Iceland Crisis Response Unit

The Iceland Crisis Response Unit was established on September 10th 2001. Before that, Iceland's participation was managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of which the ICRU is a part. Iceland first participated in peacekeeping operations in the 1950s when Icelandic police officers were sent to Palestine. From that time Iceland was officially a participant in international peacekeeping but the participation was irregular until they 1990s. In part it was due to lack of suitable projects because Iceland has no military forces and is unable to participate in military peacemaking operations. Another factor is that peacekeeping missions were rare during the Cold War.

That changed after the end of the Cold War when the number of peacekeeping missions soared. In addition, the importance of civilian operations alongside military operations for the success of peacebuilding efforts has gained greater recognition and acceptance. This has affected Iceland's ability to contribute personnel for peacekeeping missions since the value of civilian experts has been realized. Gradually Iceland's participation has been increasing and now an average of 30 persons are deployed in peacekeeping missions around the world including Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Africa. Iceland's participation in peacekeeping is seen as an important contribution to security on a global scale and is set to continue for years to come.

In accordance with UN SC resolution 1325/2000 on Women, Peace and Security, the Iceland Crisis Response Unit is working on a program to integrate the resolution into its policy and framework. A part of that is encouraging women to apply for peacekeeping missions and provide missions which appeal to women. Participants are also trained in recognizing the special needs of women in conflict areas and the importance of equality. For successful peacebuilding efforts it is essential to integrate the special interests of women during and after conflict.

For future missions the Iceland Crisis Response Unit has formulated a policy based on past projects and missions as well as taking into account the fact that Iceland has no military forces. The policy consists of four fields and future missions will be concentrated on these fields, although they will not exclude missions of another kind.

1. Law enforcement and judicial system - Reconstruction and supervision of police and judicial systems are a fundamental part of peace building in post-conflict countries and regions. Iceland has participated in many projects of this kind, including work towards the integration of human rights and equality when forming new legislation.

2. Aviation sector and airport operations - The Iceland Crisis Response Unit has concluded successfuls airport administration missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Both projects included the training of local personnel and preparation for locals to take full responsibility of airport control.

3. Media and public information - The Iceland Crisis Response Unit has contributed personnel for information and media roles in several different peacekeeping missions. The projects have been positive and successful and this is an area that lends itself well to existing Icelandic expertise.

4. Health care and sanitary issues - In the early 1990s a lot of medical personnel went to work with foreign peacekeeping missions as part of other countries' military operations. In the last few years Iceland has participated in fewer projects of this kind and instead future attention will be focused on reconstruction of health care systems other health care and sanitary infrastructure and planning projects.