Mediation in an Armed Conflict : The UN Mediation Support Unit
By Andra Curutiu
The United Nations is the only inter-governmental organization empowered with the maintenance of international peace and security. [1] United Nations State-parties are obliged to first seek to resolve their dispute through peaceful means before resorting to the use of force. In light of this, Article 33 UN Charter, including mediation.[2]
The 1907 Hague Conference marked the formal beginnings of mediation in international armed conflicts. Even though the use of political mediation has suffered some changes since its formal establishment, it remains the most common form of third-party conflict management in international conflicts.[3] In fact, between 1946 and 2015, about half of all civil and inter-state conflicts involved a type of intervention labeled “mediation”.[4] Meditation is designed as a system for party control, posing a number of advantages: flexibility in allowing parties to freely decide whether to participate in mediation, the choice of a mediator, and accepting or rejecting the conditions of conflict resolution established during the mediation process.[5]
However, until recently, there was no comprehensive approach to the use of mediation. In recent years, the UN has enhanced its support mediation efforts by establishing a Mediation Support Unit (MSU), which includes a Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers. With the aims of achieving a just and sustainable peace, the unit engages in and supports a wide range of operational activities and projects and works closely with a number of partners.[6] More specifically, the MSU provides professional support in the mediation process, conduct capacity-building processes, and mediation guidance.[7]
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog article, one of the core characteristics of mediation is the free choice of a mediator. A mediator may be an individual, a state, an international governmental or non-governmental organisations, or other entities, including representatives of the local community.[8] The UN Secretary-General can also provide assistance to the country through a type of informal mediation called good offices.[9]
However, this flexibility in choosing a mediator can sometimes be problematic, especially when it comes to armed conflicts. For example, when the parties to an armed conflict choose another State as a mediator, that State may be affected in the mediation process by its own foreign policy goals.[10] Another problem in reaching a solution through mediation has been the identification of the most effective strategy for mediation.[11] Lastly, the coordination in the mediation process is sometimes inexistent.
MSU has the potential to solve some of these issues, and eventually create a worldwide efficient mediation landscape in armed conflicts. As the only inter-governmental organization empowered with the maintenance of international peace and security, the UN lacks a comprehensive mediation system. The MSU is extremely relevant in this sense and could provide incentives to the establishment of such a system, which would not be affected by foreign policy goals, but rather international security goals. At the same time, MSU is empowered to provide specialized guidance and develop best practices, which could be further implemented in other armed conflicts. This is extremely relevant considering the lack of a centralized authority or entity specialized in providing mediation services during armed conflicts. As there should be a comprehensive UN platform for a peaceful solution to armed conflicts. Lastly, even though MSU is not currently empowered to co-ordinate and interfere with mediation processes, it could be a potential fundamental backbone in the establishment of a mediation coordination body at the UN level.
[1] UN Charter Article 1
[2] https://peacemaker.un.org/peacemaking-mandate/security-council
[3] Michelle Polato, 'Mediation in Political Conflicts: Soft Power or Counter Culture' [2012] 40(4) Arbitration Law Review 384.
[4] https://css.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center-for-securities-studies/pdfs/CSSAnalyse211-EN.pdf
[5] Marzena Żakowska, 'MEDIATION IN ARMED CONFLICT' [2017] 17(4) Security and Defence Quarterly.
[6] https://peacemaker.un.org/mediation-support
[7] https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/MSU%20fact%20sheet%20-2017.pdf
[8] Marzena Żakowska, 'MEDIATION IN ARMED CONFLICT' [2017] 17(4) Security and Defence Quarterly.
[9] Article 98 UN Charter; Yoshifumi Tanaka, The Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes (Cambridge University Press 2018) 48.
[10] For example, the US involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially in light of the current events, seems to be detrimental to achieving a long-term solution; OA Hamdi, 'American Foreign Policy toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Strategic Transformations' [2018] 2(2) Insight Turkey 251-272.
[11] https://www.jstor.org/stable/24557424?read-now=1&seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents