Local Self-Protection Experience in UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Evaluative Reading

Received: 30/04/2026 - Accepted: 01/06/2026 - Published: 30/06/2026

Abstract

The United Nations peacekeeping forces are deployed in many countries. Often ignoring the local environment, the history of local conflicts and their socio-political dimensions, United Nations forces have failed to achieve adequate protection for local populations. In order to solve this problem, the UN decided to further integrate peacekeeping forces into local communities and to entrust these communities with a greater role in self-protection, while providing them with the necessary resources to help them assume more inclusive roles. This led to the creation of a new role known as the "Community Liaison Assistant."

This study aims to present this new approach and evaluate its effectiveness by asking the following question: Is the use of a "Community Liaison Assistant" the best way to understand local communities? And would this approach improve the self-protection measures adopted by these communities?

The study concluded that self-protection measures used in specific contexts depend on community perceptions and are usually governed by a range of considerations related to conflict dynamics and local community characteristics. There is also widespread recognition that community liaison officers represent a key innovation that has significantly contributed to the successful implementation of UN mission mandates. The core strength of these officers lies in their ability to establish and develop direct lines of communication with local communities, local authorities, and other relevant actors, as well as their capacity to coordinate between civilian and military actors. To this end, UN missions are now required to develop comprehensive protection strategies, and new guidelines mandate consultation with local communities to assess their self-protection capacities and incorporate them into these strategies.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of community liaison officers depends on the willingness of UN military units to address threats against civilians. If local residents feel that these forces are not taking the necessary measures to protect them, their trust in these assistants will erode, and they may even be at risk of being treated as informants by armed groups or the local community. The success of community liaison assistants will depend on their effective deployment and integration into military teams, along with providing them with all necessary material and logistical support.

Finally, local self-protection capacities, however crucial, should not be seen as a substitute for the protection responsibilities of national authorities or relevant international actors should those national authorities fail to provide protection.