In a post-conflict transition environment, state authority must be strengthened to re-institute the social contract between the government and the population. The trust that citizens invest in the state by participating in elections and submitting to the government should be met with institutions that are seen to be sufficiently capable, legitimate and able to assume responsibilities, maintain order and ensure public safety. It is critical that these state institutions are sustained through the longer-term development phase to keep the country from slipping back into a situation in which public trust is eroded by weak institutions and poor governance.

Extension of state authority is a core function of UN peacekeeping. Large, multidimensional missions now frequently use (or at least project) force not merely to fend off direct attacks from spoilers, but as part of deliberate strategies to expand and secure the authority of a government in contested territories.[1] However, while security is an essential precursor to a sustainable peace, state authority includes a broader notion than just strengthened security. A range of other mission activities contribute to the extension and consolidation of state authority, including support for strengthening the rule of law and improving public administration, SSR, and human rights promotion (see Chapter 5).[2]

3.1.1 Operational activities

The activities of the mission to support this output include:

  • Contributing to improved security, including in contested areas.
  • Facilitating broad dialogue on the nature of political institutions and good governance.
  • Helping to build a general public consensus on the roles and constitutional/legal mandates of political institutions.
  • Supporting the restoration of an accountable public administration, especially in areas dealing with natural resources, land, property rights and other potential causes of conflict.
  • Helping to build the state’s capacity to tackle corruption in governmental institutions.

3.3.2 Benchmarks

Short-term

  • Agreement on appropriate laws, accountability mechanisms and responsibilities for public institutions.
  • Public information mechanisms initiated that generate transparency and build wider trust.
  • Decline in violence associated with political discord, including conflict-related sexual violence.
  • Extension of state authority over its territory, including contested areas.

Medium-term

  • Peaceful democratic processes (including elections, decision making, creation and enforcement of law, and service provision) are taking root.
  • Civil education campaigns implemented in formal programmes and mass media.
  • A strong capacity-building strategy has been initiated to ensure durability of government structures, public administration and a competitive, professional bureaucracy.
  • Proper administration of natural resources restored.
  • Transparent budget process and taxation system established.
  • Broad dialogue on desired political institutions facilitated.

Long-term

  • Where they exist, arrangements are in place to allow traditional institutions to function alongside formal institutions and jurisdictions.
  • The capacity of oversight bodies is enhanced and transparent.
  • National and international policies and responses are better integrated with long-term development frameworks.
  • Meaningful input by civil society actors established such that the judiciary and all branches of government are accountable and open to questioning.
  • Strong local capacity developed, and professional bureaucracy lives beyond the term of first post-conflict administration.
  • Emergence of markets in core commodities food and shelter.
  • Supporting the development of a free and open political culture underpinning a strengthened state authority.

3.3.3 Responsibilities and coordination

Through its Rule of Law and Human Rights sections in particular, the mission should support the work of agencies such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other international actors such as the World Bank, to help the national authorities extend their authority. Coordination functions may vary depending on sectoral expertise. The mission should add value to this process through its work in support of the political process, as well as its network of political and civil affairs staff throughout the country. The mission should also ensure that its country analysis includes the structural causes of corruption, and advocate for appropriate attention to address them.

3.3.4 Resources

Implementing activities to support the extension of legitimate state authority requires a sound understanding of the socio-political dimensions of the host country. Therefore, personnel with relevant expertise will be critical to provide effective technical advice to the mission and to host-country counterparts. Such activities can also be resource intensive. Peacekeeping operations have tapped into programmatic funding such as quick-impact projects, trust funds and increasingly, where possible, the Peacebuilding Fund, to support local or regional state capacities and deliver peace dividends. However, these are not sustainable. The MLT can play an outsize role in mobilizing long- term support and partnerships with UNDP, the World Bank and/or bilateral donors.

3.3.5 Challenges and risks

  • The strength of responsible institutions may be compromised and may not be an immediate priority if humanitarian concerns are more pressing.
  • Traditional and/or transitional institutions and functions at the local level may be better equipped and more trusted than the nascent state bureaucracy.
  • Donor fatigue becomes a real risk over the long term. The preference of most donors is to support the most visible and politically positive phases, which occur early in the process.

3.3.6 Considerations

Respecting national ownership while promoting international standards

The strength and legitimacy of traditional structures may prove to be more reliable and adaptable than international standards. However, customary systems may not always respect international standards that the state has signed up to and/or may violate the mandates of international actors.

Balancing short-term, easily achieved goals and long-term, sustainable goals

The peacekeeping operation might run a public information campaign based on winning public support, which may require a series of easily achievable, high-profile “wins”. The hard-fought reforms and less glamorous development of a viable bureaucracy, however, are likely to prove more supportive of a durable peace.

  1. New York University Center on International Cooperation, ‘Building on Brahimi: Peacekeeping in an era of Strategic Uncertainty’, April 2009. ↵
  2. See UN DPO, ‘Presence, Capacity and Legitimacy: Implementing Extension of State Authority Mandates in Peacekeeping’ (2017). ↵

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Considerations for Mission Leadership in United Nations Peace Operations Copyright © 2021 by International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations. All Rights Reserved.

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