Peace missions are defined as multilateral peace operations that have been launched to help stabilise societies after an external or internal violent conflict, to maintain peace or to build the foundations for a durable peace.

Following the end of an armed conflict, the international community is often needed to support the stabilisation and reconstruction of the affected country(-ies). An important aspect of this support is to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping or observation missions to ensure that all parties to the conflict respect their commitments to end armed conflict.

Germany participates in a number of different peace missions. German civilians, police officers and military personnel participate in missions led by the United Nations, the European Union, NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As of September 2011, 192 German civilians, 140 police officers and 7,120 soldiers participated in these missions.

Peace missions of any kind are not explicitly provided for in the UN Charter. Peace missions are defined as all multilateral peace operations that are launched to help stabilise societies after an external or internal violent conflict, to maintain peace or to build the foundations for a durable peace.

For nearly 40 years, civil war waged between north and south Sudan. The south wanted more access to political power and development benefits from the northern government which, since colonial times, had been limited to a small region in the triangle between the capital Khartoum, the Blue, and the White Nile.

As a neighbouring country of Vietnam, Cambodia was also involved in the Vietnam war during the 1960s, followed by its own protracted civil war. In 1970, with the help of the United States, the Cambodian General Lon Sol overthrew the Head of State Prince Sihanouk who pursued political neutrality of the country with Vietnam. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge communist regime under the leadership of Pol Pot won the civil war.

In Kosovo, a part of the former Yugoslavia, the conflict between the Kosovar Albanians and the regime of Yugoslav President Milosevic came to a head in 1998. For a long time, the Kosovar Albanians, who make up 80 per cent of the population, had striven peacefully for the independence of the Kosovo.

Since the 1990s, more than 60 disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes have been carried out. Geographically speaking, most of these programmes have run in African countries; some in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, Central and South Asia and the South Pacific.

The 9 July 2011 was a historic day for the whole of Sudan: The south seceded from the rest of the country and became a new state: The Republic of South Sudan. It had been a long and bloody journey. Many years of civil war had prevailed between the North and the South.

In 2003, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiated the Afghan New Beginnings Programme (ANBP), which lasted until March 2011. The Afghan president was responsible for the programme, which was to support the Afghan government in the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants.

"Child soldiers" participate in many armed conflicts and wars worldwide. They make up 10 to 15 per cent of the troop strength of armed forces and groups that participate in armed fighting. Even though the goal of most disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes for child soldiers is their reintegration into civilian life, the DDR process for children and youth is fundamentally different to that for adults.