UN General-Secretary Antonio Guterres spoke at the policy brief on the New Agenda for Peace in New York on July 20. (Photo: VNA)

In his summary of the new policy brief, Guterres said that United Nations peacekeeping has contributed to saving millions of lives by helping to maintain ceasefires. But longstanding unresolved conflicts, driven by complex domestic, geopolitical and transnational factors, and a persistent mismatch between mandates and resources, have exposed its limitations, he said. 

Guterres stressed that “peacekeeping operations cannot succeed where there is no peace to keep. Nor can they achieve their goals without clear, prioritized and realistic mandates from the Security Council, centered on political solutions.”

The policy brief calls for a serious, broad-based reflection on the future of United Nations peacekeeping operations, with a view to moving towards nimble, adaptable models with appropriate exit strategies in place.