A United Nations peacekeeping operation always begins the same way: a mandate is negotiated in New York, adopted by a vote, then handed to the states that will supply the soldiers and police officers who carry it out. One of the testable proposals in President Macky Sall's campaign to become the next UN Secretary-General concerns that first stage, when the mandate is written. The states that deploy commit their own nationals and absorb the casualties. When an operation goes wrong, they are the ones who answer to their parliaments and to the families.
The drafting table stays closed to them. Consultation mechanisms exist on paper. In practice they convene late and brief rather than consult; by the time they meet, the substance has been settled. A mandate written without the people who will execute it reaches the field with tasks nobody costed and rules of engagement nobody tested.
Consultation before drafting. President Macky Sall proposes to bring troop and police contributors into the process while the mandate is being shaped, when their operational judgement can still change the text. The present sequence gathers the views of those who know the ground once the text is fixed.
A written assessment before the vote. The Secretariat should tell the Council, in writing, what a mission demands in personnel, equipment and time, and what it cannot deliver with the resources on offer. Once published, that feasibility assessment protects the Organization as much as the contingents.
Obligations on both sides. Contributing countries answer to the highest standards of conduct, and that requirement is not negotiable. In return, the Organization owes them serviceable equipment and dependable medical evacuation, along with reimbursement paid on the agreed schedule.
The experience behind these proposals. These peacekeeping commitments rest on twelve years as head of state and on the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames them as obligations and conceives peace and security together with development.
Contributing countries will judge these commitments by their execution.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The official list of troop and police contributing countries is published monthly by the United Nations. All public positions are available at www.mackysall.net