Happy 50th Anniversary to the U.N. Emergency Force

Unlike any other military before it, the United Nations Emergency Force was created to promote peace and UNEF was the very first UN peacekeeping force. Ten countries participated in what is now known as one of Canada’s most important contributions to the world.

War had broken out between Egypt and Israel in 1956 over the control of the Suez Canal. Linking two oceans: the Atlantic and the Pacific, and two seas: the Red and the Mediterranean, the Canal is an important passage that shortens the distance between East and West for cargo and oil exportation. In July 1956, Egypt claimed control over the Suez Canal and the country nationalized what had been for almost a century an international company.

Confrontations began in October and the newly formed United Nations needed to come up with a solution to prevent the conflict from getting out of control. Two permanent members of the UN, France and Britain, took sides in the conflict to defend their interests, greatly reducing the diplomatic power of the General Assembly.

A proposal came from Canada’s Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, and approved by the U.N. General assembly. The United Nations presented the framework of what was to become its most respected symbol: the Blue Helmets.

Last Tuesday marks exactly 50 years since the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent arrived in Cairo with the first UNEF command. The intervention was so successful in bringing the Britain and France to a ceasefire and halting an all-out war involving the Soviet Union that Pearson received the Nobel Prize for Peace the following year.

Fifty years later, the UN is simultaneously coordinating 16 operations around the world. As of last month, about 90,000 people from more than 108 countries were working as part of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The department prevents conflicts and stabilizes them after ceasefire, assists in the implementation of peace agreements and leads territories during government transitions.

Canada is sending less soldiers to peacekeeping missions each year. According to the Centre for Research and Information on Canada, in 2005, 69 per cent of Canadians considered peacekeeping as a defining characteristic of Canada, a statistic that does not agree with the country’s current contribution, which has dramatically dropped. In 1991, Canadians were contributing 10.64 per cent of all UN peacekeepers. The Globe and Mail reports that number has now dropped to 0.02 per cent.

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