Security Council resolution 2518 (2020) [on safety and security of peacekeepers]
Symbol: S/RES/2518 (2020)
Date: 2020-03-30
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/75 [18] PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS
S/ X United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Subjects: PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS|STAFF SECURITY|SECURITY MANAGEMENT
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: BELGIUM
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
vote: yes
country: ESTONIA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: GERMANY
vote: yes
country: INDONESIA
vote: yes
country: NIGER
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
vote: yes
country: SOUTH AFRICA
vote: yes
country: TUNISIA
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VIET NAM
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                     S/RES/2518 (2020)
               Security Council                                                 Distr.: General
                                                                                30 March 2020




               Resolution 2518 (2020)
               Adopted by the Security Council on 30 March 2020

                    The Security Council,
                     Recalling the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
               reaffirming the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter of
               the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security,
                    Recalling its previous relevant resolutions and presidential statements
               addressing issues of peacekeeping,
                    Reaffirming the basic principles of peacekeeping, such as consent of the parties,
               impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate,
                     Underscoring the importance of peacekeeping as one of the most effective tools
               available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international
               peace and security, and affirming that lasting peace is not achieved nor sustained by
               military and technical engagements alone, but through political solutions and strongly
               convinced that they should guide the design and deployment of United Nations
               peacekeeping operations,
                     Noting with appreciation the progress made in efforts undertaken by the
               Secretary-General to mobilize all partners and stakeholders in support of more
               effective United Nations peacekeeping through the Secretary-General’s “Action for
               Peacekeeping” initiative, which places high importance on the safety and security of
               peacekeepers alongside advancing political solutions, promoting the Women, Peace
               and Security agenda, strengthening protection of civilians, supporting effective
               performance and accountability, strengthening the impact of peacekeeping on
               peacebuilding and sustaining peace, improving peacekeeping partnerships, and
               strengthening the conduct of peacekeeping operations and personnel,
                     Expressing grave concern about the security threats and targeted attacks against
               United Nations peacekeepers in many peacekeeping missions, which constitute a
               major challenge to United Nations peacekeeping operations, including threats posed
               by landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices, recalling
               the sacrifices of uniformed and civilian personnel in implementing United Nations
               peacekeeping mandates in challenging environments, and condemning in the
               strongest terms killing of and all acts of violence against United Nations peacekeeping
               personnel, which may constitute war crimes, and paying tribute to all peacekeepers,
               police and military as well as civilian ones, who lost their life while serving with the
               United Nations,




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                    Underscoring the importance it places on the safety and security of
               peacekeepers in the field and the need for the Secretary-General and Troop-and
               Police-Contributing Countries and Member States to work together to ensure that
               missions are adequately resourced and all peacekeepers in the field are willing,
               capable and equipped effectively and safely to implement their mandate,
                     Condemning violations of status-of-forces agreements by any party to those
               agreements, recognizing the grave risks such violations can present to the safety and
               security of peacekeepers and affirming that the entry of personnel or equipment into
               the country and freedom of movement within the mandate should not be hindered,
                   Taking note of the measures taken and efforts made by the Secretariat and
               Member States in preventing and addressing illnesses including infectious diseases,
               among peacekeepers,
                     Noting that caveats not declared and not formally accepted by the Secretariat
               may adversely limit mandate implementation, and stresses the importance of avoiding
               caveats that may impinge upon the operational effectiveness of the mission and risk
               the safety and security of peacekeepers, in particular in hostile environments,
                     Recalling the report on “Improving Security of United Nations Peacekeepers”,
               the related Action Plan on improving safety and security, stressing that deficiencies
               in training, equipment, capacity, leadership at all levels, performance and
               accountability, and medical capacity in the missions can increase risks to the safety
               and security of peacekeepers, including leading to increased risk of fatalities,
                     Recalling its resolution 2436 (2018), underscoring the link between
               performance and safety and security of uniformed and civilian peacekeeping
               personnel, and recognizing that institutionalizing a culture of performance in United
               Nations peacekeeping will contribute to better delivery of peacekeeping mandates, as
               well as lead to improvements in the safety and security of peacekeepers,
                     Reaffirming the importance of full, effective and meaningful participation of
               women in peacekeeping operations and the importance of conducting and integrating
               a gender analysis and gender assessments when considering the safety and security
               of personnel,
                     Recognizing that possible adverse effects of environmental deterioration may,
               in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to the stability of some host states
               which are particularly vulnerable to these adverse effects and which may influence
               the safety and security of peacekeepers, while respecting the respective mandates of
               all United Nations bodies in this regard,
                     Recognizing the critical role of United Nations peacekeepers in the promotion
               and maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the Charter
               of the United Nations, and that the primary responsibility for the safety and security
               of United Nations personnel and assets rests with the host state, recog nizing further
               that efforts to enhance safety and improve security need to improve at all levels both
               at headquarters and in the field as a shared endeavour,
                     1.    Stresses the importance of supporting United Nations peacekeeping
               operations, recognizes the crucial role peacekeeping plays in achieving conditions for
               stability and a lasting peace, and emphasizes the importance of enhancing the safety
               and security of peacekeepers;
                    2.    Requests the host states to fulfil their obligations to facilitate access and
               freedom of movement for United Nations peacekeepers and their equipment
               consistent with the mandate, including for casualty and medical evacuation, and
               requests the Secretariat to instruct all peacekeeping missions to systematically
               document violations of status-of-forces agreements and that Mission leadership

