Alexaleigh ColonThird form seminarMr. Nat WatersApril 10, 2014United Nations Assistance Mission for RwandaI. IntroductionIn the early 1990s, the United Nations was deployed to the central African country of Rwanda due to ethnic violence that had erupted after several years of tensions between ethnic and political groups. The United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda hoped to be an objective power to enforce peace between the two groups. In short, UNAMIR's mission was to stabilize the country by disarming rebels, helping to establish government power, and protecting its population. However, throughout their tenure, the United Nations repeatedly failed to fulfill its mission, leading to the deaths of countless Rwandans, prominent political members, their families, and even some of its own members. In the years the mission had taken place, it seemed to be flooded. Overall, due to its lack of preparation for the events that occurred and terrible communication, UNAMIR was a disappointing failure. Rwanda is a small country that declared independence from Belgium in 1962. It covers approximately 10 square miles and is landlocked by the countries of Burundi, Zaire, Tanzania and Uganda. (World New Digest) The population is over 7 million. The majority is divided into three ethnic groups. About 85% are Hutu, 14% are Tutsi and about 1% are Twa. They all speak the same language and share similar cultures. In 1956, despite there being no difference between cultural identities, Belgian authorities insisted that all Rwandans begin carrying an identity card. In this administrative action, the peace between the three groups slowly disintegrated (UNAMIR Context). Soon, social barriers were created between them. Ultimately, ...... middle of paper ...... f people a day, the men and women charged with their security did not even reach a consensus to consider the situation in Rwanda a genocide. If they had seen it that way, the efforts to protect these people might have been a little more convincing. In truth, the mandate was also very vague and left much of the decision-making up to individual peacekeepers, allowing them to agree to move away or even "flee" so as not to interfere in local affairs. The UNAMIR mission can easily be considered a disappointing failure, having failed to accomplish the majority of the tasks assigned to it. In the case of political figures who requested protection from peacekeepers or requested reinforcements, many of them did not even survive until the next day, along with their families. The UN has failed to stop or even reduce the number of lives lost in this bloody civil war..