UN, AU, ECOWAS, Others Suffer Funding Gaps Amid 50% Drop in Multilateral Peacekeeping Operations

* Concerns mount over possible spike in global conflict as UN-backed efforts face collapse

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

There are concerns over a possible spike in global conflict as geopolitical tensions, political pressure and funding crises put the viability of multilateral peacekeeping by the United Nations (UN), and regional organisations like the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in peril.

The concerns were raised in a fresh report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which revealed about 50 per cent decline in personnel deployed for multilateral peacekeeping operations in the last decade as regional organisations struggle with underfunding as well as deadlock in deciding the deployment of operations.

SIPRI, which was established in 1966, is an independent international institute dedicated to research into global conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.