Peacekeeping Operations by United Nations in Partnership with a Sub-regional Organisation: Experiment in Liberia 1993–98

Liberia has witnessed intense internal strife, conflicts and total breakdown of law and order in the past. A West African organisation, ECOWAS and United Nations operated together in Liberia to obtain a peaceful settlement. It was the first UN peacekeeping mission undertaken in collaboration with a peacekeeping operation already being undertaken by a regional grouping. Though there are obvious advantages of regional groupings taking such initiatives there are numerous nuances which emerge when such organisations operate together. This article examines the various nuances of a regional organisation and the UN operating together in such a format. For its complications, this experiment was precursor to several regional experiments particularly by the African Union. The author was a Military Observer in UN Observer Mission in Liberia from November 1995 to November 1996 during the most violent period of the First Civil War. He functioned at the grassroots level and has put across his observations and analysis from the functional level.