Applying a Gender-Sensitive, Victim-Forward, and Locally Contextualized Lens to Proposals for a Permanent UN Peacekeeping Solution

The continued systematic failure in both the prevention and prosecution of sexual exploitation of women and children by UN peacekeepers remains one of the most pressing issues in international peacekeeping. This panel discussion examined why all current proposals for a permanent United Nations peace force must incorporate a feminist lens and gender-sensitive perspective to address these failures.

About This Conversation

Hosted by Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) and the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP), this Q&A panel explored lessons learned from past and current UN peacekeeping operations. The discussion examined why a gendered lens framework for prevention and accountability of sexual exploitation of women and children is essential to any future standing UN peacekeeping body.

Background

Article 1 of the UN Charter calls for effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace. Over time, the instruments for implementing this mandate have included diplomacy, peacekeeping, disarmament, and sanctions. Since 1956, UN peacekeeping forces have expanded to include humanitarian aid, human rights monitoring, and democratization. However, significant gaps remain in the current model, including the dual command structure where forces report to both UN command and their own member state, the frequent failure to mobilize in time to prevent conflict, and most critically, the ongoing failure to prevent and prosecute sexual exploitation by peacekeepers.

Proposals for a standing UN peace force have existed since the League of Nations. The 1956 publication of Grenville Clark and Louis Sohn’s World Peace through World Law became the foundation for many world federalist proposals. A UN Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) would complement existing arrangements with a standing first-responder immediately available for deployment upon Security Council authorization. However, without incorporating a feminist lens and victim-forward approach, such proposals risk perpetuating the very harms they seek to prevent.

Speakers

• Augusto Lopez-Claros (Keynote & Moderator), Executive Director, Global Governance Forum; Senior Fellow, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; Former Director, Global Indicators Group at the World Bank

Key Themes

• How a permanent UN standing force would address current gaps in peacekeeping operations
• Lessons learned in gender and victim-survivor considerations from current UN peacekeeping
• The South Pacific Peacekeeping Force (SPPKF) in Bougainville (1994) as a case study in gender-sensitive peacekeeping
• Cross-sectoral frameworks and methodologies for centering gender, vulnerable populations, and trauma survivors in peacekeeping design
• The Bougainville Peace Agreement as a model for incorporating successful gender approaches into peacekeeping operations
• Implementation pathways and next steps for gender-sensitive standing force proposals