The United Nations Department of Peace Operations (DPO) is the UN Secretariat department responsible for planning, managing, and directing UN peacekeeping operations worldwide. It was created on 1 January 2019 when Secretary-General António Guterres restructured the former Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), splitting its functions as part of a broader peace and security reform. The reform also created the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), with which DPO shares a single regional structure of political-military desks.
DPO is led by an Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations. It provides political and executive direction to UN peacekeepers in the field, maintains contact with the Security Council, troop- and police-contributing countries, and host governments, and integrates military, police, and civilian components of missions. Its core offices include the Office of Military Affairs, the Police Division, the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), and the Office of Peacekeeping Strategic Partnerships.
Operationally, DPO oversees long-running missions such as MINUSCA (Central African Republic), MONUSCO (DR Congo), UNFICYP (Cyprus), UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNDOF (Golan), and UNMISS (South Sudan), among others. Mandates are set by the Security Council under Chapters VI, VII, or VIII of the UN Charter; DPO translates those mandates into concepts of operations, rules of engagement, and force generation requirements. Funding flows mainly through the separately assessed peacekeeping budget rather than the regular UN budget.
DPO works closely with the Department of Operational Support (DOS), which handles logistics, procurement, and human resources for missions — a function previously housed inside DPKO's Department of Field Support. Together, DPO and DOS supervise tens of thousands of uniformed and civilian personnel deployed under the blue flag. The department also leads the Secretary-General's Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative, launched in 2018, which seeks stronger political solutions, better-equipped forces, and improved protection of civilians.
Example
In 2019, the newly created DPO assumed oversight of MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, succeeding the former DPKO under Secretary-General António Guterres's reform.