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           should use this information to monitor and resolve risks to the safety and security of
           peacekeepers as necessary;
                3.    Calls on all Member States hosting peacekeeping operations to promptly
           investigate and effectively prosecute those responsible for attacks on United Nations
           personnel, and to keep the relevant Troop-and Police-Contributing Countries
           informed of the progress of such investigations and prosecutions;
                 4.    Notes that peacekeepers are deployed in deteriorating and complex
           political and security environments, and face asymmetrical and complex threats,
           underscores the importance of ensuring that peacekeeping missions evolve their
           capacities and systems to remain agile and effective in implementing their mandates
           in specific operating contexts to enhance safety and security of peacekeepers and
           mission protection, including through the provision of adequate medical facilities and
           critical capabilities;
                 5.   Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all appropriate
           measures to enhance the safety and security of peacekeeping personnel, including by
           strengthening, where necessary, peacekeeping missions’ situational awareness
           through measures to improve their information acquisition and analysis capacities,
           including surveillance and monitoring capacities, within the limits of their mandate
           and area of operation;
                6.    Calls upon Member States and the United Nations to ensure safe, enabling
           and gender-sensitive working environments for women in peacekeeping operations
           and to address threats and violence against them;
                7.    Reaffirms its determination to take effective steps to further enhance the
           partnership between the United Nations and regional as well as sub-regional
           organizations in relation to safety and security of peacekeepers. Encourages
           partnerships to support the African Union’s efforts to continue to develop policy,
           guidance and training to ensure the safety and security of its peacekeepers;
                8.   Requests United Nations peacekeeping operations to enhance
           engagements and communications with the host governments, the local authorities
           and the population to build trust and mutual understanding and improve safety and
           security;
                 9.    Calls for measures to enhance operational health support, including to
           establish well-defined and practical medical standards for peacekeeping operations,
           accelerate the ongoing efforts to improve the system of medical support and casualty
           evacuation for injured peacekeepers, ensure adequate medical facilities and qualif ied
           personnel are deployed to provide the essential 10-1-2 response at all times, within
           the mission area and as close to deployment of Troop-and Police-Contributing
           Countries as possible through the life of the mission;
                 10. Requests the Secretary-General to review and ensure uniformity of United
           Nations standards on training and performance, thereby improving safety and security
           of peacekeepers, and calls upon Member States to take action to help enhance training
           for United Nations peacekeepers, including but not limited to countering improvised
           explosive devices, mitigating threats from improvised explosive devices, health, and
           basic first aid, with the support of the Secretariat as appropriate;
                 11. Reaffirms the critical link between safety and security and the performance
           of civilian and uniformed peacekeeping personnel, and in that regard welcomes the
           initiatives undertaken by the Secretary-General to standardize a culture of
           performance in UN peacekeeping, recalls its requests in its resolution 2378 (2017)
           and resolution 2436 (2018) that the Secretary-General ensure that performance data
           related to the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations is used to improve mission

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               operations, including decisions such as those regarding deployment, remediation,
               repatriation and incentives, reaffirms its support for the development of a
               comprehensive and integrated performance policy framework that identifies clear
               standards of performance for evaluating all United Nations civilian and uniformed
               personnel working in and supporting peacekeeping operations that facilitates
               effective and full implementation of mandates, and includes comprehensive and
               objective methodologies based on clear and well-defined benchmarks to ensure
               accountability for underperformance and incentives and recognition for outstanding
               performance;
                    12. Calls on the United Nations to further operationalize the Light
               Coordination Mechanism, to facilitate and further coordinate improved training and
               capacity building activities between Member States to include Troop-and Police-Contributing Countries, providers of training and capacity building, and the United
               Nations, and encourages Member States to engage with this mechanism, with the aim
               of improving training on safety and security;
                     13. Takes note of the ongoing work of the Secretariat in developing a strategy
               to better integrate the use of new technologies for the purposes of increasing safety
               and security, improving situational awareness, enhancing field support and
               facilitating substantive mandate implementation. Encourages Troop-and Police-Contributing Countries and Field-Missions to support field-focused, reliable and costeffective new technologies that are driven by the practical needs of end users on the
               ground and in this regard stresses the need for consultations with Member States and
               host countries, as appropriate;
                    14. Requests the Secretary-General to report progress on improving safety and
               security of peacekeepers, including on the issues set out in this resolution in his
               comprehensive annual briefing mandated by its resolution 2378 (2017);
                    15.   Decides to remain seized of the matter.




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