New Research on UN Peacekeeping Operations by EPS Board Member Linda Bilmes

Research recommends specific administrative and operational changes that could materially improve the cost-effectiveness and overall impact of future peacekeeping missions

EPS Board Member and Harvard University Professor Linda Bilmes has released a research paper reviewing United Nations peacekeeping operations audits. As the United States member of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (appointed by the Secretary General in 2017 and re-appointed in 2021 for another 4-year term)

The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), established in in the aftermath of World War II, play a crucial role in conflict resolution throughout the world. This paper reviews and analyzes 288 audits of UN peacekeeping missions over a five-year period. It discusses key operational and managerial weaknesses identified across multiple deployments in conflict zones around the world. The paper recommends specific administrative and operational changes that could materially improve the cost-effectiveness and overall impact of future peacekeeping missions.

Read the full text: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/strengthening-management-un-peacekeeping-operations-review-un-peacekeeping-operations

Professor Linda J Bilmes is the Daniel Patrick Moynihan chair in public policy and public finance at Harvard University, and a former US assistant secretary of commerce. She is co-author (with Joseph E Stiglitz) of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict

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For Citation: Bilmes, Linda J., V.S. Ibanez, Yahya Chaudhry, and Jonathan R. Hakim. "Strengthening Management of UN Peacekeeping Operations: A Review of UN Peacekeeping Operations Audits." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP21-037, December 2021.