Transcript Canada in the Post-War World

Canada in the PostWar World
Canada’s contributions to the UN
Peacekeeping



Canada’s peacekeeping role has evolved over the 50
years of their involvement.
We support and participate in peace operations led by the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European
Union (EU) and the African Union (AU).
'Peace operations' is a simple label for a huge range of
connected military, diplomatic and humanitarian tasks,
such as:



reforming justice and security systems,
disarming and demobilizing troops,
 reintegrating them into peaceful pursuits,
supporting humanitarian assistance.




Tens of thousands of Canadians have served in
more than 40 separate peacekeeping missions.
More than 100 Canadians have died in
peacekeeping operations and hundreds more
have been wounded.
Canada has always been a strong supporter of
the United Nations (UN) and of peacekeeping,
and has participated in almost every mission
since its inception.
As of early 2006, women constituted
approximately 1% of military personnel and 4% of
police personnel in UN peacekeeping; 30% of
international civilian staff and 28% of nationally
recruited civilian staff are women.

As of June30th, 2006, there are more than
90,000 personnel serving on 18 UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations
(DPKO) on four continents in ten time
zones.





64,200 of those currently serving are troops and
military observers
7,500 are police personnel.
5,250 international civilian personnel,
more than 11,300 are local civilian staff
1,720 UN Volunteers
Korean Conflict

Officially termed a police action by the
Americans, the Korean Conflict was a battle
between communist North, and democratic
South.





War broke out in the 1950s when North Korea
attempted to invade South Korea.
It is called Canada's "Forgotten War."
Over 500 Canadians died in the United Nations'
struggle to repel the communist forces that
invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.
It took the Canadian government 40 years to
recognize the efforts of the 27,000 Canadians.
http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/korean_war/topics/112/
Suez Crisis



The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean
and Red seas.
Originally privately owned by British and
French investors.
In 1956 the Egyptian president took over
the canal.



This frightened neighboring Israel, as Egypt
threatened to bar ships to and from Israel.
Britain and France supported Israel.
The UN Security Council had called a halt to
hostilities, but Britain and France didn’t listen and
sent in troops.





The Soviet Union supported Egypt and
immediately gave them financial aid and missiles.
The US was mad at Britain and France for not
asking permission to attack Egypt, but supported
all efforts against the Soviet Union.
Canada’s Lester B. Pearson when to the UN and
proposed that the UN Emergency Force be sent to
the Suez Canal to separate and mediate the
conversations between the rival armies.
With the arrival of the UNEF, the fighting between
the combatants halted and a ceasefire was
achieved.
For his part in resolving the Suez Crisis, Pearson
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Canadian Peacekeeping Missions








1940-present ~ Arab-Israeli and India-Pakistan
conflicts.
1950 to 1953 ~ the Korean War
1956 ~ Suez Crisis (Egypt)
1958 ~Lebanon
1960-64 ~ Congo
1964-Present ~Cyprus
1973-79 ~ Egypt (Israeli vs Egypt tension)
1974-present ~ Syria:



More than 12,000 Canadians have served there
1978 – present ~ Lebanon
1988-90 ~ Afghanistan

1988-91 ~ Persian Gulf (The Gulf War)



1990-91 ~ Haiti
1991-95 ~ El Salvador


Canada sends contingent to observer mission to monitor
ceasefire following El Salvador’s 12 year civil war.
1992-95 ~ Somalia


More than 4,000 Canadian Forces personnel served in
the tense Persian Gulf region as part of the international
coalition of countries
The mission gains attention and becomes a national
scandal referred to as “the Somalia Affair” after Canadian
soldiers are convicted of torture, assault and murder of
Somali civilians.
1993-94 ~ Rwanda

This mission met significant hurdles as UN troops
witnessed the slaughter of nearly 800,000 Rwandans
Security Council


The Security Council is the main organ responsible for
maintaining global peace and security.
It has 5 permanent members:







China,
France,
Russia (which assumed the Soviet Union's seat),
United Kingdom
United States
10 members elected by the General Assembly.
Canada served a two-year term from January 1, 1999, to
December 31, 2000 as a non-permanent member; this
was the sixth time since 1948 that Canada has sat on the
Security Council.
http://video.tvguide.com/World/No+UN+seat+for+Canada/6541064
UN Agencies

Canada is among the top ten donors,
providing over US$600 million dollars a year
in core and program funding to the UN
System of funds, programs and agencies,
such as:



UN Development Program,
UNICEF
World Health Organization,