This story was written by Mark McCarthy (right) and Parham Kouloubandi (left), from UN Peacekeeping’s Digital Enablement Team. Mr. McCarthy is a Senior Data Officer working on the digital transformation of peacekeeping. Mr. Kouloubandi is an Associate Expert, with experience promoting digital innovation through data and artificial intelligence.
Peacekeeping missions operate in diverse environments with varying mandates, but all can use data to gain critical insights about their operating environments and their impact. Collecting and leveraging reliable data, however, requires the capacity to manage and analyse a flood of information – otherwise, data remains unused, and missions miss opportunities to inform and strengthen operations.
These are the goals of the UN peacekeeping digital transformation strategy: to invest in digital tools and build data capacity so that peacekeepers can work more safely and effectively to advance their mandates for the communities they serve.
The mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is a case in point, where investments in digital tools are making an impact.
Problem: How to detect crises before they start?
South Sudan’s devastating floods impacted more than 700,000 people in 2024 and worsened conflict over land and resources.
Solution: Data and a dashboard
UNMISS Senior Climate and Security Advisor Johnson Nkem decided that better data could help. The mission built the Flood Management Dashboard, creating a database, establishing a baseline to detect disruptions, and developing a system to track how floods impact communities. This is letting them better predict floods and identify areas at high risk of conflict, which in turn lets them introduce measures to prevent tensions before they arise. For example, the mission can organise peace dialogues in areas identified as high-risk, to help prevent conflict from emerging between “host” communities and communities that have been displaced by the flooding. UNMISS can also more efficiently direct resources to communities in need. Given the positive impact the dashboard is already having, the team plans to add more data to broaden its usage beyond flooding.
Problem: How to make tasks quicker and easier?
UNMISS’s Political Affairs Division wanted to reduce the time required for daily tasks, freeing up staff up for more critical tasks.
Solution: Simple, effective digital tools
One way to do this was by digitising reporting and document management. The team focused on quick wins, introducing simple tools that have reduced the time the team needs to spend on reporting and that have made data and reports more easily available to staff and decision-makers. UNMISS used SharePoint to improve document management, MS Forms to record meetings, and Excel to standardise reporting, showing that digital transformation does not have to be about elaborate solutions and big changes to be effective.
Peacekeeping is facing more complex environments while resources are becoming scarcer. This trend makes it critical for UN peacekeeping to invest in data to be able to use its resources to the maximum effect possible. UN Member States are essential partners in these efforts, as providers of funding, equipment and training to peacekeeping missions. This May, the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin will be a critical moment for Member States to work with UN peacekeeping to ensure we can advance digitisation efforts, recruit data specialists, and leverage data and technology to make operations more effective for the people we serve.