“Transitions are complex processes – individual to each country context. They involve a careful reconfiguration of the UN’s presence, strategy and footprint in a country. And they begin not only when a mission is nearing its end – but when the first boots hit the ground. Success depends on early and sustained collaboration among field missions, host governments, UN Country Teams, and local and global partners. And it depends on building trust with the people and communities we are there to serve.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary-General's remarks to 2021 Security Council Ministerial Open Debate on “Peacekeeping and UN Transitions”)
Whereas one UN Mission withdrawal is underway in Mali, large-scale UN Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic have been tasked by the UN Security Council to initiate or intensify transition planning.
While recently completed UN Transitions such as in Liberia and the Ivory Coast took place in environments marked by relative stability and peaceful handovers of power, other transition processes could also unfold on the backdrop of unfinished political settlements, continued security challenges and protection gaps, and limited presence of governance and rule of law institutions throughout the territory of the host country. In these settings, the transition from a UN Mission to a UNCT-only presence, or from one type of UN Mission to another, is much more than an administrative or logistical operation. It should rather be viewed as an important moment in the “peace continuum” of a country emerging from conflict.
UN transitions represent in fact a "strategic process which builds towards a reconfiguration of the strategy, footprint, and capacity of the United Nations in a way that supports peacebuilding objectives and the development of sustainable peace, in a manner that supports and reinforces national ownership, informed by the operational context and the national priorities and needs of the host State and its population, and that includes engagement with local community and civil society, and, where relevant, regional and sub-regional organisations, and other relevant stakeholders, with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and the inclusion of youth and persons with disabilities". (S/RES/2594 (2021)).
Ensuring pro-active, integrated and forward-looking transition planning and management is a key priority for the Organization. It is, therefore, imperative for the UN System and Member States to fast-track and strengthen their collective efforts to better shape future UN Transitions. In order to respond to new dynamics and rapidly changing transition contexts, the UN System has been developing new approaches and partnerships to ensure improved operational and policy coherence, while anchoring them in gender-responsive and human rights analysis.
The UN Transitions Project
The UN Transitions Project aims to advance the system-wide work on more proactive, integrated and forward-looking transition processes. The UN Transitions Project is comprised of Development Coordination Office, the Department of Peace Operations, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and the UN Development Programme. Initiated in 2014, the Project works to ensure that UN transitions result in a better positioning of the UN and its partners to support host countries move from conflict to sustainable peace and development. The Project provides country support, identifies and shares lessons and good practices, and strengthens operational and policy coherence on transitions-related issues. The Project serves as a ‘one-stop-shop’ on transition planning and management, responding to the increased demand for transition planning support. It centralizes skills and expertise to provide system-wide integrated assistance.
The Project’s goal is to ensure that UN Transitions result in host nations being better equipped to consolidate peacebuilding gains. The Project does so by supporting the UN system to plan and manage transitions in a proactive, integrated and forward-looking way. Collaboration with key national, regional and international partners is critical to sustain peace beyond mission withdrawal.