GHANA ARMED FORCES IN UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
GHANA ARMED FORCES IN UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
INTRODUCTION
1. One of the greatest challenges to the development of mankind has been conflicts. Wherever individuals or groups come together, there is bound to be different ideas, goals and aspirations. The inability to resolve these differences into an acceptable common goal often degenerate into different form of conflicts. At all levels of human existence, many conflicts have had devastating effects. In a bid to ensure stable global development, several conflict resolution mechanisms have been explored. One of such is the establishment of the United Nations (UN) after the World War 2.
2. The UN Charter promises ‘to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. 1 Although the Charter makes no explicit mention of peacekeeping as a specific UN activity, the UN Security Council (UNSC) was invested with the collective power to take collective action under Article 24 of the UN Charter. This states that ‘in order to ensure prompt and effective action by the UN, the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security’ lies with the UNSC. 2
3. Ghana’s commitment to peacekeeping could be traced to her independence in 1957 and the inspiring Pan-African ideals of the late President Kwame Nkrumah. He directed the fledgling nation’s foreign policy towards multilateralism, in pursuit of peace and international security. As a giant of the African liberation struggle, President Nkrumah was quick to respond to the call of the UN when it launched the first African peacekeeping mission in the Congo in the early 1960s. This experience set the precedence for Ghana’s participation in many UN missions that were to follow. Ghana’s commitment to the principles of the UN has assisted in providing the rationale and doctrinal basis for peacekeeping.
4. The end of the Cold War precipitated a dramatic shift in UN peacekeeping. Freed from bipolarization,
INTRODUCTION
1. One of the greatest challenges to the development of mankind has been conflicts. Wherever individuals or groups come together, there is bound to be different ideas, goals and aspirations. The inability to resolve these differences into an acceptable common goal often degenerate into different form of conflicts. At all levels of human existence, many conflicts have had devastating effects. In a bid to ensure stable global development, several conflict resolution mechanisms have been explored. One of such is the establishment of the United Nations (UN) after the World War 2.
2. The UN Charter promises ‘to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. 1 Although the Charter makes no explicit mention of peacekeeping as a specific UN activity, the UN Security Council (UNSC) was invested with the collective power to take collective action under Article 24 of the UN Charter. This states that ‘in order to ensure prompt and effective action by the UN, the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security’ lies with the UNSC. 2
3. Ghana’s commitment to peacekeeping could be traced to her independence in 1957 and the inspiring Pan-African ideals of the late President Kwame Nkrumah. He directed the fledgling nation’s foreign policy towards multilateralism, in pursuit of peace and international security. As a giant of the African liberation struggle, President Nkrumah was quick to respond to the call of the UN when it launched the first African peacekeeping mission in the Congo in the early 1960s. This experience set the precedence for Ghana’s participation in many UN missions that were to follow. Ghana’s commitment to the principles of the UN has assisted in providing the rationale and doctrinal basis for peacekeeping.
4. The end of the Cold War precipitated a dramatic shift in UN peacekeeping. Freed from bipolarization,
Bibliography: BOOKS Col Adu Amanfu, Understanding United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (SEDCO Publishing Limited, 1999). Brig Gen KWAMI ANYIDOHO, Guns Over Kigali (SEDCO Publishing Limited, 2000). Mr Kamran Braig, Logistical Support to UN Peacekeeping Operations (UN Publication, 2002).