Conflict Prevention and Mitigation / Post Conflict Reconstruction

On September 20, 2014, the government of Iraq informed the UN Security Council (SC) that it had requested the United States to lead international efforts to strike Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) sites. The strikes would end the constant threat posed by ISIL to Iraq, protect Iraq’s citizens, and ultimately enable Iraq to regain control of its borders.[1] The U.S. asserted that this request extended to ISIL sites in Syria.[2]

When conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) opened its doors to tens of thousands of displaced persons fleeing ethnic and political violence, a situation unprecedented in terms of its scale: in more than a decade of protection mandates, peacekeepers have never provided protection to so many civilians in so direct a manner.[1] Today, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) under UN protection has passed the 100,000 mark.