OUTSOURCING UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING ROLES AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
K.A. Charles1 and C.E. Cloete2
1,2
Department of Construction Economics
University of Pretoria, South Africa
chris.cloete@up.ac.za
ABSTRACT
The paper examines the use of private security organisations in a peacekeeping role as a
cost-effective and efficient alternative to United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, and develops
an outsourcing scorecard for the UN. Forty national and international organisations were
surveyed through questionnaires, a review of relevant literature, and records.
The UN rapid deployment task force should continue to be used until proper policy
guidelines are established for the use of private security organisations for peacekeeping
roles. Additionally, outsourcing of support functions would lead to major cost savings in UN
peacekeeping operations. The scorecard developed in the research identifies services that
can be outsourced successfully.
OPSOMMING
‘n Ondersoek oor die gebruik van private sekuriteits-organisasies vir vredebewaring as ‘n
alternatief vir die Verenigde Nasies (VN) word geloods. ‘n Telkaart vir buiteverkryging word
ontwikkel. Die ondersoek is gedoen by veertig nasionale en internasionale instansies via
vraelyste, relevante literatuur en rekords.
Die ondersoek se aanduiding is dat die taakmag vir snelle ontplooiing van die VN steeds
gebruik moet word tyd en wyl beleid en riglyne vir buiteverkryging van vredebewaring
vasgelê is. Die navorsing toon dat buiteverkryging lewensvatbaar is met betekenisvolle
kostebesparings vir die VN.
1
The author was enrolled for a PhD (Real Estate) degree in the Department of Construction
Economics, University of Pretoria.
South African Journal of Industrial Engineering November 2009 Vol 20(2): 1-13
, 1. INTRODUCTION
Founded solely to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, the United Nations
(UN) has repeatedly failed to live up to its Charter – one of the many reasons for its poor
reputation. Though it has made considerable strides in areas such as humanitarian
assistance, primary health care, and development programmes, and has made strenuous
efforts to make peacekeeping operations cost-effective and efficient, it has become
incapable of dealing with rising conflict around the globe. Coupled with the inability of
member states to pay their dues, it has become incapable of carrying out most of its
functions. ‘Efficiency’ in this context means the ability to project sufficient force to deal
with conflicts.
Outsourcing has become necessary in a bid to maximise limited resources due to the
unavailability or inadequacy of funds for peacekeeping operations. Presently, outsourcing
by UN peacekeeping operations is in the infancy stage. Its major outsourcing experience is
in the form of providing troops for peacekeeping operations, since the organisation does not
have a standing military army or police force. Apart from outsourcing peacekeeping, it is
also vital to outsource the support functions of the operations. This would ensure more
effective, efficient, and expeditiously managed peacekeeping operations.
1.1 Outsourcing decision-making in the UN
Decision-making by the UN is as cumbersome as in most large governmental bodies. The
reason is the composition and large size of the General Assembly (GA) and the Security
Council (SC), and the organisational complexity of the UN. The SC mandates all
peacekeeping operations in the world, while the GA makes most of the decisions at the UN,
including approving and providing peacekeeping operations budgets. The Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) administers peacekeeping operations, but with the large
number of nations and the complexities involved, it is little wonder that decision-making is
slow. Additionally, all decisions are made amidst inadequate funding.
Generally, economic reasons, efficiency, and effectiveness are vital criteria for
outsourcing, since they save the organisation money and lead to a better focus on core
functions. In the UN, however, other criteria such as political considerations and capacity
building may have to be considered. Therefore, in UN peacekeeping operations, the
decision to outsource may not be completely dependent on economic factors.
1.2 Statement of the problem
This paper examines cost-effective and efficient peacekeeping models, and develops
suitable outsourcing strategies for UN peacekeeping operations and other similar
organisations.
1.3 Limitations
The outsourcing strategy and recommendations are limited to the outsourcing needs of the
UN and similar organisations.
1.4 The importance of the research
Given that it costs around US$3.2 billion (2005-2006) to run UN peacekeeping operations
annually, the paper examines the use of private security organisations in peacekeeping as a
cost-effective and efficient alternative to UN peacekeepers. It consequently applies
appropriate outsourcing decision-making criteria, which form the basis of a scorecard for
identifying services that can be outsourced successfully. This study is the first large-scale
survey of an outsourcing opportunity applicable to the UN, and should be useful to similar
international organisations.
2
