SIPRI: Peacekeeper nos. fall by over 40% in last decade

Map of Multilateral Peace Operations 2025 | Graphic: SIPRI

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released a new study on Monday which found that the number of personnel deployed on peacekeeping operations around the world fell by more than 40 percent between the years 2015 and 2024.

Published shortly before the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29, a SIPRI statement about the study quoted author Dr Claudia Pfeifer Cruz who is Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme, as saying, “In recent years it has become much harder to agree on, deploy and sustain multilateral peace operations, both for the United Nations and for regional organisations like the African Union,” which has “real consequences for civilians on the ground.”

The statement summarised ‘as of 31 December 2024, 94 451 international personnel were deployed in 57 peace operations, 42 per cent fewer than in 2015 (161 509 international personnel) and 6 per cent fewer than in 2023 (100 568). The large drop in personnel deployments over the decade happened even as the number of active missions remained relatively stable.’

SIPRI listed budget cuts, refusal of host states and geopolitical tensions as the causes of the fall in peacekeeping numbers.

The statement also quoted the Director of the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme, Dr Jaïr van der Lijn, as saying, “If cooperation on peace operations in the UN Security Council does not improve, we are likely to see states increasingly turning away from UN-backed multilateral approaches and trying to manage conflict in others ways.’

Van der Lijn explained, “”We can already see this happening in the increased use of private military and security companies and the proliferation of bilateral agreements for military deployments, for example in Mozambique and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

The statement pointed out that ‘in recent years, several states affected by conflict have sought more militarised alternatives to multilateral peace operations, including the deployment of ad hoc military forces and of private military and security companies (PMSCs). However, these alternatives have often had poor results. For example, the closure of a major UN peace operation in Mali in 2023 was followed by growing threats from armed groups, despite the government working with a PMSC to fight the insurgency.’