Margaret Anstee's peacekeeping mission in the Angolan civil war

Extract

[...] As a result, in August 1992, while the electoral campaign was running, only 45% of MPLA troops and 24% of UNITA troops had been demobilized. Here the fault lies with the International community as well, who believed that these accords could transform a 16 years conflict into a stable democracy in 16 months. The accords also failed to establish a way out for each party after the elections, indeed it was a "winner takes it all" situation. However, the euphoria of the Angolan population following the ceasefire and the sentiment made the international community overlook these shortcomings. [...]

[...] Margaret Anstee's peacekeeping mission in the Angolan civil war Today we are celebrating the anniversary of Dame Margaret Anstee's death. She was a British diplomat who worked for the UN for nearly 40 years. She is mostly known for her role in the UN Development Program in Asia, Latin America and Africa. She was the first woman to be appointed Under Secretary General. This essay will focus on her involvement between 1992 and 1993 in the Angolan civil war. Margaret Anstee's involvement In February 1992, Margaret Anstee took the head of a peace-keeping mission in Angola, UNAVEM II, under a mandate of the United Nations. [...]

[...] Margaret Ansteen's work was also hindered by the means of the UN who, she complained, "tried to buy peace on the cheap". Indeed, because of the budget of 118 million dollars, less than 1,100 $ per soldier, for 18 months compared to 2 billion in Cambodia and 600 in Yugoslavia is the reason both parties could return to war so quickly after the elections. On the field, the relentless public scrutiny of Ansteen's attempt to negotiate and her absence of legitimacy in the eyes of the parties can explain the failure of the mission. [...]

[...] It is in this context that Margaret Ansteen was sent, at the head of the UN mission to monitor the electoral registration and voting and the demobilization of soldiers. The electoral campaign opened the 29 of August, there were 25 parties but only 2 real contenders : Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, leader of the MPLA and Jonas Sambivi the leader of the UNITA. On 29 and 30 of October the people of Angola had their first democratic elections, they were 4.4 million to vote of the population) and the UN concluded that the electoral process was regular. [...]

[...] When independence was signed on November the country was at the stage of a bloody civil war. The new government, formed by the MPLA (Movimiento Popular de Liberaçao de Angola), the oldest liberation movement, faced challenges to its legitimacy from those same groups that had fought for its legal existence. After 15 years of civil war, the humanitarian situation was alarming and the perspectives of a cease fire were highly unlikely. Indeed, the Portuguese colonizers had abandoned the country without fulfilling their promise to organize elections before the signature of the Independence. [...]