51³Ô¹Ï

In 1948, the 51³Ô¹Ï took a pivotal step by deploying to support countries in their journey toward peace. Since then, more than 2 million people ¨C military, police and civilians ¨C have served in over 70 peacekeeping missions around the world, offering assistance amid ongoing conflicts or their aftermath.

Their tireless efforts range from monitoring ceasefire agreements to protecting civilians, rebuilding key infrastructure and facilitating elections to help countries and communities transition from war to peace. Peacekeepers can be soldiers, police officers, engineers, doctors, veterinarians, human rights officers, justice and corrections officers, radio producers, environmental scientists and surveillance experts.

Keeping peace is often associated with mediation, treaties and international laws. Yet peacekeepers use a wide array of tools to keep and nurture peace in some of the world's most fragile places. Here¡¯s five non-traditional examples.

Across Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, peacekeepers turn to helicopters to overcome geographical barriers and reach communities even in remote areas.

Helicopters bring peacekeepers to villages inaccessible by road or water, allow rapid responses and evacuations during emergencies, deliver essential supplies and aid, and provide aerial surveillance and reconnaissance to monitor and gather intelligence. In some instances, armed helicopters have deterred armed groups.

Helicopters have played an indispensable role in delivering electoral materials so people in remote places can vote. In the most far-flung locations, peacekeepers may arrive on helicopters and then convey materials on foot or by carts to make sure they reach people on time.

Currently, 81 helicopters operate in peacekeeping missions, each marked with the UN logo on its underbelly to signal that it is part of a peacekeeping or humanitarian convoy. Even so, UN helicopters have come under attack in volatile situations. A helicopter conducting a medical evacuation was recent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example.

To build and sustain peace, peacekeeping focuses on meeting people¡¯s needs. In countries affected by conflict, the destruction of schools, medical facilities, roads and bridges may otherwise hinder efforts to build a sustainable peace. Engineers and sappers have instrumental roles in peacekeeping operations because they help people recover and rebuild following wars and natural disasters.

¡°We are saving people not from bullets but floods,¡± said , an engineer working for the . Using excavators and other construction equipment, his team built dikes to help hundreds of people stranded by devastating floods in Bentiu. They also created roads along the dikes to convey essential humanitarian supplies.

Just outside South Sudan¡¯s capital, Juba, peacekeepers constructed , a football field and a playground for a small school catering to a community that mostly relies on subsistence farming and has limited access to education. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, peacekeepers built an in North Kivu, and rehabilitated and expanded the road to the facility at the height of a disease outbreak.

Mine detectors have saved countless lives worldwide. From Angola to Cambodia, landmines remain a terrifying legacy of wars, killing or maiming mostly civilians. Today, nearly have landmines. The deploys deminers to nearly 20 countries and territories, including in peacekeeping missions, to detect and destroy the mines and other unexploded ordnance.

Clearing landmines prevents the loss of lives and limbs and makes land safe and productive, allowing local communities to farm or build schools and hospitals to restore their lives and livelihoods.

How do deminers protect themselves? They wear personal protective gear such as blast suits, helmets, gloves and boots. And they wield metal detectors, prodders and mine clearance vehicles to detect and destroy mines. The detectors, which send out electromagnetic waves to identify metal, are instrumental in locating buried landmines.

Despite limitations, the detectors are generally highly effective in mitigating risks. Since the late 1990s, have been destroyed, over 30 countries have become mine-free and casualties have been dramatically reduced.

In the last two decades, peacekeeping missions have used satellite imaging to provide an overview of conflict zones. Surveillance and geospatial experts monitor troop movements, displacement trends and flows, potential threats, movements of armed groups and the impacts of natural disasters.

With such critical information, they can make informed decisions, effectively plan patrols and coordinate responses. Satellite imaging is particularly important in countries with vast, remote and difficult terrains. Real-time imagery of inaccessible regions enables peacekeepers to swiftly assess damages or needs and prioritize interventions accordingly.

In Mali, satellite images helped the to identify routes used by human traffickers in the north of the country. In the , imagery is used to track armed groups, monitor illegal mining and assess how conflict affects civilians.

In South Sudan, satellite data informs natural disaster preparedness plans and provides up-to-the-minute assessments of displacement patterns and cross-border movements. The , which monitors the ceasefire agreement between the island¡¯s Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, uses such data to follow activities along the buffer zone.

The radio may not be the first thing we think about when looking for information today, but it remains a powerful communications tool in many parts of the world, including in countries with a UN Peacekeeping presence.

Radio has played a vital role in missions since the late 1980s. Today, three peacekeeping missions have their own radio stations ¨C in South Sudan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the . Peacekeepers who are radio producers and communications personnel use radio for vital news, early warnings about potential threats, and discussions on pertinent issues and educational programmes that empower communities to make informed decisions. Moreover, radio stations provide an invaluable platform for local voices and perspectives, helping to foster reconciliation between divided communities.

Why does radio work better than newspapers, television or the Internet? Radio receivers and frequencies are relatively inexpensive and widely available, even in the most remote areas. In places with low literacy rates, radio programmes can reach a wider audience, fostering more inclusive information sharing. Radio stations can also provide information in local languages in real time.

Given its reach, radio is a reliable tool to counter misinformation and dispel harmful rumours. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Radio Miraya, which reaches two thirds of South Sudan, ran programmes to help counter the local population¡¯s resistance to physical distancing. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Radio Okapi worked with the Government to provide on-air education to roughly 22 million children who could not leave their homes, transmitting essential French, math and reading lessons.