The activities of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) are some of the most important works of the United Nations, and have been carried out since 1948, very shortly after the creation of the organisation. The department directs the operations and creates the proper conditions for a lasting peace in countries affected by a conflict. Military, police and civilian personnel work in every peacekeeping operation, with the final purpose of providing security and supporting the consolidation of a political peace.
The first operation was approved in 1948, in May, when the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) was launched for mediating between Israel, the Palestinians and several Arab countries, and it is still active. In January 1949, the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) began operating, which, like the previous one, is still active. Since then, the balance of the DPKO includes a total of 71 operations around the world. Currently, there are many people involved in the 14 active operations in the world directed from the DPKO.
According to the count report released by the United Nations (28 February 2018), approximately 105,000 troops are deployed in these missions, of which about 90,000 are uniformed personnel (military and police) and about 13,000 are civilians, while there are about 1,400 volunteers from the United Nations. Since the beginning of these operations, a total of 3,709 members of the UN peace missions have lost their lives in the course of their work. The peacekeeping forces received the Nobel Peace Prize collectively in 1988.
Since 1989, Spain has participated in fifty international missions in four continents, in which more than 150,000 soldiers of the three armies have taken part. Currently, the Spanish effort in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations led by the DPKO focuses on the participation of the Armed Forces in the operation of Lebanon (UNIFIL), established by virtue of a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations and authorised by the Congress of Deputies. In addition, the sending of observers to Colombia within the framework of the Political Mission that directs the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) of the United Nations in that country.
The active operations of the DPKO by continents are:
Africa
- United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
- United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
- United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
- United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
- United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
- United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
- United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
America
- United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH).
Asia and the Pacific Area
- United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Europe
- United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
- United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Middle East
- United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
- United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
- United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO).