Interventions in conflicts: large-scale civilian and military based missions and Peace teams

Background to the election monitoring programs.

Background to the Peace Monitoring Mission in Bougainville.

Background to the Kosovo Verification Mission.

ONUSAL mission in El Salvador and UNAMET mission in East Timor.

The first and foremost activity of all NGO monitoring teams was to make their presence known by visits to political actors and authorities, and to build contact networks. (1) This was the background against which both their peacekeeping and their peacemaking efforts took place.

The basic task (1) of the Truce Monitoring Group and its successor, the Peace Monitoring Group, was to patrol the area and investigate breaches of the cease-fire agreement.

The objective was to spread the verifiers all over Kosovo but because of the low build-up of the Mission that objective was only partly reached. Instead, the verifiers often concentrated on those areas from which disturbances were reported (1).

ONUSAL, the UN mission in El Salvador, was engaged in all three peace strategies.

Nonviolent movements that succeeded despite significant deaths

Effectiveness in the field depends on positive, creative, and efficient relationships - of the team itself, with other governmental and non-governmental organisations, and with components of the managing organisational governance.

George Willoughby, one of PBI’s founders, admonishes that foreigners cannot know what they can do for a people in conflict. A long-term relationship needs to be formed with groups in a region if intervention is to take place (1).

Covering the books, articles and newsletters referenced in the dossier