties beyond mandated tasks. 

The Ministry of Foreign affairs (MOFA) of Bangladesh is mainly responsible for exploring different arenas of peacebuilding activities and providing necessary guidelines to other machineries of the government for synchronisation. It is learned that, very recently an effort has been undertaken by MOFA to finalise a comprehensive peacekeeping strategy for Bangladesh. Although, it is still in its primitive form, all stakeholders have to be taken on board for a comprehensive policy.

Bangladesh might require a policy that takes current realities into account. Why is maintaining peace vital to Bangladesh? What kinds of operations should it be involved in? What criteria and procedures would be used to decide if Bangladesh participates? How can Bangladesh improve upon its areas of strength? What is the position of Bangladesh about the UN’s conglomerate with regional organisations? The country’s vision and potential participation in peacekeeping operations would be described by the identification of opinions on these significant trends.  

The measures that can be taken for the resolution of this problem from the viewpoint of the key informants are: pre-deployment training, maximum and extensive air transport system in the mission area and modern equipment availability. They have also mentioned that awareness about the cultural barriers can be attained by pacification programme, intelligence, good hospitality and mutual co-operation. Nevertheless, troops contributing countries must complete pre-deployment training in the appropriate manner along with the Force Commanders. Sector Commanders should have more authority to exercise over under-command outfits. The skills needed for peacekeepers, as observed by the key informants, in the areas like good governance and civil-military conflict resolution. Correspondingly, good communication, social interaction, and linguistic skill (i.e., French) must be taken into consideration. Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) can be utilised to train peacebuilders where other government organisations may have periodical/pre-deployment training.

Bangladesh needs to involve itself by “whole of government approach” in the peacebuilding process besides working for peacekeeping, which includes functioning of electoral process, judicial system, security sectors reforms jointly with armed forces where Bangladesh can effectively engage host countries’ peace development process under the banner of UN. The approach may comprehensively underscore the scope, directives and policy guidelines for participation in both peacekeeping and peace building efforts. Revitalisation of state authority can bring stability.30 In accordance with this, a separate policy guideline by different stakeholders may be formulated regarding the process of involvement in peacebuilding effort.31 This will delineate the parameters of different stakeholders separately. MoFA can formulate a policy for Bangladesh where all stakeholders (constitutional organisations, various Ministries, armed forces and NGOs) participate in peacebuilding for concerted diplomatic efforts. Diplomats can explore different arenas of peacebuilding activities and further engagements are required to provide necessary guidelines to the government for exploring this sector. There is no denying fact that Bangladesh has huge opportunity in peacebuilding. Bangladesh Armed Forces and Bangladesh Police and other organisations like Election Commission (EC), judiciary, agriculture, health and information technology sectors may be involved for peacebuilding in future through this approach. However, good governance has to be ensured so that internationally Bangladesh can compete with other developed nations in this regard. 

As a primary stakeholder, Bangladesh Armed Forces and Bangladesh Police have to be trained and increase their capacity to cope with present day’s demand of UN peacekeeping forces. After studying the summary of takeaways and existing state of BIPSOT training, the final recommendations are: most of the training requirements are fulfilled by BIPSOT, however, there are areas which may be reviewed to focus further. The training on specific equipment is the responsibility of special directorate or contingent (i.e., green training); however, as promoter of peace, BIPSOT may focus to oversee or supervise the conduct of those  

30 UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), UNDPKO and DFS Civil Affairs Handbook,

2012.
31 Zaman and Biswas, “Bangladesh and United Nations Peacekeeping Missions.” 

training aspects too. Bilateral pre-deployment training may be arranged where special emphasis on night training and experience sharing can be put. Finally, latest equipment (night vision goggles, drones etc.) should be available at BIPSOT for imparting the training.

In order to materialise the desired capacity building, a financial guideline needs to be set for Bangladesh so that it can retain the reputation and supremacy in regard to being top troops contributing country32 in the UN peace operations. Also, finding new opportunities to continue maximum participation of Bangladeshi peacekeepers while increasing opportunities to develop operational and technical skills of peacekeepers in the mode of capacity building is required.

A comprehensive training doctrine may be adopted separately for different stakeholders. All components like NGOs, electoral body, judiciary, administrative body, engineers may have their individual training directives. Bangladesh can propose a pragmatic goal-oriented diplomatic engagement with supporters and beneficiaries of the UN peacekeeping operations that is “whole of mission approach” that includes stakeholders like the UN and the regional actors. Host nations may be prioritised in the action plan for all relevant instruments where integration of communities, local authorities, NGOs in the process is also taken into account. A whole of mission approach towards reducing humanitarian disaster is imperative if the problem is analysed thoroughly.  

