Update

Comprehensive review of the whole question of
peacekeeping operations in all their aspects

Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing
of the United Nations peacekeeping operations

Summary

Protecting and nurturing a fragile peace is a critical role of the United Nations. This endeavour depends upon a coalition of will and action on the part of multiple actors: the Security Council, in terms of setting mandates; the Member States, in their commitment of personnel and financial and material resources; the host countries, and their consent and cooperation; and the Secretariat and its own ability to stand up, support and sustain operations.

Within this framework, the Department of Field Support was created to be primarily responsible for the mobilization all human, material and support services necessary to ensure that United Nations field missions are largely self-sufficient and can succeed under a wide range of post-conflict conditions. Today, the typical field environment is remote, austere and, increasingly, dangerous, sometimes openly hostile to a United Nations presence. In such settings, lines of communications (for support and sustainment) are often long and subject to frequent and extended natural and man-made disruptions. Local markets for goods and services are limited or non-existent, and the rule of law can be tenuous or wholly absent. Moreover, potable water is scarce and in high demand, fresh food can be difficult to procure in quantity, housing stock is frequently in short supply, and reliable communications infrastructure is lacking.