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During the 1990s, there has been major change in the patterns of conflict with more than 90 per cent of conflicts taking place within, rather than between, states. .
The United Nations has therefore reshaped and enhanced the range of instruments at its command, emphasizing conflict prevention, continually adapting peacekeeping operations, involving regional organizations, and strengthening post-conflict peace-building. .
To deal with civil conflicts, the Security Council has authorized complex and innovative peacekeeping operations. In El Salvador and Guatemala, in Cambodia and in Mozambique, the UN played a major role in ending war and helping reconciliation. .
Other conflicts, however, in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; often characterized by ethnic violence, brought new challenges to the UN peacemaking role. Confronted with the problems encountered, the Security Council did not establish any operation from 1995 to 1997. .
Continuing crises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, East Timor, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia-Eritrea led the Council to establish six new missions in 1998-2000. .
The experience of recent years has also led the United Nations to focus as never before on peace building; action to support structures that will strengthen and consolidate peace. Experience has shown that keeping peace, in the sense of avoiding military conflict, is not enough for establishing a secure and lasting peace. Such security can only be achieved by helping countries to foster economic development, social justice, human rights protection, good governance and the democratic process. .
Virtually every United Nations body and specialized agency is involved to some degree in the protection of human rights. .
One of the great achievements of the United Nations is the creation of human rights law, which, for the first time in history, provides us with a universal and internationally protected code of human rights, one to which all nations can subscribe to and to which all people can aspire.