Stockholm [Sweden], May 26: International peacekeeping missions are under threat due to shrinking troop numbers, funding problems and geopolitical deadlock, researchers have warned.
A report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that the number of UN peacekeepers and other personnel deployed in similar operations fell in 2025 to its lowest level in at least 25 years.
According to SIPRI, 78,633 personnel were deployed in international peace missions at the end of December, down 49% from a decade earlier. A total of 58 international peace missions operated in 34 countries or territories last year, three fewer than in 2024.
"If things continue in this way, we could see a dramatic weakening of multilateral conflict management and the near-complete sidelining of institutions like the United Nations," said Jaïr van der Lijn, director of the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme.
Van der Lijn described the decline as the result of a "perfect storm" of financial, political and geopolitical factors. A major contributor was a $2 billion funding shortfall facing UN peace missions in 2025, SIPRI said.
Key donor countries failed to meet their financial commitments on time or in full, forcing the United Nations to make deep personnel cuts. Van der Lijn warned of the long-term consequences of such developments. "The result is likely to be more conflicts, and these conflicts are likely to have even graver impacts on civilians as states abandon long-established norms," he said. SIPRI noted that all of the top 10 contributors of military personnel to multilateral peace operations came from the Global South.
Uganda was the largest contributor of military personnel last year, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh and India. The remaining top 10 contributors were Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Pakistan and Indonesia.
Source: Qatar Tribune