The United Nations has warned of a crisis in getting enough peacekeepers for Africa next year unless nations focus now on staving off death and suffering in the continent's conflicts.
"We are all competing for troops," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today, noting that the United States wanted to expand the military in Iraq.
"They will be going to the same countries I am going to to seek peacekeeping operations for the Congo, Liberia, Sudan and perhaps Sudan and Burundi," he said.
While the number of UN soldiers and police, about 43,500 in 14 missions around the world, is half the 1993 high of 78,700 for operations in the Balkans, Cambodia and Somalia, money and troops for UN ventures have dropped appreciably since the mid-1990s.
Of the 43,500 troops, military observers and police in the field now, about 30,600 are in Africa alone - in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Western Sahara and on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
In Liberia, the United Nations is behind schedule in fielding the 15,000 personnel authorized, with barely less than half on the ground now. Some 430 Irish troops are scheduled to serve in Liberia.
Some diplomats estimate another 10,000 troops, observers and police might be required to maintain peace in Africa.
The United States, which pays 27 per cent of the cost, is wary of approving new missions, and has already balked at sending troops to the Ivory Coast, where France wants to pull out its forces. But Mr Annan intends to make recommendations to the Security Council shortly on reinforcing a 38-member team.
However, not only the United States has raised objections. Japan, the second highest payer, recently expressed grave concern about the expansion of the UN budget.