The U.N.  strategy consists of three elements:    establishing the conditions for sustainable peace, including security, rule  of law, and economic and social reform;   coordinating and sustaining the efforts of international organizations and    developing objectives and results-oriented measures of progress to  manage the peace operation and make troop withdrawal decisions. The  unit is also supposed to help develop guidelines and recommendations for  the conduct, management, and support of these operations. United Nations Is Trying to Apply the Transition Strategy

The United Nations is trying to apply all the elements of the transition  strategy to help move countries from conflict to sustainable peace. U.N. Peacekeeping Operations Seek to Establish Conditions for Sustainable Peace

In countries with complex emergencies, U.N. peacekeeping operations and  other stakeholders seek to establish basic conditions for sustainable peace  by (1) providing and maintaining security, (2) developing institutions that  provide rule of law and participatory governance, and (3) creating  conditions for social and economic reforms. In East Timor, attempts to coordinate efforts among donor countries and  international organizations occurred before the peacekeeping operation  deployed. Peace Operations Are Making Efforts to Specify Objectives and Measures

The U.N. operations in Sierra Leone, East Timor, and the Democratic  Republic of the Congo have specified their objectives, based on mandates  from the Security Council, and have developed measures of progress,  some of which are results oriented. Nonetheless, the United Nations has to a limited extent used some  measures to plan the withdrawal of peacekeepers in Sierra Leone and East  Timor. United Nations Confronts Significant Challenges to Implementing Transition Strategy

The United Nations confronts significant challenges to implementing each  element of the transition strategy. DPKO acknowledges that it needs better measures by  which to assess the progress that peacekeeping operations are making in  attaining sustainable peace. Recent efforts have also taken longer than originally planned. The strategy takes a comprehensive and long- term view and focuses on addressing the causes of the conflict. However, the United Nations has not yet developed quantifiable results- oriented measures of progress to help the Security Council make  peacekeeping transition decisions. The U.N.  Department of Peacekeeping Operations has not yet developed results- oriented measures. The United Nations was  concerned, however, that the report (1) did not fully recognize its efforts  to apply results-oriented performance measures for its operations, (2) did  not acknowledge numerical measures of progress included in routine  peacekeeping operations reports to headquarters, (3) did not fully explain  the mandate of the peacekeeping operation in the Congo, and (4) did not  reflect progress made in the Congo over the past year and a half. To assess the extent to which the United Nations is attempting to apply  the strategy in Sierra Leone, East Timor, and the Democratic Republic of  the Congo, we obtained information from the Department of Peacekeeping  Operations on the substance and status of initiatives to strengthen its  operations in these countries.
Why GAO Did This Study

The United Nations responded to the failure of some past peacekeeping operations by developing a strategy to help peacekeeping operations move a country from conflict to sustainable peace. It has attempted to apply this strategy to the large and costly peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, East Timor, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2001. As a contributor of over 25 percent of the cost of U.N. operations, the United States has a stake in the successful application of this strategy. The strategy also has implications for the conduct of international peace operations in other post-conflict countries. GAO was asked to (1) identify the elements of the U.N. transition strategy; (2) assess the extent to which the United Nations has applied the strategy to operations; and (3) assess the challenges to implementing the strategy in these three countries.

What GAO Found

The United Nations has developed a transition strategy for its peacekeeping operations that takes a comprehensive and long-term view and focuses on the causes of the conflict. The U.N. strategy for making effective peacekeeping transitions has three elements: (1) establishing conditions for sustainable peace, (2) coordinating efforts among the United Nations and other international organizations to establish these conditions and sustain assistance after peacekeepers withdraw, and (3) developing objectives and results-oriented measures of progress to help manage and decide when a country's conditions warrant the withdrawal of peacekeepers. The United Nations is attempting to apply the elements of this strategy to help Sierra Leone, East Timor, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo transition from conflict to sustainable peace, but it faces enormous challenges. Establishing security often takes longer and can be more expensive than originally planned in countries where rival factions may continue to fight. Developing participatory governance is also difficult in countries with little experience of accountable government. Coordinating with independent international organizations and donor nations with different priorities is also a challenge. The United Nations has not yet developed results-oriented measures of progress for the three peacekeeping operations. Although the United Nations uses some indicators to manage the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops, they did not have results-oriented measures to assess the security situations in Sierra Leone and East Timor and subsequent events in each country showed that the situation was not as secure as available measures indicated. The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations acknowledges that it needs better indicators by which to measure the progress peacekeeping operations are making in attaining sustainable peace. However, the department has not yet developed these indicators.