The United Nations Charter stipulates that to assist in maintaining peace and security around the world, all Member States of the UN should make available to the Security Council necessary armed forces and facilities. Since 1948, more than 130 nations have contributed military and police personnel to peace operations. Up to one million soldiers, police officers and civilians have served under the UN flag since the establishment of the first peacekeeping operation in 1948. As of 31 October 2006, 112 countries were contributing a total of some 81,000 uniformed personnel (military and police), a historic high for UN peacekeeping. There were also about 16,000 civilians serving in peacekeeping operations, including 4,500 international civilian personnel, 1,800 UN Volunteers and almost 10,000 local civilian staff.

Despite the large and growing number of contributors, most “Blue Helmets” continue to be provided by a core group of developing countries. The 10 main troop-contributors to UN peacekeeping operations as of 31 October 2006 were Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Nepal, Ghana, Uruguay, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa, providing together 60 per cent of all UN military and police personnel. Approximately 12.9 per cent came from the 25-member European Union and 0.37 per cent from the United States.

DPKO's Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno has repeatedly reminded Member States that “the provision of well-equipped, well-trained and disciplined military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping operations is a collective responsibility of Member States. Countries from the South should not and must not be expected to shoulder this burden alone”.