United Nation’s Humanitarian Intervention Strategy in Africa: Examining the Novelties and Paradigm-Shift in the Case of Somalia, 1992

Abstract

Humanitarian intervention programmes by the United Nations are launched in response to unpeaceful situations in member states which may result to global unrest if not tamed timeously. Records from Belgium, Panama, Liberia, Rwanda, among others have disclosed certain measures and strategies which the United Nations have skillfully unleashed in the form of humanitarian intervention in these countries. In Africa, for instance, considering the peculiarities of its political and economic dynamics, it is worthy to question the modalities being deployed by the United Nations in form of humanitarian intervention which have resulted to human rights violation and internal displacement. This Ex Post Facto research investigates the United Nations Operation in Somalia as a case study towards examining the strategies of UN’s intervention in Africa. Secondary data obtained from official records and were presented with simple descriptive statistics. Content Analytical method was used to analyze the data obtained from the survey. The novelties and paradigm shift in UN’s strategy as observed in Somalia discloses that in the administration of humanitarian intervention programmes, the UN does not connect with internal or domestic institutions. Bearing from this and other findings of this research, we recommend a more liberal and flexible strategy which observes domestic laws while humanitarian intervention is being carried out by the United Nations.