The CoESPU Magazine 3-2019

The respect of Human Rights is one of the core pillars of the United Nations since the very beginning of its international activity, explicitly mentioned in The Charter of the United
Nations, article 1.
The notion of HR itself covers every aspect of public and private life; it is transferable to every context, it is something universal. The world community’s struggle towards peace, confl ict prevention and post-confl ict reconstruction, therefore, required to put HR at the centre of its whole activity. That is why the “Offi ce of the High Commissioner for Human Rights” (UN HR) - part of the UN Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva - was established, as the leading UN entity on the matter. The UN HR is a hub of technical expertise and specifi c capacity building aiming at implementing HR standards on the ground.
Consequently, most of the modern UN Peace Operations envisage HR teams, mainstreaming HR across all mandate activities and empowering the host State population to assert and claim their rights.
One of the most sensitive CoESPU’s commitments is to coach its attendees in the instruments of international law in which UN fi eld missions base their legal authority.
The UN charter, International Humanitarian Law and, of course, International Human Rights Law are, among the others, the fundamental instruments that constitute the normative framework of peace operations and provide guidance to peacekeepers.
In this third issue of the 2019 CoESPU Magazine, among other outstanding contributions from prominent international subject matter experts, we provide an overview of UN peace operations and International Law, with an interesting feature by Eleonora Branca, mainly focusing on the “consent”, the key element to tell UN Charter chapter 6 from chapter 7 peace operations.
Francesca Del Mese, on her side, analyses the need to translate HR concepts into specifi c local contexts, so as to avoid misunderstanding and political abuses. 
Serena Tiberia elaborates on the criticalities of UN Police activities within the mission mandate and local legal frameworks, as well as with reference to International HR norms and standards, while, in the end, Giorgio Cuzzelli delves into peacekeeping activity within the boundaries of International Law.
Wishing you a pleasant reading, please let my invite you all to get in touch with the Magazine editorial staff, to explore the chance, if you wish, to offer written contributions to next numbers, becoming active members of our Stability Policing Community.