Ever-increasing threats posed by increased use of IEDs and proliferation of arms have left no option other than maintaining a posture of robust peacekeeping. This is not easy to obtain unless there is appropriate training and acquisition of robust armaments and equipment.33 The types of equipment suggested for self-protection and increased confidence building require huge financial involvement. In the present scenario, after the fallout of COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh needs to adopt right course of action in determining the  

32 N. McCarthy, “The Biggest Contributors To UN Peacekeeping Missions,” Forbes, accessed May 15, 2022,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/05/28/the-biggest-contributors-to-un-peacekeepingmissions-infographic/?sh=606f404c2ca7 33 Mona A. Khalil, “Robust Peacekeeping—Not Aggressive Peacekeeping,” Proceedings of the ASIL Annual
Meeting (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 114–17. 

share of its defence budget considering the need for operational readiness of peacekeeping forces.

In the present multidimensional peacekeeping operations, major focus has shifted toward protection of civilians. Besides, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) gets precedence over many other mission responsibilities. Nowadays, there is wellknown distinctive acknowledgement that female armed forces can facilitate conflict resolution and conflict management although the traditional perspective would see them essentially as victims of conflict. Concerns such as use of child soldiers and HIV/AIDS are also gaining greater urgency where conscious efforts to involve more women both in decision-making and in the field are required. In order to pursue these mission priorities, the UN has identified the necessity of engagement of female-teams across all peacekeeping missions for implementing the WPS agenda and addressing abuse.34 Increasing female participation in the team of peacekeepers from Bangladesh should be taken into consideration carefully. Bangladesh, in this regard, has to adopt time worthy policy to keep its chances alive by increasing participation of female members.

The summary of takeaways for BIPSOT and other training institutes from Brahimi, Hippo and Cruz reports are as follows: 

 Conduct of pre-deployment training considering the Memorandum of
Understanding (Brahimi Report) and Conduct of pre-Deployment
Training on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) cases and Safety
Security and Crisis Management (Fit for Purpose) – (HIPPO Report).
 Planning and conducting of training by assessing the operational
environment of any specific mission, modalities of patrol, siting of
Temporary Operating Bases or Service Computation Date (SCD) and
emphasis on night training including the use of night vision equipment,
modification of training based on the feedback received from Mission
area.
 Training to be conducted keeping in mind the requirement of PreDeployment Visit (PDV). Training on the use of various equipment should 

34 Aisling Swaine, “National Implementation of the UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security
Resolutions,” Policy Brief Published by Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, Transitional Justice
Institute Research Paper, no. 13-06 (March 2013).

be empathised. Adequate training during the pre- deployment phase on ensuring proper security, training on first aid, casualty evacuation and 9 Line Format, and training on IEDs have to be supervised by engineering experts. IED training has to include all necessary equipment, device detection, as well as counter ambush drill during day and night. 

 Bilateral pre-deployment trainings may be organised with other TCCs. Necessary corrective measures can be adopted based on feedback from the mission area.

 Ensuring employment of Quick Reaction Force during the pre-deployment training, put emphasis on internet network and production of intelligence (collection, collation and dissemination of information as intelligence) during the trainings have to be maintained. 

The classical role of peacekeeping will persist for resolving conflict across the world. The requirement was in the past; it presently exists, and continues to persist in many countries. However, the new concept of peacebuilding will have to be conceptualised by Bangladesh with due importance so that Bangladesh can propose the UN for deploying armed forces personnel for building sustainable peace. This paper suggests that whole of government and whole of mission approach along with effective training is needed for Bangladesh to ensure the operational readiness of its peacekeeping forces, according to the demand and present standard of the UN. Frequent changes of government, political instability, volatile situation of the international area, financial resources and precarious situation are the challenges for policy implementation. Aiming at modernisation of the peacekeeping forces, these associated risks can be mitigated by generating interest in trainings, importing more training aid and simulator for the troop while prioritising the budget and ensuring that the mandate for the mission is clear from the UN.

Notably, constitutional obligations may be there to implement these policies; application of rules and regulations may affect the options for implementation. It is imperative to know that peacebuilding is a continuous process which initially starts from peacekeeping then a dedicated organised body, consisting members from military, police and civil organisations from the host and other countries work together to attain a set of objectives. It cannot be disregarded that the UN, contributing countries and other key stakeholders must work together to maintain international peace and security.