The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peacekeeping: UN multidimensional operations and armed groups

• Grant number: 21/13113-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Sérgio Luiz Cruz Aguilar
• Grantee: Julia Mori Aparecido
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges worldwide. It has particularly impacted peacekeeping operations, which are often difficult jobs and currently navigate in uncertain and complex contexts. Beyond the threat posed by the virus to host countries' governments and populations, the crisis has also affected the activities of peace operations on the ground. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Secretary-General of the United Nations called for a broad ceasefire. However, while some armed groups momentarily ceased their activities, others continued their attacks in the areas where they operate. Therefore, the research intends to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on multidimensional peacekeeping operations during the pandemic. It is proposed to establish a causal chain between the pandemic, the performance of peace operations, and the different postures of the armed groups during the pandemic, observing their objectives, interests, and modes of action, as well as the characteristics of each operation and the context in which they are inserted. The multidimensional UN peacekeeping operations in Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan, and Abyei) and in the Middle East (Lebanon) will be analyzed. Documents, secondary sources, and interviews will be used. The analysis will cover how field operations were impacted by the pandemic; the variation in the activities of the main armed groups; the initial consequences of the conflict and the peace processes in which the operations were implemented. The research will use Process Tracing, in order to understand the cause-effect relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic, the activities of the peace operations, and the activities of the groups. (AU)