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CHAPTER NINETEEN
UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS IN AFRICA: 
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THE UN ANGOLA VERIFICATION MISSION (UNA VEM I) 
This mission was originally established by the Security Council on 20
th
December, 1988 
at the request of the Government of Angola and Cuba. The mission sprang up from the 1988 New 
York agreement that sought to achieve a regional peace settlement in Southern Africa. This 
mission’s task was a traditional one which is to verify the withdrawal of the 50;000 Cuban troops 
from Angola” in accordance with the tin1e table established in a bilateral agreement between the 
two governments. The mission was successful on ground that it achieved its mandate. The report 
credited to this mission in 1991 confirms this (ibid). 
In addition, following the success of UNA VEM I, UNA VEM II AND III were authorized 
respectively. UNA VEM II was anchored on UNSCR 696(1991) and aimed at seeing the “peace 
accord-Acordos de Paz” through its implementation and the success recorded also led to UNA 
VEM III whose mandate included: providing good offices and mediation to the parties; monitoring 
and verifying the extension of administration throughout the country and of national reconciliation, 
among other things. Upon the success of UNA VEM III came the observer mission-MONUA- 
which replaced UNA VEM III (ibid). Note that this peacekeeping was purely traditional in nature. 
THE UN MISSION IN LIBERIA (UNMIL) 
UNMIL took over from a peacekeeping force led by the ECOW AS, a sub-regional body 
in Africa in October of 2003. As of 2004, the UN mission consisted of over 14,000 military and 
Civilian Personnel. It has a broad mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to among other 
tasks, monitor the ceasefire train local police; maintain law and order; facilitate the provision of 
humanitarian assistance; assist the interim government with preparations for national elections; 
and assist with Demobilization, Disarmament, Re-integration and repatriation programs. Previous 
UN peacekeeping involvement in Liberia included a small 300-strong Observer Mission, the UN 
military observer mission in Liberia(UNOMIL), which operated parallel to ECOWAS 
peacekeepers from 1993-1997. UNMIL, as of June 2004, was the largest UN mission in operation, 
with fifty-seven Nations contributing 13,374 troops, 1,049 Civilian Police, and 192 Military 
Observer (UNDPKO). 

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