What is the role of UN peace-building?
The UN is increasingly undertaking activities that address the underlying causes of conflict and in building what the Secretary-General has called “sustainable peace”. The UN system does this through its efforts to support good governance, civil law and order, human rights and democratization in countries struggling with the aftermath of conflict. It repatriates refugees, provides electoral assistance and humanitarian aid, and helps to rebuild administrative, health, educational and other services. The UN presence in East Timor played a central role in helping its people move through serious difficulties to their chosen goal of independence, which was attained in May 2002. Some peace-building activities, such as the UN’s supervision of the 1989 elections in Namibia, mine-clearance Programmes in Mozambique and police training in Haiti, take place within the framework of a UN peacekeeping operation and may continue when the operation withdraws. Others are requested by governments – as in
