SIPRI is pleased to announce the release of a new map showing all multilateral peace operations active as of September 2016. The data is taken from SIPRI’s Multilateral Peace Operations Database, which contains reliable and rigorous information on all multilateral peace operations, including start date, number of deployed personnel and the organizations involved. The new map shows the location of each operation and illustrates the SIPRI data through charts and graphics.
Download the map (pdf) or order it as an A2 poster!
SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database
SIPRI’s data and analysis on multilateral peace operations is discussed in SIPRI Yearbook 2016. The chapter ‘Peace operations and conflict management’ has sections on global and regional trends in peace operations over the last 10 years, and data on peace operations that were active during 2015. It is freely available to read online (pdf).
SIPRI's multilateral peace oeprations data is widely recognized. The recent article ‘The known knowns and known unknowns of peacekeeping data’ published in the journal International Peacekeeping (requires subscription) gives insights into the SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database. In the article, SIPRI researchers Dr Jair van der Lijn and Timo Smit reflect on the considerable and long-standing data collection efforts undertaken by SIPRI through the years, and set out SIPRI’s agenda for future data collection on multilateral peace operations.
Peace operations: focus on Africa
The map shows that most peace operations are taking place in Africa. This has been a continuous trend over the last decade with 26 separate multilateral peace operations in the continent by the end of 2015. ‘The spectacular increase in the number of personnel deployed in peace operations in Africa may well be the most important trend in 21st century peace operations so far’, says SIPRI researcher Timo Smit. ‘Since 2000, this number has on average doubled every five years’.
SIPRI will soon release a report summarizing views from African stakeholders about the future of peace operations in Africa. The report will be based on a series of workshops held in Africa over the last year.